Since I purchased the ATR on initial release I’ve been really careful with my rotation AOA to avoid scraping the small probe, visible just under the registration in the below image, on the runway.
I never recollected seeing this protrusion on a real ATR-72 aircraft and I finally remembered just now to consult some real-world images — and sure enough, no probe. Am I missing something simple here? Is it retractable or a fault with Asobo’s exterior model? It’s certainly been a bit of a pain, requiring my take-offs to be very precise!
That’s where the tail stand rod attachment connects. It pulls down and the stand bar is “pinned” to it, and a “milk stool” type attachment is connected to help prevent setting the plane on it’s tail if they misload while sitting on the ground.
Thanks, but that bulge is further towards the tail, visible under the rear starboard door in the MSFS image. I’m referring to the protrusion (or ‘fin’) under the registration, which isn’t present in any photos of the real aircraft.
Still not sure which one you’re referring to. For the one I think you’re talking about, given it’s shape, I’d suggest it’s a fin antenna (possibly a UHF antenna). It’s not unusual for antennas to be located in different areas depending on the airline/owner, they may have it in a different spot than others, and it may serve as an under and over antenna system to prevent signal shadowing.
Regards
Yes, the fin appears only on older ATR 42 models but on no ATR 72. That it inhibits take-off led me to suspect it was not a feature of the real 72 aircraft. The 42’s shorter fuselage means the rotation angle is largely unaffected but it needs fixing on both types since they represent the latest -600 versions.
A non-retractable tail skid is installed on the rear section of the A/C fuselage in order to avoid fuselage contact with the runway when the take-off or the landing attitude has an angle of 8 degrees or greater.
The equipment includes:
A skid lever attached to the fuselage
A shock absorber which is connected to the fuselage by a ball joint hinge
SKID LEVER:
It is made from an aluminum alloy forging.
A replaceable stainless-steel plate (shoe), attached by four screws to the skid lever, covers the contact area. This shoe is painted to provide evidence of skid touch-down.
A fiberglass fairing, aerodynamically shaped, is attached by five screws to the upper part of the skid lever to prevent water and stones from entering when the tail skid is not compressed.
The skid lever is attached to the fuselage structure and to the shock damper by two steel pins with self-lubricating bushings.
To avoid aerodynamic problems, the gap, between the skid lever and the fuselage fairing, is closed by seals.
On both sides of the tail skid the fuselage is equipped with structural vertical “Limit Stroke Detector”.
These items are designed in order to be deformed when the skid lever stroke is greater than 112 mm. These two “Limit Stroke Detectors” are painted red.
TAIL PROP:
On ground during passengers boarding / desembarking, the tail prop must be installed on the tail skid to avoid a possible tipping-up.
The tail prop is a metallic cylinder installed below the tail in order to avoid the aircraft to tip up on the tail in case of persons (above 7) moving around during off loading.
When not used, the tail prop is stored in the rear unpressurized area of the aircraft (beyond the aft bulk compartment). The tail prop can be also stored in the rear cargo (optional).
That’s what I thought they were looking at, but per their discussion above, I believe they mean the blade antenna that shouldn’t be on this model ATR.
Regards
5RC2 is the issue, these are not on the real world 600 variants.
But they are in the sim.
In the 72-600, it results in a tail strike with even the smallest amount of rotation.
Exactly. I’m surprised no one has picked up on this before now — unless like me everyone’s been forgetting to publicly highlight it here.
It’s a real pain, I have been mitigating it by setting the elevator trim so that the aircraft gets airborne gently of its own accord. But it’s really been marring my ATR flights lately and yesterday I finally made the effort to post about it. And since my research proves that such an antenna has never existed on any 72 model, it’s very quickly become quite problematic.
Surely it’s a very small job to remove (or accurately relocate) it, and for the painters to fix their liveries accordingly?
That’s exactly what I do for takeoffs as well, but I hadn’t noticed the extra antenna.
I’m not sure if you would have to change the liveries.
You wouldn’t think it would take much work to remove that antenna.
It’s not a transponder or DME antenna, which is normally no more than 1.5 inches long. It looks more like a VHF antenna or possibly a heated drain mast for water from the sink in the lavatory.
Some ATR 42’s apparently do have it. There is a photo several posts above of a 42 in FEDEx livery where it is present. I have found no photos of an ATR 72 where it is shown however.
