Swing-arm pivot piston landing gear systems and methods

An aircraft with a rotating landing gear system, comprising:

• a nose gear disposed proximate a front of the aircraft, the nose gear comprising:
• a trailing link attached to a wheel of the aircraft;
• a pivot piston that extends to extend the trailing link about a first point of rotation and retracts to retract the trailing link about a second point of rotation, wherein the first point of rotation and the second point of rotation are vertically aligned;
• and
• an upper master link to rotate the trailing link around the second point of rotation to rotate the nose gear between a first position of the landing gear wherein the nose gear is retracted into the aircraft, a second position of the landing gear wherein the trailing link is parallel to a ground, and a third position of the landing gear wherein the trailing link is in an extended position for takeoff;
• two or more main gears disposed proximate a rear of the aircraft;
• two or more main cylinders, each mechanically coupled to the two or more main gears to move the main gears between the third position of the landing gear, in which the main gears are extended, and a fourth position of the landing gear, in which the main gears are retracted;
• a first lever connected to a front hydraulic cylinder of the nose gear and a second lever connected to a rear hydraulic cylinder of the two or more main cylinders, wherein the first and second levers adjust an equilibrium between the front hydraulic cylinder and the rear hydraulic cylinder;
• and
• a hydraulic valve hydraulically coupling the upper master link, the pivot piston, and the main cylinders to enable fluid to flow between a nose cylinder and the main cylinders to change a pitch angle of the aircraft with respect to the ground.

A method for mechanically rotating an aircraft to a desired pitch angle during a procedure, the method comprising:

• determining that the aircraft has reached a predetermined speed;
• opening a hydraulic valve hydraulically coupled to a nose gear cylinder of a nose gear and a main gear cylinder of a main gear to enable fluid to flow from the nose gear cylinder to the main gear cylinder, or vice versa, to achieve the desired pitch angle;
• moving a first lever connected to the nose gear cylinder of the nose gear and a second lever connected to the main gear cylinder of the main gear, wherein moving the first and second levers adjusts an equilibrium between the nose gear cylinder and the main gear cylinder, wherein the nose gear comprises:
• a trailing link attached to wheel of the aircraft;
• a pivot piston that extends to extend the trailing link about a first point of rotation and retracts to retract the trailing link about a second point of rotation, wherein the first point of rotation and the second point of rotation are vertically aligned;
• and
• an upper master link to rotate the trailing link around the second point of rotation to rotate the nose gear between a first position wherein the nose gear is retracted into the aircraft, a second position wherein the trailing link is parallel to a ground, and a third position wherein the trailing link is in an extended position for takeoff;
• determining that the nose gear has moved to the third position and the main gear has moved to the first position in which the aircraft is positioned at the desired pitch angle;
• and
• closing the hydraulic valve to hydraulically lock a position of the nose gear relative to the main gear.