Tag Archives: thrust

How Long Can a Falcon 50 Remain in Reverse?

The Falcon 50 only has a single thrust reverser, and it is fitted to the centerline engine.  The nacelles on each side are not fitted with reversers.  I was quite a way down the runway from this Falcon when it landed, and I could hear the reverser kick in.  I was not expecting it to stay in reverse for very long, but they kept it in all the way through the roll out and even as they exited to the taxiway.  Is that normal procedure?

Video of Haneda in the Rain

I posted some shots of the jets at Haneda reversing thrust and throwing up a lot of spray in the process as a result of the rain that day.  Stills can be good for showing off spray but the motion of the spray in the reverser flows is more apparent in video.  Consequently, I shot a bunch of video that day.  Only recently have I caught up with my video editing backlog courtesy of the ample time I have at home as a result of not being able to go out anywhere.  Here is a sample of the airliner movements from that day.

 

 

Rain Might Not Be Ideal But It Is Good For Reverse Thrust

I was a bit annoyed that my one spare day in Tokyo was a rainy one.  I didn’t have any great plans for the day other than getting adjusted to the time but, when I knew it was raining, I almost didn’t even bother with Haneda.  However, in the absence of another plan, I decided to go.  The thing I liked about it was that, with the rain falling, the runway was wet.  This resulted in a lot of moisture being thrown up in the air by the jets as they reversed thrust.  Some went for minimum reverse but others went for a bunch of throttle as they aimed to stop in time for the exit they were aiming for.

Reverser Close Up

When you get lots of similar jets arriving, you can mess around a bit.  The 500mm was far too long for the touchdown shots for most aircraft but, when you are getting a bunch of Air Canada A320s, no harm in cropping in really tight on some of them.  The CFM-56 reversers are a bucket type so they splay out from the nacelle.  With the evening light, you can see lots of detail in the structure.  I played with a similar effect on some of the other jets too.

Cascades or Buckets?

Watching a bunch of arrivals at Vancouver, I got a lot of shots of aircraft reversing thrust.  Current jets fall into one of two categories.  Cascade reversers or bucket reversers.  The bucket reversers aren’t quite as obvious as those fitted to the old 737-200s where they clamped across the whole exhaust but the effect is much the same.  Bucket reversers look like they are doing the job to me.  They hang out and you can imagine the flow being turned around as they power up.  Cascade reversers are far more subtly as the nacelle translates aft and the flow is redirected out of the based of fins that is now exposed.  I imagine they are similarly effective but I have no data to back that up.  If someone knows more, please let me know as I am genuinely interested to find out.