Originally Posted by
dange
Good observation, and reasonable question. The A330s I flew had no brake cooling fans and on short turn arounds, or taxi routes that required multiple brake applications, brake temperatures could become a concern. It was standard practice to keep the gear down for a while to cool the brakes. We only did this when factors such as fuel, wx, ATC and terrain/climb gradients weren't a factor. In the event of anything out of the ordinary occurring you could always raise the gear and sort the problem out, realising that you might later on get a warning of hot brake temperatures later. It was always pre briefed as it is a potential threat and a deviation from standard practices. I hope this answers your question.
Two small questions if I may:
If you do raise the gear in " In the event of anything out of the ordinary occurring" do you lower the gear later or need to take any other action? And how do you protect from actually forgetting the gear down for good?