Patent ID: 7856293

Claim:
A method for measuring an orientation of a nose landing gear of an aircraft which is furnished with an inertial reference rig with at least a first inertial reference unit, comprising: a) mounting a second inertial reference unit on one of the wheels of said nose landing gear; b) measuring the heading of said nose landing gear in the absence of deflection of the nose landing gear with the aid of said second inertial reference unit; c) measuring the heading of the aircraft with the aid of at least said first inertial reference unit of said inertial reference rig; and d) comparing said measured heading of the nose landing gear with said measured heading of the aircraft to deduce therefrom the orientation of said nose landing gear with respect to the fuselage of the aircraft, wherein said second inertial reference unit forms part of said inertial reference rig and in step a), said second inertial reference unit is dismantled from the aircraft, before being mounted on said wheel.