737 Blown Across Ramp

Phil wrote in
:

I know they call it the Windy City, but this is ridiculous...

http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?C...2-d205-411d-89
15-86c169181d87&


Happens all the time. The fins are huge and some airplanes weathervane
easily.
It happened to one of our airplanes (727) years ago unbeknowst to the crew.
The FE did the walkaround and noticed that the Radome had two nostrils.
Further investigations revealed that the airplane had turned around in high
winds and had ridden up on top of the GPU. The handling agent needed their
GPU for another airplane, but found a 727 inconvieniently parked on top of
it, so they lifted the nose of the airplane with a forklift in order to get
it out. They went right through the radome and into the forward pressure
bulkhead.
I've had two airplanes weathervane on me, though, both undamaged.


Bertie

wrote in :

Robert M. Gary wrote:
On Dec 27, 1:14?pm, Matt Whiting wrote:
Phil wrote:
I know they call it the Windy City, but this is ridiculous...

http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?C...c7642-d205-411
d-...

Phil

What do you want to bet that the brakes weren't set?

That would be odd. Why would the brakes be set if no one was on
board? Makes it a bit tough to tow.

So it doesn't roll away in the wind all on it's own with no one on
board?

Or, if they were expecting to tow it in the immediate future, where
were the chocks to make sure it doesn't roll away in the wind all on
it's own until they got around to towing it?



They'll jump all but the best chocks if the wind is strong enough. Mostly
it's airplanes with the engines out back that do this most easily, but
they'll all do it in enough wind.


Bertie

"F. Baum" wrote in news:e1b315c4-b509-45f3-8f45-
:

On Dec 27, 4:18*pm, "Bob Gardner" wrote:

While its possible that someone does it, I'm not aware of any operator
that sets the brake on aircraft when its not occupied. Usually chalks
work just fine and are easier to move when you need to tow. In smaller
aircraft there are other reasons to avoid setting the brake, like
changes in outside pressure could burst the brake seals.

-Robert

Robert, out of everyone so far you are the closest. The brakes are
released as soon as the chalks in signal is recieved. This is mainly
done to facilitate brake cooling because airlines typicaly work with
45 minute turn times and leaving them set would greatly increase QTA
The brake temp actually peaks about 10 minutes after landing .the fuse
plugs can melt if the brake are left set . The 737 has a brake
acumulator which will sufice for several parking brake applications,
but chalks are still used for safety reasons . Just before push the
process is reversed, The parting brake is set before the tug is hooked
up and the chalks removed. Someone ask about brake pressures; the A&B
hydraulics run at 3000 LBS which is reduced to 300 at the gear (In the
event of a leak this prevents a total loss of fluid) I was not able to
open the link but I hope this helps.

Depends on the operator and the type of airplane. We leave our brakes on
almost all the time unless the temps have gond through the roof. Not that
it does much good if you leave the thing parked. The 75 is the worst I've
ever seen for holding parking brake pressure. On some of our airpanes, it's
gine in a couple of hours. None of them will hold it 12




Bertie

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in
:

On Dec 27, 1:55*pm, wrote:

So it doesn't roll away in the wind all on it's own with no one on
board?

Or, if they were expecting to tow it in the immediate future, where
were the chocks to make sure it doesn't roll away in the wind all on
it's own until they got around to towing it?

While its possible that someone does it, I'm not aware of any operator
that sets the brake on aircraft when its not occupied.


We do. Our's are pretty lightly stressed, though.


Usually chalks
work just fine and are easier to move when you need to tow. In smaller
aircraft there are other reasons to avoid setting the brake, like
changes in outside pressure could burst the brake seals.

Mmm, doubt that.

The best reason I can think of for not relying on the parking brake in a
wind is that they are not very reliable. Schwinn could make a better
arrangement than you see on most Cessnas, for instance.
Brakes are next to useless in very high winds anyway. After all, if the
wing is being lifted....

Bertie

"RST Engineering" wrote in
:

Anyone who watched the Bears game on Sunday and saw Brent Fabre say
that it was the coldest game he'd ever played it knows that it was an
absolute ice rink at Midway. You could have set those brakes at a
thousand psi and that sucker would have fancydanced across the ice in
that wind.


Wel, they would have been set at 3,000 PSI in fact,

No chocks, only tiedowns could have kept that aircraft from moving.

True.

Bertie

Mike Beede writes:
I was told during primary training that if you left the parking brake
on the pads could rust to the disks or drum and make it hard to get
moving.

I ride my bike to work, so often I don't drive my car for a week or
more. This happens to me fairly often in my car -- I don't see why it
wouldn't happen in a plane even more often.

Chris

On Dec 28, 12:23*am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Phil wrote :

I know they call it the Windy City, but this is ridiculous...

http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?C...2-d205-411d-89
15-86c169181d87&

Happens all the time. The fins are huge and some airplanes weathervane
easily.
It happened to one of our airplanes (727) years ago unbeknowst to the crew..
The FE did the walkaround and noticed that the Radome had two nostrils.
Further investigations revealed that the airplane had turned around in high
winds and had ridden up on top of the GPU. The handling agent needed their
GPU for another airplane, but found a 727 inconvieniently parked on top of
it, so they lifted the nose of the airplane with a forklift in order to get
it out. They went right through the radome and into the forward pressure
bulkhead.
I've had two airplanes weathervane on me, though, both undamaged.

Bertie

Interesting. I've never heard of this before. When it weathervanes,
how does that work? Does it pivot around the mains and drag the
nosewheel?

Phil

Phil wrote in
:

On Dec 28, 12:23*am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Phil wrote
innews:549d11fb-44f9-414a-ac63-af2923f7
:

I know they call it the Windy City, but this is ridiculous...

http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?C...161c7642-d205-
411d-
89

15-86c169181d87&

Happens all the time. The fins are huge and some airplanes
weathervane easily.
It happened to one of our airplanes (727) years ago unbeknowst to the
crew
.
The FE did the walkaround and noticed that the Radome had two
nostrils. Further investigations revealed that the airplane had
turned around in hig
h
winds and had ridden up on top of the GPU. The handling agent needed
their

GPU for another airplane, but found a 727 inconvieniently parked on
top of

it, so they lifted the nose of the airplane with a forklift in order
to ge
t
it out. They went right through the radome and into the forward
pressure bulkhead.
I've had two airplanes weathervane on me, though, both undamaged.

Bertie

Interesting. I've never heard of this before. When it weathervanes,
how does that work? Does it pivot around the mains and drag the
nosewheel?

Exactly. Chocks will ordinarily keep the airplane in place. Some outfits
don't chock properly and/or use crap chocks. A friend of mine ran up to
the flight deck of another 737 when he saw it crush the only chock it
had, a nosewheel chock on one wheel and roll towad the terminal. It
damaged it's airstairs, but that's all. They were lucky.

Bertie

On Dec 27, 10:32*pm, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

The best reason I can think of for not relying on the parking brake in a
wind is that they are not very reliable. Schwinn could make a better
arrangement than you see on most Cessnas, for instance.
Brakes are next to useless in very high winds anyway. After all, if the
wing is being lifted....

I've never had occasion to stand on an airplane's brake but when I use
the same amount of foot pressure on my Mooney as in my Saturn the
Saturn will stop in 1/2 the distance.

-Robert

On Dec 27, 6:16*pm, Matt Whiting wrote:
Robert M. Gary wrote:
On Dec 27, 3:18 pm, "Bob Gardner" wrote:
Chocks, Robert, chocks. Use your dictionary.

How do you know I don't use chalks?

Given your demonstrated knowledge about parking aircraft ... I suspect
that you do use chalks.

Hey, they're multi use and no one takes them.

-Robert