I was on a real life flight a few weeks ago across the pond in a 747-400. On arrival at Heathrow, i noticed that after we landed, the pilot did not deploy the reverse thrusters and the aircraft glided smoothly off the runway close to the other end of the runway. I thought it was cool.So as soon as i got back from my trip, i tried to land the same way with the PMDG 747-400. To my surprise, i found that i could do it. It was quite cool especially if you do not have to turn off the runway very quickly (as would be the case in a busy airport). I also recall that we arrived at Heathrow at 5.30 am with no traffic around the airport. I figure that was probably why the pilot did not have any need for a quick exit off the runway.Anyway since then, anytime i am arriving at an airport without a lot of traffic, i land without deploying the reverse thrusters and just turn off towards the other end of the runway. I find that i have to control my approach speed carefully and not be too heavy in order to do this. Anyone had this experience?Anthony

Yeah, depending on traffic and more on WINDS, it can be skipped, but costs breaking temps.. Also a low app speed would help alott...JohanA LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION, AND A LITTLE MORE ACTION PLEASE!HELP:http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=238882

I suppose it's possible that some sort of noise abatement procedure was in operation at that time in the morning.It may have been a choice between 'idle reverse thrust' or none at all, the latter being appropriate in the opinion of the Captain.CheersGraham

Some decisions to consider if landing traffic allows:Does going near the runway end reduce taxiing to the gate?Which takes more fuel and engine wear; reverse thrust or taxiing.Does the headwind provide sufficient low ground speed so over heating brakes without RT is not an issue.Does idle RT provide sufficient drag in addition to ground spoilers.Current landing weight being light allowing slow approach and reducing coasting momentum.

replacing the brakes is a lot cheaper and easier than the wear and tear on the engines that reverse thrusts causes... plus fuel costs are pretty high as well. even when airliners do use reversers, in most normal situations they are definately not 100% full reverse

I've gotta admit,since break overheats aren't modeled, I use em far more than I would in real life. Hardly touch the breaks on the Skyhawk and that's just barely an airplane :-)Scott

I have to say that seating in the real life aircraft, i did not feel that the pilot applied a lot of braking. It was more of a sensation of coasting down the runway to a stop. I am not sure that under those conditions the brake would overheat.When i try it with the PMDG 747-400 (usually when arriving light and with little traffic around), i find that i do not have to apply much braking to stop the aircraft - the spoilers and the autobraking (set to 2) does the job pretty much.Anthony

Hey, As long as your not hard on the brakes, temperatures shouldn't be a problem, especially on long-haul aircraft. A long roll-out, and a medium brake setting shouldn't be much on an issue. The aircraft is sitting on the deck for a few hours, plenty of time for them to cool.Further, you want the new-generation brakes hot-ish for them to be efficient. It is especially good before take-off if you have the brakes upto temperature in case of an RTO. I think brake temperatures are more of an issue on short-haul aircraft where turn-around times are quick, and performance-related issues (runway length, temperature, wind, etc) vary alot more.All I'm saying is watch those brakes when your changing the wheel - they hurt when they are hot :(Matt

EGLL 09 / 27 runway length is 12800 ft, so at 2.3 miles long i guess that the pilot can use light braking if the plane travels to the opposite end to turn off on the taxiway.Darren

If I remember correctly the landing distance calculation for aircraft, except the 737-700, is without thrust reversers. So the only reason to use them would be to get off a runway quickly. The issue of the 737 over run of RWY 31C at MDW bringing this point into the spotlight. The RTO setting as per RWY conditions and the use of toe brakes for additonal slowing if needed should be all that is needed on rollout. Ray

A small precisation, when you are using autobrakes you are most probably using the brakes, only brake pressure is applied automatically to obtain a determined deceleration value (so using spoilers and Reverse reduces the pressure applied to the brakes). Luca

Here's a manual right engine out landing at 15deg flaps and vref at about 140kts at a ldg wgt of 125k lbs or so....I did it without the use of the trust reversers because I only had one to work with and did not want to screw the landing up with asymetrical forces once on the rwy... The toe brakes were quite effective as you can hear me say back to the check pilot that I don't need reverse thrust...The rwy length was 9000ft and I landed past the threshold...Regards,jackhttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9...co+jack&pl=true