A greaser landing would not necessarily compress the main
gear struts, which is what controls the auto-spoilers and
unlocks the gate on the power levers for reverse.
Lowering the nose gear will put the weight on three points
and not just the two main gear, which could allow the struts
to stay extended a little longer time.

In a light aircraft, maximum braking comes with the aircraft
on all three wheel and the elevator full back because the
tail down force is pushing the main tires into the ground.
It a transport with lift dump spoilers, the elevator
position is not as critical.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"Jim Carter" wrote in message
t...
| Well, The Washington Post being the source explains a lot.
I was
| wondering how they get the spoilers deployed with that
nose wheel still
| in the air. Seen it done dozens of times as I'm sure most
on the
| newsgroup have also.
|
| Regards,
|
| James A. (Jim) Carter
|
|
| -----Original Message-----
| From: Matt Whiting ]
| Posted At: Sunday, December 11, 2005 12:50 PM
| Posted To: rec.aviation.piloting
| Conversation: Jet Crew: Reverse Thrusters Failed in
Chicago - Washington
| Post
| Subject: Jet Crew: Reverse Thrusters Failed in
Chicago - Washington
| Post
|
| Marc CYBW wrote:
|
| But a smooth landing and lowering
| the nose may have been to delicate to trigger the
automatic
| deployment of the systems.
|
|
|
| My goodness. How sensitive are those gear load sensing
switches?
|
| The source was the Washington Post.
|
|
| Matt
|