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In this gorgeous photo of a landing Tu-154, one can clearly see that the lateral engines are equipped with thrust reversers, but the center engine is not.

Why?

Vikki
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2 Answers2

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Several I guess:

  • There is no way to store them on the middle one in a way not increasing drag during flight.

  • In any possible configuration they would blow hot exhaust always against some body part, thus making it rather inefficient.

But maybe most important:

  • Two reversed engines already produce more than enough breaking power, no need to spend money on another. In fact, even one would be good for all purpose, but asymmetric force isn't a good idea either :))
Raffzahn
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    In contradiction to your first two points, the 727 (the Tu-154's U.S. equivalent) does have a reverser on the center engine. – Vikki May 29 '19 at 03:57
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    Just because another similar model didn't face a design challenge doesn't mean the Tu-154 didn't face said issue. – zymhan May 18 '20 at 16:53
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It wouldn't be logical, as clamshell reversers wouldn't fit very well, and bucket reversers would require a modified fuselage. Plus they'd add extra weight. That's why almost no fighter aircraft with one engine has thrust reversers. (Although the Northrop F-20 Tigershark could be modified to have a thrust reverser, and there was a North American F-100 Super Sabre which was retrofitted with a functional thrust reverser. If you want to learn more about it, search for the NF-100F. There were 3, but only 1 had a Rohr thrust reverser.)

Higgsino
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