The Airplane Fanatic Thread

[Nice Guy Eddie 13508]

SIAP.  Not a new story but here's a 10 year old 747-8 with 30 hours of total flight time scrapped for parts.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/boeing-747-vip-jet-scrapped/index.html

Built and sold to a Saudi royal but never completed the interior. Couldn't find a new owner who wanted a wide-body, 4 engine personal plane.

Edited February 16, 2023 by Nice Guy Eddie

[CHIEF 5076]

I just listed a private home, built in 2017, by a retired AA pilot with a 40x40 hanger in our subdivision. These do not come up for sale very often. Concrete taxiways behind each house. Two golf courses. DM me if this has always been your dream. Had a guy fly in to look, but he had two bigger planes, one on turf tires, but there isn't a grass strip at this location, so he passed.

Here is the info on the strip:

https://www.airnav.com/airport/66TE

CHIEF

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

7 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

SIAP.  Not a new story but here's a 10 year old 747-8 with 30 hours of total flight time scrapped for parts.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/boeing-747-vip-jet-scrapped/index.html

Built and sold to a Saudi royal but never completed the interior. Couldn't find a new owner who wanted a personal wide-body, 4 engine personal plane.

Saw it sitting in FLL and LAX respectively. 

[Homercles 10205]

I live within walking distance of Breakaway/40XS here in Cedar Park, and I’m always jealous of those bastards who just taxi out of their hangar for the $100 hamburger.  Of course there’s a whole other world of expenses and headaches, but I can dream.  Highlight of my walks over there was a Blackhawk practicing some kind of low approach, was an impressive sight.  
 

Regarding that 30-hour Queen getting put down, sucks so hard.  Always wanted one of those luggage tags made out of an aircraft skin but the price seems stupid for what they are.  

[HiggyBaby 2529]

I posted the prelim report of the Nepal crash in the Daily Texan thread if anyone’s interested. 

[HiggyBaby 2529]

And who says journalism is dead

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/small-plane-makes-hard-landing-austin-airport?mibextid=Zxz2cZ#le7o3eqyldf7d7pzh3


This happened while we were inbound to AUS yesterday. 18L was closed for a stretch. If anyone was wondering why commercial traffic was flying low and slow over southwest Austin yesterday, it was because they were down to using 18R for takeoffs and landings for a while. Got a scenic view of Bee Caves and Westlake at 5000’ and 170kts .

[CHIEF 5076]

On 2/15/2023 at 5:35 PM, Homercles said:

I live within walking distance of Breakaway/40XS here in Cedar Park, and I’m always jealous of those bastards who just taxi out of their hangar for the $100 hamburger.  Of course there’s a whole other world of expenses and headaches, but I can dream.  Highlight of my walks over there was a Blackhawk practicing some kind of low approach, was an impressive sight.  
 

Regarding that 30-hour Queen getting put down, sucks so hard.  Always wanted one of those luggage tags made out of an aircraft skin but the price seems stupid for what they are.  

We have several pilots, that live here, some are based out of DFW, Love, and Houston. They fly their planes to work, land at a smaller regional airport, and Uber to the international airports close by.

CHIEF 

[HiggyBaby 2529]

Got to see the last pax version of the Queen herself in ORD this week.

[Armybrat 40822]

We were fortunate to ride over & back from Austin to Heathrow on a BA 747 in 2018. Only time we ever rode in one of those. 
It certainly was a different level of travel from the CAT C-47 (or maybe a C-46) we flew in from Taipei to Hong Kong in 1958.

 

[Armybrat 40822]

The CAT flight in 1958 was one of these…

 

[McCroskey 1504]

14 hours ago, HiggyBaby said:

Got to see the last pax version of the Queen herself in ORD this week.

Lufthansa the only one I know of still flying the -400 variants (as pictured).  Korean Air also flies the -8's...regularly into the States too, I might add.  I think at least ATL, JFK, and maybe HNL get daily or pretty regular service on them.

[HiggyBaby 2529]

Ah, I stand corrected. I thought Lufthansa was the last one standing.

[Chad Fuck 17659]

Ah, I stand corrected. I thought Lufthansa was the last one standing.

Last in Europe I think. The Asian airlines still have them in heavy rotation I believe. Saw a lot of KAL one in Seoul in January.

The CAT flight in 1958 was one of these…
 

Definitely a Curtiss C-46. Nice pics.

[Armybrat 40822]

Just pics from the Internet.

[Pescado_Rojo 19413]

On 2/15/2023 at 5:35 PM, Homercles said:

I live within walking distance of Breakaway/40XS here in Cedar Park, and I’m always jealous of those bastards who just taxi out of their hangar for the $100 hamburger.  Of course there’s a whole other world of expenses and headaches, but I can dream.  Highlight of my walks over there was a Blackhawk practicing some kind of low approach, was an impressive sight.  
 

Regarding that 30-hour Queen getting put down, sucks so hard.  Always wanted one of those luggage tags made out of an aircraft skin but the price seems stupid for what they are.  

When my kids were little I coached i9 t ball and soccer on the fields behind Vista Ridge/Henry middle school. Do you know how hard it is to get 4-5-6 year old boys to pay attention to the game when there are airplanes taking off and landing right next door? 

[dieucla98 2942]

2 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

When my kids were little I coached i9 t ball and soccer on the fields behind Vista Ridge/Henry middle school. Do you know how hard it is to get 4-5-6 year old boys to pay attention to the game when there are airplanes taking off and landing right next door? 

Do you know how hard it is to get a 40 year old to pay attention to anything when where are airplanes taking off and landing next door? I'd throw my neck out looking up and then get beaned in the nuts.

[Pescado_Rojo 19413]

1 hour ago, dieucla98 said:

Do you know how hard it is to get a 40 year old to pay attention to anything when where are airplanes taking off and landing next door? I'd throw my neck out looking up and then get beaned in the nuts.

yea, the dads were pretty distracted, too. 

[DaysOff 7947]

I have one trip left at Republic, then off to United next month. Had CJOs at AA, DL, and UA but decided on UA since it offers the best combination of bases and seniority.
Always appreciated your help early on. Seems like a lifetime ago and also yesterday.

Get your shit back in at Delta. Scooter is a lying fuckface.

[Longhornmaniac8 255]

On 3/3/2023 at 12:54 PM, DaysOff said:

Get your shit back in at Delta. Scooter is a lying fuckface.

No way I'm commuting to ATL when I can drive to IAH. Also it'd take 15 years to reach top 50% seniority at DL and at my age I'd never crack top 10%. Probably would never hold widebody captain. Especially at the rate DL gives their long haul flying to their JV partners.

[Armybrat 40822]

A friend attended an event at the Las Vegas race track over the weekend and took this pic of the T-Birds…

 

[Homercles 10205]

Dad was just a reservist 1LT (retired AD O6) back in ‘85 when I saw my first air show.  His reserve base was Niagara Falls so naturally that’s where we went and off to see the Blue Angels…which saw lead and opposing solo crash.  It’s the only memory I have before about 10yo:

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/16/nyregion/report-cites-pilot-error-in-blue-angels-crash.html
 

Once he went AD we had a few air shows to go to where the T-birds went at it…and I instinctively clench up a bit during that maneuver.  Dangerous job. 
 

There was a discovery show about the Angels years ago that was awesome, but what cracked me up was a segment where the new angels had to fly into LAX…naturally it was a foreign world and they really struggled with all the tightly controlled traffic and constant ATC vectors.  Even taxiing was a challenge.  
 

Y’all that fly professionally and often go into places like JFK, ORD, LAX, etc that have multiple ground freqs and lengthy taxi instructions have my respect.  Do you still use pen/paper/iPad to write it down as they issue or do you mostly have it figured out already by knowing the airport/gate, what runway you’re given, etc?

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

7 hours ago, Homercles said:

Dad was just a reservist 1LT (retired AD O6) back in ‘85 when I saw my first air show.  His reserve base was Niagara Falls so naturally that’s where we went and off to see the Blue Angels…which saw lead and opposing solo crash.  It’s the only memory I have before about 10yo:

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/16/nyregion/report-cites-pilot-error-in-blue-angels-crash.html
 

Once he went AD we had a few air shows to go to where the T-birds went at it…and I instinctively clench up a bit during that maneuver.  Dangerous job. 
 

There was a discovery show about the Angels years ago that was awesome, but what cracked me up was a segment where the new angels had to fly into LAX…naturally it was a foreign world and they really struggled with all the tightly controlled traffic and constant ATC vectors.  Even taxiing was a challenge.  
 

Y’all that fly professionally and often go into places like JFK, ORD, LAX, etc that have multiple ground freqs and lengthy taxi instructions have my respect.  Do you still use pen/paper/iPad to write it down as they issue or do you mostly have it figured out already by knowing the airport/gate, what runway you’re given, etc?

Some type it into the scratch pad of the FMS and others write it down. It’s usually company policy to record it somehow.
 

LAX is usually very easy. ORD can be if you’re familiar with the local practices. I wrote it down in the right  seat and typed it in the left because I’m right handed, the location of the various transmission keys and the need to keep a hand on the tiller. 

[HiggyBaby 2529]

2 hours ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

Some type it into the scratch pad of the FMS and others write it down. It’s usually company policy to record it somehow.
 

LAX is usually very easy. ORD can be if you’re familiar with the local practices. I wrote it down in the right  seat and typed it in the left because I’m right handed, the location of the various transmission keys and the need to keep a hand on the tiller. 

Pretty much this. We also have the drawing feature on our Jepp app so I’ll often draw my route over the taxi diagram to keep me honest.  Or just ask my FO. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by HiggyBaby

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

2 hours ago, HiggyBaby said:

Pretty much this. We also have the drawing feature on our Jepp app so I’ll often draw my route over the taxi diagram to keep me honest.  Or just ask my FO. 

It’d be pretty sweet if you could select a standard taxi route and it would be drawn for you on the AMM. 

[Homercles 10205]

Thanks gents.  I like listening to LiveATC or just random stuff like VAS on YouTube…hell I miss channel 9 on the old UA birds.  But complex taxi instructions seem like they’d be hard to follow unless you were prepared for it.  

Obviously there’s endless clips of JFK, between old Kennedy Steve stuff and just general mayhem it seems to be a magnet for wild dialog.  I figured most weren’t that bad.  

[Telegraph_it 3357]

Finally going to fly the C421 to ECP in a few weeks. 
 

The interior is closer to completion. 
 

[Armybrat 40822]

Was surprised to see some of these variations of Gulfstream jets for government missions….

https://www.gulfstream.com/en/aircraft/special-missions/

[Homercles 10205]

Yep there’s one configured for VIP transport called the C-37.  Guess I shoulda said VVIP because it’s quite a step up from the C-21 Learjets that seem to shuttle stars around in-theater.  
 

There’s an upcoming jammer thatll replace the EC-130 Compass Call birds.  

…kinda reminds of the elusive RAT55 radar test bed that flies around the NTTR/Area 51 a lot

I’ve always wondered if they drop special mission birds in UPT (training)…I’d guess not, probably have to fly a normal white jet like a C-21 first or maybe other AMC stuff like a tanker or C17.  On the other hand some people do go to AFSOC (special ops) right out of training so who knows.  

[locodos 5387]

[markstanco 12571]

Finally going to fly the C421 to ECP in a few weeks. 
 
The interior is closer to completion. 
 

What are those discs in the poly bags?

[DalTxHornFan 3097]

3 hours ago, locodos said:

VISIT THE TRAINING GROUNDS WHERE B-17 CREWS LEARNED THEIR CRAFT

When Boeing began churning out more than 12,000 of the heavy bombers, the army looked for sparsely populated places to train. Northern Montana fit the bill nicely.

https://www.historynet.com/b-17-training-montana-wwii/

[locodos 5387]

27 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

VISIT THE TRAINING GROUNDS WHERE B-17 CREWS LEARNED THEIR CRAFT

When Boeing began churning out more than 12,000 of the heavy bombers, the army looked for sparsely populated places to train. Northern Montana fit the bill nicely.

https://www.historynet.com/b-17-training-montana-wwii/

Yup, my great uncle died in 1943 in a training crash of his (he was in the crew not the pilot) B-17F about 2miles east of Big Sandy MT near the reservation.  There were eye witnesses and supposedly some farmers still have parts of his B-17 in their barn.   Not a lot of info out there, but I posted some stuff on the Memorial Thread, but I cross posted that pic because I thought you airplane nerds might like to see it.

[DalTxHornFan 3097]

6 minutes ago, locodos said:

Yup, my great uncle died in 1943 in a training crash of his (he was in the crew not the pilot) B-17F about 2miles east of Big Sandy MT near the reservation.  There were eye witnesses and supposedly some farmers still have parts of his B-17 in their barn.   Not a lot of info out there, but I posted some stuff on the Memorial Thread, but I cross posted that pic because I thought you airplane nerds might like to see it.

Good story.  My wife's great uncle died in a B-17 crash in England, right after take-off.  They apparently pushed the limits on fuel weight to give them margins to make it home from their bombing mission.  A B-17 full of gas and loaded with bombs -- what could go wrong?  RIP James and crew.

[Armybrat 40822]

Cool pic from the Vietnam War…looks like an F-105:

 

[locodos 5387]

On 3/22/2023 at 10:15 PM, DalTxHornFan said:

Good story.  My wife's great uncle died in a B-17 crash in England, right after take-off.  They apparently pushed the limits on fuel weight to give them margins to make it home from their bombing mission.  A B-17 full of gas and loaded with bombs -- what could go wrong?  RIP James and crew.

They also had a limited amount of high octane fuel so they had to cut the power and risk unstable flight.   I have read some transcripts that talk about the danger of forming up and that it was greater than that of danger over the objective.  They had to climb up through the clouds alone becasue they didnt have information about othter planes positions.   They also took off every 30 seconds from 4 or 5 different fields.   The Army airforce lost more men than the marines...88k  Of that 36K died in accidents ... let that sink in....  They classified accidents and outright denied others so the Japanese and Germans wouldn't know how bad our training and birds were...

[DalTxHornFan 3097]

2 minutes ago, locodos said:

They also had a limited amount of high octane fuel so they had to cut the power and risk unstable flight.   I have read some transcripts that talk about the danger of forming up and that it was greater than that of danger over the objective.  They had to climb up through the clouds alone becasue they didnt have information about othter planes positions.   They also took off every 30 seconds from 4 or 5 different fields.   The Army airforce lost more men than the marines...88k  Of that 36K died in accidents ... let that sink in....  They classified accidents and outright denied others so the Japanese and Germans wouldn't know how bad our training and birds were...

God bless all of those guys (and our sources and methods, even when bad).  Otherwise we'd all be speaking German today!

[locodos 5387]

1 minute ago, DalTxHornFan said:

God bless all of those guys (and our sources and methods, even when bad).  Otherwise we'd all be speaking German today!

The smallest fucking German speaking province in the Russian empire!

[markstanco 12571]

[Telegraph_it 3357]

On 3/22/2023 at 7:07 PM, markstanco said:

What are those discs in the poly bags?

No idea. I tried to find out. They almost look like they go around the vents for the pressurization or AC? I can’t tell if those were threaded though. 
 

I finally got to fly in the bird today. We did some nice IMC flying today and did some experimenting with the radar. 
 

 

 

[shadow_operative2.0 15947]

We have got to quit parking like this. 

Quote

A plane flipped upside-down on the runway at Terrell Municipal Airport on Tuesday afternoon.

The 1976 Cessna flipped between two runways just after 4 p.m.

The single-engine plane has four seats, but there were only two people on board at the time of the crash.

Both men were treated at the scene.

At this time, the cause of the accident is unknown, but the FAA has been notified.

[milkman 428]

Finally got everything worked out on the Comanche 250!

[RPM 26316]

Nice, but you need to fix that paint scheme. Burnt orange would look much better.

[RPM 26316]

Just ran across this guy on YouTube. Naval Aviator stationed on the Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) that talks you through his flight maneuvers. To steal a comment from his fans, he's the Bob Ross of naval aviation.

 

[davidg 4036]

Just ran across this guy on YouTube. Naval Aviator stationed on the Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) that talks you through his flight maneuvers. To steal a comment from his fans, he's the Bob Ross of naval aviation.
 

Growler Jams is a great ytube channel.

[Gil Bang 25915]

 

https://taiwanenglishnews.com/two-eva-air-planes-damaged-after-ground-handling-accident-at-taoyuan-airport/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

 

[Exposition 93]

Anyone else doing a double-take hearing the ATP students using their new callsign "Career Track"? Is it common for big box flight schools to create a callsign? Thrust does it here at Addison but I hadn't heard any other schools in the area doing it. Always wondered if they have it placarded or how else they remember their flight #. 

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

4 hours ago, Exposition said:

Anyone else doing a double-take hearing the ATP students using their new callsign "Career Track"? Is it common for big box flight schools to create a callsign? Thrust does it here at Addison but I hadn't heard any other schools in the area doing it. Always wondered if they have it placarded or how else they remember their flight #. 

Hadn’t heard that yet, but I’ve heard several schools that do it. Usually their flight number coincides with a tail number or something similarly easy to remember. The fractionals do the same thing. Their tail number is always their flight number. 

[Your Mom 4805]

Years ago I worked at really shitty freight outfit with the callsign of Pro Jet… flying a fleet of Cessna 402s. 

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

Kinda like GamaJet who was all  KA350’s until the last few years. Heard SRQ ground call them GamaProp once. They didn’t sound amused. 

[Gil Bang 25915]

I went to an airshow yesterday at March AFRB.

What a clusterfuck.  It literally took us 3 fucking hours to get through the gates once we exited the freeway. 

Once inside, the show was quite good.  Got to see the inside of a Super Galaxy and other heavies, lots of WWII birds (most of them hopped over from Chino), The Thunderbirds, etc.   Bullshitting with the G5 pilots; out of Texas, one is an AA guy, the other UA. 

But what an ill-run event.  Every trash can overflowing, every porta-john overflowing, every handwash station empty, non-existent traffic control.