View Full Version : brake temperatures
peanutter
19th Aug 2001, 15:54
Heard someone was asked a question about which brakes get hottest on a B747 in an airline interview a while back. I would like to hear from a few people who might know the answer so that I can be ready should I get asked the same question.
Flap 5
20th Aug 2001, 22:05
It depends which foot is heavier on the brakes!
Some years ago on the A330 I had a number of nose wheel steering failures. To get off the runway and on to the stand just required asymmetric braking - just like on a Chipmunk! It took a bit of practise due to the delayed action of the castoring nose wheel. So if you are heavier with your right foot the right brake will heat up more.
Alternatively a cross wind, causing the aircraft to weathercock, will cause one brake to heat up more than the other - depending on the direction of cross wind.
Nowadays I believe a nose wheel steering fault is now a no go item on the A330 due to the steering restriction enforced after a main gear colapse in Amsterdam some years ago.
What you have to remember as well is that the brakes will heat up more if you keep applying pressure on and off. If you apply less, but constant, pressure the brakes don't heat up as much which is worth remembering, especially if you're in a 747 with all those wheels, if your aircraft is going to be surrounded with people at the stand soon after your braking frivolities...