Airbus A320 pushbacks

[Jayden Laing]

Whilst i was waiting for my flight home this afternoon, i was watching a JQ A320 being pushbacked from the boarding gate.
What caught my attention to this particular pushback however was that when the A320 was being pushed back, i noticed that the front wheels were on a slant as it was turning onto the active taxiway. Im guessing it was approximately a 10 degree slant & i thought that it seemed quite strange & noticable. Is this kind of problem common amongst JQ A320 pushbacks or was it a one off problem.

Any help to put my queries to an end would be greatly appreciated.

[Raymond Rowe]

Standard for all A320's to do that

[Brendan Lawrence]

Certainly not a problem, common or one-off. The A320 nose gear is angled slightly forward as you can see in any profile photo of the aircraft, but yes as it conducts a tight turn it can appear as though the strut is 'bending' or leaning unnaturally. :p

Here's a pic I found on Jetphotos of VQO turning into the bay at MEL, which shows what you're talking about...

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6242054

[Nathan Bartlett]

When i watch the Tiger A320 turn out of the gate here in Launnie, quite a lot of the time one wheel gets completley off the ground.

[Marty H]

There is no problem as long as the nose wheel doesnt turn past 75 degrees, which is what that line on the nose gear flap indicates.

[Blair M]

Why do JQ 320s start one engine on the bay?

Is that so they can steer with HYD for the PPU?

[Raymond Rowe]

Possibly the APU might be U/S

[Brenden S]

The Boeing 717's also get one nosewheel up in the air when turning.

[Brad M]

Blair is right with the JQ startups, it's because of the PPU..
nothing to do with a faulty APU , as they are not on ground power or air started on the bay.

[mick.k]

Why do JQ 320s start one engine on the bay?

Is that so they can steer with HYD for the PPU?

No2 is usually started on the stand while we are waiting on completion of cabin duties by the fa's to save ground time.
Ppu ops do not require no1 or 2 start up, as we get hydraulic power from pacs that are powerred either by the apu or engines, or in an emergency via the batterys.
Our old policy was to push, then start, but congestion wise as well prefers a bay start and comencement of no1 start towards end of tow
As for tiger im not sure of their sop's.

[Brendan Lawrence]

Mick, just wondering (and not to sound defensive), what cabin duties are you waiting on cabin crew to complete before pushback?

Our final say in when the aircraft departs is closing the L1 cabin door once all pax are seated and lockers/compartments are closed. Beyond that we are just awaiting pushback to occur, the next step for us is to arm the doors.

I certainly don't hear the number 2 engine powering up while we're completing any sort of cabin duties. :confused: When I hear the first engine start to power up, we generally feel the push from the PPU about 5 seconds later.

[mick.k]

Waiting on l1 to shut, then fmc to run diagnostics on cabin systems and confirmation of l1 close and seal (not picking on fa's)

But nose steer is available once hydraulics packs are activated, either via APU or eng or in an emergency via battery.