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Re: irrational fear of flying
at this point:
New Blow for Boeing After Debris Found in 737 Max Fuel Tanks
2020-02-19 14:04:37.139 GMT
By Alan Tovey, Industry Editor
(Telegraph) -- Boeing’s troubled 737 Max has suffered another
blow after debris was found in the fuel tanks of planes put in
storage while the model remains grounded due to safety fears.
The firm found the so-called foreign object debris while doing
maintenance on aircraft grounded since March after the second of
two 737 Max crashes in five months that killed almost 350 people
It poses a serious safety risk to aircraft and can block fuel
supplies to engines causing them to cut out, or damage other
components as they move around in flight.
A Boeing spokesman said the discovery led to a “robust internal
investigation and immediate corrective actions in our production
system”.
All 737 Max planes in storage will be inspected to check for any
other debris.
Airlines that have already received 737 Max planes that had been
in storage for more than a year are also being advised to check
fuel tanks as part of new procedures.
The discovery is just the latest in a spate of problems with the
737 Max since it was grounded, including a series of damning
emails between Boeing staff before the crashes that labelled the
aircraft as “designed by clowns and supervised by monkeys” .
The two crashes that led to the grounding occurred in October
2018 and March last year.
Both are being linked to the MCAS software system on the
aircraft, which compensates for the Max’s more powerful engines.
This pushes the nose down if it detects that the aircraft is
flying up too steeply and could stall. It is thought MCAS was
malfunctioning and sending planes into a dive from which pilots
struggled to recover.
Boeing is developing modifications to counter the problem but
initially kept building dozens of 737 Max planes every
month despite the grounding - forcing it to store them in its
Seattle car park after running out of space elsewhere.
Production was temporarily halted in January .
Boeing expects the crisis to cost it $18bn (£14bn). This includes
compensation pay-outs for airlines that have received planes
which remain grounded, and those which have had to cancel
services due to non-delivery.
Boeing has said it hopes to return the 737 Max to service in
mid-2020, but many doubt this target can be met.
-0- Feb/19/2020 14:04 GMT
Increasingly, the only competitive edge Boeing ever had was
U.S. EXIM Bank: Finance Guarantees & Insurance for US Exporters
40% of all loans and 60% of all guarantees are for Boeing.
For the Brits on the forum- will the boeing 737 fly before the cross rail goes live?
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SteveP
Saw a video on twitter of a Airbus 380 landing in London in the super high wind recently...
Holy hell... the pilots and crew must have been scared shitless... I am sure the passengers were if they had
any idea.
The plane is descending in 80mph side wind....(Note- this is by far the worlds biggest airliner... prob had 4-500 passengers in it.)
the plane is blown almost sideways as it touched down...the wheels connect w the tarmac and the plane straightens out to decelerate.
Hard to tell from the rest of the short video but it looks like it is then blown off the runway onto the grass.
Saab, Any experiences like this in your history?
Mistral in southern France maybe?
Gusty crosswind landings are part of normal operations. Different airplanes have different techniques due to the danger of a wing strike or striking the inboard engine. Some airplanes are designed to be landed in what appears to be a fairly extreme crab and others can be corrected with rudder and aileron. My current airplane has a bank angle limit for landing to avoid a wingtip strike. My personal record is winds gusting to 50 knots, but they were more or less down the runway 4R at JFK. Typical east coast Noreaster.
The 380 video looks spectacular in part because of the perspective. A half hour on YouTube will show you enough hair raising approaches that you'll never leave the house again, including many which appear far more violent than the one to which you are referring.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saab2000
Gusty crosswind landings are part of normal operations. Different airplanes have different techniques due to the danger of a wing strike or striking the inboard engine. Some airplanes are designed to be landed in what appears to be a fairly extreme crab and others can be corrected with rudder and aileron. My current airplane has a bank angle limit for landing to avoid a wingtip strike. My personal record is winds gusting to 50 knots, but they were more or less down the runway 4R at JFK. Typical east coast Noreaster.
The 380 video looks spectacular in part because of the perspective. A half hour on YouTube will show you enough hair raising approaches that you'll never leave the house again, including many which appear far more violent than the one to which you are referring.
As usual, Saab nails it. See page 10 of this Airbus publication for the official recommendation for A380 crosswind landing technique: https://www.airbus.com/content/dam/c...agazine_15.pdf.
Greg
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Re: irrational fear of flying
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Re: irrational fear of flying
The MRS airport is laid out so when the Mistral blows you are landing straight against it.
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1 Attachment(s)
Re: irrational fear of flying
Found in a box of my fathers belongings. No batteries required!
Attachment 114708
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Re: irrational fear of flying
There is something about the view from a plane that is very enticing.
The night time view of Manhattan from the plane on a flight from Philadelphia to Boston is worth the cost of the ticket.
Last time I flew to Europe we passed right over London in the early morning ( still dark ).
Fantastic view. Big city!
RWsaunders pics from above are indicative. Window seat worthy.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Many years ago when the Iceland volcano was spewing and disrupting the JFK - LHR flights, we flew up and over Greenland on the way to avoid the plume. Greenland is a really cool place from above.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
vertical_doug
Many years ago when the Iceland volcano was spewing and disrupting the JFK - LHR flights, we flew up and over Greenland on the way to avoid the plume. Greenland is a really cool place from above.
Window seat worthy for sure.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
I started building one of these (Woodstock) about 30 years ago. Got all of the fuselage and flying surface ribs made and then had the bright idea to build a house instead. Shoulda stuck with the glider; shoulda kept the ribs and plans....I have time for a project though good Douglas Fir is pretty difficult to find these days, around here. Shoulda, woulda, coulda....like the MV Agusta 750s America for $2k, in a crate that I almost bought in the late '70s when the were leaving the US market...though given my riding style back then I'd probably be dead, or worse, so maybe not such a bad move.
Maupin was a genius. He later designed the Carbon Dragon which is even slicker.
Maupin Woodstock One - Wikipedia
Maupin Carbon Dragon - Wikipedia
Thought about this one, too. It is a very cool design: Strojnik S-2 - Wikipedia
I chucked all my related books in a fit of "clearing stuff out", too. I cut a little too deeply; interesting stuff to read.
C'est la vie.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
A seriously cool little bit of flying history: Spitfire 944
In October 2005, the filmmaker William Lorton inherited two suitcases of 16mm home movies which his great uncle, James R. Savage, MD., shot while serving as a flight surgeon for the US Army Air Corps during World War II. The most compelling shot in the three hours of war footage was the crash landing of a Spitfire Mk XI fighter plane at RAF Mount Farm in Great Britain. Spitfire 944 is the short documentary from those movies in which 83-year-old World War II pilot John S. Blyth views, without advance knowledge of what he's about to see, the footage of his 1944 Spitfire crash-landing for the first time, sixty-one years after the event.
More background info here: Spitfire 944 - Wikipedia
Film here: SPITFIRE 944 - YouTube
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Re: irrational fear of flying
That made my day.
Thanks.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
That is a great film, thank you. A very appropriate post on the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jclay
A seriously cool little bit of flying history: Spitfire 944
Great film thank you (as I said above).
In 2014 I spent a week learning steel bicycle frame building with Dave Yates. He had a workshop next to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, England which is where the Battle of Britain commemorative flight is based. This may not have been a coincidence as I found that Dave was a great aircraft enthusiast. While I was there the only two remaining airworthy Lancaster bombers were making several flights a day. There was the English one, part of the memorial flight, and a newly restored one which had flown over from Canada. Every time we heard the engines overhead it was obligatory to down tools and rush outside for a view. I also saw the Spitfires and Hurricane but did not manage to capture a photo of those.
https://i.imgur.com/j8nnx4W.jpg
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Paul Jacobs
In 2014 I spent a week learning steel bicycle frame building with Dave Yates. He had a workshop next to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, England which is where the Battle of Britain commemorative flight is based. This may not have been a coincidence as I found that Dave was a great aircraft enthusiast. While I was there the only two remaining airworthy Lancaster bombers were making several flights a day. There was the English one, part of the memorial flight, and a newly restored one which had flown over from Canada. Every time we heard the engines overhead it was obligatory to down tools and rush outside for a view. I also saw the Spitfires and Hurricane but did not manage to capture a photo of those.
I may have shared this once before: I had the opportunity to turn wrenches on the Canadian Lancaster back in the summer of 1986. I was a young charter pilot on a layover in Hamilton, Ontario. With time to kill, I took the tour at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. The Lancaster was undergoing restoration at that time. I struck up a conversation with one of the mechanics working on the Lanc. When he found out I was a recent aeronautical engineering grad and pilot who loved old airplanes, he offered to put me to work. A few minutes later, I was in some coveralls working on the Lanc. I opened up access panels, worked as a "go-for" for the real mechanics, and provided "strong back/weak mind" manual labor as needed. It was great fun and my day was over well before I was ready to stop!
Greg
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Re: irrational fear of flying
1986! That was a long project. I hope it is still flying.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Paul Jacobs
1986! That was a long project. I hope it is still flying.
Yes, it's still flying. The restoration was about 3/4 done when I saw it in '86. I believe it was flying by 1990. I've seen it at several airshows over the past thirty years. Sounds like a formation flight of Mustangs or Spitfires!
Greg
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Re: irrational fear of flying
While radial engines powered my predecessors warplanes I have to concede that nothing sounds as beautiful as a Merlin powered fighter screaming past at high manifold pressure. Thankfully the US had the sense to put them into the P51.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
gregl
Yes, it's still flying. The restoration was about 3/4 done when I saw it in '86. I believe it was flying by 1990. I've seen it at several airshows over the past thirty years. Sounds like a formation flight of Mustangs or Spitfires!
Greg
Watching two Lancasters flying in formation was a privilege yet they once flew in 400-700 bomber raids. That is difficult to imagine. Apart from building all those planes and four engines for each one the combined effort of crews and ground crews was immense.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jclay
While radial engines powered my predecessors warplanes I have to concede that nothing sounds as beautiful as a Merlin powered fighter screaming past at high manifold pressure. Thankfully the US had the sense to put them into the P51.
1934 Rolls-Royce Merlin - Jay Leno’s Garage - YouTube
The Engine That Won World War II - Jay Leno's Garage - YouTube
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Re: irrational fear of flying
An old boss recently passed away. He was Polish, and was sent to a Siberian gulag after the Nazis invaded. He escaped to England and joined the RAF. He was initially a tailgunner and then flew Lancasters. Fuck you, Nazis!
Roman Golicz Obituary - Clinton, CT | New Haven Register
PS Those four Merlins did a job on his hearing.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
When I read an obituary like that it makes me feel small.
The greatest generation indeed.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
thollandpe
PS Those four Merlins did a job on his hearing.
I know what you mean, but still ... at the right distance ... a Merlin is pretty good on the ears.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
rwsaunders
This is one reason folks have made comments about some parts of the world's aviation that have occasionally been taken as prejudiced at best or racist at worst. It was recently discovered in India that one airline had all kinds of pilots with falsified documentation. This is almost unheard of in North America and Europe. I've also never heard of this coming out of Japan. Record keeping in these places is immaculate. Some places are in fact more reputable than others.
This Pakistan accident appears to be almost unbelievable in 2020 in terms of terrible human factors and bad judgment.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
thollandpe
An old boss recently passed away. He was Polish, and was sent to a Siberian gulag after the Nazis invaded. He escaped to England and joined the RAF. He was initially a tailgunner and then flew Lancasters. Fuck you, Nazis!
Roman Golicz Obituary - Clinton, CT | New Haven Register
PS Those four Merlins did a job on his hearing.
An uncle of mine was a research scientist (satellite wave analysis), he spent far too many years hopping back and forth across the Atlantic as a passenger on military airlift craft. Prop jobs and unpressurized jets.
In his later years he was essentially as deaf as a post.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Just when you thought that it might be safe to fly again...Jetpack spotted flying at 3,000’ over LAX.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/fli...r-lax-airport/
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Seriously?
The seven-hour flight to nowhere departs from and arrives at the same airport. “The 134 available seats on offer quickly vanished at prices that ranged from $787 to $3,787 in Australian dollars, the equivalent of $575 and $2,765, according to Reuters.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...mains-stalled/
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
thollandpe
Seriously?
The seven-hour flight to nowhere departs from and arrives at the same airport. “The 134 available seats on offer quickly vanished at prices that ranged from $787 to $3,787 in Australian dollars, the equivalent of $575 and $2,765, according to Reuters.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...mains-stalled/
That is offensive on multiple levels.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
rwsaunders
That’s all you need; hit an object that isn’t supposed to be there!
Happened to my father in the FL1 Sabreliner on approach to Miami in the late ‘70s. Popped out of a cloud and whistled by a VFR Bonanza flying IFR conditions, close enough to make out the rivets. Probably happened more than once since he used to note a preference for crap weather because "the amateurs are the ground".
It's fine to do stupid things for fun, just do'em so you don’t kill anybody else if you screw up.
Some time after the Eastern 401 disaster Mrs. Askew said “Bob, if you ever have any problems up front I’ll watch the ground for you”. No guarantees but early gray hair on someone who’s been shot at is my preference for the left front seat; it's old school and hard to come by anymore.
Hmm...Suddenly a sobering thought; Florida once had the likes of Rubin Askew and Bob Graham as governors; now we have DeSantis, on the heels of Rick Scott. You can sure come down in the world if you're not careful.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
“No guarantees but early gray hair on someone who’s been shot at is my preference for the left front seat.”
One of the best captains I’ve worked with was a woman with a civilian background and no gray hair.
I’ve worked with former U-2 pilots, SR-71 pilots, presidential pilots, Elvis’ pilot, Blue Angels, Thunderbirds and an Astronaut. Great pilots in either seat don’t look a certain way. They don’t share a certain age, race, gender or type of background.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by busdriver1959;1022584 presidential p
Great pilots in either seat don’t look a certain way. They don’t share a certain age, race, gender or type of background.
But they all sound like Chuck Yeager in an emergency, they talk nice and slow.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
I’m out of flying for the moment (please remove the thing below my name - it’s how I feed myself, not who I am). But I’m still current, for the next 60 days or so. I expect to lose my currency and have to go through a full re-training at the end of my sabbatical, which is, thankfully, for the moment, voluntary.
Yesterday the administrator of the FAA took to the skies at the controls of a 737 MAX, the sub-variant I don’t know. This was referred to me by someone who is at the periphery of our industry as a publicity stunt. I reminded him that this FAA administrator is a graduate of the USAF Academy, formerly an F-15 pilot and also formerly a pilot at Delta and was a qualified 737 pilot while at Delta, making him perfectly qualified to take the controls of this aircraft, even if it is a publicity event. If ever a public servant is highly qualified to do a job, this may be that time. It’s not just smoke and mirrors here. Of course the work to recertification needs to continue but I am optimistic it will happen and I can again sit at the controls of a MAX-7 or -8. I enjoyed flying them for the few months I did so.
I’d like to get back to my job eventually participating in creating irrational fears about it. Overall it’s been a great ride though the last year was challenging at times. I hope to get back at the proper time.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
busdriver1959
“No guarantees but early gray hair on someone who’s been shot at is my preference for the left front seat.”
One of the best captains I’ve worked with was a woman with a civilian background and no gray hair.
I’ve worked with former U-2 pilots, SR-71 pilots, presidential pilots, Elvis’ pilot, Blue Angels, Thunderbirds and an Astronaut. Great pilots in either seat don’t look a certain way. They don’t share a certain age, race, gender or type of background.
Re my comment: That was merely my imperfect way of opining that lots of experience including dealing with serious problems aloft tends, on balance, to be a good thing...assuming they didn't generate the problem in the first place. Race, gender and "looks" obviously mean nothing.
Of course there are exceptions as amply demonstrated by the B-52 driver who's history of poor/dangerous judgement led him crash at Fairchild AFB in '94; and perhaps I overrate the judgement of ex military pilots in general. I do get tired of commercial pilots who like to show that they can load the wing.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jclay
I do get tired of commercial pilots who like to show that they can load the wing.
Can you give examples of this? In every job I’ve had people fly the profiles and procedures, flying the flight director pitch and roll commands. Never greater than 30° of bank or more than 20° of pitch. This is light wing loading.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saab2000
Can you give examples of this? In every job I’ve had people fly the profiles and procedures, flying the flight director pitch and roll commands. Never greater than 30° of bank or more than 20° of pitch. This is light wing loading.
Occasional roll rate exuberance; not often but every now and then. Not a safety concern, just enough effervescence to wonder if that little bit of snap into a turn was really necessary or are y’all just having a little fun?
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Re: irrational fear of flying
“Of course there are exceptions as amply demonstrated by the B-52 driver who's history of poor/dangerous judgement led him crash at Fairchild AFB in '94.”
As a former BUFF pilot, that video pisses me off every time I see it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you can’t roll into 90 degrees of bank that close to the ground in an airplane with a 2G limit and no ailerons. The Air Force has a history of tolerating the behavior of dumbasses until they kill others and then wondering why it happened.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
https://i.imgur.com/xcvDto2.jpg
KC135T Stratotanker doing some low altitude maneuvers over my house this evening...I thought that someone was going to land in my yard.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
https://i.imgur.com/J34OcsI.jpg
They’re baaaaaack....I think that I saw black helicopters too.
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Re: irrational fear of flying
Quote:
Originally Posted by
rwsaunders
There used to be some aerial refueling tracks over central PA. One of the coolest sights I ever saw from the flight deck was a KC-135 refueling a B-52 over central PA. I was in a Sabreliner enroute to Burlington, VT. We were well above the KC-135/B-52 and about 3-5 miles to the south, but our courses and speeds were nearly the same. We were able to watch them for several minutes before our paths diverged. Just an amazing display of piloting skill for us mere mortals.
Greg