Boeing 737 Reverse Gear?

Question

I'm just an ordinary citizen that fly with the commercial airlines around. Just want a simple clarification on something. As i was sitting quite near the pilot cockpit and right beside the window, i found out that a small jeep with is used to haul the plane out from the landing bay, then a few workers have to unbuckle it before it can begin taxiing. So my question is does the plane has any sort of reverse gear that can do its work or it has to depend on the small jeep to haul it out all the time?
(Any real pilots or airport workers can answer me?)
Thanks....

Nice answers...now i know it's called a tug.

Now i don't know which answer to choose as the BEST answer. I feel that everyone deserve it. Thanks for all the good answers out there.

Answer 1

The airplane doesn't have a forward gear so its also does not have a reverse gear. The wheels on an airplane have no power what-so-ever, all power is from the engines. While the 737 does have reverse thrust we avoid using reversers to push back because it tends to allow things to get sucked into the engine that we don't want. Also, we can't see behind us while the guy operating the tug can. If you hit something while the tug is pushing you the captain doesn't get called to the carpet.

Answer 2

The landing gear wheels do not have any sort of drive system built into them. The engines are the sole motivation for the aircraft.

To make any commercial aircraft go backwards without the aid of the tug, the thrust reversers would have to be deployed, and the engines spooled up.

This creates a problem technologically:

1) There is no rear view mirror, so the pilots cannot see behind them

2) Rapidly heating up the engines, then shutting them down is not the best treatment for the internal workings of the engine, lessening the life of the parts within the engine

3) Fuel consumption just to move the aircraft 50 yards or so is far too great

So, to answer you question, yes, the aircraft COULD move itself backwards if it was really necessary, but for the above reasons and more, they don't.

Answer 3

Having had pushed back my share of aircraft I can tell you that in order for an aircraft to push it's self back would require not only a large amount or fuel to get it moving, but it would also require all other traffic on the ramp to cease while it is being done. Also there is great risk involved to ground staff and equipment. not to mention the possibility of damage to the gate. If you notice the air craft will not start the engine until it is cleared from the gate. There is communication with the push crew and the pilot so both know what is going on. the pilot can also steer the aircraft when he needs to. this is not done by the engines of the aircraft but by a wheel that is in the fight deck of the aircraft. If you would like to see the thrust reverse in action, pick a seat far enough back from the wing where you can see the engine. when the plane comes in to land you can see the sides of the engine move changing the direction of the thrust. This is done to help slow the aircraft faster then it would be able to with just the brakes. Good question and you have some good answers.

Answer 4

You've made me think. After all these years I really never really appreciated that the vast majority of passengers don't understand how all this flying stuff works. So your question is a good one. The serious answers above have it about right. Jet engines are designed to push an airplane forward obviously since wherever you are wanting to go is likely out in front of the aircraft. But we do have devices called thrust reverse that do just that, they reverse the thrust in the other direction. But they were designed for helping us stop after landing so they are not real efficient at using them for backing out of a gate or parking spot. Because you get only a fraction of reverse thrust as forward thrust for the same power setting, it is hard on the engines and very fuel inefficient to use reverse thrust to maneuver backward. Those little yellow tractors, we call them tugs, and a couple of guys to unhook it from the nose gear are worth what they cost. And by the way, someone above said that the wheels of an aircraft can't be steared I believe. Ain't so. We have our own little wheel, we call it the nose wheel tiller, on the side of the cockpit that turns the nose gear left and right for taxi and take off. So we have quite a bit of control on the ground.

Answer 5

Everyone is right. The jeep is a tug. There are certain aircraft that can back up on their own but only certain ones are designed that way. Its never used in the application of passenger hauling. It can be very hard on equipment and the thrust would cause untold damage to structures and or people. We used the thrust reversers to back up in Africa once. And we also had C-130's use the reverse pitch to back up in UAE. The C-17 has the ability to back up as does the aircraft I crewed, the KC-10A. There are others.

Answer 6

The "small jeep" is called a tug. While some aircraft do have a limited ability to reverse using engine thrust or reversed propellers, the safest way to move a large airplane is to push it back with a tug.

Answer 7

Commercial aircraft have no reverse "gear". A tug will push back the aircraft (with a tow bar inbetween), until it's back far enough that the pilot can then taxi it, steering by the nose landing gear.

Answer 8

Good question, the answer is yes, most commercial aircraft can back up on their own. It's very simple, a lever on the throttle is pulled back, which deflects the thrust forward, in turn pushing the aircraft back. This is rarely done for a few reasons, one it isn't extremely safe...especially when the plane is docked at an airport and there is a building in the direction the thrust will be blowing. Also it is easier to use a "tug" to push the plane, because the driver can easily see where he/she is going, vs. the pilot relying on the guys on the ground. Hope this helped

Answer 9

Jet aircraft cannot back up using their engines under normal circumstances. To try to do so can cause damage to the plane or its engines. It could be attempted in an emergency but it is not recommended. Turbo prop aircraft (jet engine driving a prop) can. They simply reverse the pitch of the prop to push air forward rather than backwards.

Answer 10

The aircraft can use reverse thrust, but for reasons previously stated the tug will take care of things.

BUT, the pilot IS able to use the nose gear to direct/steer.