Mig 31, Uneven number of main wheels

[18greens]

Looking at the photos of the MIG 31 it appears to have one mainwheel on the right and two on the left. Anyone know if theres a great design reason why its not equal on both sides?

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Russia---Air/Mikoyan-Gurevich-MiG-31/1293916/M/

[18greens]

I just worked it out.

[artyhug]

The wheels on the main bogeys are offset, the camera angle has merely hidden the outboard trailing starboard wheel.

[High_lander]

HERE (http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/military/read.main/87256/) is a topic on another forum with the same photo as 'proof' before being shown as why its happened.

[goudie]

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/5/6/6/1282665.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=1282665&size=L&width=1200&height=812&sok=&photo_nr=)

[KiloB]

I thought the same. TSR2 had a 'soft-field' capability in the spec. Presumably this is the same logic; spreading the load area.

[barnstormer1968]

So, if it has TSR2 style landing gear....Is it just me, or does it also have the front end of a tornado.

[Gainesy]

A MiG chap told me its for operating from snowy/slushy runways, the offset is to prevent build up between the wheels which freezes at height then you have trouble getting the gear down.

[Flyingblind]

Apologies first for a bit of thread drift, the front of the main wheel wells looks very much like a speed brake, similar in fact to the nose gear doors to the C130 and main door of the F-111.

My question is why have so much drag on T/O when for obvious reasons air speed is (and) height are the aim?

Or is the power of these aircraft such that its not an issue?

Just wonder as civie jets don't seem to have the proverbial 'Barn Door' hanging down on a very crucial phase of flight.

[Gainesy]

No afterburner visible so I guess they are landing in both pics?

[Spaghetti Monster]

My question is why have so much drag on T/O when for obvious reasons air speed is (and) height are the aim?


There's not much in the way of V-squared on T/O, and hence not much drag in the big scheme of things, when compared to all the thrust coming out of the back end.

When you select gear up in the aforementioned F-111, the first thing that happens is the gear door/speedbrake opens up to nearly 90 degrees to the airflow (even further than the 'full speedbrake' position) - but any increase in drag is basically imperceptible.