When my plastic model Tristar and DC10 were too tail heavy to stand on the undercart I just glued some nuts in the nosewheel bay. Why can't Lufthansa put a couple of John Deere 100lb suitcase weights in the electronics bay for each pax at the back of economy.

(Written on 2019年 09月 12日)(Permalink)

Excessive consumption of alcohol prior to, or during, a flight might be thought of as relatively harmless, however recognising that it is a choice made by the individual concerned, airlines and aviation authorities should give serious consideration to the possibility of an alcoholically incapacitated pax becoming a danger to themselves, or others, in the event of an emergency, especially one necessitating rapid evacuation and as a consequence it should lead to a decision whether to deny boarding or refuse continued inflight service to individuals who choose to so indulge.

(Written on 2019年 09月 12日)(Permalink)

Will the a/c overnight there and, if so, will the crews be protected from "choke an rob" ? Considering the Guyanese (and Guianese) in the UK, Toronto (and the rest of Canada) as well as New York and elsewhere, more live outside the country than live there. Apart from Kaieteur, or to take in necessities for family or friends, which would otherwise be stolen if mailed, is there any reason to go there ?

(Written on 2019年 09月 11日)(Permalink)

Apologies for this post which is not directly aviation related. Some of the semi-artificial pools which the Grumman amphibs used to operate out of were amazingly small and almost surrounded with trees. Refuelling by hand pumps on re-used 55 gallon drums was amazing considering the possibilities of fuel contamination (rust flakes and water). Venezuela only wanted some of the north western area (part of Essequibo, where the oil happens to be) and this is one of the reasons Jones was allowed to build his operation there. The Dutch (now Surinam) wanted an eastern chunk of Berbice/the Courantene, but I can't imagine why since there's nothing of value there that I can think of, not even bauxite. What I don't understand is why it took this long to try to exploit the known oil deposits.

(Written on 2019年 09月 11日)(Permalink)

I wonder if all implications of this decision have been considered. I hope that the horse will be adequately restrained during takeoff and landing. Hopefully seat belt extenders will be sufficient to prevent the animal flying through the cabin in an emergency stop. In the event of an emergency evacuation, especially if the cabin is filling with fumes, can the animal be relied upon to behave itself or be controlled by the human accompanying it ? The one miniature horse I am familiar with runs around his pasture kicking when excited. He has quite hard hooves, but the one positive is that he does not bite ! Will a leaping, kicking and possibly biting, horse interfere with a cabin evacuation, especially if an attempt is made to exit him onto a slide ?

(Written on 2019年 08月 18日)(Permalink)

Thanks Torsten, looks as if they kept the wings level most of the way and then the right wing dipped into the crops near to the end of the run.

(Written on 2019年 08月 15日)(Permalink)

They did a nice job getting it down, keeping the wheels up helps reduce the possibility of substantial chunks of metal debris entering the cabin or rupturing tanks. In a plowed field any spillage might soak into the ground rather than pooling as on hardstand. The fuselage staying intact was fortunate and it looks like all slides deployed. One report says they brought it down between the IM and OM; its lucky to have a convenient long empty field straight ahead to put it into. I presume you want to hold the nose up just sufficiently to get a mild enough tailstrike that does not affecting fuselage integrity, as long as you have the airspeed to give elevator control. I wonder how many pax retrieved their possessions from the overheads before deplaning. If this was winter I would want to be wearing an overcoat and decent footwear in that area, even when the equipment reaches the site they may not have facilities to shelter a couple of hundred ill-clad people from the elements.

(Written on 2019年 08月 15日)(Permalink)

Does United know something or is this a panic move ? Have they had a good look at these actual 700s ? United are selling seats for the Spring 2020 right now. Are they planning to slot these 700s into their schedule in place of the Max ? If United aren't physically getting their hands on these used 700s until December, how long will it take until they're actually generating revenue eg how long to paint and refurbish the interiors, how much time to the next major etc ?

(Written on 2019年 07月 17日)(Permalink)

Its already almost mid-July. You're already selling your Winter and Spring schedules. It would be nice to know what a/c types and seat configurations (assignments) you'll be using. You want to know what additional crew qualification/certifications you are going to need, especially if more training and simulator time has to be scheduled. What gate slots are you going to be committing to pay for ? What are the fuel and any other out-station parts requirements (and any other mx). Are any special service carts and containers needed, even something as simple as Emergency Evacuation cards that no one looks at. You might also want to be looking at provisional leases in case your grounded Maxes aren't usable.

(Written on 2019年 07月 10日)(Permalink)

Back in the 1980s I was a member of a group that sued a Federal agency. Two Agents visited my office and spent a full day with me going through my records. They took some of my papers with them. A week later one of them returned my papers (judging by the pencil marks they'd gone through them in detail) and spent another full day reviewing their "findings". After all that the penalties and interest etc was just about $2,800, which I could have contested, and would have been justified, because I just could not find some supporting documents. But it was easier just to pay the $2,800 than to waste more time, or go to court, with all the expense, and time, that would have entailed. Don't upset the Feds.

(Written on 2019年 07月 10日)(Permalink)