SJCguy From United States of America, joined Apr 2001, 579 posts, RR: 1 Posted (11 years 4 months 4 weeks 13 hours ago) and read 1193 times:
I bet you guys know this, but I just figured it out for myself.
I always wondered what happens with the wheels after the plane lifts off. Your screamin down the runway, and after you lift off, the wheels have got to be spinning pretty damn fast. As the gear goes up into the doors, I found out the pilot taps the breaks and stops the wheels from spinning as it goes into the bay. The nose gear however keeps spinning and is stopped as it enters the bay. Know how I found this out?.....
Today at work, I went up to one of our 737's (I work for SW ramp) and the rim-cover on our wheels as most of you know is orange like the bottom of our jets. Usually though, those covers are caked over with break-dust and grime so some of them are almost black. Well I took a cloth, and made a big spiral in the center of the wheel in the grime. After I pushed the plane (it was tail 797MX) I took my tug and sorta followed it down about half way down the runway. After he took off, he went right in front of me and I saw my spiral spinning violently on the wheel, then it stopped and the wheels went up. Cool huh? Anyways, look for 797 out there.
Av8trxx From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 657 posts, RR: 7 Reply 4, posted (11 years 4 months 4 weeks 13 hours ago) and read 1031 times:
SJCguy-
Look at the ceiling of the nosewell: If you haven't noticed, it has a pad affixed on it to stop the spinning of the nosegear. We used to write things in the rubber dust covering the inside of the well. It was really bad on the -200s.
Now if you really want to get your 737 jollies- go to this site: or sign up for the weekend B737 ground school at ATOP. It's a blast. E-mail me if you are interested.
There's a lot of info that will make the big picture a lot clearer about why certain things are that way as a ramper. Everything you ever wanted to know. Impress the other rampers.....(Uh OK, maybe not.) While I too get excited about aircraft, most of our guys would rather be sleeping in the breakroom.
Klaus From Germany, joined Jul 2001, 20901 posts, RR: 55 Reply 5, posted (11 years 4 months 3 weeks 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 919 times:
The main gear wheels in (most?) modern airliners are braked automatically during retraction. The nose gear doesn´t have brakes and thus uses those pads in the wheel well.
Dazed767 From United States of America, joined May 1999, 5447 posts, RR: 53 Reply 6, posted (11 years 4 months 3 weeks 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 913 times:
Wow, never really thought about that til now.....interesting......
LoneStarMike From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 3654 posts, RR: 38 Reply 7, posted (11 years 4 months 3 weeks 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 904 times:
Anyways, look for 797 out there.
How funny... I picked up some pictures awhile ago that I had taken to get developed yesterday. There were 3 or 4 pictures of 797 at the gate in AUS.
Jgardiner From Canada, joined Mar 2001, 114 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (11 years 4 months 3 weeks 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 844 times:
The biggest reason for braking the gear before moving it is the gyroscope effect. With the wheels spinning that fast it takes a lot of force to move them sideways. By stopping the wheels the gear used to retract them can be that much lighter and cheaper.
The nose gear doesn't need it because it is being retracted in the same plane as the spin.
Rydawg82 From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 819 posts, RR: 8 Reply 9, posted (11 years 4 months 3 weeks 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 830 times:
RoyalDutch From United States of America, joined Mar 2001, 917 posts, RR: 3 Reply 10, posted (11 years 4 months 3 weeks 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 792 times:
I once sat in seat 7A on an LH Fokker 50, and I could see the main gear right out the window, and I remember it stopping before entering the bay...very interesting. Great Post SJCguy!
EGGD From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2001, 12426 posts, RR: 40 Reply 11, posted (11 years 4 months 3 weeks 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 772 times:
Royal Dutch - its cool isn't it!!!!
For a start, i thought that, well its quite hard to explain.. the wheels weren't weighted so they had no momentum and as soon as they left the tarmac they just stopped, wasn't until i stepped in an F50 and saw the gear after we had taken off and the wheels were still spinning!!!
Mr.BA From Singapore, joined Sep 2000, 3423 posts, RR: 23 Reply 12, posted (11 years 4 months 3 weeks 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 705 times:
I am not too sure about other aircraft, but you don't have to step on the brakes to stop the wheels spinning before it goes into the bay. There is a system that stops the wheels.
SJCguy From United States of America, joined Apr 2001, 579 posts, RR: 1 Reply 14, posted (11 years 4 months 3 weeks 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 659 times:
It was the next runway after the taxi way i was sitting at, close enough to see passengers..
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