Aircraft landing gear configurations for transferring loads to fuselage

An aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage:
• a landing gear system comprising a drag brace, a lateral brace, and a support assembly with lateral support element configured to separately carry an inboard landing gear and an outboard landing gear arranged substantially in parallel when in a deployed configuration, the support assembly:
• (i) coupled with the fuselage at an upper location with respect to the landing gear system via an upper connection;
• and
• (ii) coupled with the fuselage at a forward location with respect to the landing gear system via the drag brace, the drag brace coupled with the lateral support element outboard of a connection between the lateral support element and the outboard landing gear,
• wherein the drag brace is configured to resist rotation of the lateral support element about a vertical axis such that the longitudinal forces on the inboard and outboard landing gear result do not induce a vertical moment about the upper connection.

A landing gear system for an aircraft, the assembly comprising:

• a drag brace,
• a lateral brace,
• a support assembly comprising a upper hinge and a lateral support element, the support assembly configured to be coupled to a fuselage of an aircraft via the upper hinge, the drag brace, and the lateral brace;
• an inboard landing gear coupled with the lateral support element and configured to support at least a portion of the weight of the aircraft;
• and
• an outboard landing gear separately coupled with the lateral support element and configured to support at least a portion of the weight of the aircraft,
• wherein the support assembly is configured to, in a deployed configuration, rotate about a forward-aft axis of the upper hinge with respect to the lateral side of the fuselage and react vertical forces from the inboard and outboard landing gears to the fuselage,
• wherein the lateral brace is configured to, in a deployed configuration, statically couple the support assembly to the fuselage such that rotation of the support assembly about the hinge is resisted by the lateral brace and react lateral forces from the inboard and outboard landing gears to the fuselage, and
• wherein the drag brace is configured to, in a deployed configuration, statically couple the support assembly to the fuselage such that rotation of the support assembly about a vertical axis is resisted by the drag brace and react longitudinal forces from the outboard landing gear to the fuselage.

A cargo aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage defining a forward end, an aft end, and a continuous interior cargo bay that spans a majority of a length of the fuselage from the forward end to the aft end;
• and
• a landing gear system comprising a drag brace, a lateral brace, and a support assembly including a lateral support element configured to separately carry an inboard landing gear and an outboard landing gear, the support assembly coupled with the fuselage via:
• (i) an upper hinged connection;
• (ii) the lateral brace;
• and (iii) the drag brace,
• wherein the support assembly is configured to rotate about a forward-aft axis of the upper hinged connection,
• wherein the lateral brace is configured to resist rotation of the support assembly about the upper hinged connection,
• wherein the drag brace is configured to resist rotation of the support assembly about a vertical axis such that the longitudinal forces on the inboard and outboard landing gear do not induce a vertical moment about the upper connection, and
• wherein the upper hinged connection is configured to direct vertical loads from the support assembly into at least one of a skin of the fuselage or a transverse frame of the fuselage.