Aircraft pushback, why is it necessary?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
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You have probably all seen the different kind of pushback trucks that runs around on the airport-apron but have you ever thought about how it works and why they are there?
In todays episode I will cover all I can come up with regarding pushback and towing vehicles, I will even cover if a person can pull an aircraft and how that works.
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A huge thank you to the channels who was featured in todays episode. Check out the full videos below!
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As a pushback operator, everything that is said here is true!
There is something really special about getting to move a multi million-dollar piece of equipment with an entire airport yielding you the right of way. It gets intense sometimes! There’s always that one catering truck that gives you a heart attack for getting a little too close for comfort.
My favorite thing to do is start engines, mostly because I’m a dork and say “Cool 2 Spool engine number __”.
Thanks for the nice video! Looking forward to more!
My favorite thing to to say during push back is to say "negative for engine start, flight" (when warranted). Get a little power trip out of telling the pilot no.
What’s the pay for that kind of job?
Dear Captain: I am retired Mechanical Engineer and the Mathematics and Physics are the essential tools to nake almost everything happen, from airports to huge planes, from shoes to hats and it is only vital to get a good grasp of both and thank the ones who made it possible for us to migrate from the caves to our new standard of living. Brilliant!
At KIAH, we've been using a newer kind of towbarless pushback tractor called a Lektro. It's electrically powered, and uses a winch to pull the nose wheel up onto a hydraulically lifted scoop. It looks kind of like the head of a snow shovel.
Our newest ones are capable of handling any narrow bodied aircraft up to a B757-300, and seat the entire push crew for the return trip to the gate.
@Mentour Pilot I subscribed to Captain Joe as well. You and Joe posted a video on same topic on the same day and you came back and apologized even without any kind of mistake from your side. I like this attitude very much and you are really a very good man. I really appreciate this. You are a very honest man.
Thank you. He was first, so I backed down.
Mentour Pilot make it your own not the first good job on the video! This sheet isn't a race it's information!
I love this - Thank you both for making this knowledge easily available to everyone! Love the professional respect.
@@MentourPilot i never heard of Cpt Joe until now. So if you didn't post it, I would never have seen it. But I I still love how you present and explain every subject in a way that a layman such as myself can understand. This is why I'm hooked on your channel. I really don't have an interest in flying (acrophobia). Am a truck driver and my truck is high enough for me, lol. (Even tho most high bridges don't bother me anymore, mountainside roads still freak me out). But I digress, I may not interested in flying, but learning all the ins and outs of aviation is fascinating to me. I find how different operations are performed and the mechanics going into the aircraft and how you explain everything is interesting. I'm totally hooked.
Aircraft pushback is necessary because it’s cheaper than moving the terminal out of the way!
That’s true! 😂😂😂
You sir, just made my day xD
I can go one better, make the passengers push! :D
You are a genius
They should build elevated terminals so aircrafts could get through and you could board in a dry area during bad weather.
I flew with Eastern Airlines in the 80's and did powerback operations with 727s. The procedure was forward thrust to get the wheels off the flat spot so the plane would start moving TOWARD the terminal then reverse thrust to back out. Refrain from using brakes while backing up because with three aft mounted engines it would be possible to tip the aircraft on its tail with a light fuel load in the wings.
I'm impressed by that little robot. It's really compact for what it does.
I don’t like that little robot. Yet again, technology is taking away jobs incrementally. I want to become an Aircraft Tow Operator.
@@RajPatel-rj2ff It's also creating some more jobs - those things are still serviced and monitored by humans. But really, unless you want to work in one of those giant international airports, I think you'll still be able to find a job as a tow operator for decades to come. Those things are not suitable for every situation.
The main thing to overcome when moving big and heavy objects on tires, is not the friction, its "inertia". Its hard to move an aircraft on space too despite no friction there.
Good old Isaac and his laws
@@MsJubjubbird And his cookies.
pretty sure you could move it pushing it with one hand in space
@@Jaburu F=ma.. Nope.
I was almost stuck in KTM once when the pushback truck broke down. They ended up pushing the Thai 777 back using a regular Toyota 4x4.
Pyroman / You need to learn how to write....
@Pyroman / Good one ! You mean SUV by Truck?
Jonathan Stewart I think we were in the same flight broooo!
The actual moving of the aircraft is pretty easy. The hard part is stopping them, if the aircraft brakes fail.
Nascimento And you need to learn correct terminology, and grammatical precision. Felt like I should point this out like you did with pyroman.
I remember when I was a child I was visiting family in Montana and we flew into KBZN. At that airport at that time I remember the pilot of the 727 backing us out of the parking apron with the reverse thrusters. I thought that was neat. Since then they switched over to using push back tractors now. Another airport that I flew into quite a bit is KGCC. Even today this airport does not have any push back tractors. So they park the plane a little distance from the terminal and we go down the stairs that are attached to the airplane to go inside the terminal. Then when the airplane is ready to go it will turn its engines on and go forward making a U-turn on the apron to leave.
Northwest used to power back from the gate on their DC-9's out of Detroit back in the 90's and 00's (likely before that too, but I wasn't traveling then) as a matter of SOP. I once read about the costs of labor vs. how cheap fuel was back then that it was a financial decision...
I did this for years at JFK for AA, and let me tell you.... their huffs (push-out tractors) were old as hell at the time and simply could not handle very heavy aircrafts with engine starts throughout the push. Specifically the 2nd party 747’s of other airlines we provided services for. Tow bars would commonly end up destroyed on the count of that as well. Then add the pilots eagerly harassing you for clearance to start their engine sequence early with the very tight gates at the old terminal and forget about it. Much better experience with the tow bar less machines, but we were useless on out MD80’s. Great video
I remember being on a few flights in the 80's where they used the reversers to push back from the gate.
I remember seeing it done from the terminal back in the 80's, and was a passenger for a power-back once. I believe it was on a DC-9 or MD-80.
I flew from Calgary to Vancouver on a DC 9 about 25 years ago. The flight started in Regina, and I think the plane was running a bit late. Instead of waiting for the pushback, the pilot started the engines when still parked at the terminal, and backed out with the reversers. That was the only flight where I experienced that.
Yeah I don’t think that’s a good idea.. lots of people on the ground who can be blown away and seriously injured or even die!
I was on a flight from Minneapolis in a NWA DC9 that did a engine reverse pushback. I thought that was pretty cool!
I never knew they could do that until I watched this video and I was a ramp rat.
Jet exhaust can( and does damage other aircarts). Very reason for those weird angled walls is jet wash - to dissipate pressure. There are known cases of damage and aircraft accident due to jet wash(cant recall name of flight. Bottom line is that smaller planes were parked at the end of taxi way, next to entrance to the main airstrip. Jets would park, back up to align and wait for clearance. Problem was that part of that weird wall has been removed. Jetwash would hit parked planes, with attitude locked in max descent position. This damaged ties/cables and led to crash due to cable snapping due to turbulance/wake vortex ). Same thing with separation, jet vortex takes time to dissipate.
When I took my first flight we was on an old prop-jet engined plane going to Jersey. Until this day whenever I fly I still get that excited feeling from my stomach when taking off and landing. Today is fifty years since the Apollo 11 took off for the moon, I am not saying I was over excited but I did forget it was my birthday.
Here in the Canaries ATR's powerback from the gate, their turboprops make an awesome noise when doing so.
Great video Mentour!
Finnairs ATRs do the same. But ive seen memos where other companies dont allow reverse for ATRs because it can damage gears or something.
I was in a U.S. Navy air squadron from 1971-75. I was enlisted and even though I was sent to Aviation electrician's school ; after I got to my squadron I enjoyed being out on the 'line', where our jets were parked and launched & recovered & refueled & all that, that I decided to stay out there and become what is called a 'plane captain'...like a crew chief in the U.S. Air force. I was responsible for getting the jet ready for flight...being sure all the fluid levels were correct, pre-flight walk around inspection before the pilot(s) did their own walk around, fueling, assisting the various shops when they needed to work on a plane, etc.., and towing the planes around & in and out of the hangars. Let me tell you, backing an airplane with a tow bar and 2 pivot places, one on the tow truck and the other being the nose wheel, makes some interesting thinking. If I wanted the rear of the plane to go to my right, for example, I needed to turn the front of the tow truck to the left...the opposite of what you would think. It was funny watching the new guys trying to steer a plane for the first few times; some never did get the hang of it. Our tow trucks had a big engine but had been governed down to keep the speed low, but occasionally we would get a tow truck where the governor had been messed with and boy could those things haul butt...!! I got to where I could maneuver 2 planes so close that their wingtips were only a few inches apart, a must when you had to get all the planes inside the hangar for various reasons. Yes, we always had to have wing walkers and always someone in the cockpit ready to mash on the brakes if something went wrong.
marbleman52 a
Are You retired now? Good comment insights !
Buddhist...Yes, I retired about 8 years ago, but my 3 years in VAQ-33 have always been the most rewarding and challenging...and fun...years of my working career. It seems like I packed about 10 years of living into those 3 short years..!!
Nyc to meet u sir
24 year retired AF crew chief. It takes a good operator to back a large aircraft without damage. Visibility sucks.
Ah, the joy of pushing back a Regional Jet with my own bare hands when the tractor got stuck in the snow. Given how light those jets are, it wasn't that hard, although the crew was impressed that a gate agent was willing to push it back when ramp crew gave up.
Also, the Electric Green Taxiing System (EGTS) eliminates the need for pushback by another vehicle, using an electric motor on either the main or nose gear which is powered by the APU, to bring the aircraft all the way from parked at the gate, over to the runway before the main engines are started (saving fuel).
Ok, you may have answered a big v question Ive had since watching aircraft videos on TH-cam, that beimg, I see aircraft that seem to be towed all over certain airports, from gates, R.O.N . pads and hangers on main taxiways at really good speed. I work at DAL, and befire that DFW. 5 years ago DFW didn't have them, I don't know about now, but definily not DAL since its much smaller airport, and the largest scheduled aircraft are Southwest 737-800,d.
So my question is, do they tug them all the way to runaway hold area, abd do tug drivers get cheetah's and taxi assignment from ground control, or is that relayed to pilot to tug?
Thanks in advance.
Great and detailed. Please give us a Long ATC Tour. Keep it up Mentour.
I worked for a large cargo airline in the past. They had a lot of planes that depart about five minutes apart from each other. The solution, arriving flights would transit to the end of the flight line, do a U turn and taxi into their spot. After the cargo was processed and doors closed. The crew would move forward onto the taxiway. No need for a pushback tug unless they needed to put it elsewhere on the ramp.
hi Mentour, is there any chance you could do a video on taxi way markings, as always absolutely love your videos, from a keen aviation enthusiast
Hey Captain Petter, I went on a Caribbean Cruise late November 1988. The originating port was San Juan Puerto Rico. I flew Eastern Airlines. When the cruise was over, the departing gate was the second to last one. At the last gate there was a 757. It departed before my flight and there wasn't a push back tug. The aircraft started both engines and then used reverse thrust to back away from the gate. A note the terminal at SJA is a straight line not bowl shaped like most airports in the USA. As it was the last gate, I guess it was OK to do that. There was nothing around to be blown away. Guy Franks
What an excellent explanation. I appreciate your effort and time. Thank you 👍🏼.
Everything I know about pushback tractors I learned from this video. But, according to my general knowledge of that kind of equipment, I would like to add some technical sidenote: some pushback tractors, especially TBLs, don't even have gearbox. If you need high torque, low speed, and also need hydraulics for other stuff (like lifting in TBL), using hydro motor for moving truck (and aircraft) around is usually better solution. That eliminates gearbox because engine drives hydraulic pump directly and torque and speed are regulated via pressure and flow.
Great Videos, Just a thought, if reversing with low engines could suck in unwanted material why isn't this a problem as you taxi to the runway?
Because the reversers throw up debris in front of the engine.
Mentour Pilot thanks, Keep the videos coming!
I think Mentour hasnt really answered the question.
Taxiways are relatively easy to keep clean as the only thing that moves there are airplanes by themselfs. Yes, sometimes a plane looses something, but then he calls the tower to tell them and they will send a car to look for it (same goes with the runway). So in a nutshell it is sufficient to just check the taxiways and runways in regular intervalls to be sure, that there is no major debris.
But the same is not true for the parking spots. There are cars, catering trucks, the trucks bringing the luggage, on some stands even the passengers have to board the plane from a bus, etc. It would be impractical to check the area each and every time for something not belonging there.
Alan Guile I was thinking the same thing!
and also FOD is more like to be on stand, because this is the place where plane is being despatched. A lot of debris comes from broken bags and mess from cargo holds etc. Also because there is often road infront of stands where cars and people are moving. Pushback cars are way too more effective and it also saves fuel. But as we know, sometime waiting for pushback are when TSAT is right on time is real pain in the ass :D..
I remember an incident a few years back, a ground engineer was sucked inside an engine. The flight was delayed, the pilots were operating a flight that had not yet landed so the crew change was the reason for it. Stress was building up. When they arrived another company pilot had already initialized the FMS. When the pushback ended the Captain suddenly added taxi thrust, but the tow was still connected and one of the ground engineer wasn't so lucky to escape from that chaos. The First Officer didn't check for the green signal from the ground crew and promptly told the Captain it was safe to taxi.
Like I said before I've always been fascinated by how airports in the airliners work. And you do a great job of explaining how everything works. And so far you've been a big filler in my free time
Tractors got their name from Traction Engines, which were steam powered vehicles that didn't need rails to operate. Those vehicles were used for pulling farm devices (hence the farm vehicle being named tractor) and also moving freight from place to place (hence how semi trucks are also called Tractor Trailers). So having a small powerful vehicle for a moving large things from place to place sometimes earns the name Tractor. These tow vehicles earned the name for the job and yes because farm tractors were (and sometimes still are) used for moving aircraft around the field.
Aircraft Pushback is necessary because Aircrafts have no Rear View Mirror. 😁
That and quite a few other things. 😂
The plural of aircraft is aircraft.. just saying!
Well...commercial aircraft anyway. Ye olde F-15C has 'em, though not for ground operations. :D
All jet aircraft need backup cameras.
The system, imho, wouldn't be that practical. You'd need one on the rear then one on each wing tip as well which would mean a pilot would need to view and asses three different FOV's at once which would be difficult for the brain to process. Fine for spaced out airports but in most of the major ones / hubs where space is at a premium you're screwed.
his better than the other pilot on TH-cam. Metour Pilot is good, relax and super professional.
Hi Mentour! I stumbled across your channel and I love it. I've always been curious and I enjoy listening to your voice and your attitude :)
Great! Welcome to the channel! I have a lot of material for you to watch.
Enjoy!
You explain thing's really well, and it's explained in an easy to digest sort of way. You would be a very good teacher.
Also "tractor" just means "puller", which is why 18-wheelers aka big rigs are called "tractor-trailers".
There are also situations where a tow tractor is required to get the plane to the gate. I've landed in LAX on a 777 and because of the tight spaces between terminals at LAX, we had to wait on the taxiway for a tow tractor to pull us into the gate.
mirevolver I agree about LAX... such small areas around the “U” shape between terminals. Even just one plane push back can block 3 to 6 others! Waited many times for equipment or other plans to be clear after landing there, can take a long time.
We were tight at ILN and just used a marshaller to park the aircraft.
You have answered a question I've always wondered about. Great video!
nice sir....last scene was great one....remote control push back by British airways....thank you..
Exellent video! Thank you mentour for creating these great videos!
I remember flying out of Chicago O'Hare many years ago and all of the aircraft pushed back using reverse thrust.
Perhaps there was a strike or some other problem, I don't know. But all of the aircraft around us and the one I was sitting in did it.
All this stuff is so freaking interesting I watch all these videos and thumbs up
The year was 1998 around March, I was visiting the US at the time from the Philippines and flying to LA, then on to New York via MSP and Det Lansing. I was flying exclusively Northwest Airlines at that time and noticed that while I was in MSP and DET that, MD-80s were pushing back without trucks. Most amazing thing I ever saw back then. :)
KennedySteve would say way different things about tugs, especially Delta Tug2....
Thus Spoke Zarathustra he was not very nice to tug drivers.
Some people who follow this channel may not know about Kennedy Steve. He was a legendary ground (and also tower) controller at JFK airport in New York, whose wit and good humor won him many friends in the aviation community and many fans on TH-cam. He regularly teased the tug drivers, who had to get permission to haul airplanes on taxiways when repositioning them to other gates or to maintenance hangers -- because they were ferrying empty airplanes, they had lower priority than planes loaded with people. This gave rise to a popular belief that Steve "hated the tugs," but it was actually more of a kidding relationship, no real rancor involved. His real name is Stephen Abraham, and he retired in September 2017. Search "Kennedy Steve" on YT to find some very amusing exchanges between him and pilots (and tug drivers!)
I know I am a bit late, but when I was in tech school, there was a company at our job fair that was working on installing an electric drive motor on aircraft directly for pushback and taxi.
Another great video!!!👍👍👍 I'm not a ramp lead, I have pushed out an Airbus A330-200 and a Boeing 777-300er with a tbl push back tractor and it was an experience having multimillion dollar aircrafts under your control but I always operate the headset, everything you explained was completely true.
What’s the pay for a job like that?
When two pushback tractors love each other very very much...
Please can you do videos on these topics: (1) Maximum banking angle and what happens if pilots do a roll (what happens to lift character of foil shaped wings when a plane flies upside down); (2) What is maintaining a certain pressure in the cabin, what happens if the pressure is lost; (3) Safeguards against stall when a pilot pitches the aircraft too much (usually seen in test flights where pilots go very steep up after take off).
One more: (4) How does an Aircraft Control Tower work? Why arriving planes are so perfectly spaced (Heathrow for example)? How mid air collisions are avoided by ATC?
Pilot: "I installed rearview mirrors on this plane. Now I can just reverse out of here."
Tower: "Blue-sky 737, cleared for takeoff."
[2 minutes later]
Pilot: "Where did my mirrors go?"
Tower: "Blue-sky 737, the FAA would like to talk to you when you land."
Pilot: "Uh oh!"
Lol...
Road vehicles have backup cameras. I'm sure planes will have the same if they're needed.
WW2 Bombers & B-52: Hold my beer, I have a tail gunner
Looooooool you killed me
"Blue-Sky 737, I got a number for you to call."
Hello Sir. Recently started following your channel. You are just amazing. Your level of knowledge and the way of explanation is as always absolutely fantastic :). I just love it. Keep up the good work and inspiring so many aspiring pilots and aviation crazy people.
At my airport they also have people called "Wingwalkers" who walk along right at the wingtips and signal to the pushback truck driver that the wingtips are clear.
Yes, those are used where the wingtips are close to obstacles.
On my we just block a service road behind an stand. Mostly because there aren't really any obstacles on those stands where we push aircrafts out.
I work at one of the airports in Belfast, our pushback team is the driver, the headset lad, one guy doing wingtip and the dispatcher comes out and stands on the 'rear of stand road'. Just another safety level as in bright sunlight it can be difficult or near impossible for any of us driving in the road to see the flashing beacon to alert us that the aircraft is live and about to push.
+Peely baii Which one City or International?
they use them at my airport too because parking is a bit tight
flew with ryanair a few days ago, they did a self position thing. asked the first officer about it and he said they have to do that about 10% of the time.
Hey, would you consider making a video about procedures in case a passenger plane gets intercepted by military aircraft, if there are even special procedures for that?
berkkp You got your wish
Nice video Captain! I am a pushback operator here in Dubai International Airport.
The Boeing 737, features everything...except a back up camera.
Tractor is a general term for any machine primarily used for its ability to apply tractive force. For example highway tractors that pull large semi-trailers.
The term tug, like so many terms in aviation, is derived from the maritime industry, a small vessel with no significant payload capacity of its own but with sufficient power to move large external payloads (other vessels, barges, rafted logs etc) primarily by either tugging on a line or slightly less common with pushing.
The guy pulling the Globemaster is like a tug: a lot of power but no speed at all hahahahaha
I'm glad you made this video. I never realised that many planed can reverse under their own power until I was at the EAA and saw both a C17 Globemaster and, more surprising to me, (although I'm not sure why that was the case I just didn't expect to see it I guess) a C130 Hercules BACK UP into the position it was in on display, which made me ask this exact question. Thanks Mentour, love your content!
Trivia. The APC in Aliens was basically an adapted pusher truck.
thegeneral123 That was a nice bit of sci-fi design... very believable vehicle.
Good explanation I’m a ground crew member It’s done exactly like explained
Fascinating - I never knew about the tow bar-less tugs! When they lift the nose wheel, is the movement perceptible inside the plane?
Yes.
Getting tugged out to the runway sounds like a nice calm taxi with little atc instruction. Especially if its robotic, then ATC physically has control of all the planes (maybe a pilot shutdown switch can be implemented for any possible software bugs)
l love this guy's videos. Great job. Escpecially for aviation lovers like me.
Agree, he's the best I've found so far!
Thank you for catering to my love of physics and aviation!🎁🎁
0:20 Got a tear in my eye 😢
EveryTypeOfVideo why??🤥🤔🤔
adib mouhanna airberlin
Dan Rambaldi why did u cry over airbierlin??
adib mouhanna they went bankrupt last October, Airberlin was well loved airline.
adib mouhanna Such a great Airline that went bankrupt
You have a stresfull but yet beautiful job, still, you find time to teach us a bunch of interesting and useful facts about aviation. I hope you can keep up with your work and youtube in the years to come. Greetings from Italy! Cheers :)
Have only seen 4 minutes yet, but great work as always 👍🏻
Thank you!
Stupid if You have not seen entire video only 4 minutes to post comment?
@mentor pilot, i would like to clarify what you said at 6:30 about torque and add the concept of reduction. With the engines in the tugs producing 300 to 400 hp they would probably produce somewhere in the ball park of 200 to 350 if gass (unlikely) or 300 to 500 or 600 ft-lb (-really torquey diesel) at the fly wheel. The gear box that you talked about increases the amount of rotational force on the wheels at the price of rpm (reduction). If the gear box had a reduction ratio of 2:1 then you would double your horse power at the wheels (not taking into account the energy lost from friction in the gearbox and other things) but you would produce that force at half the speed. (please correct me in a reply if someone finds a discrepancy in my guesstimate on values or has questions)
Landed in Nice in a 767 and they got lost on the taxiways at night. Attached a tow-bar to push the plane back onto the main taxiway and they had a problem and gave the plane a "shove". Cabin announcement for any airline engineers that could talk to the ground staff to see if the gear was damaged - and like a twat I volunteered on the basis that I'm an (electrical) engineer and speak French. Cabin crew made me stand in a corner for 20 minutes in front of the entire cabin before thanking me for my help :) Like you say, there's always some idiot who will have a go. Lesson learned - stupid thing to for me to do but cabin crew total professionals.
Hahaha! Well good of you to volunteer. We always need people like that.
Flying into Nice: a lot of steep banking followed by breaking out into a gorgeous scene and landing at an airport that would fit nicely in a Third World nation. It's still nice.
I flew ValuJet (Critter) a few times out of KMDW and they would often use the aircraft power to back out of the stall. They were flying DC-9's. I was always amazed when they would do this because the windows in the terminal would rattle something awful!
Do all Landing Gears have Brakes?? And When Parking Brake is applied then It only Brake Nose gear or all Landing Gear?
Hoshang Govil All the main gear tires have brakes. The parking brakes, activate the aircraft main brakes. The only so called brake for the nose tires, it a friction pad to stop the tires during retraction. Otherwise they would act like big gyroscopes and affect handling. Brakes are applied during retraction to stop tire rotation, to prevent the gyroscopic action.
Here in the US we also call semi trucks without the trailer a tractor. That's why a lot of times you hear people say tractor trailer. But I don't know why they call trucks Tractors, but it might be for same reason, because long time ago before trucks were built a lot of trailers were towed by a tractor. Also here in the US if you say truck a lot of people wouldn't know what type of truck your talking about, because there is also pickup trucks and some people even call large SUV's a truck. It's actually weird because there is 4 different names for large trucks here in the US.
1) Semi truck
2)18 wheeler
3)Tractor Trailer
4)Big Rig
5) Semi
Semi truck, tractor trailer and semi are misnomers that probably became common because we are all lazy speakers of English and got tired of saying Tractor-Semi-trailer-Rig. A semi-trailer is called that because the trailer's wheels only carry half the load. The other half is carried by the tractor. On a regular trailer (like you would see carrying a boat behind a car) nearly the entire load is carried on the trailer's wheels, with only a small fraction (tongue weight) carried by the towing vehicle.
"Truck" is word with and equally interesting, and much longer, history.
Fun Fact: "18 wheeler" is what 747 pilots sometimes call their planes. Go ahead and count the wheels on a 747.
The B-36 has six "pusher" piston engines. By contrast, similar recip engines on the B-17 are tractors.
Thank you - informative and comprehensive, as always. I guess turboprops don't require this.
Yes, in most cases they do but some countries allow them to power back
I was on a turboprop at Glasgow Central and it had a pushback.
It didn't when it reached Islay, it just stopped somewhere it wouldn't have to reverse.
Turboprops have the same FOD ingestion problems as jets do.
Mark Jackson A320 is taller, but they're about the same lengthwise.
A Super Cub has a reciprocating piston engine. Are you a pilot?
I actually have seen reverse thrust used to push back from a gate before.
Not by a pilot though. Taxi-rated technicians have no chill when it comes to dealing with ramp operations. Especially late at night when no one is actually on shift to drive the tug.
He taxis into the wrong gate, immediately hits the reverse and parks it at the right one.
You'd never see them do it in the daytime though.
Around 2002 Delta airlines banned all their mechanics from taxing aircraft into the ramp areas under power after two techs damaged a plane, a push back tug, and a jet bridge. They taxied in too fast, slammed the brakes which cause the nose gear to buckle and dropped the front of the aircraft onto the push back tug. The aircraft and tug then slid into the jet bridge. Delta sent out an internal company wide email about it, which included pictures.
@@TgrHwke I remember that incident. I work with United, so I don't know much about Delta's way of doing things. United Express' regional partners are a bit detached from mainline when it comes to policy. But changes to that are in the works. Our maintenance run/taxi training is already very lengthy, and United wants to make it even longer.
Is it not rolling resistance rather than friction that the strong men have to overcome? Great video, very informative :) love the channel
You might be right, I looked that up fairly quickly.
Well rolling resistance boils down to regular friction between the axle and whatever is holding it in place + the deformation of the tyre. It acts the same as normal kinetic friction.
The most difficult part of getting the aircraft to move is actually static friction, which can be significantly higher. Getting the plane to move in the first place is the most difficult part. Once it is moving it is relatively simple to keep it going.
Niosus thanks for your comment. I thought of inertia as well as the toughest part to move it. It's just a scaled up version of moving a wheel barrel full of sand. Once you get it going, it's not that hard.
Maybe we should call it static rolling resistance. Without having Googled, I think you have a point.
I retired form one of the big 3 airlines in the USA. For a number of years we did power back the MD-80 and the 727. We called the tug that lifts the nose tire "the lobster".
Can u talk about ‘sink rate’ I keep hearing it but never understand what it means
"sink rate" can refer to rate of descent while flying. Also, the aircraft Ground Proximity Warning System GPWS can announce "sink rate" in the cockpit if the aircraft's rate of descent is so high that the GPWS projects the aircraft could soon strike the ground.
Jaden Corner
It means that the aircraft is descending to fast.
Aviation Nut yeah I looked it up just after posting the comment
Its part of the GPWS system.
That system monitors all parameters related to aircraft position an movement.
If you decent to fast, it will call "sink rate".
If you get to close to terrain, i will warn you with several terrain call outs.
In case of diviation from the ILS path, you will hear "glide slope" warnings.
If you below 2500 feet, it calls radar height like 2500, 1000,500 and so on.
I think it the most important protection system in an aircraft.
GPWS means Ground Proximity Warnung System
Yet another very interesting podcast and fantastic linked videos. Cheers!
Not powerful? That first one you showed, pushing AirBerlin 737, has a freaking Leopard engine. Yes Leopard as that Main Battle Tank half of Europe is using. If that's not powerful then I don't know what is. Other than that - great video.
True true, my point is that they NORMALLY don’t need that much horsepower. 😂
You know, most agricultural tractors range from 100hp to 300hp. And even 140hp John Deere 7810 my family used to own could pull really heavy things. or some relativly lite things but pull them through rough soil.
As a former ramper, this is spot on information.
Great educațional video ! I have a question though , why do we sometimes smell jet fuel in the cabin during the pushback operation ? Thanks !
you are probably smelling the exhaust of the pushback tug/tractor which runs on diesel fuel, which is very similar to jet fuel. The tug exhaust is sucked into the engines and some of it makes it through the air conditioning packs/pressurization into the cabin.
That, and jet fuel smell permeates everywhere. Especially if there's been a spill recently (it happens more than you think. We get at least one spill a week).
As always - appreciate fantastic job that You do with Your movies. :-) Just one correrction. The force required to start rolling the aircraft DOES NOT come from friction. Except for the fact, that proper friction must be there for the tow trucks tire or a man feet :) The force required to roll the aircraft comes from ROLLING RESISTANCE (rolling resistance coefficient), which is something completly different and has a little to do with friction. Basicly - every wheel gets a little flattened in the point of contact with surface and this creates a mommentum that must be overcome by the towing force. This plus some (or a lot) other small factors that come together. If it wasn't for that little piece of flatten wheel, a train with perfectly hard wheel on a perfectly hard and perfectly flat track, with perfectly hard bearings in its wheels would never stop once pushed (if not considering the air resistance) :)
DELTA TUG 2 !
-Kennedy Steeve
World's slowest tug. Delta tug 2
Yes, it is, to prevent that reverse thrust sucks in stuff that isn't stick to the ground.
But if necessary, aircraft also can reverse by themselves, but very not recommanded.
How do pilots calculate aircraft weight in accuracy..?
I would guess that there is a scale in each part of the landing gear, that provides the load supported by each wheel. Sure you could weigh each bag the passengers check, but you are still stuck estimating for each passenger and their carry-on bags.
@@carultch not really, but good guess! the reason that airlines stop check in 30 minutes before the flight is for weight and balance reasons. the weight and calculations are not done by the pilots but by the ground crew. airlines use a combination of bag counts and the number of passengers to give the weights for the aircraft. these are printed in 2 areas, first is in the flight plan for the pilots, and secondly is for the ground crew; the latter not only tells the weight, but also the number of bags, and which part of the cargo bins to put the bags in to ensure the weight stays balanced. It takes a village to run a single airplane.
@@carultch just to clarify on what i mentioned, the second guess you made was actually correct, the airlines use an average weight for passengers and carry ons, while weights need to be accurate it's ok to round up a couple pounds without affecting the weight calculations to a degree that would matter.
The pilots dont calculate any baggage. This is done by the dispatch agency and the position of the bags on the aircraft will give generally give the pilots a stable aircraft requiring little trim (and so cost saving). Back in the early 2000's the dispatchers would work on an average of each bag weighing 25kg and an average of 40 bags on an AKE can. And so each can weighs on average 1 metric ton. These of course can be easily weighed once filled anyway. The baggage handlers for loose baggage would be asked to 'fill from the front/Back' etc
@@lukegriffiths6569 yep. Fun fact is with most planes we have to unload the back first and load the front first cause they tend to tail tip if the back gets loaded first (looking at you Delta)
The towbar less is a common item for larger heavier aircraft. They are also called supetrugs and are often used when bringing the aircraft from the hangar to the gate or other way around. Saves engine wear and also reduces the chances of getting a foreign object into the engine (s). The only item that should go into jet engine intakes is air.
Why would the engine ingress more dust and debris when reversing than going forward like in normal taxiing ?
Because the reversers will throw debris from the ground forward, that will then be ingested by the engine.
Always facinated of how something can push such a big heavy airplane. Thank you for the video!
DELTA TUG 2!
I thought it was Delta SUPER tug 2!
"Life will never be the same without Delta Tug 4" - me, after Steve retired.
Taaaam Supertug!(God, I miss Kennedy Steve!)
What do you know about electric taxi systems? That's where the landing gear has built-in electric motors, which allow the plane to push itself back and taxi without the engines running. What planes have them? Do you think they'll catch on, or will there be too much weight penalty?
I did push back for American for 4 yrs pay sucked had to move on ✌
SPYDER MIKE I would have thought American used mechanics to do their pushups. I did ground services many years ago for People Express which included pushbacks. I loved it. The pay was low but not a big deal at the time since I was a kid still living at home rent free .
@@billjoang it was definitely a cool job I was living home as well the girls watching us upstairs was a bonus but I couldn't afford to take them on a date...lol
Great video sir....Espeacially love that intro video, lots of love from India
You’re looking for the word inertia :)
There's so much to learn from your videos. Thanks for doing these videos. I have many questions to ask but I would like to first ask for you explain the significance of runway markings eg.13R/31L. Thanks again and do keep the videos coming.
130 degrees right hand runway, or 310 degrees left hand runway.
Why dint you hire these strong men instead of the trucks to do the push backs? ; )
They are to rare and to expensive. And it takes to much time 😂
Also the pilots would lose the arm wrestling after-hours
The pushback vheicles nerver get tired.
We need more H1B visas to bring in strong men from Hungary to pull jets with their teeth .
Watch world's strongest man to see - they usually only last a few events before they tear a muscle!
Fantastic video!! I didn't know at all about those new robots... Let's wait and see what happens!!!
please make a video on Aeroplane's jet Engine.
how they work, if there is no piston and combustion chamber. i have seen a lot of video on it, nothing cleared my confusions, you plz make a video. thanks.
i know this process suck squeeze compress burn exit. but i want to know the exact mechanism, some people say igniters r shut off at cruising altitude, only the burner is lit etc etc.
Jet engines are reaction engines which means the hot gasses coming out at the back of the engines pushes the engine and what ever it is attached to forward just like a balloon inflated and you let it go without tying it mouth all the air come out and the balloon stops . Same principle but only in jets a fan or sets of fans infront of the engine called engine inlet keeps supplying air to the engine compressing it as it goes further inside the engine aftet which it enter a defused section which stable the air before it enter the combustion chamber which is a high performance stove in theory and then the hot gasses leaves through nvg meaning nozzel guided vanes which is a set of fans designed to capture the escsping gasses and ,the fan or fans spins .the fan is in front is connected to a shaft to the ngv at the back so they both spin st the same speed.
Air sucked in. Air compressed. Fuel added. Go boom=Air get more energy. Compressed again. High thrust push plane
i know this process suck squeeze compress burn exit. but i want to know the exact mechanism, some people say igniters r shut off at cruising altitude, only the burner is lit etc etc.
keith moore suppose its raining ?
Suck, squeeze, bang, blow.
Interesting, I've heard that a contributing factor to the Air Florida flight 90 crash in 1982 was the attempt to use reverse thrust to back away from gate when the tug was unable to move the aircraft. The plane was a 737, engines low.
I was flying allegiant, and the tow bar broke when we were pushing back. Is that a rare thing to happen or is it common?
Allegiant uses old and worn out ground equipment. That's one way they keep the prices so low.
It's fairly rare for a towbar to break (Allegiant comment notwithstanding), but usually has 1 or more other factors involved if it happens. Generally there is some action or event that causes some form of side load on the towbar that would stress it to the point of either bending or breaking.
More than likely a shear pin popped.. in this instance very common
We broke the shear pins on several tow bars during my AF career. The shear pins break before the aircraft is damaged. Turning too sharp, too much brake, or the biggest was operator error. The person in the cockpit accidentally hits the steering tiller/wheel, overriding what the tow bar is trying to do. Also each aircraft has a different pep before towing, and it may not have followed the proper instructions.
This is fantastic--answers to all these questions that I've wondered over the years! Much appreciated.
Wouldn't pilot controlled, robotic tugs suffer from the same lack of aft visibility as using thrust reversers?
You could put a backup camera in the robotic tug, and display the output on a screen for the pilot.
One advantage is you have a lot more control over the wheel propulsion that the tug machines use, than you have over the jet engine propulsion. It is a lot easier to start and stop a regular internal combustion engine or electric motor, than it is to do the same with a jet engine at low power.
Been wondering how they work for a while, thanks!