Ask The Pilot

[jb747]

Then an unmistakenly British accent chimed in with "Don't worry - we can see him below us." Allegedly an Avro Vulcan was overflying a U2.

The Vulcan could get up high, but not a chance of getting above a U2. But, some people are very quick with a come back!

Above FL450 is outside of controlled airspace, and some years ago when the USS Enterprise was in the area, an RA5C decided to avoid the whole flight planning mess, by simply climbing over it and tracking direct. He didn’t need a clearance until he got to the RAAF airspace that was his destination.

 

[flyer89]

The has been some movement in the past year, but I think everyone has come from an A330 command. Whilst he may have looked young, I can’t think of anyone who’s less than 50. Thinking about it, that strikes me as young too.

Yes, he struck me as young in context of the fleet. Greying probably early 50s. Perhaps he’s just had a few less beers over the years. The FO looked like he was about a week from retirement so that might’ve made the CPT look good as well.

 

[jb747]

The 747 is no longer the top dog in the fleet, and slots on it are likely to be reduced within a relatively short period. Some of the guys who have recently moved to it will be bumped out within a year or two, so that makes it much less popular than it once was. Nevertheless, the 747 is an iconic aircraft that many would like a chance to fly before it goes. Effectively the fleet is divided into those who are young enough to move elsewhere, and those who hope the aircraft sees them out. If I weren't on the 380, it would still be my choice.

As an aside I was one of those sub 50 youngsters when I got my command on it....

 

[flyer89]

The 747 is no longer the top dog in the fleet, and slots on it are likely to be reduced within a relatively short period. Some of the guys who have recently moved to it will be bumped out within a year or two, so that makes it much less popular than it once was. Nevertheless, the 747 is an iconic aircraft that many would like a chance to fly before it goes. Effectively the fleet is divided into those who are young enough to move elsewhere, and those who hope the aircraft sees them out. If I weren't on the 380, it would still be my choice.

As an aside I was one of those sub 50 youngsters when I got my command on it....

As a young whipper snapper myself about to begin the process with Qlink as a pilot unfortunately I’ll have to say my goodbyes to the Queen from row 71. Difficult to deny it wasn’t a primary inspiration that led me to go down this somewhat silly path.....

 

[Moody]

The Vulcan could get up high, but not a chance of getting above a U2. But, some people are very quick with a come back!.

Could very well have been poetic license, but the Vulcan was stable right up to its 65,000ft ceiling .... whereas the U2 at 70,000 feet was deep in coffin corner territory. The American may have chosen a more conservative FL that he mistakenly believed would put him above everyone else.

 

[jb747]

According to anything official that I can find, its service ceiling was 55,000'. Another 10,000' is another world entirely. At that level mach 1 corresponds to about 175 kias.

 

[Anna]

21/11 QF93 MEL-LAX

I'm on that flight! I'm going to USA for Thanksgiving.

 

[jb747]

I'm on that flight! I'm going to USA for Thanksgiving.

Make sure you send up a business card, or get the cabin crew to remind me that you're there.....

 

[Captain Halliday]

Looking at the photo of the MH A380 (see below) that lost a nose wheel on landing I noticed, like most people, that the aircraft could do with a wash.

But I also noticed a white panel below the front and rear doors on the upper deck.

Is this the place from which the slides are deployed?

If so, is it reasonable to assume these two slides have been deployed and replaced on this aircraft?

 

[jb747]

Looking at the photo of the MH A380 (see below) that lost a nose wheel on landing I noticed, like most people, that the aircraft could do with a wash.

I don't think I've ever seen one looking quite so sad. I wonder if the blue markings are paint or a fancy decal. It seems to be coming off in quite a few places. It certainly makes you wonder about the condition of the rest of it.

Presumably the nose gear issue would be a stub axle failure. I've seen pictures from other types, but I think this is the first 380.

But I also noticed a white panel below the front and rear doors on the upper deck.

Is this the place from which the slides are deployed?

If so, is it reasonable to assume these two slides have been deployed and replaced on this aircraft?

The slides on the lower deck are stored in the door bustle, but the upper deck slides are, as you suggest, stored in the hatches below the passenger doors. I think all you can say from looking at the image is that the doors have been replaced at some stage. As I understand their operation, setting off the slide would not require replacement of the door. I'll see if I can get a definite answer on that.

Slides are occasionally set off by engineering, though I don't think we have done that with a 380, only the 747. As far as I can tell, the only accidental firing of a slide on the 380 was by Lufthansa, and it was on the lower deck.

I think that all you can read into the picture is that the slide doors have been replaced. I don't know of any particular reason for doing so.

 

[Major]

AVH have an interesting photo

Incident: Malaysia A388 at Kuala Lumpur on Oct 15th 2017, dropped nose wheel after landing

 

[Flying Fox]

AVH have an interesting photo

Incident: Malaysia A388 at Kuala Lumpur on Oct 15th 2017, dropped nose wheel after landing

Great pic. I find it amazing that the front of the whole aircraft can be supported on landing and taxi by this one tyre/wheel combo!

 

[jb747]

I find it amazing that the front of the whole aircraft can be supported on landing and taxi by this one tyre/wheel combo!

I'm told that there is only about 16 tonnes of weight on the nose gear. The aircraft was actually designed with a stretch in mind, which would have increased the weight a bit. Remember that we have to be able to produce enough downforce at the tail to rotate the aircraft for take off, at fairly low speeds, so it can't be too heavy.

 

[UP4014]

Great pic. I find it amazing that the front of the whole aircraft can be supported on landing and taxi by this one tyre/wheel combo!

Many dollars spent on the design getting balance perfect. In rail where I work, we (the royal we, the company I work for) have locomotives in Australia with 30 tonne loads per axle. They still break but rarely thank god.

The photo does look like a hot bearing sheared the axle, in the photo you can see the axle is hollow to save weight. For their physical size I'm always impressed that aircraft are very light but then that little axle probably cost $100K against a locomotive axle at about $4K

 

[Dale Eastham]

I don't think I've ever seen an airliner so dirty.. aside from the airlines image looking a bit shabby as a result, do airliners pick up that sort of muck from flying in/out of areas with especially high air pollution levels? A colleague recently came back from customer visits in China & shared some photos of the smog that hangs over some cities, which was fairly shocking to see.

Or do they just need to get the hoses out & give it some TLC once in a while?!

 

[jb747]

I don't think I've ever seen an airliner so dirty.. aside from the airlines image looking a bit shabby as a result, do airliners pick up that sort of muck from flying in/out of areas with especially high air pollution levels?

My guess would be that it's been doing a lot of sitting on the ground in places like KL.

Or do they just need to get the hoses out & give it some TLC once in a while?!

It's not that simple, which is why so many aircraft end up looking pretty dirty. Most places have strict laws that can restrict just where and how aircraft are cleaned. I'd have my doubt about Malaysia being part of that, but, you never know.....

 

[Saab34]

I don't think I've ever seen an airliner so dirty.. aside from the airlines image looking a bit shabby as a result, do airliners pick up that sort of muck from flying in/out of areas with especially high air pollution levels? A colleague recently came back from customer visits in China & shared some photos of the smog that hangs over some cities, which was fairly shocking to see.

Or do they just need to get the hoses out & give it some TLC once in a while?!

This one takes the cake.
N198UA | Boeing 747-422 | United Airlines | Tim Bowrey | JetPhotos

 

[jb747]

This one takes the cake.

That one is not really dirty, but it does look like it was the recipient of a very poor paint job.

Airbus delivered a couple of A330s to QF back in the early deliveries that had the paint start to come off in huge sheets. They 'forgot' to undercoat it properly. The aircraft were flown back to Europe to be redone. Presumably the bloke in charge moved to the VW diesel division.

 

[mannej]

This one takes the cake.
N198UA | Boeing 747-422 | United Airlines | Tim Bowrey | JetPhotos

That one is not really dirty, but it does look like it was the recipient of a very poor paint job.

Airbus delivered a couple of A330s to QF back in the early deliveries that had the paint start to come off in huge sheets. They 'forgot' to undercoat it properly. The aircraft were flown back to Europe to be redone. Presumably the bloke in charge moved to the VW diesel division.

Saying that, it’s in better condition there compared to present.

N198UA | Boeing 747-422 | Scaled Composites | Yochai Mossi | JetPhotos

 

[jb747]

A sad ending, even though it comes to most aircraft. Imagine the stories it could have told....