A340 tech question

[Bergie]

Having recently taken over a A340 at a hot destination (not Syria hot) we found that the flap was left at 1+F. The ground engineer informed us that some of the Airbus carriers do that in order to improve ventilation for the APU bleed ducting. Having scoured through the FCOM's and FCTM on the way home I was unable to find a reference for this practice. A mate of mine who fly's A319's said that it is frequently done on their fleet. Can someone please enlighten me as to whether this is a correct procedure for the 340, and if so a reference would be much appreciated.

[nitpicker330]

A330/A340 FCOM 3

NORMAL PROCEDURES

AFTER LANDING

Commence the following when: • Runway is vacated. • Taxi instructions have been received and understood by both pilots. – GROUND SPOILERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DISARM PF Disarming Ground Spoilers is the cue for the PM to commence the After Landing procedures.

– ANTI ICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AS RQRD – EXTERIOR LIGHTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SET Select Land Lights OFF unless required. Select STROBE to AUTO. RWY TURN OFF lights as required. – TERR ON ND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OFF – RADAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OFF – PREDICTIVE WINDSHEAR SYSTEM  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OFF – ENG START selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NORM. FLAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RETRACT On ground, hot weather conditions may cause overheating to be detected around the bleed ducts in the wings, resulting in nuisance "AIR L (R) WING LEAK" warnings. Such warnings may be avoided during transit by keeping slats in CONF 1, when OAT is above 30C. Supplementary procedures refer. – BRAKE TEMPERATURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CHECK For brake temperature limitations requiring maintenance action, FCOM 3.04.32 refers. – APU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . START APU start should be delayed until approaching the parking bay. – APU BLEED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ON APU BLEED selection should be delayed until just prior to engine shutdown.

[nitpicker330]

A330/A340

ADVERSE Weather

On ground, high temperature conditions may cause overheating to be spuriously detected around the bleed ducts in the wings, resulting in AIR L(R) WING LEAK warnings.

In order to minimise these spurious warnings, the following recommendations should be considered when the OAT > 30C, provided the procedure is operationally appropriate: 1. After landing do not retract flaps to less than the CONF 1 position. If more appropriate, or local regulations dictate, the flaps may be retracted normally and then reset to CONF 1 after parking and before engine shutdown.

Note : This will leave the leading edge slats partially extended and the flaps in the 1+F position.

2. Ensure that the required flap setting for the subsequent take-off is entered into the MCDU PERF T/O page. 3. After engine start, ensure the flap lever is set at the take-off flap position. E.g. for a CONF 2 take-off, move the lever from CONF 1 to 2. For a CONF 1 take-off, leave the flap lever in CONF 1.

Note : It is permissible to leave the flap at position 1 even when the crew are not in transit with the aircraft. During the transit period, for safety reasons, obtain ground clearance before moving the flap lever.

[Bergie]

Many thanks for the prompt reply's. I must have missed it during my training. It never fails to impress me how one never stops learning in our profession. :O

[DutchOne]

3 years 330 in the gulf never gave me any problem. It is even removed from our SOP. Not sure about the 320 fleet though.

[Fly3]

I see to recall that this was a problem on early Airbus aircraft as the sensors were placed to close to the surface of the wing and erroneously produced a bleed leak message at OAT's over 30C. A modification moved them and the problem was resolved. Non-modified aircraft will still have the note to leave the slats/flaps at F1 to improve ventilation and avoid the nuisance warning.