irrational fear of flying

[ChristianWong]

Maybe this should be a Thursday Grump, but I "have" to fly (from SFO) to Europe (ZRH or FRA) in five weeks to buy off some automation in CH & Germany (I took my current job partly to avoid having to fly for work). Five day turn around with no time to visit family in CH. I'm 6' 5" @ 240# and have to fly coach. Kill me now!

On another note, when in Central OR (Madras) check out the Erickson Aircraft Collection, one of the better under the radar air museums out there. Came across it while on a bike tour no less.

I’m not quite your size but still tall so I feel your pain. I’ve flown across the Atlantic 8-10 times in the past year and I’ve been buying upgrades to ‘premium economy’ or whatever each airline calls it. It makes a huge difference and is usually around $100 so the price is worth it for me to get some actual sleep. Noise cancelling headphones and earplugs at the same time also help that cause.

Safe travels

[ChristianWong]

I bet you were even gladder that your plane wasn't serving as an ice breaker...

Hey, save images like that for the ‘Rational Fear of Flying’ thread.

[rwsaunders]

I dont believe in Tarot cards and Palm readers, but I spent the past week supporting a client in a bs claim and this is the puzzle that is in this month's Delta Airlines magazine. I texted the pic of 29 down to my client and their attorneys on Sunday evening and asked if they believed in omens...come Thursday they did. (play eerie music in the background)

[Mabouya]

https://nyti.ms/2Bt6qlF

Did the screamers think that was somehow going to make it less likely that they were going to crash?

[rwsaunders]

I wonder how many people found religion on that flight? Jeez

[Dave Thompson]

I’m an unabashed airplane geek ever since I can remember. I’ve flown on everything I possibly could, from a hot-air balloon to the Concorde. In between, a P-51, a B-17 & B-25, float planes and helicopters. Damn near cried when I got bumped from a ride in a TF-106 and a Goodyear blimp. Spent 8 years in the USAF as an aircraft mechanic working and flying with my airplanes.

The pic (of a photo) is of me, wearing my BELL newsie hat, taken at the Monterey airport waiting for the fuel truck after having hauled a load motorcycle enthusiasts to watch the 1973 races. The plane is my Piper Seneca which was pretty nifty and when not carrying passengers would take my wife and I, our luggage and two Honda CT-70 mini bikes most anywhere. Good times!

[Saab2000]

Nice. I did my JAA Commercial (CPL), IFR amp multi-engine ratings in a turbocharged Seneca III. Zurich-Friedrichshafen-Altenrhein-Zurich, with an actual NDB approach into Friedrichshafen. Those approaches are pretty much nonexistent today.

On the last segment, after lunch and getting gas in Altenrhein, the starter didn’t want to turn. So we hand cranked it with the mags on and got it to start. The guy pulling the prop knew what he was doing thankfully because I wasn’t going anywhere near it.

Good memories!

[taz]

Nice. I did my JAA Commercial (CPL), IFR amp multi-engine ratings in a turbocharged Seneca III. Zurich-Friedrichshafen-Altenrhein-Zurich, with an actual NDB approach into Friedrichshafen. Those approaches are pretty much nonexistent today.

On the last segment, after lunch and getting gas in Altenrhein, the starter didn’t want to turn. So we hand cranked it with the mags on and got it to start. The guy pulling the prop knew what he was doing thankfully because I wasn’t going anywhere near it.

Good memories!

I have a fairly gruesome story about my father, a prop, and an ignition that was turned on. (He worked at an air freight company at ATL in the early 60s.)
He survived, but changed careers shortly afterwards.

[Saab2000]

I have a fairly gruesome story about my father, a prop, and an ignition that was turned on. (He worked at an air freight company at ATL in the early 60s.)
He survived, but changed careers shortly afterwards.

Sorry to hear this. Props need to be respected as deadly, even when stationary.

[Dave Thompson]

Nice. I did my JAA Commercial (CPL), IFR amp multi-engine ratings in a turbocharged Seneca III. Zurich-Friedrichshafen-Altenrhein-Zurich, with an actual NDB approach into Friedrichshafen. Those approaches are pretty much nonexistent today.

On the last segment, after lunch and getting gas in Altenrhein, the starter didn’t want to turn. So we hand cranked it with the mags on and got it to start. The guy pulling the prop knew what he was doing thankfully because I wasn’t going anywhere near it.

Good memories!

I got my commercial, multi-engine in a Seneca, not mine, and started working at the Piper dealer selling airplanes. Bought my Seneca, as they were relatively cheap in ‘72, so I could haul passengers for money as well as do a leaseback to the FBO so they had a twin in their flight school as well as fly around the country in a pretty spiffy set of wings. Kinda like bike nowadays I guess, always trying to move up some ladder.

[rwsaunders]

You folks might enjoy these photos which were the subject of a CNN article last week...click the gallery for larger photos.

Pilot'''s spectacular photos taken from an airplane cockpit | CNN Travel

[rwsaunders]

It was one of those days in the air when you had to approach things from a "glass half full" perspective. Ice, sleet and rain in DTW and heavy air traffic in SEA...or based on our route map, perhaps our crew became lost over Spokane. Mother Nature also added insult to injury by not having a gate for our aircraft when we landed in SEA, resulting in us exiting onto the tarmac in order to be bussed to a gate. There were quite a few folks on board with connections to Asia who didn't quite make it. Oh well.

[Mabouya]

More exploding engines:

[Jason Musgrave]

This is bad news all the way around. I built CFM56s - they are built like tanks. I can't say much about the investigation other than it is getting all the attention it deserves.

[j44ke]

However, nice to know there are pilots like Capt. Shultz in the cockpit when something like ^that^ happens. Unfortunately one person died, which is tragic. It could have been the whole plane though, but it wasn't.

Southwest Pilot Who Landed Crippled Plane Is Navy Veteran With ‘Nerves of Steel’ - The New York Times

[Jason Musgrave]

+1, what a badass pilot!!

[Scott G.]

She gets a steak dinner with all the trimmings at Panchos.

[jclay]

Excellent response to an emergency by a highly skilled pilot, no question.

Some others here will know far more than I but the good news for the flying public is that, unless I am much mistaken or training requirements have been reduced since my fathers time (you know, those "overbearing government regulations" that kill industry) sudden depressurization and single engine/engine failure operation in various flight regimes (like after passing refusal during take off on an unbalanced runway) are training SOP. And not once, and not single failures by themselves, but as part of annual or biennial training at Flight Safety, or whomever provides that sort of training these days. I know when my father was flying FL1 that type of retraining was standard and rigorous.

It's something to keep in mind when people bitch about government required safety regulations, regardless of the industry.

[jclay]

I'd forgotten about the SW 737 that had an uncontained turbine failure in 2016 and landed in Pensacola. Subsequently CFM International recommended that blade inspections be performed within 12 months but SW petitioned the FAA for increased time. It would be interesting to know what happened in the interim, and why, but based on one report the FAA is going to make the inspections mandatory pretty quickly.

General take home message: It's a real good idea to prohibit industry insiders, like Pruitt heading up the EPA for example, from having anything to do with regulation of the industries in which they worked....or any industries for that matter.

[Mabouya]

General take home message: It's a real good idea to prohibit industry insiders, like Pruitt heading up the EPA for example, from having anything to do with regulation of the industries in which they worked....or any industries for that matter.

This is nuts.

Everyone knows that increased corporate profits today are way more important than the legacy of global environmental spoliation we're leaving for future generations...