General aviation/airplane news and chat

[spitfire]

Nice pics, I planned to go this year but I’m not able to walk enough to get round a museum currently. Was the Concorde fully open?

Accessibility at IWM Duxford

All of our front of house staff receive training in disability awareness. If you have any queries, or need any assistance, please ask. We will be more than happy to help you.

www.iwm.org.uk

• Wheelchairs and mobility scooters are available for loan, free of charge. Please telephone 01223 497 240 or contact us, to reserve a wheelchair or mobility scooter (subject to availability).
• A free site transport vehicle is available upon request throughout the day for visitors, with space for wheelchairs

I seem to remember you said you suffered from sciatica? I don't know if this is appropriate for your condition but there are definitely ways and means that could help there.

In other Duxford news they are having a Flying Day today, sort of a mini airshow.

Flying Days: Model Aircraft Centenary

Celebrating 100 Years of the British Model Aircraft Association, be part of the last day of our Flying Days season. Join us on Sunday 9 October 2022 for Flying Days: Model Aircraft Centenary.

www.iwm.org.uk

Live coverage here!

 

[Elpenor]

Accessibility at IWM Duxford

All of our front of house staff receive training in disability awareness. If you have any queries, or need any assistance, please ask. We will be more than happy to help you.

www.iwm.org.uk

• Wheelchairs and mobility scooters are available for loan, free of charge. Please telephone 01223 497 240 or contact us, to reserve a wheelchair or mobility scooter (subject to availability).
• A free site transport vehicle is available upon request throughout the day for visitors, with space for wheelchairs

I seem to remember you said you suffered from sciatica? I don't know if this is appropriate for your condition but there are definitely ways and means that could help there.

In other Duxford news they are having a Flying Day today, sort of a mini airshow.

Flying Days: Model Aircraft Centenary

Celebrating 100 Years of the British Model Aircraft Association, be part of the last day of our Flying Days season. Join us on Sunday 9 October 2022 for Flying Days: Model Aircraft Centenary.

www.iwm.org.uk

Live coverage here!

Thanks but I’m not sure my condition is quite that bad to merit the use of disabled facilities. I’d feel a bit of a fraud. I’m happy to leave it for a year or so until things improve. The planes aren’t going anywhere.

 

[skyscraper101]

Well this is reassuring.

Out-of-Practice Airline Pilots Are Making Errors Back in the Air

Covid has meant months away from the cockpit for hundreds of pilots.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[T & P]

I'm not too concerned with such incidents as forgetting to lower the landing gear, as any modern airliner will surely remind the pilot pronto in a very loud way to take corrective action long before it's too late to do so. It sounds bad and it sure ain't great PR, but in my layman's opinion it's a probably a rather minor thing actual risk-wise.

Other operational errors could be more serious I'm sure. I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of our resident pilots.

 

[Teaboy]

The state the planes are in would be more of a concern for me. So many of them will have just been parked up for months and I know maintenance will have been done but times are hard for the airlines and history tells us this is when corners are cut.

I'm sure it'll be fine though.

 

[spitfire]

 

[ViolentPanda]

I went there weekly when I lived in suburban Virginia as an 11 year old kid for 6 months. Touching the moonrock, seeing the rare planes eg Me262, what a brilliant time that was!

Is "touching the moonrock" a euphemism?

If not, it should be!

 

[Elpenor]

Is "touching the moonrock" a euphemism?

If not, it should be!

Not in this case, I believe it’s no longer possible to touch it though.

 

[spitfire]

Touch and go? Touching cloth more like.

Gear-Up Mishap Was Botched Go-Around

The 87-year-old pilot who skipped a gear-up Piper Aerostar off a runway in Florida earlier this month told AVweb he didn't forget to drop the gear. In fact, Chris Gaklis said in an interview he retracted the gear a few seconds before the aircraft was caught on video clattering down the short...

www.avweb.com

 

[MrCurry]

A Saab Viggen with a different sort of touch and go

 

[spitfire]

A Saab Viggen with a different sort of touch and go

That's awesome, I never knew jets could go into reverse!

eta I knew about reverse thrust on airliners but never knew fast jets could do it.

 

[DownwardDog]

That's awesome, I never knew jets could go into reverse!

eta I knew about reverse thrust on airliners but never knew fast jets could do it.

The Tornado had them, selected by rocking the throttles left. You could pre-arm them to come on when the main gear touched down. This was the dreaded PATRL (Pre Armed Thrust Reverse and Lift dump) landing which had to be demonstrated at your annual dual check with the squadron QFI. The interesting phenomenon with PATRL landings was the the reverse thrust would blow the air brakes clean off the fuselage if they were deployed at the same time so the procedure was to stow and lock the air brakes but the air brakes were hydraulic (slow) and the TR buckets were powered by engine bleed air (very fast) so if you were a bit slow with (or forgot) the AB lock the rev/rev thrust would rip them off. I've seen it done...

 

[T & P]

I’d assumed military jets had thrust reversers just as commercial aircraft do, for braking purposes. Judging by the last few posts it sounds as if most of them do not?

 

[DownwardDog]

Only the Viggen and Tornado to my knowledge. It adds a lot of complexity and weight for a capability which is only needed in very rare and specific circumstances.

 

[MrCurry]

I might be talking out of my hat, but in the case of the Viggen I think their inclusion was part of the philosophy of “maximum flexibility“, which dictated that the extra weight & complexity was worth it because it allowed the plane to land (and take off again) from a much wider range of strips.

Didn‘t they carry this over into the Grippen, ensuring it could operate from roads for circumstances when all the runways had been bombed?

 

[DownwardDog]

I might be talking out of my hat, but in the case of the Viggen I think their inclusion was part of the philosophy of “maximum flexibility“, which dictated that the extra weight & complexity was worth it because it allowed the plane to land (and take off again) from a much wider range of strips.

Didn‘t they carry this over into the Grippen, ensuring it could operate from roads for circumstances when all the runways had been bombed?

The Viggen used a (modfied) JT8D engine from a 727 which was already adapted for reverse thrust but the Gripen uses an F404 from the F/A-18 which has no reverse thrust and could only have it added at vast cost if at all.

 

[spitfire]

Reverse thrust you say? Hold my beer.

(watch it to the end, everyone was OK apparently).

 

[T & P]

I decided I would treat myself to a business class upgrade for my BA flight to Madrid today, and I was unexpectedly rewarded with a Club World bed For whatever reason they were operating a 787-8 this morning.

Mind you, apparently they’re just about to start A380s on the route for crew training purposes, so it could have been an even nicer experience.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

For staff training they use 787's on this route and for November A380's, but only the lower deck. Iberia 1545 to Heathrow is an A350 with flat beds so if you return on that it would also be worth an upgrade if not too pricey.

 

[Elpenor]

A380s on the Frankfurt route too.

I had my best ever nights sleep on a plane in an empty A380 World Traveller Plus cabin on the way back from San Francisco. Flew it in Club World to Hong Kong too.

Not sure if I’ll get to fly it again

 

[T & P]

For staff training they use 787's on this route and for November A380's, but only the lower deck. Iberia 1545 to Heathrow is an A350 with flat beds so if you return on that it would also be worth an upgrade if not too pricey.

Cheers. I’m on the 7.35 am Iberia return flight this coming Monday. Do you happen to know if they’re using an A350?

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Cheers. I’m on the 7.35 am Iberia return flight this coming Monday. Do you happen to know if they’re using an A350?

It's an A330, another long haul aircraft, but business is already sold out. Economy is only showing one seat available (arse end of 1/2 term), so check in online or you may get bumped...

 

[T & P]

It's an A330, another long haul aircraft, but business is already sold out. Economy is only showing one seat available (arse end of 1/2 term), so check in online or you may get bumped...

Thanks! I’ll do that now.

 

[mx wcfc]

Rather ironically, COP26 is proving to be a bonus for plane spotters....

COP26: Aircraft carrying world leaders excite planespotters

World leaders flying in for the climate conference gives a "once in a lifetime" chance to see rare military and civilian aircraft.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[T & P]

Rather ironically, COP26 is proving to be a bonus for plane spotters....

COP26: Aircraft carrying world leaders excite planespotters

World leaders flying in for the climate conference gives a "once in a lifetime" chance to see rare military and civilian aircraft.

www.bbc.co.uk

I always find any kind of articles commenting on the supposed hypocrisy of people supporting environmental issues travelling by plane to events about the environment. As if the environmental damage caused a few return plane journeys would be so bad it’s not worth undertaking, even though many or most of those leaders attending will lead to new agreements sparing the planet of billions of times greater amount of pollution in the long term.

 

[Teaboy]

It's an A330, another long haul aircraft, but business is already sold out. Economy is only showing one seat available (arse end of 1/2 term), so check in online or you may get bumped...

Iberia does seem to have a very small business cabin on its long haul flights. I guess there isn't much market for it on its core routes.

I've got a short haul flight on their A350 coming up soon. Will be weird to be a wide body for just a couple of hours.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Iberia does seem to have a very small business cabin on its long haul flights. I guess there isn't much market for it on its core routes.

I've got a short haul flight on their A350 coming up soon. Will be weird to be a wide body for just a couple of hours.

Normally just 5 rows on Iberia, guess if you have the money to spend on long-haul business you'd opt for a better experience with pretty much any airline other than Iberia..?

In the east they do things properly, we flew Dragon Air HKG-HKT and back, an A330 with wide seats that went back about 45 degrees with footrests, 3 course meals served on real plates, TV's etc. This for a ~3 hours flight is the norm out there

 

[T & P]

The A330 was rammed full yesterday morning. It seems air travel is picking up

You were right about business class being fully booked Bahnhof Strasse . Though I wouldn't have minded paying for it, as I was knackered and the passenger next to me was of a robust composition. Having said that, the economy setas still seemed to have more legroom than short haul configuration on most airlines I can think of.

 

[existentialist]

Iberia does seem to have a very small business cabin on its long haul flights. I guess there isn't much market for it on its core routes.

I've got a short haul flight on their A350 coming up soon. Will be weird to be a wide body for just a couple of hours.

For a while, I was commuting once a week from London to Manchester, and used to get the morning BA shuttle. Which was a 767 - a huge aircraft for the dozen or so who travelled on it. Positioning flight, apparently.

 

[Teaboy]

The A330 was rammed full yesterday morning. It seems air travel is picking up

You were right about business class being fully booked Bahnhof Strasse . Though I wouldn't have minded paying for it, as I was knackered and the passenger next to me was of a robust composition. Having said that, the economy setas still seemed to have more legroom than short haul configuration on most airlines I can think of.

Short haul business class in a wide body plane is certainly something I'd consider paying for, in Europe anyway. I think Iberia have Premium Economy on some of their wide bodies as well which is something I'm also keen on.