In a message dated 9/20/2002 12:05:39 PM Central Standard Time,
DZTOPS@aol.com writes:
> WaterskiPilot@aol.com writes:
>
> << most of the airplanes either had
> no reversers or they were permanently pinned/deactivated. >>
>
> Why? are they expensive to operate or???
> Dennis
>
Thrust Reversers (TRs) were/are an optional item on Learjets. They do
weigh more than the standard nozzle (obviously). The early Lear 35s that I
flew (30 of them between s/n 48 and 480) had two types of TRs available.
First the Dee Howards, they were hydraulically operated, bucket type,
very reliable, and NOT permenantly deferrable. If we had an airplane that
had Dee Howard TRs, we were happy, although company policy (for some reason)
was to only use Idle deploy, and not to pull the sub-throttles up beyond
deploy.
Second, the Aeronca reversers, pneumatically operated, cascade type,
VERY effective, VERY prone to fail by sticking open or in transit or not
deploying at all (I personally experienced the latter on my type-rating
ride). The "air-knockers" were more complicated by design and needed to be
lubricated every four to six deployments. Since we flew six or more legs a
night with the freight, you can see why we couldn't use them reliably. They
could also be deferred permenantly by following the directions in the MEL,
IIRC that included a couple bolts to pin the sleeve and blocker doors in the
stowed position and disconnecting and capping the bleed air line.
Since reliability was one of the company's selling points it made
business sense to pin the Aeroncas. Another thing about those Learjets, many
of them have a drag chute that could be used on landing for emergency
stopping. It is a dragster style X chute that has a pistol grip in the
cockpit for deployment. It is way cool to say your airplane has a drag
chute.
That's all for now, I get six hours of new Security training and two
hours of ILS PRM training tomorrow, yippee. :-)
Jim Hann
Waterski J-41 Captain
Lambert-St. Louis Airport (STL/KSTL)