Southwest seems to have ditched the nuts and now hands out a small bag of pretzels. Due to the nut issue? Not sure. I heard an anecdote from a WN mechanic who said in the old days during aircraft inspection one early task was to vacuum up all the nuts caught down in the seat rails. There are probabl...
Jump to postAlong the same lines as the flying American flag, I always thought it unfortunate for Finnair that they are stuck with a backwards stylized F on the right side vert stab. At least that’s what I think it represents.
Jump to postInteresting stuff. It always impressed me how Concorde engineers effectively used fuel as a heat sink to cool the fuselage and yet the Russians with the TU-144 couldn't get if figured out and used gigantic air conditioners that made so much nose normal conversation was impossible aboard it. Last th...
Jump to postJohnJ wrote:One of the worst plane crashes in United States history happened on approach to SAN, and ATC played a role. It was a mid-air collision.
The Global is certified to fly with wing fuel out of balance by max 1100#. Conceivably you could do this all day long without trouble.
Jump to postDon’t forget Cirrus offers the Vision Jet….a Vtail single engine jet. It’s a relatively new offer but here in SDL there are several based. Quite popular for the Scottsdale crowd who seem to have $2M to burn on a new toy. And the Fouga Magister. Possibly the coolest Looking v tail ever. 1950s Euro Mi...
Jump to postThe accident report describes many contributing factors but ice, surprisingly, wasn’t the primary cause. Other than the obvious contamination on the tail, the aircraft was overloaded with a CG wildly aft of its limit and with 2 pax (children) sitting unrestrained in the aisle. Also, the pilot insist...
Jump to postThanks for posting these amazing pics. So sad to see that the end result was a determined long after they were able to fly away. Would it be possible to coordinate the end of life for an aircraft with a safe final resting place so that when an aircraft is due to be retired a suitable home/museum is ...
Jump to postI’ll add....
People blocking the moving walkway by standing on both right AND left side. It’s not a ride!
Trevor Jacob strikes again.
Jump to postOur old cockpit CMC EFBs ran Windows 95 with the standard issue windows version of solitaire removed…presumably so pilots wouldn’t be distracted by playing the game. We now use off-the-shelf iPad with wifi which comes with no restrictions. Still not supposed to play solitaire however….or watch strea...
Jump to postEngines or no engines a plane will crash when it hits something. If your engineless plane can glide to a runway then....no crash.
Jump to postNot Trump’s plane. Times must be tough. But never fear there is yet another grist, this time to drum up enough money to get his 757 back in the air.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-fo ... 61583661fe
The Uber could have been part of his master plan to avoid (some) contact with the crew. Now, for the gun? How ridiculous. A drunk guy with a gun is as scary as a drunk pilot and should be illegal on its own merit.
Jump to postTo each their own. Coming back to the east coast from Hawaii, I personally despise having a long flight connecting after a red eye, which is what happens if the connection is in LAX or SEA. No it isn't. My last trip to Hawaii I departed HI in the early afternoon, arrived in SFO in the evening and c...
Jump to postBack in the 2010s I flew a plane based at KSJC Atlantic Aviation. We would often see Elon’s plane on the ramp; then a Falcon 900. How did I know it was Elon? The bold SpaceX logo on the tail. Obviously not as high profile in those days but still not a discreet fellow as most private jet owners are…....
Jump to post....and who pilots a plane wearing a sport parachute, skydiving altimeter and 2 fire extinguishers tucked inside trousers? Also there is evidence he hired a helicopter to retrieve the wreckage before the video was posted. FAA is already investigating. There is endless YouTube analysis on this...near...
Jump to postMy great uncle worked at the HS Hatfield plant and was involved with the development of the Trident. I’ve always been a big fan but growing up in California we didn’t get them out here...or did we? I know Trident was never operated by any US carriers but has a Trident ever even been on US soil? I ha...
Jump to postFWIW, and I think we've well-explored the accident so far, Dan Gryder's video on this is pretty-good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pS17RPgqfI Caution: it starts out with the accident audio, because he is angry and trying to reach his audience of corporate pilots and executives, and he's particu...
Jump to postUrban legend? ATC wanted a guy to descend faster and asked if he had speed brakes. Pilot reply “those are for my mistakes, not yours”.
Jump to postI have vague memories of my first ever “airplane ride” as a 5 year old emigrating to the US in 1968 on a TWA 707. LHR-JFK. Thus began a lifelong love of all things aviation and (up til now) 40+ years as a pilot, 33 of them professionally. I like to think TWA gets some credit for the path I have chos...
Jump to postInterestingly the Boeing 2707 SST design had an articulated double hinged droop nose. Down similar to Concorde but then the tip of the nose hinged back up so as not to drag on the ground presumably. Looked like an anteater….very awkward design.
Jump to postI too came from the mechanical E6B world but never used the electronic kind. Do I remember correctly that electronic E6Bs were not allowed during exams? Was it considered cheating? As a flight instructor in the late 1980s I was still teaching the manual device. Doubtful, but do student pilots still ...
Jump to postWhat about gloves vs touch screens? IPad EFBs, etc. Our FMSs are all touch screen also.
Jump to postI just came off a trans con flight and 121.5 has become unbearable to monitor. I had to shut it off. Someone transmits “Let’s Go Brandon” every few minutes followed by the snickering. It was bad enough 2 weeks ago but has become a complete joke.. We are required of course to monitor 121.5 during fli...
Jump to postAfter 30 years flying jets I recently took up glider flying. In the beginning my glider rudder use was appalling to say the least. I had to re learn how to properly use the rudder again. Very humbling.
Jump to postI’ve heard ATIS broadcasts mentioning something like “...caution for unauthorized transmissions on tower frequency”. It happens.
Jump to postLear 55. Absolutely. The cockpit side window is unique to the 55. 1980s vintage. You too can buy one of these or cheap.
Jump to postNot sure about the most but the aerial photo of Gander/CYQX on Sept 11, 2001 has quite a few.
Jump to postIn 20 years has the US FFDO program ever been credited with saving the day? Seems like more of a liability than a practical thing.
Jump to postKalitta takes a 747-400 load of beef cattle from PHKO (Kona, HI) regularly to the mainland. Kohala Ranch cattle. Must be some good beef if you’re into that sort of thing.
Jump to postThe only thing of this type I recall is the UK charter airline Paramount (not to be confused with the Indian airline of the same name today) which did winter series with the MD83 to Goa. I recall it was tech stops at Amman and Bahrain to Goa so a three leg journey. In the mid 00s, something like Co...
Jump to postContract captain is interesting, usually contractors are fill-in for the company crew, as co-pilot only. You and I know it takes two to fly these aircraft, the newspapers don't (reference made to "the pilot"). The person named as "the pilot" could have been SIC. Tragic outcome e...
Jump to postI have been flying into TRK my entire career in everything from C-172 to Global Express…and several times in a CL-601 too. It’s a fine airport if the weather is good. Mountain weather and wind is unforgiving and it doesn’t take much for me to head to RNO instead. I must say I have never made an IFR ...
Jump to postWe're on year 13 with our Global and still the original brakes. 4000+TT with 1500+ cycles. The brakes on a Global are VERY robust. A new set of brakes are in the $100's of Thousands.
Jump to postOne common tactic of a management company trying to drum up charter revenue is to convince the aircraft owner that putting his plane on their certificate will not only offset the fixed operating costs but will actually make him a profit. This is always wrong. No one makes money owning a private jet.
Jump to post[twoid][/twoid] Airbus and later Virgin Atlantic believed 4 engines were better than 2. They used the “4 for the Long Haul” slogan on the Airbus 340 and had it clearly labeled on the engine. I suppose Virgin removed the slogan when they started twin engine long haul ops. Story. https://blog.seattlep...
Jump to postAirbus and later Virgin Atlantic believed 4 engines were better than 2. They used the “4 for the Long Haul” slogan on the Airbus 340 and had it clearly labeled on the engine. I suppose Virgin removed the slogan when they started twin engine long haul ops. Story. https://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/...
Jump to postIf it’s not fuel contamination, there aren’t many other explanations for both engines failing. I agree that an EPA exemption for DEF in airside airport vehicles makes a great deal of sense, at the very least until better safeguards and practices can be developed to avoid cross-contamination. Every ...
Jump to postI travel for a living (corporate pilot) and long ago learned that it’s much easier to use a medium size duffle bag as luggage over a rolling bag. Old school? Sure. But it has advantages. My duffle never gets pulled from airline carry-on even on the small RJs. When the trend went toward rolling bags ...
Jump to postCan’t answer your question specifically but I vaguely remember hearing long ago at training that aircraft seatbelts standardized to the pull-to-release type because not all push button types were the same and fumbling for a button during an emergency was considered potentially hazardous.
Jump to postI was based at SFO Signature for many years until last year. We operated a Global there. The aircraft owner, his plane and crew were all part of the Great California Exodus and moved out of state. Some of the comments above are correct but not all. In our experience we could only get a departure fro...
Jump to postVORs were once named for the nearest city even if many miles away...but this changed. When I learned to fly in Central California in the early 1980s many VORs far away from the associated airport still held the name of the nearby airport. The VOR names were changed to avoid confusion I suspect. Exam...
Jump to postIt’s not unusual for wind in the spring in Northeast. 48 years of flying, I and other pilots have seen many times. BTW, I’m riding in the back of an airline right now into KBDL, winds around 25 knots down 33. Clickbait Many of the people on this forum aren’t pilots so maybe you can bring the ego do...
Jump to postIt’s not as random as it appears. Remains of at least 200 mammoths were found during construction of the airport. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-09-04/mammoth-central-found-at-mexico-airport-construction-site The problem with the logo is that most people won’t get the connection. Th...
Jump to postIn the US there is some debate about the legality of mandating employees to get vaccinated. This issue is still developing as far as I understand it and it looks like it may be left up to the individual states to declare their policy. What is the position with regards to airlines, their employees an...
Jump to postWhen my boss was looking for a new plane and was considering the Bombardier Global 5000 (advertised as having 5000nm range) I mentioned this to the Gulfstream salesman. He quipped, “Global 5000? You mean the Global 4700”. Funny. We ended up buying a Global 5000....with it’s 4700nm range.
Jump to postPrior to 1966, there was a Prestwick and Shannon control centers with respective aeradio stations. To consolidate the two, the UK and Ireland ATC, created Shanwick—Shannon getting the Flight Services and Prestwick the traffic control portion. When you called “Shanwick Radio, NW xxx, position”; your...
Jump to postSFO Helicopters ran a SFO-Marin-OAK-SJC-SFO scheduled service with a fleet of Sikorsky S-61s. 1970s/1980s. $5 would get you a round trip seat for a joy ride around the Bay.
Jump to postOur 2009 Global came with CMC/Windows XP EFBs. Total boat anchors and pretty useless when compared to iPad. We upgraded the Global with IPad mounts with ship power and link to FMS data for moving map, etc. With onboard wifi we now each have a multi functional tablet with Jepp charts, ARINC, ForeFlig...
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