"especially at the WSJ." http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

about news coverage:

the same week Lady Di had the tragic accident Mother Theresa died.

Media coverage rate Ladi Di : Mother Theresa then was about 100:1 ... the humanity effects of those two celebritie's life-work was, my guess entirely, 1:>100

Do not pilots use the TERM "reverse thrust" to describe the practical effect gained by applying the airline thrust reverser?

That is the term I seem to have always read being used, so maybe that is where the mangled media use came in?

Bit like climbing a mountain is mountain climbing etc? Or flying an airline is an airline flight, or a shot from a gun is a gunshot etc, etc.

It may also be that the media was quoting directly from Air France's spokesman. Perhaps his English may not have been letter perfect or he was reading a translation from French.

Concorde uses afterburners, not thrust reversers on their RR Olympus 503s to obtain additional speed at takeoff. Thrust reversers are only used during the landing rollout. It would not be a very good idea to use reverse thrust at takeoff unless it's aborted before V1 (the point in which the aircraft is committed to takeoff).

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AlphaSigOU
Causa latet vis est notissima - the cause is hidden, the results are well-known.

For an interesting (albeit technical at times) discussion of the thrust reverser system on Concorde, a good place to look is the Professional Pilots Rumour Network (aka PPrune) which has been referred to here @ FT several times.

They also have interesting thoughts on what might have caused the crash. Moreover, they really hate non-specialist journalists who report on aviation matters.

If you think FT can be intimidating, I've been reading PPrune for almost as long as I've been reading FT, and I wouldn't even dream of posting there (I only have a couple hours in a Cessna under my belt) but it's fascinating stuff if you're interested in aviation business and the way the world works for pilots.

Greg
http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/For...ML/009030.html

Interesting site! BOY you are right it is super techno in some of those forums.

Each thread (it is same kinda UBB board as this) has an icon at left showing "mood of the topic". I smiled to try and figger what some of the icons would need to say here! Take a peek:
http://www.pprune.org/cgibin/forumdi...er=1&SUBMIT=Go

Of course, a jet engine doesn't reverse it's thrust. A jet engine only goes in one direction, forward. There are systems that mechanically deflect much of the thrust, sending some of it backwards. Older just use a manifold that moves over the exhaust. Newer ones have a sort of door that opens and the exhaust deflects more efficiently through a system of slots angled backwards.

I always like to see these working when I am flying in a seat where the jets are visible. Many times the pilots don't use "reverse", it is sometimes not working and isn't required to land the plane (spoilers and brakes are required however).

The 767 that deployed reversers mid-flight was the victim of a design flaw in the earlier 767s.

yeah, ozstamps, i love the blue one with tears, and the dancing smiley (with a skirt?)... soooo cute! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
other than that, i learned a lot about reverse thrusts too! thanks! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

NO ONE in our newsroom knew what a reverse thruster is.

So to compensate when the term was used in an EXACT QUOTE I said the president of Air France says... blah blah -- reverse thruster.

Since I thought it was an engine component I would see "an engine component known as a reverse thruster."

A few more words but the viewer understood the term a little better.

Unlike my babbling on Flyertalk, my news writing is to the point and written in a way everyone can understand.

Not that i"m Tom Brokov and never want to me.

Arturo,

Did not know you were an expert on sheep! You must be from Mohohohohohohohohohohntana, where the men are men and the sheep run scared.

Or from New Zealand where 30 million sheep are VERY nervous!

I won't get the NZ High Commission involved by relating a few 100 of the NZ "Sheep Jokes" that Ozzies rejoice in telling after a few beers!