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Reversers can be operated in flight!

Featured Replies

As I was setting the aircraft up for landing, I accidentally feft-clicked the left engine reverse lever and, to my surprise, it opened! If I held the mouse button, the engine would spool up with the reverse open. There were no failures active.

 

yq7h.jpg

 

xwdf.jpg

 

Matheus Mafra

Wow, this would mean serious trouble irl. What happened next?

cheers,
NiIs U.

AMD 5800X3D | 32GB DDR4 RAM @ 3200MHz | RTX 4070 12GB @ 1920x1050px

There are supposed to be locks that prevent accidental TR deployment when the aircraft is in flight mode (no weight on the wheels.)  Something isn't right with that.

Matt L.

Wow, this would mean serious trouble irl. What happened next?

 

Curious as to how the sim responded as well; would likely be lift disruption, left roll / dive....

Dan Dominik                                                                           

"I thought you said your dog does not bite....
                                                                That's not my dog."

the same problem is also in the 737, I told pmdg about it but they told me that they can not change it, its part of their design

best regards,

Michael K N I T T L

PC Specs: i7950@4ghz, ASUS PTV2 Deluxe, nVidia GTX580, 12GB DD3 1600 Corsair

Controls: Saitek Yoke & Rudder Pedals, TackIR5

I remember reading in the Boeing FCOM.V1 that using the reverse thrust is not authorized in flight.

 

Regards,

 

EDIT: Section L.10.7 at the bottom it states, "Intentional selection of reverse thrust in flight is prohibited"

Jordan McTiffin


Boeing777_Banner_Pilot.jpg

this doesn't mean it's impossible

I know it doesn't, I was wondering if Boeing made it impossible to operate the reverser's in flight why would they need to say in the FCOM that it is prohibited, but then I was thinking why would they make it possible and state in the FCOM it is prohibited?

Regards,

 

Jordan

Jordan McTiffin


Boeing777_Banner_Pilot.jpg

  • Author

Curious as to how the sim responded as well; would likely be lift disruption, left roll / dive....

 

I expected something similar, but the plane kept flying normally. Maybe losing speed at a slightly higher rate, but no roll, dive or anything unusal. Either nothing happened or the autopilot did an extraordinary job  :lol:

 

the same problem is also in the 737, I told pmdg about it but they told me that they can not change it, its part of their design

 

I've intentionally tried that a few times in the NGX, but the reverser sleeves remained locked.

Matheus Mafra

Maybe left it as a possible action for government aircraft. They use reversers/beta while airborne for certain tactical arrivals/landings.

 

Whether Boeing did this or not is just speculation.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

Charles Carter

 

i5 750 OC'd to 3.6GHz - 8 GB RAM - nVidia GTS 250

I know it doesn't, I was wondering if Boeing made it impossible to operate the reverser's in flight why would they need to say in the FCOM that it is prohibited, but then I was thinking why would they make it possible and state in the FCOM it is prohibited?

 

Regards,

 

Jordan

If i remember correctly there are supposed to be locks that prevent the selection of reverse thrust in flight. The reason why Boeing goes further to state that is when certain failures occur, the locks will unlock and allow the selection of reverse thrust, the same failure i believe will cause the spoilers to deploy in flight if armed.

Bryan Richards

 

"People depend so much on automation that they forget how to get the automation to work." B.W.

There has been an incident of reversers deploying in the air (Lauda 767 flight) resulting in a total loss of the aircraft and everyone on board. This had been noted as a warning light but the crew thought it was a a faulty light and could not fault it on the ground..

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004

Many years ago- I think about 1962 or 3, I was aboard an Air Canada DC8 starting a nightime, low vis. approach into Toronto YYZ, when there was a terrific roaring engine noise and what seemed like vibration heavy enough to tear the airplane apart.

We passengers, sporting very alarmed faces, looked about at each other seeking reassurance.

 The date was only a short time after another AC DC8 had unexplainably plunged into a field at St Therese, Quebec with the loss of all souls aboard. 

 

After what seemed an eternity- certainly long enough for all to have offered a few silent prayers- the noise and shaking diminished, including from both airplane and passengers!!

 And then to our relief, a voice over the PA said "This is the captain- we apologize for the unusual noise and vibration of the last couple of minutes, but due to a late clearance, we've been using reverse engine thrust to descend more rapidly than usual." 

So, at least in those days reverse thrust was used while airborne!

january

 

I expected something similar, but the plane kept flying normally. Maybe losing speed at a slightly higher rate, but no roll, dive or anything unusal. Either nothing happened or the autopilot did an extraordinary job  :lol:

 

 

I've intentionally tried that a few times in the NGX, but the reverser sleeves remained locked.

 

I wonder if being at idle thrust was the main reason for the minimal impact.... As the thread has indicated, several aircraft are designed to allow the buckets to transit for purposes of slowing the aircraft (from the dc-8 to the concorde, as well as some mils).  Lauda 004 had this occur at climb power; can't imagine the sudden airframe effect of a slam deployment there...

there was a terrific roaring engine noise and what seemed like vibration heavy enough to tear the airplane apart.

 

Takes me back to DFW reversing out of the gates in AA's md80's using reverse thrust  B)

Dan Dominik                                                                           

"I thought you said your dog does not bite....
                                                                That's not my dog."

  • Commercial Member

The problem with reverser unlocked in flight is the asymmetry. The only action is to IMMEDIATELY shutdown the engine.

 

Best regards,

Robin.

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