Safran's landing gear business celebrates 90th anniversary!

A genius inventor, at a very young age, George Messier was fascinated with pneumatic and oleo-pneumatic systems used to absorb impacts (in other words: landing gears). A pioneer in the field, the young engineer held, between 1921 and 1927, several patents for shock absorbers and brakes for aircraft and set up the company which bears him name in 1927.

Passionate about engineering and innovation, George Messier had a testbed aircraft built with a view to constantly testing his various innovations. Thanks to his work, the first French aircraft fitted with oleo-pneumatic suspension entered into service back in 1930.

Since then, technology has continued to develop (find out about some of it in the slide show provided below). It is thanks to the legacy of George Messier that Safran Landing Systems is now one of the world leaders in its field.

Did you know? The oleo-pneumatic suspension systems developed by George Messier were initially designed for automobiles (and the celebrated "springless Messier" system), but in the end it was thanks to aircraft that the company experienced great commercial success! An example of the "springless Messier" system has been on show at the Safran Museum in Villaroche since 2008.

To learn more about the history of Safran Landing Systems, featuring prestigious brands such as Bugatti and Dowty, click here.