text: life of any structural component. This fact 
  is certain and irreversible. Thus, the opera- 
  tion of the airplane, powerplant, and various 
  systems must be limited 
  to design values to 
  prevent failure or excessive maintenance costs 
  the anticipated service life. The 
  early 
  operating limitations presented in the hand- 
  book must be adhered to 
  in a very strict 
  fashion. 
  
  emphasize the necessity of proper maintenance 
  of the struts. An additional fact illustrated is 
  that the landing load factor varies as the square 
  of the touchdown rate of descent. Therefore, 
  a 20 percent higher rate of descent increases 
  the landing load factor 44 percent. This fact 
  should emphasize the need for proper landing 
  technique to prevent a hard landing and over- 
  stress of the landing gear components and 
  associated structure. 
  
  in 
  
  is two- 
  fold. A higher gross weight at some landing 
  force in the 
  load factor produces a higher 
  landing gear. The highe: gross weight 
  re- 
  quires a higher approach speed and, if the same 
  glide path is used, a higher rate of descent 
  In addition to the principal vertical 
  results. 
  loads on the landing gear, there are varied side 
  loads, wheel spin up and spring back loads, 
  etc., all of which tend to be more critical at 
  high gross weight, high 
  touchdown ground 
  speed, and high rate of descent. 
  
  The effect of landing gross weight 