The Airplane Fanatic Thread

[Texas St. Armadillos 1381]

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/10/19/fire-crews-responding-to-report-of-plane-crash-in-katy/

 

I'm sure most of you saw this.  Thank God all survived.  MD80 never took off and ran through fence.

What do you think caused this?  Weight and Balance problem causing V1/V2 decision issue and pilot still trying to take off?  Brakes?  Reverse thrusters? (I know nothing of jets so I plead ignorance on this possibility).

[Lat22 4015]

I’m not a pilot. There were skid marks on the runway that continued beyond the runway. I’m guessing he aborted the takeoff after V1. 

[Homercles 10206]

I have a lot of love for those (now old) 772’s.  They got me comfortably and safely on just about all my long haul trips between 2006-2010…India 2x, Philippines 2x, Bali, etc.  

Def don’t miss the ‘giant fucking chair’ business class AA had in them, however.  

[Ghost of LL 15539]

On 10/19/2021 at 4:13 PM, dieucla98 said:

For any of you plane spotters in town, there are about to be 4 BA jets on the tarmac at AUS at once. One 787-9 left overnight by the south terminal plus these 3:

Looks like there are three BA flights heading toward Austin right now--BA191 (the regularly schedule 787) and two 77Ws.

 

By the way--and thinking for next year--I assume they're selling seats on the special ops flights going back the other way?  I imagine that's a real cheap way to do a weekend in London.

[dieucla98 2942]

When SAS (maybe it was KLM...) ran flights for SxSW, you could get cheap tickets on the opposite flights. If that's any indication, I bet you could do the same here. Though I wonder if Lufthansa and KLM start back their regular service, does BA run special ops flights for F1 anymore? That would be a lot of trans-Atlantic capacity, even for F1 weekend.

[Gil Bang 25974]

Dreamlifter parked at MIA. Big mofo. Couldn’t get a pic.

[BTW 370]

Saw this article this morning.  Apparently the new 5G rollout is gonna f-up ground radar in aircraft equipped with it.  Question for those of you who fly aircraft that have it, how much do you use it and is it as critical to operations as the article makes it sound?

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2021/november/04/planned-5g-rollout-risks-aviation-safety?utm_source=epilot&utm_medium=email

I won't copy the whole article here, but here's the headline:

With smooth functioning of the national airspace system during the holiday travel season hanging in the balance, two of several companies authorized to activate 5G wireless networks in early December that could disrupt safe air navigation agreed to delay that activation by one month to further evaluate concerns that have been expressed by aviation advocates for years.

Edited November 5, 2021 by BTW

[Homercles 10206]

Read another article about it recently so assuming they’re talking radar altimeters, which tell the crew precisely how high above the ground they are during approach/landing.
 

If that’s the case, then absolutely yes it’s a critical piece of equipment used at a critical time…if you’ve watched cockpit videos on landing before it’s what drives the altitude call outs like 50, 40, 30 + the autopilot uses it during approach below ~2,500 feet I’d bet.  Traditional, pressure-driven altimeter is not accurate enough at low altitudes in low visibility.  
 

Question for the pros:  I assume it’s absolutely required for anything CATII or greater, but is it on the MEL for general commercial operation?  I’d assume most big birds have at least two.  

[Your Mom 4806]

Pretty much spot on.  There's 2 RAs and both are critical for Cat II and III approaches.  Lose one on a foggy Cat III day and you're diverting.  On most days only one is needed and the other can be MEL'ed and it's for little things like the flight director knowing what bank angle to command, when to arm your nav mode after takeoff and things like that.  

[TexPx 2323]

Sis-In-Law doing her thing in Bonham a couple of weeks ago.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

Road the jump seat on a 787 last week. Fifi looks remarkably quaint by comparison.

[davidg 4038]

On 11/15/2021 at 9:41 PM, TexPx said:

Sis-In-Law doing her thing in Bonham a couple of weeks ago.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

How does SIL fit her huge balls in that little plane?

[TexPx 2323]

How does SIL fit her huge balls in that little plane?

It’s a mystery to me. She spends the rest of her time piloting 767 cargo planes on an Asia/Pacific route.


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[Chad Fuck 17684]

A restoration of a real Me 109 with a real Daimler-Benz engine (which are rarer than hens teeth):

 

[DaysOff 7951]

Road the jump seat on a 787 last week. Fifi looks remarkably quaint by comparison.

Crazy industry man. 18 months ago the ceo wanted to furlough 90 percent. Our recent vacancy bid had narrow body captain positions on the coasts that went unfilled, and that was for a mainly widebody bid. A bid narrow body vacancy bid is coming. Never heard of that before, but nobody wants to sit reserve in two most expensive cities. Scooter should pay up.

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

4 minutes ago, DaysOff said:

Crazy industry man. 18 months ago the ceo wanted to furlough 90 percent. Our recent vacancy bid had narrow body captain positions on the coasts that went unfilled, and that was for a mainly widebody bid. A bid narrow body vacancy bid is coming. Never heard of that before, but nobody wants to sit reserve in two most expensive cities. Scooter should pay up.

Saw that. Interesting times ahead. 

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

A restoration of a real Me 109 with a real Daimler-Benz engine (which are rarer than hens teeth):

 

Functional and predatory. The 109 doesn’t have the lines of a P-51D, but looks the part of a killer. I always liked the German’s paint schemes as well.

[Chad Fuck 17684]

17 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

Functional and predatory. The 109 doesn’t have the lines of a P-51D, but looks the part of a killer. I always liked the German’s paint schemes as well.

Agreed on all counts.  I just got done reading "I Flew for the Fuhrer" by Heinz Knoke.  He chalked up 30 or so kills in the 109.  It's a diary, and it's just skims the surface but it sure gives a feel for what it was like to fly and fight for the Luftwaffe on the West Front.  

[Texas St. Armadillos 1381]

On 11/17/2021 at 11:01 AM, TexPx said:

It’s a mystery to me. She spends the rest of her time piloting 767 cargo planes on an Asia/Pacific route.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

She must have pissed off Commander Stinger with her recklessness.

 

 

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

This has been doing some sort of testing over my ranchette the last week. It has been doing some impressive climbs and high altitude work. From what little I have read it is to be a more modern Pilates P-12, slightly bigger and a more user friendly GE Conquest engine. Yesterday it was out and about with a SkyCourier. I suppose they were doing photo shoots at about 5000 ft according to Flightradar24. Interesting that only the Denali showed up on the app.

 

[Updawg 2268]

Hunting for your weed crops

[Gil Bang 25974]

thought y'all might enjoy this:

 

Jack Poindexter walked briskly into the Liberty House department store on King Street in downtown Honolulu. It was Dec. 2, 1941, and palm trees swayed to the gentle rhythm of the trade winds that sunny Tuesday morning.

 

The chief flight radio officer on Pan Am Flight NC18602 needed a spare shirt. He had left California unexpectedly the day before as a stand-in for an ill radio man onboard the Pacific Clipper, a large flying boat — essentially a seaplane on steroids.

Poindexter had no clean clothes for the flight, which still had to make another stop in Auckland, New Zealand, and was not scheduled to return to San Francisco until Dec. 10. He had only a few dollars in his wallet, so this extra shirt was going to have to last him until then. Little did he know it would be the only change of clothing he would have for more than a month.

The return flight from New Zealand to San Francisco via Honolulu was interrupted by the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 — “A date which will live in infamy,” as President Franklin D. Roosevelt termed it. That event, 80 years ago Tuesday, propelled the United States into war and forced the Pacific Clipper’s crew of 12 to make a dangerous — and historic — detour from their scheduled flight plan.

80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor brings end to victim-identification program

Instead of heading home by going east, they took the massive Boeing 314 in the opposite direction, flying blind with no charts and no support from the airline. They were shot at twice, narrowly escaped getting blown up and otherwise avoided disaster while piloting the first commercial flight to circumnavigate the globe. They flew more than 30,000 miles over vast expanses of empty oceans and remote landscapes on five continents while crossing the equator four times.

To top it off, the crew managed this feat without the aid of maps or radio contact, using only celestial navigation and an atlas obtained from a library in New Zealand.

“Flying around the world with no charts is astounding,” said F. Robert van der Linden, curator of Air Transportation and Special Purpose Aircraft at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. “They didn’t get lost and they had only one engine problem, which they fixed. These planes were beautiful, but they were hard to fly.”

The Boeing 314 was one of the largest aircraft of its era — nearly as large as a Boeing 747 today. With a wingspan of 152 feet, the plane weighed 84,000 pounds when loaded with passengers and fuel, requiring the full power of its four 1,600-horsepower Wright Cyclone engines to help it break free of the water’s pull and get into the air.

 

 

The christening of the California Clipper on April 25, 1939, at Pan Am's Treasure Island marine base terminal in San Francisco. The aircraft was later renamed the Pacific Clipper. (Apic/Getty Images)

 

Pan Am pioneered the use of flying boats in the 1930s. A lack of airfields and the need for travel to remote locations made this unique aircraft a necessary form of transportation. A long stretch of calm water was all the landing strip this behemoth needed to reach populous seaports in the United States and Europe or exotic destinations like Honolulu, Fiji and Java.

Service on board the flying boat — essentially a glamorous luxury ocean liner in the sky — was exceptional, with gourmet meals cooked in onboard galleys and served in dining rooms. The Boeing 314, which could carry 74 passengers, also had sleeping quarters with turndown bed service.

Tickets weren’t cheap. The cost to fly one way from San Francisco to Hong Kong in 1940 was $760 — nearly $15,000 today.

“If you got on an airplane like this then, you were flying premium first class with a suite in an airliner today,” van der Linden said. “There were nearly as many crew members on these flights as passengers to ensure comfort and safety.”

Flight NC18602 originated in San Francisco on Dec. 1, 1941, with Capt. Robert Ford at the helm. He was a Master of Ocean Flying Boats — the certification pilots received once they learned the intricacies of flying such a complex aircraft. His skills would be tested to the extreme on this trip as the plane encountered all manner of obstacles, natural and man-made.

After leaving Honolulu, the Pacific Clipper headed for Canton Island, a refueling stop almost 2,000 miles southwest of Hawaii. The plane was approaching Auckland with 12 passengers on Dec. 7, 1941, when a bulletin crackled across the radio: Pearl Harbor had been attacked.

Pan Am was prepared for this eventuality. Ford had been handed a “Top Secret” letter just before leaving San Francisco. If war broke out, he was to follow his instructions exactly.

At the time, the Boeing 314 was considered state-of-the-art technology. The letter was explicit: If the crew could not deliver the Pacific Clipper to the American military due to attack or imminent capture, then they were to destroy the aircraft. Their fate was secondary.

 

As soon as the passengers exited the plane in Auckland, the crew began preparations for what was to come next. There would be no more passengers, or first-class service, onboard the Pacific Clipper from here on out. The rest of the trip would be escape and survival.

After a week in New Zealand, Ford received orders from Pan Am to fly west with his crew. His destination was New York City, which meant he would have to fly over some of the most inhospitable lands and seas in the world. Worse, Ford and his crew were on their own. They would have no support, fuel or even money from the company.

Overloaded with gas, oil, spare parts and provisions, the Pacific Clipper departed Auckland on Dec. 17 and headed for Australia. Just before departure, Ford was able to secure a $500 advance from the Pan Am ticketing office. That would cover food and fuel for the rest of the trip.

Just before beginning the journey, the crew had stripped off most markings from the plane on orders from Pan Am, presumably to confuse Japanese patrol planes. But the move also befuddled the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force in Indonesia. Dutch fighters, already in dogfights with enemy aircraft, now looked suspiciously at the large gray flying boat trying to land in Java. Over the radio, the Pan Am crew could hear pilots wondering if they should shoot down the intruder.

 

An illustration from the August 1942 True Comics story on Pan Am's global flight after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Pilot Robert Ford was forced to fly around the world, with stops as needed, to escape and avoid World War II. (True Comics)

Ford maintained strict radio silence, as ordered by Pan Am. He flew without any sudden course corrections and landed the flying boat in the harbor. Ford then noticed a small tender with a furiously waving boatman, who shouted that the plane had landed in a minefield. The Pan Am pilot gingerly moved his aircraft forward and avoided any contact with floating explosives.

Aviation fuel was in short supply in Java, so the crew had to pump automobile gasoline into the reserve tanks. Ford decided to take off using aviation fuel and then switch to the lower-octane gas in midflight. The engines would run hotter and could suffer damage, but he had no choice.

The Homeric odyssey continued as the plane flew on to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. Just before landing there, Ford eased his plane below the clouds — only to discover an enemy vessel about 300 feet below him.

“All of a sudden there it was, right in front of us, a submarine!” Ford later recalled. “We could see the crew running for the deck gun.” He quickly pulled back into the clouds and avoided the incoming enemy fire.

 

On Christmas Eve morning, the Pacific Clipper departed Ceylon — only to return an hour later. Just as it reached cruising altitude, a huge explosion shook the aircraft. A piston in the No. 3 engine had broken loose, causing an eruption of smoke and flame. Repairs were made, and the Boeing 314 was back in the air the next day, headed for Karachi in what is now Pakistan.

On Dec. 29, the giant aircraft lumbered over the Arabian Peninsula on its way to the Nile River in Africa. It flew over Mecca, where overflights were banned. Suddenly, the crew could see people streaming from a mosque and firing guns at the plane.

“At least they didn’t have any antiaircraft,” the pilot recalled.

 

Ford eventually set down on the Nile near Khartoum. The plane was refueled and back in the air on New Year’s Day, 1942. Next stop: the Congo River in West Africa.

Departures and arrivals are two of the most difficult maneuvers on a flying boat, which requires more than a thousand yards of calm, clear water for smooth flight to begin or end. At seaports, channels are carefully maintained and checked for debris just before touchdown or liftoff.

“A flying boat doesn’t land — it alights on water,” van der Linden said. “Coming down on a river is a lot harder than it sounds. You don’t know what’s in that river. When you consider the amount of fallen trees that must be in the Congo, in particular, it’s amazing. When you’re coming down at over 100 miles per hour and you hit something, you sink.”

Josephine Baker, entertainer and World War II spy, becomes the first Black woman inducted into France’s Panthéon

The crew was nervous as the plane approached Leopoldville, now Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The river runs fast and features cataracts in several areas. Plus, the abutting jungle is thick with overgrown trees jutting into the water. Ford set the plane down safely, then made his way to the docks. As he exited, he was handed a cold beer by a member of the Pan Am ground crew, which staffed a small outpost there.

“That was one of the high points of the whole trip,” he recalled.

One of the most difficult parts of the journey still lay ahead. The flight over the Atlantic to Brazil would be the longest stretch over open ocean. The crew flew nonstop for 20 hours, covering more than 3,500 miles to the eastern tip of the country, which was about as far as the Boeing 314 could fly without refueling.

From here, the rest of the trip was anticlimactic. The flying boat touched down briefly in the Caribbean before resuming its journey to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, where it landed on Jan. 6, 1942. At last, it was over.

All told, the Pacific Clipper had logged 209 hours in the air and traveled 31,500 miles around the globe. Even though the plane did not return to its starting point in San Francisco, historians and aviation experts were quick to call the flight the first commercial circumnavigation of the globe, since the aircraft made it back to its country of origin.

“It happened at a time when both oceans had been crossed before,” van der Linden said. “And it was not the first around-the-world flight. Several pilots had done it before. But those were all planned trips with maps and coordinates worked out in advance. What you have here is a commercial airliner with a commercial airliner crew doing this completely unplanned journey while under threat of being shot down.”

The Pacific Clipper’s record for the longest commercial flight by mileage still stands today.

Dave Kindy is a journalist, freelance writer and book reviewer who lives in Plymouth, Mass. He writes about history, culture and other topics for Smithsonian, Air & Space, Military History, World War II, Aviation History and other publications.

 

 

[Your Mom 4806]

 

Thanks Gil, I love reading Pan Am stuff.  My grandfather started flying the DC-3 for them in 1942 and retired on the 747 in 1981.  I grew up hearing the greatest stories from him.  

The story you posted is the subject of a book calledThe Long Way Home.  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/061521472X?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

And lulz at $500... that wouldn't get you up to cruise today.

1 hour ago, Gil Bang said:

Just before departure, Ford was able to secure a $500 advance from the Pan Am ticketing office. That would cover food and fuel for the rest of the trip.

[Telegraph_it 3357]

Anyone flown a King Air C90 or one of its many variants like the F90?

Possibly moving from Baron to this type since we need a couple more seats and flying above mountains would be nice. 

[Handcruser 2805]

Anyone flown a King Air C90 or one of its many variants like the F90?
Possibly moving from Baron to this type since we need a couple more seats and flying above mountains would be nice. 

F’s had a small run and been out of production for years. Nice plane….more power than typical 90’s. If I was to buy a 90 I’d try for an F.

Are you not considering a 200?

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

On 1/2/2022 at 10:36 AM, Telegraph_it said:

Anyone flown a King Air C90 or one of its many variants like the F90?

Possibly moving from Baron to this type since we need a couple more seats and flying above mountains would be nice. 

It’s been while, but I’ve flown several C90’s. The F90 was the T tail hot rod if I remember right. Agree with the poster above. I’d think you could located a B200 in the same price range and have a lot more mission capability.

[Telegraph_it 3357]

On 1/2/2022 at 5:04 PM, Handcruser said:

F’s had a small run and been out of production for years. Nice plane….more power than typical 90’s. If I was to buy a 90 I’d try for an F.

Are you not considering a 200?

Most trips are out to West Texas or to FL panhandle. With perhaps a longhaul trip to JAC once a year.

We have pretty good value play on a typical C90 that we would retrofit with Garmin glass. The 200 would be a dream. The problem is finding a 200 worth purchasing.

The F does seem like it would be better. Need to keep looking to see if one can fit the criteria. 

[Armybrat 40850]

19 hours ago, Telegraph_it said:

Most trips are out to West Texas or to FL panhandle. With perhaps a longhaul trip to JAC once a year.

We have pretty good value play on a typical C90 that we would retrofit with Garmin glass. The 200 would be a dream. The problem is finding a 200 worth purchasing.

The F does seem like it would be better. Need to keep looking to see if one can fit the criteria. 

Got the new issue of Executive Controller today, and look at what is on pages 40-41...

Call for price, of course...

 

Edited January 4, 2022 by Armybrat

[Armybrat 40850]

[Texzilla58 4738]

And they’re about to re-engine those suckers and keep them going another thirty years. Best bomb truck ever.

My son was a crew chief on a Buff. What an airframe. We’ll get over 100 years out of it. Fucking amazing. It’s like a battleship or an A10. It’s just the right tool for certain jobs, and you can’t build an improved version.

[Telegraph_it 3357]

King Air is probably a no go. C90 just doesn’t make sense and there are no reasonable 200s right now.

We have a good line on a Cessna 421C. Anyone flown on one of these? 

[DalTxHornFan 3106]

1 minute ago, Telegraph_it said:

King Air is probably a no go. C90 just doesn’t make sense and there are no reasonable 200s right now.

We have a good line on a Cessna 421C. Anyone flown on one of these? 

Best friend had a 421C for many years.  Great plane.  Plenty fast, high, and good range.  He put in a new glass cockpit and was comfortable flying it by himself, but always appreciated having somebody in the right seat to help with radios/ATC, and such.

Best of luck.

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

4 hours ago, Telegraph_it said:

King Air is probably a no go. C90 just doesn’t make sense and there are no reasonable 200s right now.

We have a good line on a Cessna 421C. Anyone flown on one of these? 

I guess a Conquest is out of the question also? A II is a hot rod. 

[Handcruser 2805]

King Air is probably a no go. C90 just doesn’t make sense and there are no reasonable 200s right now.
We have a good line on a Cessna 421C. Anyone flown on one of these? 

What’s your budget?

[Gil Bang 25974]

Whiteman Airport, Los Angeles

 

 

[Gil Bang 25974]

[markstanco 12577]

pilot humor:

[Armybrat 40850]

Antonov AN-225 cutting through the fog while landing....

 

[pops 6996]

On 1/6/2022 at 6:07 PM, Telegraph_it said:

King Air is probably a no go. C90 just doesn’t make sense and there are no reasonable 200s right now.

We have a good line on a Cessna 421C. Anyone flown on one of these? 

Grandpa had one. Loved flying in that thing and 600nm was a breeze. 

[DalTxHornFan 3106]

On 1/7/2022 at 12:53 AM, Bobby_Batronic said:

I guess a Conquest is out of the question also? A II is a hot rod. 

My friend with the 421C next had a Conquest with the Blackhawk engine upgrade.  What a great plane.

[Hagbard Celine 10871]

On 1/24/2022 at 2:36 PM, Armybrat said:

Antonov AN-225 cutting through the fog while landing....

 

"An Antonov-225" implies plural.....  "The Antonov-225" is correct as there is only a single artifact.  Saw it on the ground at OKC in the mid-90s.

[Armybrat 40850]

I’ll be sure to point that out to Mr. Andrzejczuk.

[Brew 3049]

On 1/2/2022 at 10:36 AM, Telegraph_it said:

Anyone flown a King Air C90 or one of its many variants like the F90?

Possibly moving from Baron to this type since we need a couple more seats and flying above mountains would be nice. 

You’re in the same position we are. The values on the Barons have gone up, King Airs are down, so we’re upgrading now. The Baron has been great, but we’ll only fly two on it, so we’ve been leasing a 200 and a CJ when we need more space. We thought about moving up to the 200, but at that level I may as well go ahead and pull the trigger on a CJ and be done with it. Most of our flights are inside a 6-8 hour drive, so I prefer the lower operating costs and getting there a little later and also don’t want to listen to clients giving me shit coming in on a baby jet.

[Gil Bang 25974]

Any of you cats have any thoughts about a company called "Clay Lacy"?   GF's son, former USAF, former Space X, and current Gulfstream employee just got a pretty sweet job offer from them. 

[shadow_operative2.0 16002]

One of the blonde twins posted this yesterday. 

 

[Your Mom 4806]

That’s a really awful angle to mount the FMCs. 

[Brew 3049]

Baron went under contract in under a week, looks like we’re definitely going to be upgrading to the King Air. Be nice to have a little more room, going to suck when the bills start coming in versus what the Baron cost to operate.

[Telegraph_it 3357]

Most likely going into a C421 assuming nothing stupid happens with the seller. With the money saved by not going turboprop dropping $200k into a completely new avionics panel. The all Garmin panel in the Baron has spoiled us. 

[Gil Bang 25974]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/fuel-efficient-bullet-plane-seeks-to-revolutionise-private-air-transportation/ar-AATz3wC?ocid=msedgntp

 

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

One of these has been flying around here accompanied by a Cessna Sky Courier. I had never seen one before today. Interesting that it's doing lots of rate of climb and dive maneuvers with a Cessna shadowing it.

Edited February 8, 2022 by Shoxthemonkey
Christ! What happened to this picture?