Hi guys , at the risk of 30 ˝ years away from currency ; a few memories .
Boost was not disconnected on T3bs , they might have gone u/s and not been mended towards the end [ 31/Dec 85 ].
Last trip was 29/11/85 , used boost out of the old short Munich a/p [ was pulled off the fleet early for a 737 course ]. Might have been for fun ‘tho . Helped deliver empty G-AWZZ to Brum fire services Nov/84 . used boost for fun to try a V2 climb to 2400’ , then a 500’ fly by of Wycombe Airpark [ Booker ] .
Had it break on a snowy Glasgow [GLA] dep , with snow at LHR . We needed it to carry a full load and the needed extra fuel for a bad day out ! Had to sit at runway end powering up to burn off extra fuel . Took quite a while , and we only just made it to LHR on minimum reserves , before one runway shut for snow clearing , and the other got blocked by a new 757 careering around .
Old Edinburgh [EDI] runway 13 /31 certainly had T3s in and out , and very often landing with a limiting tailwind …over running into the cabbage field at the end . Aberdeen [ ABZ ]was the same , an ILS only to one end , and with the Haar in , it was needed …. But landing with a max tailwind … T1/2s normally ok , but T3s often in the field .
A version of normal ops was 10,000 LP rpm in the flare , if timed right it cushioned / kissed you on . If not , thump . ABZ , when skipper asked for reverse …he meant emergency reverse [ pull those levers ‘til they came off in your hand , but you had 12,000 LP rpm ] .
Throttle handling was a bit different . In auto flight , the handling pilot operated a/p and a/t .
In manual flight handling pilot flew the a/c and asked non- handling pilot for the power he required , [ in LP rpm ] ‘’ ten – eight [ 10800 ] , eleven [ 11,000 ] , twelve thousnd [12,000] , power off , Reverse idle , REVERSE ‘’ , etc .
It was not until Mr Wu [ T1E G-ASWU ex Cyprus Airways] came back from it sojourn in Nicosia [ ’74 war ] , that the 1 and 2 fleet had a 1E to play with . Complete with GT throttles ; which were cranked backwards 2/3 rds of the way up . Bliss…. handling pilot could now reach the throttles from a comfortable seating / flying position ; so non standardly several skippers allowed us to do our own power settings whilst flying manually …. Easy peasy . But impossible in the BEA ordered 1Cs , 2E s and 3Bs with straight up throttles out of reach ; which is why I guess we did not handle our own power when manually flying !
Rgds condor .
PS, ‘’reassuringly firm’’…… = ‘positive touchdown on a wet runway , to ensure wheel spin up , max braking , avoiding aquaplaning ‘ .
PPS, 17 static wicks on a 737-200 … if 1 missing then performance implications .
PPPS , extremely lucky to have 4 very happy years in Highland Division , lots of PDB ‘ pur dead brilliant ‘[ GLA accent ] guys and gurls in back , front , left or right seats .