Date: 09 Apr 2001 15:37:17
From: don@news.daedalus.co.nz (Don Stokes)
Organization: Daedalus Consulting
References: 1 2
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JohnMcGrew <johnmcgrew@aol.com> wrote:
>Actually, primitive airports were a major consideration for both these planes,
>as they were being sold as short and medium range "feeders" to replace places
>that were still being served by DC-3s in the early '60s. The 727 was actually
>certified for and used on gravel runways in Alaska; conditions that a
>under-slung engine could not survive.
Actually, they can with a bit of imaginative engineering -- 737-200s
were (are?) used for the same runways, with the aid of a "gravel kit"
consisting of a deflector on the nose gear and small bleed air pipes
pointing forward to disrupt any vortexes forming in front of the intakes
that might suck stuff into the engines.
-- don
