Uncertainty about Gravity Gear Extension (A320)

[Feather44]

Good Day All,

I was in the sim a few days ago, to start with the instructor gave us a "G RSVR LO LVL" warning which call for a Gravity Gear Extension.
On final, the Capt dropped the gear by gravity, and then we received an ALT BRK FAULT. We decided to go around as we were now in BRAKES NORM + ALT FAULT = Sole mean of braking: PRK BRK ONLY

During the roll out, I suddenly felt very when I realised that I could not use the PRK BRK as the handcrank was blocking the way.

Note:
- My colleague told me he turned the crank 3 times till he felt a stop.
- The final position of the handcrank was in line with the longitudinal axis of the aircraft with the red grasp knob toward the cabin.

My questions:
- What should be the position of the handcrank once the mechanical stop is reached?
- As well, what airbus means by resetting the handcrank? Do we just have to stow it (my guess) or shall we rotate it 3 turns ANTIclowise then stow it?

Thanks for your input

[vilas]

Yes the final position of the hand crank if you leave it up does tend to block parking brake. You can leave it slightly tilted downwards it works fine.

[Feather44]

Ok, thank you very much guys!
I appreciate your help.
We had no de-breifing from the instructor about this event.

2 more questions :
- For Go Around & Diversion with (Ldg doors opened) max speed is 220Kt, right?
- And less important, why the FCOM (QRH) L/G GRAVITY EXTENSION mention:
For training purpose reset the handcrank if green sys is available to enable LDG retraction and to recover NWS control. As far as I know NWS was never lost. (Is it possible that they forgot to update this part since NWS on older MSN's ac was operated by the GREEN system

[Feather44]

I'm answering my own question.
I found 250 Kt. (Ref: Ipadecam.co.uk - ADR 1+3 FAULT)
So far I didn't find anything on fcom, qrh etc...

[TURIN]

AFAIK If you lose green hydraulics you have lost NWS.

[pineteam]

Originally Posted by TURIN

AFAIK If you lose green hydraulics you have lost NWS.

Only on the older models. The NWS is on the yellow system on the newer models.

[FE Hoppy]

I would have thought all these questions should be put to your instructor rather than on here! Are you doing a type rating or recurrent?

[Rick777]

What kind of lame instructor did you have? All of that should have been debriefed regardless of recurrent or initial. Not knowing how to operate the parking break is kind of a big deal.

[Uplinker]

@Feather: What did you actually do in the event?

I think if I had found the hand-crank lever blocking the park brake as I put my hand down, I would just have simply pushed the hand crank lever out of the way. The gear is locked down by then so the exact angle of the lever won’t matter.

[Uplinker]

Originally Posted by FE Hoppy

I would have thought all these questions should be put to your instructor rather than on here.........

During SIM debriefs, it might be very late at night, or very early in the morning. The crew will have been in the SIM for 4 hours, and possibly didn’t sleep very well in the hotel beforehand; so depending on the exercises, the crew might be mentally as well as physically shattered.

I can barely remember my own name in most SIM debriefs, let alone what actually happened (!!) so some items or questions get forgotten until the day after, or the pilot is too tired to ask at the time. The instructor might not be contactable or the pilot does not want to call them for whatever reason. Pprune gives a chance for people to ask questions they might worry are obvious without seeming foolish to their company or instructor.

[2unlimited]

I have a question. LG on the Green System. NWS on the Yellow.
In case of Gravity extension of the landing gear, in what circumstances would you be able to retract again manually?
I understand it's not a recommended procedure unless done for training.

But I would like to know if it's always possible to retract the landing gear after gravity extension.

Obviously with Green Low Level it would not be possible. But is it generally always possible if it's not on the ECAM inop list on the status page?

[PapaEchoIndia]

You can retract as long as you have green hydraulic pressure avaible.

FCOM DSC-32-10-10

[2unlimited]

Originally Posted by PapaEchoIndia

You can retract as long as you have green hydraulic pressure avaible.

FCOM DSC-32-10-10

So that is the only criteria. Thanks.