Originally Posted by
DaveReidUK
But it does, and that's clearly by design and for a reason.
"Make it fit" is one reason. In order to make it fit, the bogies need to be rotated forward, backward, or level in order to minimize clear the gear wells. Some consideration needs to be made for that operating mechanism. Once the gear is dropped and contacts the runway, the hydraulics that stow it now have to allow it to rotate one way or another about it's "ankles". The travel involved may dictate one postition (toes up vs toes down) over another.
Once down, the A380 design appears to position the bogies flatter, once a landing flare is considered. The 747 "heels down" would require the bogies to rotate once the rear tires make contact.
A landing gear engineer (I'm not one) might also provide some insight into failure modes. Consider what might happen, for example, if a wheel bearing froze and applied a sudden torque to a bogie. "Heels down" would rotate the bogie into position. "Toes down" would act the other way, tipping the bogie further forward and result in higher stresses when it is eventually flattened out. There may be other failure modes and effects to consider should the extension mechanisms fail to operate completely.
Just be happy you don't have to worry about this one working properly (it didn't once, rather spectacularly):
https://youtu.be/seWJa6SG3LQ?t=285