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tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:50 am

Our last round trip through Europe was aboard an LHA 74-8. :sad:

I haven't checked FlightRadar24 to know its carrier and destination, but a couple times a week we (normally) get overflown by one 7-4 on climbout from LAX going north-ish.

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Postby Shyster » Sat Jul 18, 2020 6:46 pm

Our last round trip through Europe was aboard an LHA 74-8. :sad:

I haven't checked FlightRadar24 to know its carrier and destination, but a couple times a week we (normally) get overflown by one 7-4 on climbout from LAX going north-ish.

It's probably going to be a cargo operator. Among others, I believe Nippon Cargo, Cargolux, Kalitta Air, Cathay Pacific, Air China, and Asiana all operate cargo 747s to LAX.

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Postby DigitalGypsy66 » Sun Jul 19, 2020 9:16 am

Pretty good explainer on the future of commercial flying:


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Postby Shyster » Wed Jul 22, 2020 4:38 pm

I don't think that one is going to buff out. Fortunately, it was a cargo aircraft, and it doesn't look like anyone was injured.


tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Fri Jul 24, 2020 2:32 pm

Thanks to FlightRadar24, I was able just now to go outside and see one of the final Qantas 747 flights out of LAX as it flew over my house. (Destination is MHV, so I'm guessing it's heading to ye mothballs)

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Postby Shyster » Fri Jul 24, 2020 3:59 pm

Yes. Might have been the very last flight. The aircraft heading to MHV will only leave in parts.

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Postby tifosi77 » Fri Jul 24, 2020 6:02 pm

There was a second one about an hour later that was destined for VCV, which is a logistics support field in Victorville. (I think a lot of the 73MAX fleet has been vacationing there)

Speaking of which, FAA Orders Thousands Of Boeing 737s To Undergo Emergency Inspections
The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering emergency inspections of about 2,000 Boeing 737 airplanes because of a possible engine valve problem that could lead to engine failure.

The FAA's emergency air worthiness directive orders inspections of older 737 Classic and Next Generation planes that may have been in storage as a result of sharply reduced air travel demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The directive, dated Thursday, was prompted by four recent reports of single-engine failures due to problems with a critical air check valve. Inspectors found corrosion on some engine air check valves, which can lead the valves to become stuck open and potentially cause both of a plane's engines to lose power and prevent them from restarting.
Basically, the engines are designed to more or less be constantly in operation and only completely powered down for relatively brief periods. With airlines grounding much of their fleets (across all types) for months amid the pandemic, a particular valve is showing susceptibility to corrode during this extended down time.

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Postby Shyster » Fri Jul 24, 2020 6:25 pm

Looking at the directive, it doesn't look like a complicated check. It's basically just "wiggle the valve and see if it sticks."

I checked, and I see no corresponding directive for Airbus models with CFM engines, which I presume means there must be a different valve system for the two aircraft. The directive refers to both the 737 Classic and NG versions, which means that the valves on both the CFM-56-4 and much newer CFM-56-7 variants are subject to sticking while the valves on the Airbus CFM-56-5s are not.

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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Sat Jul 25, 2020 6:26 pm


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Postby shafnutz05 » Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:01 pm

Awful.... I cannot even fathom being one of the few unlucky folks in America that has had a plane crash into their house. Reminds me of the Buffalo crash some years back.

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Postby shafnutz05 » Wed Jul 29, 2020 10:20 pm

Awful.... I cannot even fathom being one of the few unlucky folks in America that has had a plane crash into their house. Reminds me of the Buffalo crash some years back.
So this one hits close to home. An old Coast Guard mate and her family were the victims in this crash. She lost her infant son and husband, and she and her two year old son are hospitalized with severe burns and other injuries.

I'm just gutted for her and her family, I simply cannot imagine the mental and physical pain she is going through. :(

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Postby Shyster » Wed Jul 29, 2020 10:24 pm

Wow, that's terrible.

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Postby tifosi77 » Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:13 pm

Holy crap, that's insane.

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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:15 pm

My word. Prayers up Shad

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Postby shafnutz05 » Thu Jul 30, 2020 5:30 pm

Thanks gents. :thumb:

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Postby Shyster » Sat Aug 08, 2020 6:30 pm

Initial reports from the authority that operates the airport in Kerala, India where an Air India 737 overran the runway are saying that the aircraft touched down long near a taxiway that is around 1,000 metres from the runway threshold. That would be close to halfway down the 2,800-meter runway. Couple that with heavy rain and a mild tailwind, and there was pretty much no chance that the 737 would be able to stop before going off the end of the runway, which was a sharp drop into a gorge. The aircraft had already gone around once due to the heavy rain and low visibility, and it should have gone around again. This one is looking like pilot error.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 427990.cms

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Postby NTP66 » Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:25 pm

Boeing 747s Still Use Floppy Disks to Get Critical Software Updates
It’s been approximately 12 million years since most of us last used a floppy disk, but apparently, the antiquated tech still plays a critical role in delivering software updates to Boeing’s 747-400 planes.

Apparently, the drive is the 747's navigation database loader and needs to be updated every 28 days. As in, some poor engineer has to visit each 747-400 and manually deliver updates... or the planes wouldn’t be able to fly. And it’s not just the 747s. Per the Verge, the majority of Boeing 737s are also updated via floppy disks. Operators these planes, according to a 2014 Aviation Today report, have binders full of floppy disks for “all the avionics that they may need.” That includes important information like airports, runways, flight paths, and waypoints used by pilots to make flight plans.

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Postby Shyster » Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:40 pm

Older aircraft are going to have older avionics. Any changes to the electronics of an aircraft has to be separately certified as a supplemental type certificate, and there are rigorous requirements for any electronic parts that go into an aircraft. Even for general-aviation aircraft, you just can't buy a new set of instruments and install it into your Cessna, even if it would fit and work perfectly. The replacement instruments have to be certified by the FAA and the manufacturer for installation into that particular aircraft. So in most cases it's cheaper and simpler to just keep producing, installing, and using the old hardware, especially for commercial fleets. The high cost of part certification is yet another reason that airplanes are so expensive.

The "update every 28 days" thing probably isn't a problem because most commercial aircraft would go through an "A" check more often than that, so it's just one more item on the checklist for the maintenance workers to do.

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Postby NTP66 » Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:42 pm

I just think it’s funny that floppy disks are still in use anywhere.

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Postby dodint » Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:43 pm

Reminds me of tbe Mclaren F1 service laptop.

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Postby tifosi77 » Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:45 pm

4th generation fighters still use VHS-style tapes to record gun camera footage. If you ever watch cold-and-dark startup videos where the aviator has a GoPro on their helmet, you'll see them loading up the tapes into a deck behind the ejection seat.

I think Strike Eagles still use something like data cards to load mission data into the avionics.

(Back to non-military)

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Postby NTP66 » Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:49 pm

The F35 probably uses Zip drives.

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Postby dodint » Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:15 am

I've started listening to KPIT ATC during the workday. It's a pretty good non-intrusive choice for background noise.

It's not as dry as it sounds, either. Pilot was approved for a touch and go and he ended up landing and taxxing back to get in line for takeoff. Fun conversation ensued. "I've been [ATC] since 1987, could be wrong, but, I've never known that to be included in the approved option."

It's more casual than I would've thought. I was an air support operator in the USMC and all of our air traffic was max brevity. These nasty civilians are chatty af.

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Postby NTP66 » Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:19 am

I don't know why, but whenever I hear stuff like this, I always think of this story, which is one of my favorites:
There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.

It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet.

I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury.

Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace.

We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for a readout of his ground speed. Center replied: "November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground."

Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional, tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the " Houston Center voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that, and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios.

Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed. "I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed." Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. "Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check". Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: "Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground."

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn.

Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: "Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?" There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. "Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground."

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: "Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money."

For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A.came back with, "Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one."

It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.

For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

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Postby dodint » Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:34 am

I bet I've read that 50 times over the years and I was happy to read it again. :thumb:

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