Konstantin Bagaev, a designer from Kaliningrad, has developed a complex in which an airplane has no landing gear of its own. Its role is performed by a separate transport platform.
The engineer's idea is intended to solve two problems at once – to provide the aircraft with acceleration during takeoff and to receive it after landing. The platform connects to the aircraft before takeoff and then separates from it during acceleration. After landing, it must again be precisely under the aircraft and receive it.
For the platform's movement, Bagaev proposed using two tugs located on the sides of the runway. They move along the aircraft's trajectory and transmit force to the platform via a rigid beam.
An external power source can additionally accelerate it and thereby assist the aircraft during takeoff. After separation, the empty platform quickly returns to the landing zone to meet the aircraft in time.
From the editors of "Pervy Tekhnichesky": Konstantin Bagaev's concept looks attractive "on paper" for the sake of saving aircraft weight, but it breaks down against the harsh reality of safety, logistics, and the laws of physics.
After all, if an aircraft's engines fail, it can belly-land. But if the platform breaks down, jams, or is late on the runway, the aircraft is guaranteed to crash, as it has no backup landing gear at all.
Also, the landing of a commercial airliner in strong crosswinds occurs with a "crab" (lead angle) or a slip on one wing. Catching a multi-ton aircraft that is moving sideways onto a rigid ground platform with pinpoint accuracy is practically impossible.