Just watching this programme (recorded) about people delivering aircraft all over the place and there's this Jet - descibed as state of the art
computer controlled - Phenom 100.
Any way they went to start it but it wouldn't boot up just error messages........so they went onto the internet, downloaded a software update
for the computer which controls the plane, popped it onto a 2GB SD card like the one in my camera, stuck the card into a slot in the dash on the plane
and hey presto it works!!!!
I was on a flight from Belfast last year and take off was delayed, The pilot announced we would have to return to the stand as there was a light on
that should not be. Anyway when the Technician arrived the first question he asked the pilot was....................... Have you tried swithing it off
then on again.
We had a female pilot coming in to Sfax air port and she 'missed' the ideal landing area of the run way, rather than power up and try
again she just forced it down hard and threw it in reverse as it BOUNCED! Do you know what the landing gear of a 737 hitting the bump stops sounds
like, I do!
"This is your captain again, we'll be landing at Kai Tak in about an hour. You may wish to take this opportunity to have a good poo now as
the cleaning staff don't like it when you do one on the seat as we're coming in to land"
Went to Lanzarote a few years ago and as we landed a cross wind caught the plane and it landed really heavily on one side of the
under carriage The wing tip just missed the surface of the runway, A ruck of the lights fell down from the roof of the plane and you could
see all the wiring etc
The plane was grounded for a week whilst repairs were carried out
I shat meself but one of the lads i was travelling with slept through all of it
On modern aircraft with glass cockpits, there is always backup analogue dials & gauges so the pilot can continue if there is a display fail.
Like anything electronic, they all need software drivers. The software fills on the comms/nav/flir systems are all done in a similar fashion, ie
plugging in a memory stick or laptop.
About 15 years ago I had the privalage of sitting in the observers seat in a 747 landing at Kai Tak, but no side winds. It was amazing on the final
bank round looking at the houses!
The first rule with ANY electric aircraft is to switch it all off, give it a few minutes, then switch it back on! Quite logical really, all of the
components do a start-up BIT. If they boot in the wrong order, the BIT might not work, so just turning an individual box (if you can) might not solve
it.
As for back ups, the aircraft I fly has a single back up instrument! But then there are 3 Integrated Avionics Computers and six displays that have to
fail before you have to use it. And four generators (6 if you count the RAT and the APU) and 2 batteries!!!!!
I was more concerned about how the bloke seemed never to have flown one, broke rule 1 and tried to hand fly it during a pressurisation problem, then
stalled it!!!!!!
First time I ever went on a plane at the ripe old age of 8 had an engine fail on take off was exciting at the time would have shat myself now ....last
flight I went on a passenger died and was diverted for 6 hours have all the luck me lol
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Building: Magenta LSR Ver 2.2.3 AKA Tupperware Turd
posted on 5/2/13 at 10:24 PM
Heading back on a MoD flight from the Falklands, the pilot told us that because we'd spent so much time on the runway at Mount Pleasant waiting
for the snow ploughs to clear a wider path (they'd cleared it wide enough for the Tornadoes, not a Tri-star), we needed to get some fuel. He was
trying to find out if there was enough at Wide Awake on Ascension Island, if not, we would be popping to Tenerife. A few moments later he confirmed
that we were heading to Wide Awake. We landed and got herded into a big cage while the plane got refuelled. A couple of hours later, we were ready to
go. Then the captain told us that we hadn't taken on as much fuel as he would have liked but we would have enough as there wasn't much of
a headwind......
Approaching Brize Norton, he told us that there was a problem with the engines and it wasn't possible to reverse them to slow down the plane but
it would be fine if he could drop it on the start of the runway. The first attempt saw us almost touchdown, then lift to have another go. Second time
we touched down but was too far down the runway so he lifted to have another go. He then told us that this would have to be the last try as he was
running low on fuel...... He used the entire length of the runway and possibly a bit that wasn't....... He was still hanging off the brakes as
he turned to go back to the terminal. A rather rough ride.
I used to live near Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong. Even played in a darts match there against the airport staff team. A 747 landed in the sea when I
was there.. You get used to the planes coming in low over the building but coming in to land when your on one is always a bit scary.
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Building: It is an ex-Locost - it has gone to the IOW!
posted on 6/2/13 at 09:23 AM
I've only ever landed at the new Hong Kong airport - thankfully! Even that one has water on one side of the runway...
We were coming back from a holiday in Austria quite a few years ago... everyone settled into their seats, and ready to go... when the captain
announced that the cabin lights were about to go out for a few seconds. I could see into the cockpit as the door was open - and everything went out -
lights, instruments, the lot. Then blue screens appeared on everything (!) for a while, and finally everything came back on.
It's hard to feel confident in an aeroplane that's just needed a reboot...
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Building: Tiger GTA and a Transit and a box trailer...and a
posted on 6/2/13 at 11:24 AM
Was on a 747 that landed in Kai Tak in the late 80's at night in a typhoon, never been so scared and im not a nervouse flyer, baggage bins
flying open, couple of passengers hurt by flying luggage, when it eventually landed (for landed read controlled crash) the whole plane was totally
silent, nobody even had the energy left to clap or applaude!
also done this one a few times in bad weather, just as scary!
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Building: Dax Rush - very, very slowly....
posted on 6/2/13 at 02:33 PM
I knew a guy who flew 747's to hong kong as his regular route (before and after the new runway) - he was a ex-tornado pilot and I think he
enjoyed the challenge, but even he admited to haveing big skid marks on his pants some days
a couple of my mates have been to Nepal several times now - they say the only thing scarier than the fights like that are the buses
they were out last year when a twin otter hit a mountain, at the last min they'd decided to give the flight a miss for the day when the plane
was having 'issues' with an engine....
not quite as dramatic, but alot closer to home: - I'm told the flights to Barra can be 'intresting' if the weather gets rough
bet then I guess you should expect that landing on a beach in the outer hebrides....
when I was there the glasgow flight took off into a 60+ mph head wind, the plane went about 50 yards down the beach and took off almost vertically up!
(mind I'd have swapped that ride for the Eriskay ferry we were on later that day )
Not as bad as the above but my wife and I have been on the following. My wife is not good when flying so bad that doc now gives her tranquilisers
Flight 1
Kalamata to Manchester
( after a 8 hour delay and getting close to when the runway was passes back from domestic flights weekend only before it was passed back for military
use Mon – Fri )
Had to stop at Schipol to be refuelled as the plain had not got enough juice left. 3 fire trucks and a smell of kerosene !
Flight 2
Geneva to Manchester
Got to take off point and within seconds Pingpong for chief steward to pick up intercom ( I assume they must have slightly different tones as all the
stewards went very White and tightened there seatbelts a little more ). Plane levelled at about 1000 feet. Captain comes on the address system and
states that there is a problem with the hold and the cant pressurise the plane 20 minutes and a loop of the airfield and we land. Pilot goes and
inspects. Reports back that the door had not been locked off correctly and vibrated open at take off. That incident used a tone of aviation fuel
according to the pilot.
Flight 3
Samos to Manchester.
Pilot came on the intercom early to state it is going to be a rough landing so please ensure belts are tight ect. Landing attempt 1 aborted due to
high cross wind. Landing attempt 2 felt like the plane was at a 15 degree angle to the runway bounced a shiimied until it Snapped strait under
breaking. Overheard captain saying he would have diverted but he was meeting his mate for a pint in Otley !
Flight 4
Amsterdam to Leeds Bradford
Spent the Whole flight listening to a very noisy Starboard engine that the pilot told us was nothing to worry about ( we could here it in the plane )
The plane was parked far end of taxi area and the mate I was on the plain with reported that while he was back trackside 2 days later it was still
there we assume waiting for a replacement engine
ATB Agriv8
Taller than your average Guy !
Management is like a tree of monkeys. - Those at the top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. BUT Those at the bottom look up and see a
tree full of a*seholes .............
Going back to the original point, the SD card update was not for software that controls the aircraft, just one of the databases in the system - these
are updated regularly (28 days) and if there is a mismatch, the computer says no! You could go flying like that, just less hassle,to sort it! Bt that
wouldn't make good TV!
Remember flying is safe, it's when you stop flying it gets dangerous.....
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The wing tip just missed the surface of the runway, A ruck of the lights fell down from the roof of the plane and you could
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