NWA A319

[jdando]

Here is a quick series of an A319 landing on 30R at MSP. I was surprised to see the thrust reversers on before the front wheel was down. Can anyone add some insight to is this "standard procedure"?

#1

http://jeremyd.smugmug.com/photos/556186968_qGQa3-XL.jpg

#2
http://jeremyd.smugmug.com/photos/556187020_3zaTP-XL.jpg

#3
http://jeremyd.smugmug.com/photos/556187075_dGKPA-XL.jpg

[A2EVOMR]

Another great set. I would not suspect that the pilot was getting on the reverse thrust very heavily at that point. Basically just staying ahead of the airplane. Once the mains were down, the reversers were activated but most likely at a low thrust. And using timing, bringing the power in while the nose gear comes down as the rpm's take time to build.

[tfaudree]

In some aircraft, it is almost a necessity to deploy the TRs while the nose is in the air. It creates an extra bit of drag behind the center of gravity, thus reducing the force required on the yoke/stick to smoothly de-rotate the nose down to make contact with the runway. If the TRs were to remain stowed, the nose wheel would slam down on the runway very abruptly and may cause damage.

This may or may not be the case in the Airbus, but I know that some larger aircraft are difficult to smoothly de-rotate without doing so.

But as A2EVOMR said, you never ever ever want to apply more than idle reverse thrust until the nosewheel is on the ground. You also don't want to apply reverse thrust when the runway is contaminated (snow/slush, ice, standing water, etc). If one spools up before the other, you may end up on a ride similar to the tea cups at the fair.