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Guest CRJ700FO

Parking...

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Guest teambpr

Hi ThereI flew into Gatwick today and as normal I was like an excited school child taking in as much as I could around me and loving checking out all the planes, there was loads, 767s, 737s, DC10s, all sorts.. but one thing I noticed is that every plane that was parked up had it's rudder to full right.Can someone tell me why this might be..?Thanks :)

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Guest CRJ700FO

>Hi There>>I flew into Gatwick today and as normal I was like an excited>school child taking in as much as I could around me and loving>checking out all the planes, there was loads, 767s, 737s,>DC10s, all sorts.. but one thing I noticed is that every plane>that was parked up had it's rudder to full right.>>Can someone tell me why this might be..?>>Thanks :)if they're hydraullically actuated, hydraulic pressure is released (ie pumps off at the gate), winds push the rudder to the right.

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Guest teambpr

Thanks! That makes sense... I thought there might be some procedural reason but couldn't think what!

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Hi There,Only living 2 miles South East of Gatwick I can tell you that there were also 27 knot gusting winds, so based on the explanation given that'll also explain why the rudders has all be blown in the direction of the wind.Well that's my theory anyway :-)Take Care

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I doubt that explanation. If the rudders could be moved freely by the wind then they would tend to bang about in gusty conditions. Flying controls are generally locked in some way to prevent possible damage caused by gust effects

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Guest teambpr

Well that's thrown a spanner in the works! Both make sense - I wonder what the answer is then? Now you mention it I suppose it would be a bit strange if bits could bang around in the wind, mind you with everything hydraulically operated...?Would love to know what the answer is!Cheers Terry - yeah what a wind yesterday, the planes were landing right over my head in the long stay car park and there was some serious twitching going on as they were on final!! :)All the best

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Guest airbus2

I think that:1) CRJ700FO is right, the aircraft's hydralics are off and the wind pushes the rudders to the right.or2) The rudders are locked in a right position. To be positioned to the right would surely require continued pressure on the right rudder pedal?Dave

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Small aircraft have 'gust locks' to lock the control surfaces into a position and avoid damage from changing winds.Large aircraft don't because the hydraulic system actuator stops movement of the rudder after the system is powered down. The system still holds pressure and movement of fluid is required to allow the control surfaces to move.Though the rudders are usually in a centered / neutral position - the wind could - emphasis could - have pushed them toward the right so that the system held them in that position until the aircraft was powered up again.

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>>if they're hydraullically actuated, hydraulic pressure is>released (ie pumps off at the gate), winds push the rudder to>the right.Could winds ever push the them to the left?I am not trying to be silly. I am thinking if the wind blows the opposite direction...that type of thing. I don't get to see aircraft parked as often as you do.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian


Rhett

7800X3D ♣ 32 GB G.Skill TridentZ  Gigabyte 4090  Crucial P5 Plus 2TB 

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Guest CRJ700FO

>Large aircraft don't because the hydraulic system actuator>stops movement of the rudder after the system is powered down.>The system still holds pressure and movement of fluid is>required to allow the control surfaces to move.>>Though the rudders are usually in a centered / neutral>position - the wind could - emphasis could - have pushed them>toward the right so that the system held them in that position>until the aircraft was powered up again.yes you are correct. typically, the hydraulic actuator uses residual pressure to prevent a reversal. thus even with the system off and the residual pressure holding the rudder, the overall wind direction slowly pushes the rudder to its position, as the residual pressure bleeds off.you can see this in a DC9 / MD80 / 717. after sitting at a gate for over two hours with hydraulics off, the flaps and slats all droop down. they don't come slamming down, they slowly droop as the pressure is released slowly. this is no different except gravity is the force and not wind.we loved this in the CRJ! due to the APU inlet door where it is, we would have to hold full right rudder during deicing, 40lbs of pressure on the ground. after 15 minutes, this stinks. on windy days with the right direction, you could simply shut off the hydraulic pumps, kick in full right rudder and it would stay there being held by the residual pressure and wind. much easier on the knees.

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Guest CRJ700FO

>>>>if they're hydraullically actuated, hydraulic pressure is>>released (ie pumps off at the gate), winds push the rudder>to>>the right.>>Could winds ever push the them to the left?>>I am not trying to be silly. I am thinking if the wind blows>the opposite direction...that type of thing. I don't get to>see aircraft parked as often as you do.sure it could. but it would have to be a consistent, steady left wind.

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