when will a pilot use thrust reverse and when not on a normal jet landing?regards,Seba

Depends on runway length and surface, speed, company policy, noise restrictions, etc.

Hi Seba, I take the wording of your question to mean the use of reverse thrust in flight? If so, then at least on the newer models of 747 and (all?) 777s, it isn't possible. The reversers are safety interlocked with the squat switches in the undercarriage. The weight of the plane has to be compressing the gear (and therefore the switches) for reverse thrust to be selected. I know there's such a thing as 'idle reverse' that can be used on some planes to reduce speed during a high approach - but I'm not entirely sure of the mechanics of this. Cheers,Paul

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.haworth/Fortress.gifEGFF

I was actually talking about the landing,but thx for the information anywayregards,Seba

Hi Seba, My mistake! Sorry.Cheers,Paul

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.haworth/Fortress.gif

Voted Best Virtual Airline of 2002 and Best CEO of 2002 by participants in the BIG VA Vote organized by FSPILOT.com

As strange as it may seems, it is also used for pushback. Greetings Minos

Yes, it does seem strange Minos. All the SOP/FOM manuals I've seen prohibit the use of reverse thrust during pushback.Cheers,Paul

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.haworth/Fortress.gifVoted Best Virtual Airline of 2002 and Best CEO of 2002 by participants in the BIG VA Vote organized by FSPILOT.com

Paul,Northwest Airlines (the largest user of DC-9's)does power backs on the 9's all the time and the FAA approved Pilot Operating Manuel authorizes it as does the Operating Spec's for Northwest.Ed Weber a.k.a tallpilot

I remember being on a plane and seeing this doen one time at KDFW. Dont remember what airline, but I could not believe it. I told one of my ATP rated friends and he laughed and said "Texas pilots... figures"-------------Holding Short

Hi Guys,in Germany I hasn't seen, that pilots need the reverse thrust for pushback. Greetings from GermanyJan

Whether powerback is allowed depends on the terminal layout and the availability of ground handling equipment (and probably on noise restrictions as well).Some airports don't have (enough) pushback trucks, in which case powerbacks are sometimes performed.In noise-crazy Europe, they're not seen on civilian installations.Airlines try to avoid powerbacks as the risk of damage to the engines is quite real (as well as the added wear and tear on the engines).Some airlines even restrict the use of reversers on landing because of the increased wear on the engines (this led to a near disaster some years ago when a Cathay Pacific jet overshot the runway when the pilot could not (according to airline procedures) use reversers on a slippery runway coming in too fast.

I was on a Northwest flight that used the reversers to pushback from the gate. Then we sat there for about an hour because the indicator light never went out to show that the reverser had traveled back to its original position. They checked it out, opened it & closed it again, looked at it some more, and then finally determined there was something wrong with the indicator & sent us on our way. :-)

Wants an evidence????Here it is:http://www.airliners.net/photos/small/2/3/3/184332.jpg Greetings Minos

What a waste of fuel :-eek think a pushing start will cost lessregards,Seba

It's not a waste of fuel, infact it uses very little fuel to do a Powerback and compared to the initial cost of the pushback tugs and the upkeep cost it actually saves the airlines money. At Northwest we found that if the ramps were kept clean we had no problem with damage to engine due to Powerbacks. We did not do them if the ramp was covered with snow or ice though.Ed Weber a.k.a tallpilot