Letters on nose gear doors

[AnthonyGA]

Why do many aircraft seem to have two letters painted on the nose-gear doors? What do they mean? Why are they on the nose-gear doors?

I thought maybe they were part of the aircraft registration numbers or call signs for the airline, but I don't see any obvious correlation in many cases.

[Gonzo]

Not sure about other airlines, but many UK-based carriers have the final two letters from the registration on the nose gear doors.

[FlyerFoto]

That's all it is - just a reference for ground staff etc. - I don't think it's there to help spotters!!!

http://paulcoulthread.fotopic.net/p42130177.html

http://paulcoulthread.fotopic.net/p42875047.html

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You'll also see that some airlines put letters above cockpit windows, as on this Flybe Dash Eight.....

http://paulcoulthread.fotopic.net/p45079751.html

[AlphaWhiskyRomeo]

You'll also sometimes see ETOPS on some aircraft's nose gear doors (particularly 757s and 737s), so ground staff/engineers easily know if they are working on a model which has to be treated slightly differently than a non ETOPS 757 or 737.
I've noticed this particularly on US operators' aircraft.

[AnthonyGA]

Thanks for clearing up the mystery for me. I had not thought of checkting the last letters of the registration.

How are ETOPS aircraft treated differently on the ground?

[Bullethead]

"How are ETOPS aircraft treated differently on the ground? "

ETOPS aircraft have a slightly different pre-flight engineering inspection carried out to satisfy the ETOPS regulations.

There may be similar aircraft in a airlines fleet, some of which, because of equipment fit out, can not satisfy the ETOPS regulations and so require a different inspection. Painting ETOPS somewhere easily visible on the aircraft makes it easier for the engineering staff to identify which ones need the ETOPS pre-flight and which ones don't.


Regards,
BH.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

The tricky ones used to be Trans Canada Airlines which had fleet numbers on the doors instead of registration letters. Don't know if Air Canada does the same...

[Fris B. Fairing]

I always thought that British Airways should have made an exception with B747-436 G-BNLG and painted the last three on the NLG door.

[Geezers of Nazareth]

Air Canada still have their 'fleet number' on the nwd, as well as on top of the tail.

About 18 months ago, at Heathrow, I saw an El Al 767 being towed to remote parking, and I noticed that on the nwd it had '635' rather than the normal 'last two'. I never did find out exactly why, but the nearest idea that I could come up with was a 'door-swap' with an AC 767.

Most of BAs fleet have the 'last two' on the nwd, execpt for B747-400 G-CIVD which wears the 'last three' on the nwd (so it doesn't have VD on the door) - that's my theory, anyway.

One more 'odd one' that I've seen is the 'Air Jamaica' A.340s which have '350' and '351' on the nwd - no idea why.

[Rainboe]

SAS used to have Viking names on their 747s. At Chicago I was staggering through the snow walking under their 747 to get to our 747 next door, and I looked up and saw the name written in all its glory: "Bent Viking". I felt a cartoon should have been attached to it- I couldn't stop laughing.

This has got absolutely nothing to do with silly letters on landing gear doors, but what the hell.

[PaperTiger]

Originally Posted by HEATHROW DIRECTOR

The tricky ones used to be Trans Canada Airlines which had fleet numbers on the doors instead of registration letters. Don't know if Air Canada does the same...

Yes, and as far as I know all Canadian airlines use fleet numbers. So do US airlines and although many fleet numbers do relate to the tail number, others do not. American (AA) has a strange alpha-numeric system and the various US Air Express operators have alphabetic fleet "numbers"