Aviat Aircraft has received FAA approval for a new, shock-absorbing landing gear for their popular A-1C Husky. The gear will be standard equipment on all three versions of the Husky: those equipped with the 160, 180 and 200 hp engines. The 180 and 200 hp models have also been granted a 50-pound gross weight increase.

The new landing gear virtually eliminates landing bounce causing beginning pilots look like advanced pilots. Dampeners inside the fuselage, attached to a reconfigured truss, prevent the bungee cords that are attached to the gear from snapping back after hard landings. The positive effects are experienced in three-point and wheel landings. Since the entire mechanism is inside the fuselage, there is no drag penalty.

Where a hard landing in the past used to result in up to 4 bounces on a paved runway or off-airport landing, today the aircraft will touch down and stay on the landing surface. The effects of ruts or bumps in unimproved runways will be significantly diminished or eliminated entirely. The factory has likened the effect to trying to dribble with a deflated basketball. It just hits the ground and stays there.

This means Husky landings will be shorter and ground handling will be easier. The 50-pound weight increase for the 180 and 200 hp Huskys gives the aircraft a 900-pound useful load factor.