ATR 72-600 walkaround

Video from the channel Fly with Magnar about ATR 72, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 20:14. Language: English. Video type: Onboard.

An ATR captain and instructor carries out the pre-flight external inspection (walkaround) of an ATR 72-600, starting and finishing at the main door. He explains that it isn't just about looking at the wheels: you have to check for damage, leaks, and missing parts or screws, and confirm that all covers have been removed. He goes round the left main landing gear, the left wing and its engine, the nose, the right side with its wing and gear, and the tail.

The hydraulic compartment is in the left gear fairing. The emergency brake accumulator must read at least 1,600 psi (here almost 3,000); next to it are the hydraulic reservoir and a tilt level used to check the wing fuel by hand. On the main landing gear, the tyres, the brake wear and temperature indicators, the gear-up lock (which can be released by hand from the cockpit if the gear fails to extend) and the weight-on-wheels switch are checked. The strut shows the maximum take-off weight, 23,000 kg, and the tyre pressure, 123 psi.

On the wing there is the visual flap indicator, five static dischargers, the navigation and strobe lights, the leading-edge de-icing boots and the ice detector. The propeller blades have a titanium leading edge, the rest composite material, and electric heating blankets. At that point, the fuselage has a kevlar layer protecting it from ice shed by the propeller. The air conditioning intake has a fan that operates on the ground up to 150 knots.

On the nose you can see the stall-warning angle-of-attack vane, the oxygen discharge indicator, the pitot tubes, the static ports, the ice reference probe and the ground power sockets: 28V DC for normal operation and AC only for maintenance. The refuelling panel is automatic and distributes fuel equally between the tanks; in the demonstration 1,800 kg is selected. At the rear are the tail skid with its shock absorber, the pressurisation relief valves, the galley drain, the VOR and localizer antenna and the flight recorder bay.

The pilot notes that all ATR variants are very similar: the ATR 42 is shorter, and the early versions have four-blade propellers versus the six blades of the recent ones. He also points out two differences with the ATR 42: its refuelling panel is at a different point on the wing, and it doesn't need the tail prop that is fitted to a parked 72, as a precaution, when a lot of weight is loaded at the back.