AircraftSystemsTopic7.

ThrustReversers
General

Thrustreversalassistsgreatlyinbringinganaircrafttoastopafterlanding,orincaseofanabortedtakeoff.
Evenmoresowhenthewheelbrakingeffectivenessisreducedbywetoricyrunwaysurfaces.Reversethrust
onadryrunwayrepresentsabout20%ofthetotalbrakingforce,andupto50%onawetoricyrunway.Mostjet
transportaircrafthavereversethrustcapability,inclusionofwhichlowersthewearandmaintenancelevelsof
thewheelbrakingunits.

Mostturbopropaircrafthaveaformofreversethrustalso.Fornowwewillconcernourselveswithjetengine
reversethrust.

Principleofoperation

Itisimportantforyoutounderstandthatwhenreversethrustisselectedbythepilots,theenginedoesNOT
rotateintheoppositedirectiontothatwhendevelopingforwardthrust.Furthermore,itdoesnotnowsuckinair
attherearoftheengineandblowitoutthefront.Theairisprocessedinthenormalwayanddeflectedforward
atanangleofapproximately45degrees,byoneoffourmethodswhichwillbediscussedshortly.Becausewe
cannotefficientlyturntheairafull180degrees,themaximumamountofdecelerationforcewillbeonly
approximately50%60%ofthatwhichcanbedevelopedatfullforwardpower(referfigBGT1).

Limitationsonuse

Reversethrustismosteffectivewhenusedathighrunwayspeeds,
andlesseffectiveatlowspeeds,thereforeearlyselectionofreverse
thrustisdesirable.Useofreversethrustatspeedsbelow
approximately6070knotscancauseenginedamagethroughsand,
stonesandotherforeignobjectsenteringtheintakehavingbeen
initiallyliftedofftherunwaybytheforwardflowingair.Surging
(compressorstall)isalsoapossibilityasthehotexhaustairisre
ingestedattheintake.

Normallyathrottlesettingofabout75%N1speedisusedduring
reverseoperations,100%N1inanemergencysuchasahighspeed FigBGT1.Reversethrustvector.
rejectedtakeoffnearV1(referfigBGT2).

ReversethrustcanNOTbedeployedwillinflight,exceptonafew
aircraftsuchastheDouglasDC8.
Reversethrustselection

Toselectreversethrusttheremustfirstbeweightonthewheels.This
issensedthroughsquatswitchesonthemainundercarriage.
Secondly,thethrustlevermustbeintheidleposition.Onlywhen
thesetwoprerequisitesaresatisfiedwillanisolationvalveopento
permitreversethrustactivation.
 FigBGT2.Reversethrustlever
movement.

Disadvantagesofthrustreversers

Extracostofenginemanufactureandmaintenance.

Increasedcomplexity...onemorethingthatcangowrong.

Increasedweight.

Actuation

Thisisnormallyachievedusingpneumaticbleedairtakenfromtheenginecompressor,thoughthebuckettype
useshydraulicactuation.

Reversethrusttypes

Buckettype:Thisisalsoknownastargettype,andishydraulically
actuated.Intheforwardthrustpositionthethrustreverserbuckets
formtheconvergent/divergentexhaustnozzleoftheengine.Inthe
reversepositionthebucketsdeflectthehotexhaustgassesforward
(referfigsBGT3aand3b).

FigBGT3a.Bucketdoorsintheforward
thrustposition.

FigBGT3b.Actuatorandbucketsinthe
reverseposition.
Clamshelltype:Thisisapneumaticallyoperatedtypeusingbleedair
fromthatenginescompressor.
Theclamshelldoorsformpartoftheexhausttailpipewheninthe
forwardthrustposition.Whenreversethrustisselected,thepneumatic
actuatorsmovetheclamshelldoorssoastoblocktheescapeof
exhaustgases,anddeflectthemforwardthroughforwardangled
cascadevanes.Theseareonlyexposedwhentheclamshelldoors
movetowardthereversethrustposition.Likethebuckettype,the
clamshellsoperateintheveryhotandhighvelocityexhaustgas
stream,andsomustbebuiltofverysturdyheatresistantmetalalloys.

(referfigBGT4aand4b)

FigBGT4a.Forwardthrustposition.

FigBGT4b.Reversethrustposition.
Fig5showsanexternalviewofcascadevanesexposedastranslatingsleeve
movesrearward.

FigBGT5.Translatingsleeve
open.
Figs6a,6b,and6cshowtheprogressionfrom
forwardtoreversethrustonaGeneralElectric
CF6engineasfittedtoaBoeingB767.Notethe
EICASannunciationswhenblockerdoorsarein
transit,andwhenlockedinreversethrust
position.

FigBGT6a.Forwardthrustposition.

FigBGT6b.Reversethrustselected,blockerdoorsintransit.
 FigBGT6c.Blockerdoorsinplace.

Bucket/coldstreamcombination:Thisiseffectivelyahybrid
designbeingbothahotandcoldstreamreverserinone(refer
figBGT7).

Thrustreversalisintendedforuseontherunway,thoughitcanbeusedtoreversetheaircraftfromtheairport
terminalgate.ThisisNOTrecommendedpracticeasitputsgroundstaffatrisk,cancauseenginesurgingand
foreignobjectdamage,anditisdifficultforthecrewtosteersafelyastheycannotseewheretheyaregoing.If
agroundtugisavailableforthepushback,useit.

Hopefullythisminieditorialonthrustreverserswillhelpyouunderstandthegeneralprinciplesofinterestto
pilots.ItisanextractfromthetrainingmanualcalledBasicGasTurbinesforPilots,whichwillbeofinterest
tothoseplanningtoflyjets,orstudyingtowardsthereATPLexamination.Youcanpurchasethisbookfromthe
ONLINESHOPwithinthiswebsite,oratoneofthemanyapproveddistributorsaroundAustralia.

AvfactsATPLtrainingcourseinformationisalsoavailableinthissite,asaresomepracticeexamination
questionsonvariousATPLsubjects.

Finally,goodluckwithyourstudies,andremember...

"Pilotsarealwayslearning"
BestWishes

RobAvery
Martysays..."GoodbyetoGA".