Unloading B737 Cargo in windy conditions
 

Help please
I have been told that the QC cargo doors must not be opened in certain wind conditions.
Firstly can anyone point me towards the particular regs that specify what these conditions might be.
Secondly,assuming the above is correct, are there any ways round this, short of building a hangar to unload in. Or do we have to accept that a perishable product perishes?
Thanks in advance for any ideas

dbromle,

The door limits should be stated in the W&B Manual for either the aircraft or the STC.

Usual limits are around the 45 Knot mark but the it can get confusing. I know of one manuafacturer that will tell you the door should not be operated above 45 Knots but also that it should not be left open above 60 Kts. Duh!

RT

I love those door limits. You open the door at 35 knots. The winds increase to 50 kts. Oh well, can't close it. Now.....what do you do when the wind increases above the upper limit. We ran into this at Manchester a couple years ago. We chose to close it and live with it...no problem.

The answer will be found in the aircraft TO. There is a limit but it depends on the conditions. For instance, on the MD-11 the door limit is 40 kts (I'm pretty sure but don't have the TO handy) but if the door is on the downwind side it can be opened normally and even if the door is on the upwind side it can be partially opened. You should be able to save your payload by positioning the aircraft to put the door on the downwind side if the 737 TO allows that.

With the Boeing 737-300 QC STC the wind speed is 40 knots,but this should be confirmed for the particulair a/c your handling.You could try putting the a/c in the lee of the terminal/hangar,also a/c nose into wind causes fewer problems.

doors in windy conditions
 

MD11 is 40kts max and 60kts with nosen into wind.

Wind speed.

How can this be monitored by the person responsible on a turnaround?.

Referring to borderline cases.....not typhoons.

I love those door limits. You open the door at 35 knots. The winds increase to 50 kts. Oh well, can't close it. Now.....what do you do when the wind increases above the upper limit. We ran into this at Manchester a couple years ago. We chose to close it and live with it...no problem.

The door limits are similar to the gear limits WhaleDriver.

You can drop the landing gear on your jet at 270, but once extended, can then accelerate back up to 310 or so. The limitation is the gear doors being in transit.

Similarly, on the cargo doors, they are stronger when they are "on the locks" than when in transit and hanging on the actuators. Thus the slower limits for operation as opposed to left open.