Jet Blue Nose Gear

[jinman]

Some interesting photos... Thankfully!

 

[jinman]

Another...

 

[jinman]

Final.

 

[JayC]

Those are some good photos. When they were coming in for the landing, I was holding my breath. They are so lucky that the nose gear held. I thought sure it would have collapsed. The pilot sure did a great job landing it.

 

[BB_TX]

Pretty amazing he was able to hold it down the middle of the runway. I assume they normally steer with the front wheel on landing. He was obviously very good. Was he also very lucky? Or did he manage to keep it straight with the rudder?

 

[gmsssi]

I can't believe it didn't grind away more of the wheel. Must be tough stuff!

 

[beenthere]

Amazing alright, that that gear can withstand that pressure.

I don't think the front nose wheel is used for any steering while landing. Only when taxi'ing at very slow speeds around the terminal. Some braking of the main wheels per the normal 'steering' procedure is likely all that was used, along with keeping some of the load off the nose wheel as long as possible.

 

[HGM]

That was my understanding of the steering. On landing I noticed he kept that wheel in the air as long as possilbe to eliminate the directional drift, I would think. They also mentioned that the gear on that craft folds forward so it couldnt fold back without breaking. I guess that added to the success they had. Prety remarkable, he's a great pilot. Could you immagine being on the plane for 3hrs knowing it had an issue involving landing /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

I dont understand why they didnt complete the trip and land in NY, it would have been the same iss there and everyone would have made it to their destination. Unless they didnt want to do it in the dark?

 

[thcri]

To me it should have snapped. If the nose was pointed back it would have been ok, but the wheels and gear were pointing forward, the traction on the wheels have to be greatly increased since they were pointing forward. Amazing


murph

 

[jinman]

Here's a closeup of the leading wheel. Notice that the greas in the bearing seems to still be in good shape (not burned to a crisp). You'd expect the heat to make that wheel red hot, but it seems there was enough mass in the gear to dissipate the heat.