Pilots

[auRouge]

I still think it sad that 45 years on we still cannot approach the speed of Concorde.

Approaching the speed isn't the problem, fuel and sonic boom noise across the ground is now the problem in our Health & Safety conscious and sign for common sense world!! :-(

[USAndretti42]

Mind you, the sonic boom was always used as an argument to slow it down over American airspace. I've heard the sonic boom from the space shuttle although I had to have my car windows open to hear it. I don't think it would have been a problem if Boeing had got their SST in production.

[auRouge]

Agreed. The boom I remember as a child was pretty intense but in a good way :-)

Everyone would look up and smile..

[Iconic Ride]

Ditto. 

 

That said, the training routes we used for supersonic flights during Air Force flight school (limited to only a couple of events, primarily to "fill the square") were on narrowly designated corridors, as the Arizona mink farmers claimed that the boom inhibited the mating habits of their breeding stock.  

[molemot]

The RAF went out to sea for supersonics.....a bit less easy from Arizona where you'd have about 400 miles to feet wet...! Used to get sonic bangs at air shows in the 50s...Hunter and Swift at Farnborough...they would go supersonic in a dive and "aim" the bang at the venue. Last time I experienced that was in the 1980s at Hawker's private airshow at Dunsfold, when they launched the single seat Hawk 200.....it took off and disappeared, and a while later we had a nice double BANG!....nobody said anything on the public address system, but it was obvious what had happened!

 

There was a plan to use Concorde on the Australia run....supersonic down the Altantic and air-to-air refuelling off South Africa, before cracking on across the southern ocean......the mind boggles.

[auRouge]

The fastest I've ever been :-D

605 kts = 696.221566 miles per hour GS (Ground Speed)

Shame the plane wasn't going through the air that fast otherwise I'd have screaming "Jesters Dead" booming my way back from Malaga :-D

[Bibs]

Were you a quarter of the way through a barrel roll?

[auRouge]

Ha ha!

I'm not Denzel Washington :-D

[Iconic Ride]

Looks like you were able to milk a 157 knot component out of a 165k tailwind from the north. Where the heck did you find a jetstream core that strong from that direction? Awesome!

[auRouge]

10 years of airline flying and can confirm v rare in Western Europe.. No idea where or when! Southbound to Canaries from the UK probably...

We normally only see a max of about 110kts - 130kts Jet-streams ... Occasionally three black diamonds on the SigMet but 160Kts... Never!

I do remember it was smooth as a whistle and the Captain refusing my request to go 0.80 Mach to get over 700mph!! Boooooo :-D

Next time I won't miss the opportunity, I'll even get them to turn exactly the reciprocal :-D

[auRouge]

Best I could do today... Only 600mph :-(

Pathetic... Relic of a B737 in my way... Must try harder! :-D

[Bibs]

Couldn't you have indicated and overtaken?

[Iconic Ride]

My guess is that things could get a bit "frisky" flying the ILS to 25R at 600mph. Was that a tower assigned speed?   

[redshift]

 Was that a tower assigned speed?   

 

I'm sure if you got anywhere near Heathrow tower at 448 KTAS the response would be "negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full".....

[Bibs]

 

[Iconic Ride]

"Talk to me, Goose. Was that a mocha frappe or straight black?"  

[auRouge]

Couldn't you have indicated and overtaken?

I'm sure if you got anywhere near Heathrow tower at 448 KTAS the response would be "negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full".....

"Talk to me, Goose. Was that a mocha frappe or straight black?"  

Ha ha ha!! :-D

[Bibs]

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2708365/BA-pilot-killed-toxic-fumes-flightdeck-constantly-exposed-fuel-leaks-board-passenger-jets.html

 

Any truth to that? Are all planes leaking fuel all the time?

[Iconic Ride]

Other than the SR71 Blackbird, which leaked like a sieve on the ramp (due to tank expansion/contraction caused by extreme temperature changes resulting from speed and altitude cycles not normally encountered by commericial aircraft), nope. If this issue had any true merit it would have surfaced long ago. 

 

There will always be people who have increased sensitivity to anything remotely noxious, even in dilute quantities. For the average passenger (or crewmember) cabin atmospherics are not a problem, barring any actual malfunction of one of the aircraft systems. Fumes can and do happen, but such events are fairly rare...and certainly not a "long term" health issue associated with the piloting profession.

 

Piloting jets for over three decades hasn't bothered me a bit...a bit...a bit...a bit..........

[molemot]

They used to put buckets underneath the wings of Lightnings to catch the fuel leaking out.....(!)

[auRouge]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2708365/BA-pilot-killed-toxic-fumes-flightdeck-constantly-exposed-fuel-leaks-board-passenger-jets.html

Any truth to that? Are all planes leaking fuel all the time?

Not to the best of my knowledge. I sign a technical log every flight... We check and sign for the oil and fuel quantities against the previous flight and uplift to the nearest Kg or Litre to specifically look for leaks or excessive burn. They should tally up or you raise a defect and research it further before going flying.

Here's a view from 36,000ft today of Nice flying back to the UK from Rome ;-)

[Iconic Ride]

Nice (literally). My Chuck Yeager eagle eyes detect (with the aid of a bit of ground glass) the Cap d Antibes jutting out into the Mediterranean in the center of the shot, with the Nice airpatch just below it (where the M6202 t-bones into it from the north), followed by Nice proper and the Promenade des Anglais (who says the Empire is dead?) running along its shoreline. Can just make out Cap-Ferrat in the lower left corner. Many fond memories, from a time when the corrective lenses were but a destiny yet to come.

 

You're a lucky man, auRouge. May your fuel figures always remain nominal.  

[Sparky]

Concorde was the same, but to a lesser degree.  G-BOAE was nicknamed The Serial Leaker due to frequent incontinence.

 

There are lots of frequent flyers and cabin crew who spend more time in the air than airline pilots, and I can't think of any other claim like this.

 

I think you'll find John's symptoms can be put down to years of cheeseboard abuse.

[auRouge]

Iconic,

I never forget it.. love everyday :-)

Your obviously a fan of the Côte d’Azur. Relatively straight forward as long as you keep east of the Cap for 04L! When the weather turns it can be tricky! Also a huge fine (think it's about €5000!) if you clip the Cap (fly over it)! Must set up a GoPro next time I fly it..

It's my favorite summer approach :-)

Recognise this a bit further East :-D

[Iconic Ride]

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.