The nose gear gravel deflector is made of corrosion-resistant steel and has a sheet metal leading edge which acts as an aerofoil to give it aerodynamic stability

When the gear retracts, the deflector is hydraulically rotated around the underneath of the nose wheel before seating into the faring at the front of the nose wheel well. The rotation is programmed to maintain the deflector in a nose-up attitude during transit. No extra crew action is required to use the deflector and in the event of a manual gear extension, springs and rollers will position it correctly

The maximum speed for gear operation (V LO) is reduced considerably to 180kts and the max speed with the gear extended (V LE) is only 200kts

Note that the ground clearance of this nose-gear unit is only 3.5 inches this is enough to allow for flat tyre clearance but care must be taken when crossing runway arrestor cables, particularly try to avoid taxying over the "doughnuts" that support any cables