3 ms·

Why would you deactivate the brakes, rather than just tell the pilots "don't use the brakes unless it's absolutely necessary, and use thrust reversers instead"?

King-Aaron 3y ago
Possibly if the pads are at extremely low wear, you would only need to replace the pads/shoes when parts are available. But if you tell pilots 'just don't use them', then they will keep using them, and those pads/shoes could wear through and begin damaging other parts of the callipers which would result in more parts requiring replacement? Not an aircraft mechanic, but just making an assumption based on the similarities in cars
- KennyBlanken 3y ago
  Just as higher-end cars have brake pad wear sensors and sometimes caliper temperature monitors....commercial passenger jets, especially ones made in the last two decades or so, are instrumented up the ass. There's a Minimum Equipment List that specifies the minimum stuff a plane needs to be safe to fly, and under what conditions specific equipment can be bypassed or non-functional. I seriously doubt that overworn brake pads can be mitigated or ignored according to the MEL, and a pilot should be sweating bullets signing off to fly a plane that doesn't meet the MEL. ...at least in the modern, developed world. Which Russia is increasingly neither...
  - King-Aaron 3y ago
    > Just as higher-end cars have brake pad wear sensors and sometimes caliper temperature monitors....commercial passenger jets, especially ones made in the last two decades or so, are instrumented up the ass. Never underestimate the power of snipping off a sensor and soldering in a resistor in it's place :P
nnx 3y ago
Similar question: why would you blow up your own multi-billion pipeline, rather than just tell the operators "turn off the valves" ?
DonHopkins 3y ago
If professional Russian pilots could be depended on to soberly follow the rules and do what they're told, then maybe Russia wouldn't be having so many problems getting their ass kicked in Ukraine, while "accidentally" bombing so many apartment buildings full of civilians, don't you think? ...And if only they had better leadership!

King-Aaron 3y ago

Possibly if the pads are at extremely low wear, you would only need to replace the pads/shoes when parts are available. But if you tell pilots 'just don't use them', then they will keep using them, and those pads/shoes could wear through and begin damaging other parts of the callipers which would result in more parts requiring replacement? Not an aircraft mechanic, but just making an assumption based on the similarities in cars

KennyBlanken 3y ago
Just as higher-end cars have brake pad wear sensors and sometimes caliper temperature monitors....commercial passenger jets, especially ones made in the last two decades or so, are instrumented up the ass. There's a Minimum Equipment List that specifies the minimum stuff a plane needs to be safe to fly, and under what conditions specific equipment can be bypassed or non-functional. I seriously doubt that overworn brake pads can be mitigated or ignored according to the MEL, and a pilot should be sweating bullets signing off to fly a plane that doesn't meet the MEL. ...at least in the modern, developed world. Which Russia is increasingly neither...
- King-Aaron 3y ago
  > Just as higher-end cars have brake pad wear sensors and sometimes caliper temperature monitors....commercial passenger jets, especially ones made in the last two decades or so, are instrumented up the ass. Never underestimate the power of snipping off a sensor and soldering in a resistor in it's place :P

nnx 3y ago

Similar question: why would you blow up your own multi-billion pipeline, rather than just tell the operators "turn off the valves" ?

DonHopkins 3y ago

If professional Russian pilots could be depended on to soberly follow the rules and do what they're told, then maybe Russia wouldn't be having so many problems getting their ass kicked in Ukraine, while "accidentally" bombing so many apartment buildings full of civilians, don't you think? ...And if only they had better leadership!