BRU 13/05/2013

[tangolima]

Hello

Air Mediterranee B737-500 SX-BHR:

07.45-08.45 BIE3455 MRS-BRU-DBV

Europe Airpost B737-300:

10.00-10.45 FPO281A CDG-BRU-OPO

For the private jet lovers....

Globe Air Citation Mustang OE-FZD:

STD. 19.00 to LBG

Greetings,

[tangolima]

Hello

Europe Airpost B737-300:

10.00-10.45 FPO281A CDG-BRU-OPO

Greetings,

Hello

Was F-GIXB

Greetings,

[Reg E S Potter]

Not to belittle the visit of a Europe Airpost B733 but surely one of the movements of the year has just landed on 25R

5U-BAG B732 Niger Government

A rare and colourful bird indeed

Reg

[Bottie]

5U-BAG B732 Niger Government

A rare and colourful bird indeed

Reg

It sure is, thanks

[OO-VCL]

Hello,

Does someone (else) have spotted a Brussels Airlines Airbus around 5.55pm approaching 25R with an "injured" nose ?
I was driving along on Haachtsesteenweg and could unfortunately not stop the car to have a better view.

Greetz
Vince

[jdmuller]

Not to belittle the visit of a Europe Airpost B733 but surely one of the movements of the year has just landed on 25R

5U-BAG B732 Niger Government

A rare and colourful bird indeed

Reg

It surely is:

[SpottairBRU]

Wow, nice one!

What is this "skid" on the nose gear?

Does somebody know if it is still in BRU today and when it would depart? Thanks!

[Bralo20]

Wow, nice one!

What is this "skid" on the nose gear?

Does somebody know if it is still in BRU today and when it would depart? Thanks!

It's part of the gravel kit (official name: Unpaved Strip Kit). This option was available on the Boeing 737-200 (and maybe the -100 also but afaik not anymore on the classics nor on the NG's and probably not on the MAX, starting from the Classic the landinggears were extended and thus giving more groundclearance and less vunerable for gravel damage, however the companies that are frequently flying to unpaved strips still like the -200 for it's gravel kit) and was used to have gravel strip capability. The kit consists out of a few modifications, the gravel deflector (the big "plate") on the NLG is the most visible and will prevent gravel from hitting the fuselage when the NLG touches ground. Smaller deflectors will also be placed on the MLG, there will be additional strenghtning on critical places where for example hydraulic lines and cables are running. There are additional plates attached to the flaps, there could be a metal screen in front of critical components in the landinggear bay, etc... With a complete gravel kit you'll also have vortex generators on the engines which will prevent loose small objects (like gravel) from being sucked into the engine. This particular plane doesn't seem to have those (anymore) but when you see an metal nozzle sticking in front of the engine that's the vortex generator and part of the gravel kit.

The niger plane seems to be an plane that doesn't have the vortex generators, it's possible that it had those when the plane was delivered in 1978 to the Niger government (it was delivered new from the Boeing factory to Niger) but I'm not sure about it.

On this picture it is visible (look at the engines):

[sn26567]

Nice explanations, Bralo20. Thanks!

[sean1982]

Having been fortunate enough to actually work on the B732 for a few years, it's my favourite aircraft of all time and (in my opinion) still the best looking B737.
Shame they are disappearing

[SpottairBRU]

2nd Wow of the day... for Bralo's explanation: many thanks!

[Rogerb]

is 5U-BAG visible from terminal or abelag?