Nose gear Structure Limit

Disclaimer: 

▪︎This content is Not an official document and does not represent the views of Airbus or any other aviation authority.

▪︎The information provided may be incorrect or misinterpreted and should not be relied upon for decision-making. 

▪︎Always refer to official documents and consult with a qualified aviation professional before making any decisions based on the information provided in this blog post.

▪︎The information provided in this blog post is based on personal study and review.

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EXTERIOR WALKAROUND

The flight crew is required to conduct a thorough walkaround before each flight. During the exterior walkaround, the parking brake must be set to ON to facilitate the inspection of brake wear indicators.

The brake wear indicator shifts slightly when the parking brake is applied, causing its position to change. Therefore, it moves a bit after the parking brake is engaged.

If any landing gear door is open, hydraulic power should not be applied until clearance is obtained from ground personnel.

 

MAINTENANCE MANUAL ABOUT EXTERIOR WALKAROUND 

There are many aspects to consider during the walkaround, and sometimes the Flight Crew Operating Manual (FCOM) explanations may not provide sufficient details regarding the limits and standards for the exterior walkaround by the flight crew.

Ideally, maintenance manuals should establish specific limits for the exterior inspection, yet, from my personal experience, airlines do not officially provide maintenance manuals to pilots.

Moreover, the maintenance department might be reluctant to disclose all these limits to pilots.

This creates a controversial and ironic situation where both maintenance and pilots share the common goal of safety, but the necessary information is not readily available.

 

maybe? 🤨🧐,,, if pilots are knowledgeable about all the exterior limits, it might pose some inconvenience for maintenance. ?? 

 

Even Airbus manuals like FCOM do not furnish detailed limits on exterior walkaround for pilots.

Perhaps, this is because pilots need to focus on operational aspects rather than getting too involved in the walkaround. However, the Pilot in Command (PIC) bears the responsibility to complete the exterior walkaround diligently.

 

NOSE GEAR STRUCTURE ... CHECK CONDITION

Despite the challenges in accessing maintenance manuals and the absence of specific limits in pilot manuals, there are additional considerations for pilots during the exterior inspection.

One aspect is the nose structure height limit.

Even though this limit may not be explicitly mentioned in the Flight Crew Operating Manual (FCOM),

think it is essential for pilots to be aware of it.

I recall an moment when an aircraft was grounded because maintenance discovered that the nose gear strut was fully compressed. The aircraft had to be changed, and at that time, I perceived it as a rare situation given the complete compression of the nose gear.

However, it turned out there was a specific limitation regarding the height of the nose gear structure. 

This limitation was printed on the back of the nose gear, accompanied by a temperature graph. 

In a later incident during one of my flights, the aircraft had to be grounded again because of the this again.

This situation occurred after loading passengers and cargo, following the completion of the exterior inspection by the pilot.