in real life if you have the brakes set say at 2 for a dry landing, arent the reverse thrusts supposed to deploy as soon as the a/c touch the tarmac?if so why dont they work in fs2002? why do i have to press the F2 key to deploy them manually?is there any planes out there with this feature?

I think in real life you apply reverse thrust using the reverse levers manually. You find the reverse levers in front of the thrust levers and the are linked together.//Johan

ok thanksthen i think it is the spoilers that deploy automatically?

The PSS 777 and 747 have automatic reverse thrust. Having never seen either plane from the cockpit, I have no idea whether it's like that by Boeing design, but I think it is. Other than those two, I haven't seen auto-reverse in any other products.

Not all planes have an Auto reverse thrust or auto airbrake features. I personally have never flown one that has and don't think I would care to. If the system were to malfunction it could literally kill you. Of course that is true of a lot of systems on aircraft but I still don't like electronics controlling flight controls or anything else that causes the plane to make such drastic changes in speed or attitude. Manually engaging the airbrakes and reverse thrust upon landing is no big deal to me, at least that way I know it is engaged. Happy Flying!Ken

No automatic reverse thrust in a 747. I would be surprised to find that in any multiengine aircraft, as asymmetical thrust from the engines could quite probably throw you off the runway. Only the 747 has a large enough rudder to actually be able to deploy the thrust reversers prior to the nose wheel being firmly planted on the runway to assist with steering to my knowledge.Probably a sim-world feature to make our life a little simpler as most people only have a single throttle axis or none at all ...Ray

The spoilers on current Boeing products work off of a "squat-switch" that prevents deployment of spoilers in flight. There has to be pressure on the main-grear to allow ALL the panels to extend fully.(DO NOT CONFUSE inflight "SPEED BRAKES" with "SPOILERS").Actually auto-deployment is very routine and reduces the load on the pilot flying during the highest mental load moment of the flight. I have never heard of a partial-failure of a spoiler creating a problem for the pilot on landing. Since your gear must be on the ground you don't get a much across a roll axis and still have a lot of rudder authority down to 80 knots to counter any yaw motion that may occur. Thrust reverse is manually deployed with thrust levers located forward of the main thrust levers. The main thrust levers have to be in IDLE and squat-switch sensing GROUND prior to pulling up on the reverse thrust levers. The reverse thrust levers can be modulated to vary the amount of thrust (usefule in power-backs).The biggest problem with a failed thrust reverse is brake temps.Timothy

Hi Tim,I'm sure you know this but maybe some of the others don't.For aircraft certified under T (transport) category, the landing distances tests are done without the use of reverse thrust. They do use auto spoilers. That is why there is a weight penalty if you dispatch with the auto spoilers inoperative but there is no penalty for reverse thrust inop on a dry runway.Ed Weber a.k.a tallpilot

Hi,On a discovery item a long time ago they showed a 744 doing a full auto takeoff turn and land untill full stop, all hands free.With reversers!. Dunno if this is standard equippment.And furthermore, on the 747 the reversers make more noise than they actually help braking, and there is a tradeoff if used too long.Johan[A HREF=http://www.phoenix-simulation.co.uk]Phoenix Simulation Software[/A]Unofficial PSS website:www.people.zeelandnet.nl/johd

And did you know, if you deploy the thrust reversers before engaging the spoilers on landing you bust your checkride????Seems that the FAA says all devices used to determine stopping distance must be used prior to items not used in calculating the stopping distance if they are used at all.Not sure what the MEL implications are, don't have that 60 pound binder handy (yugh).Timothy

Moving the reverse thrust levels to the idle detent will force the speedbrake level to the up position on a 747. Not sure about other Boeings, but I'd assume they do similar things as far as logic goes.Really a timing thing, deploying them via ARM is going to get them out faster as they are not waiting for reverse thrust, but they are going out anyways ... one way or the other.Ray

On a fully coupled CAT III autoland in the 747-400 the sequence isAt RA (Radio Alt) height of 25' the thrust levers auto back to IDLEOn wheel-tilt squat switch the spoilers deploy (you did ARM them didn't you?) and autobrakesMANUALLY pulling up the reverse thrust levers (only if main Thrust levers are in IDLE) will disengage the A/T. This also says (in training) don't do a "Go Around" to the crew once the reverse thrust is applied. There is no automatic application of reverse thrust that I have seen on a Boeing product (but we don't operate the 777, 737 or 767)Timothy (Red Book SMAC King)