Can someone tell me why the harrier jump jet has those narrow centre wheels ?

Question

And are nt those wing wheels dangerous for high speed landings

Answer 1

If you look carefully at the fuselage, you'll find that there's no space internally (all gobbled-up by that Pegasus turbofan and lots of other essentials) to house it by the sides like in a C-130 Hercules. Also there's no space in the wings for wheels larger than the outrigger wheels...which by the way are midboard (mid section of wing) on the American model and outboard (wingtip) on the British model.

Besides, being positioned ventrally (on its belly) is a good way to support its weight. Think of it like those amphibian planes that have buoyant hull/fuselage (land on their bellies in water); the hull/fuselage supports their weight while the wingtip pontoons (outrigger floats) keep the wing from touching the ground/water.

Answer 2

the point of the harrier is to hover and land vertically like a helicoptor but be much faster and better in air combat.

theres no reason for a high speed landing..it can hover to the ground... but the wheels would be fine in the event of a lateral landing. they have to make them small to make the JET more aerodynamic and not create so much drag. they fold underneath the wing afterall

Answer 3

Those wheels are there to enable the aircraft to roll around while it's on the ground.

LOL @ "high speed landings" -- you wouldn't want to be there for a hi-speed vertical landing.

Answer 4

The airframe of the Harrier is too crammed full of machinery to allow space for the more usual tricycle landing gear, and the laminar flow wings are too thin to accommodate retracted wheels.

The type of landing gear you see on the Harrier is actually called "bicycle" landing gear, and it was developed in the 1950s for use on the B-47 and B-52 bombers, which were among the first to use laminar flow wings, which are too thin for landing gear to retract into them.

The outriggers are good for landings in excess of 250 knots, which Harrier pilots would rarely do, but they have to be able to, in case the vertical landing equipment malfunctions.

Answer 5

Like other have said, it's all about space available.

The harrier has a MASSIVE engine (Rolls Royce Pegasus) crammed into the fuselage and it takes up most of the space in there. There is just enough room to hide one set of undercarriage in the centre. That's why the wings have the smaller "outriggers" which help keep the harrier upright on the ground (But they are not strong enough to support the weight of the aircraft on thier own... That's the job of the main undercarriage).

It's also worth mentioning that the engine exhausts are on the sides of the harrier... The exhaust comes out of 4 nozzles, 2 on each side and when these nozzles turn downwards, the jet exhaust blasts stratight down... if you had undercarriage on the sides of the fuselage or close to the sides, the exhaust could damage them.

The harrier is not the only aircraft to use this system too... already mentioned is the B52, but another good example is the Lokheed U-2 spyplane...