Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Recent Comments:
Pilot dies midflight, plane lands safely {Gadling}
Jun 21st 2009 2:22PM The retirement age was recently increased to 65 from 60. Any airline pilot must pass a medical exam every so often (I believe 6 months if age > 40). The standards can be found here:
http://flightphysical.com/part67/Class1/67subb.htm
More specifically, the cardiovascular standards:
http://flightphysical.com/part67/Class1/67subb_67111.htm
Certainly one pilot's death is not cause enough to lower a pilot's retirement age, there are going to be numerous other factors involved. For example: fatigue, work and family related stress, or even the pilot's diet and exercise habits and family history.
No serious injuries in London crash {Gadling}
Feb 19th 2009 9:27AM Three aviation incidents in two months compared to:
http://www.drudge.com/archive/106088/car-accidents-kill-3000-day
Product review - Knowledge Generation Bureau (KGB) {Gadling}
Jan 27th 2009 1:33PM $0.50 for an answer?! Try texting ChaCha! It's free -
http://answers.chacha.com/
For fifty cents it's more worthwhile to call a relative or friend who is at a computer and can look up the answer to your question.
Plane Answers: Fear of flying, aging aircraft and more on those 'dings.' {Gadling}
Jan 14th 2009 9:54AM www.flightaware.com is pretty good for determining the type aircraft that is to be used on your route. Just enter the airline and flight number and you'll see a history of aircraft that were used for the flight.
This is how to land a plane in an emergency! {Gadling}
Dec 9th 2008 11:24AM Yes, Kent every landing in a sailplane is dangerous, just as every skydive, scuba dive, shuttle launch, etc is dangerous. The risk involved in sailing is, in my opinion, less than that of gliding in a multi-engine airplane.
Just look at the differences:
A sailplane is designed with high glide ratio wings that offer unparalleled gliding distance versus the altitude lost. A sailplane is very light, given that it carries no fuel and often no more than two people
A multi-engine airplane with no engines operating has a very low glide ratio, and a very heavy frame. Twins carry more passengers than gliders, even though only one or two may be aboard. Twins on average would be expected to carry more payload than gliders, since you would expect to take twins to other airports (chocks, extra engine oil, big flight bags, luggage, tie-downs, etc). In general, comparing the performance of a multi-engine airplane with no engines operative to a sailplane is probably like comparing a feather to a rock.
As to the factor of fuel flowing to the engines during the landing, assuming the point is to reduce the possibility of fire, the fuel is kept in the wings. Wouldn't you expect most of the impacted area of the aircraft during a gear up landing to be either the belly or wing-tips? The fact that we don't hear of tragic deaths from belly up landings should be a testament to the safety of the airframe in this condition.
I guess it all comes down to what feels right at the time, personally I like having a backup plan!
This is how to land a plane in an emergency! {Gadling}
Nov 29th 2008 2:22PM Take a look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVvB1p-F-qs
I've never heard of propeller blades flying out of their hubs during a gear up landing… They're built to withstand incredible inertia, and bending the tips shouldn't put enough stress on them to cause them to leave the airplane!
This is how to land a plane in an emergency! {Gadling}
Nov 27th 2008 10:15AM It's debatable whether or not it is a sound decision to shut down the engines prior to a landing like that… On one hand you save having to replace propellers and crankshafts, but if a gust of wind or a miscalculated final approach results in the aircraft being too low / slow to make the runway adequately, there is no possibility of a go-around, so you're committed to landing in whatever environment exists in the area in front of the runway. In other words you've turned your big heavy airplane into a glider (see: space shuttle). What's more important - propellers or the risk of a much more severe incident? It all comes down to the pilot's assessment, but at the risk of sounding unimpressed, all pilots should be able to land their aircraft without the engines running; this is a task that is constantly practiced during training.
Amtrak opens rail pass sales to US residents, makes it hardly worthwhile {Gadling}
Nov 4th 2008 12:04PM The problem with Amtrak is that it's generally just as fast to drive to your destination (unless it's New York or Washington, DC) so to be attractive, tickets should cost about the same as fuel for a vehicle making the same trip. Unfortunately it seems like this will never be the case.
