Hi All
Been a keen aviator for a while but on thing always puzzled me, when a plane is sitting at the gate, and the engines are off the rear hole just under the tail seems to be pouring heat out into the air. What is this hole for??
Secondly had a Virgin flight back from New York a week ago and had what looked like a new A340, my question why did this plane feel like it would fall apart on taxi at JFK, it rattle so badly. Is it so that its smooter in the air when turbulance occurs?
Cheers All
Danny
By: Hand87_5 - 15th September 2004 at 15:02
Mark , I guess your version is more accurate than my “ban” version.
I know that Paris airports has severe restrictions on APU’s
By: Mark L - 15th September 2004 at 14:37
I have never encountered an airport that bans APUs, however there are restrictions on their usage. What will normally happen is the APU will be run after landing, and then when on stand the GPU (Ground power unit) will be connected. The APU will then be shut down, and when the plane wants to go again, reboots the APU, and disconnects the GPU for pushback.
General rule is APUs must be off 10-20 minutes after arriving on stand, and can only be switched on 30 minutes prior to pushback. There are of course associated problems when either the airport doesn’t have any/spare GPUs, or if the planes APU is broken (Seemingly the most common fault at BA at the moment!)
By: Hand87_5 - 15th September 2004 at 13:50
Yup, Steve is right, its the APU or Auxillary Power Unit. The vast majority of jets have them nowadays, and they are used to provide power on stand in the abscence of a ground based power unit, and are used for starting the engines during pushback.
Newer planes tend to rattle and squeek more than planes that are a few years old, as all the parts are not worn in yet (Just like a pair of shoes :D) After a few months of heavy use the noises will start to subside.
Some airports don’t allow the use of APU’s. Then the bird is connected to an external power supply ….. and pays an extra fee.
By: Mark L - 15th September 2004 at 10:08
Yup, Steve is right, its the APU or Auxillary Power Unit. The vast majority of jets have them nowadays, and they are used to provide power on stand in the abscence of a ground based power unit, and are used for starting the engines during pushback.
Newer planes tend to rattle and squeek more than planes that are a few years old, as all the parts are not worn in yet (Just like a pair of shoes :D) After a few months of heavy use the noises will start to subside.
By: steve rowell - 15th September 2004 at 09:45
It’s the auxillary power system that runs the aircraft electrics and air conditioning while the plane is shut down on the tarmac
By: KabirT - 15th September 2004 at 09:45
Hi
The Exhaust to what? The Engines weren’t even spinning??? Plus don’t the engines have there own exhausts? (ie Four engines Four jet trails)
Cheers
Danny
I am not actually very sure on this….. i do remember this being discussed earlier. Someone will soon enough shed a light on this. 🙂
By: dannywooly - 15th September 2004 at 09:40
Hi
The Exhaust to what? The Engines weren’t even spinning??? Plus don’t the engines have there own exhausts? (ie Four engines Four jet trails)
Cheers
Danny
By: KabirT - 15th September 2004 at 09:36
the “hole” is the exhaust and the plane rattled on taxi because its an Airbus. :diablo: :p
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September 15, 2004 at 9:26 am