Qantas 743 Question

[Richo]

Maybe some one can help me with this curiosity question.

I have noyiced a few of the Q 743 which do the domestic run from Perth to the east coast, leave the undercarriage down for quite a while after take-off.

By quite a while I mean that you can still see the gear down as the aircraft is turning at say 2 to 3 Nm from the AD. On one occasion I could see the undercarriage on the 743 down as it passed over my house in the left turn, which is about 7nm south of the AD. Have also caught a conversation on ACD about a runway change and the subsequent time delay while the crew had "to complete a complex set of performance recalculations" on a 743 out of Perth in mid May.

Now it is obviously for some sort of engineering/maintenance consideration. I am interested to know what that reason is.

PS This is not for bagging Q, it is because of genuine intrest.

richo

[Buster Hyman]

After taking off from a rough, outback strip like PER, they like to let the wheels cool a bit before tucking them in!

[Keg]

G'day Richo. I suspect the issue is that there is a capped brake line on one of the wheels which means no auto-braking of the wheels after airborne prior to gear retraction. Therefore the gear needs to be left down for an amount of time (it was two minutes on the 767) to allow the wheels on the wing and body gear to stop spinning.

If you're seeing it frequently then I think that you're seeing the same aircraft day after day up until the 10 day limit of the MEL.

I haven't flown the classic but on the 767 there were two different procedures that could be used for sorting out defective brake lines- if I recall correctly. One is simple and means we have to leave the gear down, the other is a bit more complex but means that we can put the gear up immediately. Guess which one the ginger beers normally go for!

Hope the family are all good.

[BrazDriver]

I must admit I have seen the same thing quite a bit recently.

It really does look strange!

[Richo]

Thanks

Thanks for the replies,

Keg that sounds about what I was after, the family is good and expanding again!!!!!. See you in Darwin in Sep??, come and see how us ATW guys do it.

Coral,
That was my first thought, but I have seen longer taxis and shorter turn arounds, so it did not quite fit. The other 743 at Perth did not seem to have the same requirment with the gear on that day.

Buster,
What can I say, glad your back flying again, and that you are on the east coast!!
richo

[Buster Hyman]

(tee-hee!)

Jokes on you Richo...I don't fly!!!....

[Richo]

In which case busta

I shall have a good laugh with you

richo

[Skystar320]

Get a life Buster!!!!! Perth is way better than your east coast conterparts and your just jealous you cant have any of the action



Maybe i am being cynical - Perth was ranked 5th in the worlds best cities to live in (melbourne took out 1st)

Goodaay

[qantas22]

You're exactly right keg. Due to the short turn time of the 743 in perth we have very little oppurtunit to investigate hydraulic leaks in the brake system. Solution: Lock out the affected brake line to that bogie which results in zero braking to those wheels. Therefore the gear must remain down for minimum two minutes. The aircraft in question for mid may was quite confusing for the flight crew because apparentley according to their charts the best performance out of perth is not from the end of the runway...... Figure that one out???

[Buster Hyman]

Skystar, when were you last in MEL? The Comedy festival???

Richo, I'm laughing on the inside...honest...

I reckon I'd be so bad as a Pilot, I'd have to pay Microsoft for an endorsement on FS:X!!!

[Skystar320]

Last week: tell u what your drivers over there aint know what to do when a an emergency vechile is behind them lights sirens blarrin;

Its like driving back in perth again

yawn

[Buster Hyman]

Well yeah, giving way to Emergency vehicles is like seeing a taxi in the left lane...very rare.

[Skystar320]

Yeah it annoys the SH*T outta me: Enough to warrant me scribbling down there numbers plates and issuing them with fine “failure to give way to emergency vehicles’????? forget how much it is though