Patent ID: 8042765

Claim:
A method of monitoring landing gear on an aircraft at initial contact of the landing gear with the ground, each landing gear comprising a strut, which is capable of extension, comprising the steps of: a) measuring the extension of one of the struts before contact of the respective landing gear with the ground; b) measuring the extension of the one strut during initial contact of the respective landing gear with the ground; c) measuring the amount of changed extension of the one strut in relation to elapsed time; d) the steps of measuring the extension of one of the struts before contact of the respective landing gear with the ground and measuring the extension of the one strut during initial contact of the respective landing gear with the ground and measuring the amount of changed extension of the one strut in relation to elapsed time comprises measuring the strut extension from a location that is off of the one landing gear; e) determining the rate of compression of the one strut from the measured amount of changed extension of the one strut in relation to elapsed time; f) providing an indication of the rate of compression of the one strut.