The landing gear of modern widebody aircraft may look similar, but key engineering differences reveal how manufacturers handle aircraft weight and runway loads. A good example is the comparison between the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350-1000.
While all variants of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner use four-wheel main landing gear trucks, the larger A350-1000 features a six-wheel bogie. The smaller Airbus A350-900, however, continues to use a four-wheel configuration similar to the 787 family.
The key reason behind this difference is aircraft weight and structural design. The A350-1000 is significantly heavier than the A350-900, requiring additional wheels to distribute the load more effectively across airport runways and maintain landing stability.
By keeping the same four-wheel configuration across the 787 family, Boeing optimized weight and structural efficiency. Meanwhile, Airbus added extra wheels on the A350-1000 to manage the higher weight and improve runway load distribution.
