Hi all,
Today I have a question about the generel operation of reverse thrust in the real 787.
Is the reverse thrust simply a question of on/off (deployed, not deployed) with the reverse thrust lever? Or can I “dose” the amount of reverse thrust with the reverse thrust lever?
I know that most throttle quadrant implemented this function as a button, so with the lever you can turn that on or off. But is the reverse thrust lever in the real life aircraft used as an axis to dose the amount of reverse thrust?
Thanks a lot and best regards,
Oliver
From my understanding, thrust reversers in jets is on or off, there is no power setting for them.
The reverser is mechanical and directs the jet blast forward to help slow the aircraft and conserve breaks.
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In real jets, levers (generally foreward of the throttle) operate the reverse thrust mechanism, directing engine exhaust (thrust) foreward.
The throttles then are used to increase the engine speed to get the desired amount of reverse thrust.
Airbusses are slightly different, as there are no levers to engage the mechanism.
The throttles on an Airbus are pulled past the idle detent, towards the rear, and the more rearward you position the throttles, the more reverse thrust is produced.
AFAIK, MSFS does not have the capacity to do so.
It is full reverse thrust or none.
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Ok, found a very nice video, and yes, when the reverser is turned on it is at idle reverse thrust first. You can then give up to 70% reverese thrust by pulling the throttle back to you.
I will now try to configure my Thrustmaster Boing quadrant and see, how it works out.
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Ok - it does indeed work as intented with MSFS!
You have to bind the two reverse thrust levers (recognized as a button press 5+6 on the Thrustmaster Boeing quadrant) to: Hold Reverse thrust
If you then toggle reverse thrust ´(by pulling the reverse thrust lever toward you) and apply thrust again (by pushing the regular throttle levers foreward) then in the sim you see actually moving the reverse thrust levers moving back (hence applying more reverse thrust).
Awesome! So you can really apply dosed reverse thrust within MSFS 
Found the original 787 Crew training manual. On page 235-237 it is explained. The amount of reverse thrust is indeed controlles by movement of the thrust reverse levers (after engaging thrust revers by the interlock position of the levers)
Thrust reversers are usually always used in the “idle-reverse” detent, in this case the thrust reverser deploys but the engine remains at idle. Usually that’s it, they are never taken into account for normal landing distance calculations so theoretically you don’t need them, also a lot of airports have restrictions on the use of them. Its never forbidden to used thrust reverse in case of emergency of course, but usually noise sensitive airports limit the use to idle reverse only. You still want to deploy them to the idle detent so they are ready for use should you need them, it takes time for their deployment so you don’t want to wait for that if you suddenly do need them. They are most effective at high speed and become less effective as speed reduces, also they whirl up sand and other FOD from the runway which can be ingested into the engine together with re-ingestion of exhaust gasses so you want to stow them early. Usually around 80 kts you will slowly cancel reverse to be at idle reverse at 60 kts (groundspeed), then at 60 kts stow them. Those speeds depend on aircraft type, but the speeds given are typical figures. You can use reverse all the way to stop if needed for whatever reason, its just not that good for the engine. They are of course unaffected by runway contamination, while the wheel brakes are depending on tire friction with the runway. With an engine failure you lose the thrust reverse capability (at least 50% of it) so for rejected take-off they are not taken into account for performance. There are a lot of exceptions and use cases for reverse thrust, but this post is already getting too long 
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Thanks a lot for the explanation and clarification! 
Hi all,
So what I get from this thread is that reversers operation is an “on-off” thing.
But I have a throttle unit with reverser knobs wired as axes instead (operating a pot)… Is there a way to properly configure them in MSFS or else do I have to hack the MTU and replace the potentiometers with switches?
Thanks!
