I couldn’t figure out why all of a sudden my reverse thrust was not working as it always has.
In the A320 or Mig 29 for example, if I landed and throttled down to idle, and hit my reverse thrust bind, reverse thrust would kick in(engine for the A320 and parachute for Mig 29). I could do this with my (X-52) throttle remaining in idle position.
However after confirming with a real pilot, in real life you are supposed to throttle down to idle, hit reverse thrust, and then throttle up. This makes sense. Previously it’s as if my reverse thrust button was working as both a reverse thrust, and throttle up. Convenient for me? Yes. However accurate to real life? No.
I put a zendesk ticket in and when I followed their suggestions, when I was hitting reverse thrust(with throttle down), I’d hear clicking but reverse thrust was no longer working with this method as it previously did.
I guess SU10 changed/fixed something because now the only way for me to use reverse thrust and it work, is for me to do it the correct way. And I absolutely love that! I love it when MS/Asobo “get it right”. I just wish I was informed
No it is not always like that. While there may be aircraft that work that way (I’m not aware of any).
Airbus has a detent at idle, to get into reverse you lift two flaps behind the throttles, and then the throttles travel further back into reverse. Other smaller aircraft and turboprops have somehow similar design, where throttles can travel further back to engage reverse.
Boeing aircraft have levers mounted to the throttles, which upon lifting, engage reverse. Further lifting, more reverse thrust.
The method you describe can be configured in MSFS, as long as you assign a button to engage reverse, then if you advance the throttles, it will provide reverse thrust.
The “correct” way to do this has always confused me too (also used to think, in a real aircraft, that you flip the reverser levers with your finger and throttle back up). I never ended up finding a all-in-one resource or guide or video as to how to do this, but I just kinda ended up piecing it together in my head after reading a lot.
Yep, that’s how I ended up doing it. Reverse thrust in airliner jets is now flipping the reverse thrust levers back with my fingers (both in the Boeing style commercial levers, and the Airbus throttle pack as well), bringing the throttles down towards me into the detent, waiting for the aircraft to slow, and then bringing them back up into idle and flipping the reverse levers back forward. How closely this mimicks an actual landing, I’m not 100% sure, but it feels good to me and what I’m doing with my Bravo matches what I’m seeing in the virtual cockpit in MSFS, so I feel like I’m as close as I can get (considering Bravo’s reverse detent is registered as a button rather than a separate axis).
My friend, who is very close to obtaining his PPL (at 17! ), shared with me a video of him flying in a real airline simulator, with a real airline pilot. I can’t remember which aircraft the simulator was for, but one thing I do remember is that when my friend landed he was advised that reverse thrust is not always necessary these days, due to, I think he said, how good the brakes are on modern airliners these days. He did say that reverse thrust tends to be used only on shorter runways now and/or on older airliners.
Very much so, however a more frequent reason is noise abatement. Large airports tend to prohibit use of full reverse unless safety is a concern.
It is very common to use idle reverse, which helps a bit, and is usually allowed.
Some aircraft don’t have reverse thrust, the BAe146 for example. How much reverse you use depends on the situation and company policy. Where I work the policy is to always select full reverse thrust for every landing and then to come back to idle revers as appropriate, this might be immediately or after you’ve decelerated. We always go to full reverse initially though, the thinking is that it keeps your muscle memory for going to full reverse.
As for brakes, yes they are good but the more they are used the hotter they get. This can be a problem for the next take-off if the turn-around is short and the taxi to and from the runway is long. Unlike in MSFS2020, a real A320, once moving, will easily accelerate with idle thrust and needs regular brake applications to keep the speed down.
I remember the days when airliners would use reverse thrust to back away from the gate. No need to wait for a pushback tractor. I’m guessing this isn’t a thing anymore?
I’m sure it’s done somewhere in the world. There’s a high risk of ingesting debris into the engine when using reverse at low speeds, particularly on underslung engines.
), shared with me a video of him flying in a real airline simulator, with a real airline pilot. I can’t remember which aircraft the simulator was for, but one thing I do remember is that when my friend landed he was advised that reverse thrust is not always necessary these days, due to, I think he said, how good the brakes are on modern airliners these days. He did say that reverse thrust tends to be used only on shorter runways now and/or on older airliners.
