Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Intersting site, but the screens inside the wheel well were on all -200s
of the period. They aren't for gravel protection, they are to protect
the hydraulics in the event of a tire burst. If they are badly
disturbed, there's a warning in the office to say so. Later ones didn't,
but on those, most of the hydraulics and the aileron actuator were
forward of the wheel well bulkhead.
the gravel deflector on the nosewheel is huge compred to the one we had.
Our's retracted inside the wheel well, unless i'm remember ing it wrong.
I have a pic of the airplanes somewhere.
It doesn't show the vortx killers under the nacelles. They looked like
long pitot tubes that stuck out a couple of feet in front of the intakes
and used bleed air in some mystical way to keep dust from coming into
the engines. They may have workedm but you could shave with a fan blade
after six months of operaton in fine dust and sand.

Alaska Airlines used to operate some combis fitted out with all that
gear. I've been a passenger on them in the past in some of their smaller
stations. Here's a photo of one showing the vortex killers as well as
the nosewheel deflector:

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=459024