Pilots

[Bibs]

Dover?

[redshift]

Really no need to go as far as Mougins to eat. There's the excellent Chevre d'Or in Eze which is just outside Monaco on the corniche moyenne towards Nice. Unfortunately the bill is about as spectacular as the food.

 

Spend a lot of time working round Antibes but I prefer the 22R approach to Nice, over the port at 1000ft aim for the Cour Saleya and hang a left when just above it. Occasionally see the odd one the wrong side of Mount Boron and turn somewhere over Riquier, a certain interview without coffee on arrival...

[Kimbers]

This topic should be closed to lesser mortals and let you guys get married..........*stomps off in a huff*  

[molemot]

Recently found this....(Spend a few bob, Kimbers, get yourself a license! Great place to fly, Norfolk.....)

 

NIGHT FLIGHT OVER LAOS
Lt Col Stanley "Butch" Swenson, USAF (Ret) Printed in the Daedalus Flyer, Spring 1999

It was 4:30 AM over North-Central Laos, February 1973. My Weapons systems Officer, Rich MaCovens and I had just completed our bombing run in our F-111A fighter. Peace talks were in progress, but we were still flying interdiction missions, trying to slow the flow of war materials into South Vietnam. Night missions were the F-111's 'forte', and this was our third mission of the week.

We checked off target with the controlling agency and began our climb to cruise altitude and return to Takhli Air Base, Thailand. It had been very dark below the overcast, but now as we pass through seventeen thousand feet, we emerged out of the lower cloud deck to find ourselves between two cloud layers. The surface of the lower deck was rippled with small hills and valleys, like looking at a white quilted mattress pad - from an altitude of two inches! The upper deck began at eighteen thousand, with its' rippling surface mirroring the lower deck. As we turned to head southwest, sitting between layers and only two days past full, was the setting moon. Its pale warm light reflected off each cloud deck, accentuating the beauty of the night.

I leveled the aircraft fifty feet above the lower deck at 480 knots, aware that rich had tuned in Radio Australia on our HF radio. The announcer was saying - "and here's another American hit song, 'American Pie'."

I looked at Rich, he looked at me, we smiled, and I smoothly advanced the throttles to full afterburner.

"A long long time ago, I can still remember-"

Our oxygen masks were off and we began quietly singing along, 550 knots and accelerating . . .

"How that music used to make me smile-"

600 knots . . .

"and I knew if I had a chance-"

650 knots . . .

"that I could help those people dance,-"

700 knots . . .

"and maybe they'd be happy for a while-"

750 knots . . .

"But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver-"

800 knots . . .

"Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step-"

850 knots . . .

"I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride-"

900 knots . . .

"Something touched me deep inside-"

950 knots . . .

"The day the music died-"

1000 knots ! ! !

"and they were singing-"

I throttled back slightly to hold 1000 knots, and began to gently swing the aircraft left and right in-time with the music, clipping the top of the "hills", and sliding through the "valleys". We were now singing at the top of our lungs...

"Bye, Bye Miss American pie-"

Swing left, swing right . . .

"Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry-"

I pulled the nose up, rolled inverted and clipped the bottom of the upper deck with the belly of our aircraft...

"them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye-"

Zero 'Gs'. Then roll back upright and zoom down to the top of the lower deck.

"Singing this will be the day that I die-"

Clipping the clouds at 1000 knots...

"This'll be the day that I die-"

YAHHHHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Throughout the song, 5 or 6 minutes, we sang and soared and marveled at the sensation of speed and the beauty of this night, leaving a trail of sonic booms across the hidden countryside. When the last - "THIS WILL BE THE DAY THAT I DIE . . .," was finished, I pulled the power back, slowed to subsonic, and crossed the border back into Thailand - back to the base, back to combat missions, back to the war.

It's now been twenty six years since that night. Wars have been lost, then won, friends and comrades have drifted away. But I've often wondered if the poor hill people of Laos, so rudely awakened by the sonic boom and roar of our jet, could have known that we were just two young men, delighting in the joy and beauty seen only by those of us who are lucky enough to fly. If I could project 30 seconds of my life on a super screen for all to see, it would be that night with the moon lying between cloud layers, and the freedom I felt "Dancing the moonlight skies on laughter silvered wings."

[fmxa]

This topic should be closed to lesser mortals and let you guys get married..........*stomps off in a huff*  

I think it's called a "Bromance"

[Iconic Ride]

Really no need to go as far as Mougins to eat. There's the excellent Chevre d'Or in Eze which is just outside Monaco on the corniche moyenne towards Nice. Unfortunately the bill is about as spectacular as the food.

 

Peter, you have excellent taste in fine establishments. May I add that my wife and I, with young son in tow, spent our 10th wedding anniversary in Eze ensconced in an exquisite room at the Chevre d'Or, with a fine view of the Mediterranean out the cliffside window. That evening we did, in fact, take our meal in the restaurant above, and I can verify your observation regarding the astoundingly steep tariff for the privilege! Combined with the cost of accommodations, I feel that I may still be paying off the bill even at this late date. But a significant portion of that involves current university tuition  costs associated with my "made in France" second son, perhaps a result of the "Golden Goat" effect.  

 

 

 

And so that our "lesser mortals" mates may further "eat their hearts out"...  

 

 

[redshift]

Just as well you weren't there for the Monaco GP weekend. The Grand Prix menu was around 400 euro (not including wine).

 

How to get fleeced by a goat, small wonder he's gold. 

 

Better not tell you about Baumanière then

[Iconic Ride]

You have me there, my friend. Not had the pleasure of an encounter with Baumaniere, but, as M. Python might couch it...not dead yet!   

[redshift]

Drop me a PM next time you're in the south of France. Its on me.

[johnpwalsh]

I was lucky enough to have a couple o training flights on an R22 and loved it but my expediture on our Loti meant I couldnt do both and as I had no chance of ever owning my own aircraft I decied to keep my hard earned cash for Lotus insted, would I go up again. Just try stop me.

[auRouge]

Just as well you weren't there for the Monaco GP weekend. The Grand Prix menu was around 400 euro (not including wine).

 

How to get fleeced by a goat, small wonder he's gold. 

 

Better not tell you about Baumanière then

I'm heading down on Thursday for a couple of days...

Baumanière... Is this a "book two years in advance" or secret handshake kinda place?!

Mais oui, monsieur. A most pleasantly situated harbour, usually filled with outrageously expensive watercraft adorned with all manner of high maintenance eye candy in bikinis. Seem to recall some sort of annual motor race event held there each year as well, in May if memory serves. Oh, and there is also an establishment where one can fritter away enormous amounts of cash on games of chance. 

 

And they have pretty good food up the road at Le Moulin de Mougins, where my wife and I managed to smuggle in our then 4 year old son, being completely ignorant of the fact that children were to be neither seen nor heard at such fine gastronomic institutions. A heavily frowned upon practice we came to understand. Nonetheless, head chef and founder Roger Verge was kind enough to visit our table to inquire our opinion of his efforts. I may have detected a slight wink and grin on his part, in observation of our naive, yet innocent disregard for local traditions.   

Cool. :-)

Really no need to go as far as Mougins to eat. There's the excellent Chevre d'Or in Eze which is just outside Monaco on the corniche moyenne towards Nice. Unfortunately the bill is about as spectacular as the food.

 

Spend a lot of time working round Antibes but I prefer the 22R approach to Nice, over the port at 1000ft aim for the Cour Saleya and hang a left when just above it. Occasionally see the odd one the wrong side of Mount Boron and turn somewhere over Riquier, a certain interview without coffee on arrival...

What do you fly? I haven't done 22R yet... Flown the RNAV 04L procedure avoiding the Cap and had Radar Vectors to ILS 04L, basically joining a 14 mile final and sightseeing :-D 22R... Look forward to it!

[redshift]

Last thing I flew was an Aerobat in the mid 70s. Just SLF these days but I do remember many jumpseat rides in the distant past, when it was still possible.

22R is avoided whenever possible at Nice, happens some days and even then for a few hours only.

[molemot]

It's BEHIND you........!!

 

[redshift]

No, he's BELOW you and going inverted.

 

 

[redshift]

Thinking about the Aerobat and posting that pic, I suddenly found myself hearing the voice of the CFI at Surrey and Kent FC again.

"Cessna may have called this an Aerobat but theres a big difference between Aerobat and Aerobatic. IC, thats a big difference. IC or inverted carburation. Roll an Aerobat inverted and the donk stops, now we dont want that do we?"

Err no...

 

Happy days

Edited August 1, 2014 by redshift

[molemot]

Inverted systems are pretty rare....Tiger Moths, Chipmunks, my old (ex-Alouette at Biggin!) Airtourer are all pleasantly aerobatic without inverted systems. Some people can even do a reasonable slow roll in a Tiger Moth.....(!) Donk stops producing power, but it's fine unless it stops going round....and I've never had that happen. Taught myself flick rolls on an Aerobat.....(!)

None of the early Merlins had inverted fuel systems...Alex Henshaw, during his display routine, used to do an inverted low pass along the flight line, rolling upright and climbing away after.....he was a bit good, though. It wasn't until one of the people at RAE Farnborough invented a carburetter modification that Spitfires and Hurricanes had inverted capability to help them against the German fuel injected Messerschmidts....the modification was known as "Miss Shilling's Orifice" as it was the invention of a lady engineer......probably not PC enough, these days.....

[PilotSteve]

Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles!" Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!" 

Tower: "TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees." TWA 2341: "We are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?" Tower: "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?" 

From an unknown aircraft waiting in a very long takeoff queue: "I'm bored!" Ground Traffic Control: "Last aircraft transmitting, identify yourself immediately!" Unknown aircraft: "I said I was bored, not stupid!" 

Tower: "United 329 heavy, your traffic is a Fokker, one o'clock, three miles, eastbound." United 329: "Approach, I've always wanted to say this: I've got the little Fokker in sight." 

A DC-10 had come in a little hot and thus had an exceedingly long roll out after touching down. San Jose Tower noted: "American 751, make a hard right turn at the end of the runway, if you are able. If you are not able, take the Guadalupe exit off Highway 101, make a right at the lights and return to the airport." 

A military pilot called for a priority landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running "a bit peaked." Air Traffic Control told the fighter pilot that he was number two, behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down. "Ah," the fighter pilot remarked, "The dreaded seven-engine approach." 

Allegedly, a Pan Am 727 flight waiting for start clearance in Munich overheard the following -Lufthansa (in German): "Ground, what is our start clearance time?" Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak in English." Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?" Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): "Because you lost the bloody war." 

Tower: "Eastern 702, cleared for takeoff, contact Departure on frequency 124.7" Eastern 702: "Tower, Eastern 702 switching to Departure. By the way, after we lifted off we saw some kind of dead animal on the far end of the runway." Tower: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff behind Eastern 702, contact Departure on frequency 124.7. Did you copy that report from Eastern 702?" Continental 635: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff, Roger; and yes, we copied Eastern and we've already notified our caterers." 

One day the pilot of a Cherokee 180 was told by the tower to hold short of the active runway while a DC-8 landed. The DC-8 landed, rolled out, turned around, and taxied back past the Cherokee. Some quick-witted comedian in the DC-8 crew got on the radio and said, "What a cute little plane. Did you make it all by yourself?" The Cherokee pilot, not about to let the insult go by, came back with a real zinger: "I made it out of DC-8 parts. Another landing like yours and I'll have enough parts for another one." 

Allegedly the German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-tempered lot. They, it is alleged, not only expect one to know one's gate parking location, but how to get there without any assistance from them. So it was with some amusement that we (a Pan Am 747) listened to the following exchange between Frankfurt ground control and a British Airways 747, call sign Speedbird 206. Speedbird 206: "Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of active runway." Ground: "Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha One-Seven." The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and slowed to a stop. Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?" Speedbird 206: "Stand by, Ground, I'm looking up our gate location now." Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?" Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes, twice in 1944, but it was dark,...... and I didn't land." 

Allegedly, while taxiing at London's Gatwick Airport, the crew of a US Air flight departing for Ft. Lauderdale made a wrong turn and came nose to nose with a United 727. An irate female ground controller lashed out at the US Air crew, screaming: "US Air 2771, where the hell are you going?! I told you to turn right onto Charlie taxiway! You turned right on Delta! Stop right there. I know it's difficult for you to tell the difference between C and D, but get it right!" Continuing her rage to the embarrassed crew, she was now shouting hysterically: "God! Now you've screwed everything up! It'll take forever to sort this out! You stay right there and don't move till I tell you to! You can expect progressive taxi instructions in about half an hour and I want you to go exactly where I tell you, when I tell you, and how I tell you! You got that, US Air 2771?" US Air 2771: "Yes, ma'am," the humbled crew responded. Naturally, the ground control communications frequency fell terribly silent after the verbal bashing of US Air 2771. Nobody wanted to chance engaging the irate ground controller in her current state of mind. Tension in every cockpit out around Gatwick was definitely running high. Just then an unknown pilot broke the silence and keyed his microphone, asking: "Wasn't I married to you once?" 

Miroslav Fajdetic
Air Operations Centre
James Spriggs Payne airfield
<fajdetic@un.org>
(171) 7386
 

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[auRouge]

Mixing it with Heavy Metal last night in Hurghada... 38degrees OAT, 12,000ft runway...

Rotate at 200.235624mph :-D

[Iconic Ride]

OK, now I'm a bit mystified. Mind, with the passage of the years following retirement from the trade, the myriad details attendant to a 1 degree flap takeoff (does your craft still extend slats with that setting?) have faded from memory somewhat, but I seem to recall that they were normally associated with obstacle clearance issues after liftoff....trading the increased rotate speed on a sufficiently long runway (12,000 in this instance) for better "second segment climb performance" (loss of an engine, assumed scenario). However, with Hurghada having a 52' field elevation...essentially sea level...and being hard by the sea itself, I see no such obstacles that might affect the takeoff. Was this choice driven by the quite warm OAT only? Can't imagine what the "brake cool down time" chart would have shown for an RTO.   

 

Simply curious.

 

Incidentally, how has the tourism industry been faring since the Egyptian "troubles"?

[auRouge]

Iconic,

Your absolutely right. "Second Segment" performance is the reason. After take off it's a left turn to intercept the 280 Radial from the Hurghada VOR and that leads you straight towards a range of mountains which are at least 5,000ft high. MSA within 10 miles is ok but it goes up pretty quick after that. We never turn right after take of because it all gets a bit dodgy!

That's the primary reason, secondary is the weight (Full load of 214 pax plus 5hrs 20mins trip fuel alone) and still wind with and OAT of 38 degrees! It's a Flex or De-Rated Theust Take off with one stage of Flap (which includes the Slats too). The wing on an A321 is the same as a A320).

Max FL for the first hour was only 23,000ft! Took about 20 mins to get up there it was so warm and 15 above ISA...

[Iconic Ride]

THX for the explanation. Sounds like the tourism industry is alive and well in that part or Egypt.   

[Kimbers]

blah blah blah blah...........lots more talk no one else understands.....

 

HRUMPH!

 

(Though I find it strangely interesting).

[Iconic Ride]

Just for you, Tony.  

 

 

The "de-rated thrust" that auRouge refers to is to save wear and tear on the engines. The wear caused by "tubine blade creep" increases almost exponentially as you set closer to full thrust. Most takeoffs can be safely accomplished at the reduced power setting ("flex"), though full power is always available if needed.

[Kimbers]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Bibs]

While I appreciate the sentiment of a fighter escort, what good will it do if there's a 'device' on the plane other than terrify the passenger that they might be shot down and cause the population to cower in fear?

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/plane-escorted-into-manchester-airport-by-raf-because-of-possible-device-on-board-9649436.html