Originally Posted by
dixi188
Without access to my 747-200 notes, I think it's because without nos 1 & 4 system the outboard spoilers won't deploy and if the inboard ones came fully up and you selected reverse you would have quite a large pitch down moment, so it waits for the nose gear to be lowered.
Thanks,
The QRH makes it sound like it is not possible to get reverse thrust even if you try. 744 might be different than the 742 though.