what’s the use of the cart that pushes back the airplane? Can planes not reverse without it?
In: 188
Think of a plane like a mullet. All business in the front, all party in the back. Would you walk around with a reverse mullet? Same logic here.
They can.
Gates are packed tight with planes, people running around loading/unloading them. Hitting reverse sucks a lot of air. That, and they don’t exactly have mirrors to use to back up.
Easier to control their movement in a busy environment with a tug.
Money, jet fuel is far more expensive than the fuel for the little tug.
I build products for airlines on the Tarmac. We have a complete system of hoses that run from H/Vac units under the bridge to the airplane because it is too expensive to run the onboard climate control off the jet fuel.
Everybody is talking about how it uses more fuel or is dangerous but I don’t see people mentioning (maybe I’m not far down enough) that not all planes have reverse thrusters.
Back in the early 80’s and prior planes would do exactly that at the gate and ramp up the engines to push back. It would shake the windows of the terminal.
“Have you ever seen rearview mirrors on an aircraft?” Is the answer my supervisor with delta gave me with the EXACT same question. Still my favorite answer
There’s a company called WheelTug that’s actually working on an electric motor for the front wheels that lets the plane taxi on its own
Think of those big mascot costumes. You know, the ones with the small holes in the front for the person inside to see out of? While wearing those, you technically can move around on your own, but they’re bulky and you can’t see very well and will probably either bump into people or trip over things.
Now imagine that, in that bulky costume that is difficult to move around in, you have to carefully shuffle your way backwards- a direction you can’t really see with your limited eyesight- and make it between two kids in wheelchairs without bumping into either of them, and also get into just the right position for a photograph. Sounds pretty difficult, yeah?
So the mascot uses 1-2 people called spotters (sometimes more if the costume is big) to help them around. The spotters watch all sides of the mascot and help shuffle them backwards so they can get into position without knocking anyone over or damaging any of the camera equipment. Yes, the mascot could technically do this without spotters, but it is a lot easier and a lot less risky to do this with their help.
The plane is the mascot, the cart is the spotter.
Planes will also have several other people standing around a reversing plane to act as more spotters, since planes big.
Think of it like a tugboat for a large ship. It’s safer to move a ship in and out of tight spaces with tugboats. It’s safer to move the plane with the cart as the cart driver has better visibility of objects on the ground than the pilot.
Airplanes are not really designed to be on the ground…
So firstly they just don’t have any way of powering the wheels – to add in an engine and motor big enough to derive a plane about and reverse it would add notable weight and complexity to the plane – both of which are generally considered the enemy is efficient and reliable flight.
You then have to add to that a high cockpit position without a clear view of the ground, and zero view behind – okay for trundling along a clear taxiway, but dangerous in close quarters where the pilot would be maneuvering completely blind and trusting to an external watcher.
So what we end up with is the decision to use a tug while near the gate and needing to do fine maneuvering near people, structures and equipment – after all, a plane is already heavily reliant on ground based equipment anyway, so it isn’t a huge addition. And then when clear of buildings it can then use its engines to push itself along.
In theory, yes, most planes can use reverse thrust to reverse out on their own, however that also results in directing the power of that thrust at the departure gates and other structure, which is pretty far from ideal. Ground crew don’t really want to have to clear everything nearby and reinforce the windows just to move a plane.
Latest Answers