So I’ve been wondering for a while. Why can’t we use reverse thrust whenever we want? Why are we limited from whatever speed you are going down to 30 KNTS before it becomes disabled to use below 30?
In real life there’s no limit (from what I’ve researched anyway) and you can use it whenever you want.
not sure but maybe its a good thing cause then like you said, people would use reverse thrust whenever they want😂
when it comes to irl procedures, i think the only use for reverse thrust other than landing, was for pushback for planes like the MD80. other than that im pretty sure normal procedure is to slow to around 60-80 knots then go idle.
sometimes you would see planes with their ‘reverse thrust’ open even after exiting the runway, but thats actually for engine cooling
It would be helpful to reverse whenever you want.
Like say if you overshoot the hold line to the runway. You can quickly back up and not have to use pushback which can take a while. Or say if you go down the wrong taxiway and need to backup cause there’s no other way back to the taxiway you wanted.
? Why would anyone ever do this in real life? For pushback, yes they did that in earlier times so you could make a case. But on a taxi way now? I don’t think so. This ain’t a three-point turn mate. If miss you miss. Skill issue. Though, I would laugh the day I see someone’s like “Oops! Wrong turn. Lemme put my thrust in reverse and back up rq.”
damn bro i think you gotta change those brakes if you’re overshooting in IF
and if you’re looking to be realistic and you go down a wrong taxiway, irl procedures would be to get a tug, not reverse thrust
But then again, if you’re going to have reverse thrust like that, it’s going to be very hard to keep throttle at idle or throttle back to idle without accidentally flickering the reverser mechanism. How would you go about this.
I do remember a time actually having the experience of reversing from the gate using reverse thrust. I haven’t seen that in ages.
Some AI help with trying to understand why:
“You can’t use reverse thrust whenever you want because in real life it’s only meant for slowing the aircraft down after landing, not for taxiing or backing up. At low speeds it wastes a lot of fuel, makes a huge amount of noise, and can actually damage the engines by sucking in their own exhaust or blowing debris forward into the intakes. Airports also restrict it because of the safety risk to people and equipment on the ground. Years ago some airlines did “powerbacks” from the gate using reverse thrust, but that practice was phased out because it was noisy, inefficient, and hard on the engines compared to using a tug. So simulators like Infinite Flight disable reverse thrust at low speeds to reflect the way pilots operate in real life — it’s about fuel economy, maintenance, noise control, and safety.”
“In real life the engines don’t have a hard mechanical lock that prevents reverse thrust at low speeds — so technically you could deploy it whenever you want. But airlines and pilots don’t, because below about 60 knots it’s inefficient, burns a lot of fuel, risks sucking in exhaust or debris that can damage the engines, and creates huge noise and safety hazards on the ramp. That’s why standard operating procedures and airport rules limit reverser use to the landing rollout only. Simulators like Infinite Flight model that practice, not the raw mechanical capability, so you’re seeing the way it’s really used day‑to‑day rather than the theoretical ‘no limit’ condition.”
Any solid disagreements with this would be appreciated.
didn’t know about that part of it…
So IF isn’t limiting it cause it can, it’s following real world rules and such.
It’s beyond my knowledge tbh:
Mechanically it may be possible in the modern era depending on aircraft type(?), but operationally there are rules against doing it (both from an airport safety and engine reliability perspective) - is the question that I would have anyway.
But long ago I’ve definitely been in a commercial aircraft reverse thrusting out of the gate.
That was before twin engine commercial aircraft were allowed to fly across oceans (two engines only being sufficiently reliable had to be proven and certified over time).
I don’t know how much of it is engine long term reliability vs fuel cost vs airport environment
safety.
The main issue is that there are tradeoff costs associated with using reverse thrust in situations with lower ground speeds, and outside of slowing down on the runway immediately after landing.
If you want to use it whenever, all the C130 variants can have it deployed on the ground and in the air!
That’s a real shame—would’ve been pretty fun to use reverse thrust for pushback directly 
