Nose wheel
Thread Starter
Nose wheel
Watching LHR and LAX webcasts has given rise to a question which I'm sure our friendly flight crew here will answer.
When an aircraft is landing and its main landing gear (I mean the back wheels) touches down, are there any criteria which have to be met before then putting the nose wheel down? Or is it just put it down as soon as you can, or is the aircraft configured in such a way that the nose wheel is going down anyway?
What gave rise to the question was seeing a Singapore Airlines A380 touch down last week and the Trends Analyst in me noticed that the nose wheel seemed to be put down more quickly than usual. I love watching aircraft but I freely admit that I know know absolutely nothing about flying them so this is not any kind of criticism of that particular landing. But it did make me wonder idly what the form is and thus is a good chance to learn something.
When an aircraft is landing and its main landing gear (I mean the back wheels) touches down, are there any criteria which have to be met before then putting the nose wheel down? Or is it just put it down as soon as you can, or is the aircraft configured in such a way that the nose wheel is going down anyway?
What gave rise to the question was seeing a Singapore Airlines A380 touch down last week and the Trends Analyst in me noticed that the nose wheel seemed to be put down more quickly than usual. I love watching aircraft but I freely admit that I know know absolutely nothing about flying them so this is not any kind of criticism of that particular landing. But it did make me wonder idly what the form is and thus is a good chance to learn something.
Just make sure the aircraft is settled on its mains, tracking straight with rudder, and under full control before letting the nose-wheel down.
If you select reverse with under-slung engines or apply wheel brakes very soon after the mains touch, it can thump the nose-wheel down.
In some adverse weather, it is good to get the nose-wheel on the tarmac the second you are tracking straight, to enable maximum directional control.
Sometimes if the runway is long and there is no significant crosswind or poor weather, and no particular pressure to exit; some of us like to take our time lowering the nose-gear onto the runway. Don't tell anyone I told you that though.
If you select reverse with under-slung engines or apply wheel brakes very soon after the mains touch, it can thump the nose-wheel down.
In some adverse weather, it is good to get the nose-wheel on the tarmac the second you are tracking straight, to enable maximum directional control.
Sometimes if the runway is long and there is no significant crosswind or poor weather, and no particular pressure to exit; some of us like to take our time lowering the nose-gear onto the runway. Don't tell anyone I told you that though.
Thread Starter
Just make sure the aircraft is settled on its mains, tracking straight with rudder, and under full control before letting the nose-wheel down.
If you select reverse with under-slung engines or apply wheel brakes very soon after the mains touch, it can thump the nose-wheel down.
In some adverse weather, it is good to get the nose-wheel on the tarmac the second you are tracking straight, to enable maximum directional control.
Sometimes if the runway is long and there is no significant crosswind or poor weather, and no particular pressure to exit; some of us like to take our time lowering the nose-gear onto the runway. Don't tell anyone I told you that though.
If you select reverse with under-slung engines or apply wheel brakes very soon after the mains touch, it can thump the nose-wheel down.
In some adverse weather, it is good to get the nose-wheel on the tarmac the second you are tracking straight, to enable maximum directional control.
Sometimes if the runway is long and there is no significant crosswind or poor weather, and no particular pressure to exit; some of us like to take our time lowering the nose-gear onto the runway. Don't tell anyone I told you that though.
