For years, OEMs used hard chrome plating to provide wear protection on a wide variety of parts and components for everything from vehicles to gun barrels—so it probably wouldn't be too surprising to learn that the aerospace industry relied pretty heavily on chromium to make all matter of aircraft parts, including landing gear.

When we talk about air and spaceflight, the materials used to construct the aircraft and parts are critical. Different metals have different properties which make them more suitable for certain applications. Let's talk about some of the common metals used in aerospace and which properties they boast that makes them optimal for this application.