Ooooer, look at all them birdies.

[ilovehr]

Pilot shennanigans

Best flight was when we had a load of p1ssed up scousers on a 7am flight, and the pilot declared it a full load test flight giving it big licks and chucking the plane around. Spew city. The minibus retrieving them lost them on the airfield as they were all flaked out in the long grass.

Happy days.

A friend of mine is a commecial pilot and he worked for Air Europe in the 80's. His flights we mostly to the med ferrying pissed up scousers off to the Balearics - notice the recurring theme?

One of the biggest gripes for pilots and cabin crew is when passengers stand up and start unloading the overhead lockers before the aircraft is stationary on the stand. It's both dangerous (many aircraft accidents are collisions at airports...) and realy annoying for the crew and the more patient passengers.

I don't know if it's the same for all airlines but on his flights the cabin crew would give a couple of knocks on the flight deck door when this was happening. He simply gave a quick tap on the brakes causing most if not all of the standing passengers to fall over.

They would often hold sweeps to see how many victims there would be!

If he was really pissed off (hungover) he'd taxi all the way from the runway to the stand with the nose wheel on the catseyes...thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud......

Happy days.....

[Wilmslow]

I used to be in the TA at RAF Lyneham air despatching in Hercules planes. Working for a building society in Swindon was a dreary existence.

One Saturday I was working on the drop zone, where we wait for the Hercules and crew above to despatch the pallets, and collect them up.

I saw a glider just taking off at the point of the Hercules coming over – Hercules pilot takes evasive action, with a few choice words coming over the radio.

As he makes a second attempt, a Buzzard goes into the path of the plane. Next thing I hear is the pilot screaming ‘Bird strike, bird strike’. The photo after saw a load of blood and feathers and a huge hole in the wing of the plane.

There were some very ashen faced people around the base for the rest of the day!

Best flight was when we had a load of p1ssed up scousers on a 7am flight, and the pilot declared it a full load test flight giving it big licks and chucking the plane around. Spew city. The minibus retrieving them lost them on the airfield as they were all flaked out in the long grass.

Happy days.

[hyperD]

I saw how wooden propellers of yore were made the other day, which I thought was both interesting and ingenuous. They weren't made from a single piece of wood, but rather multiple planks of thin(ish) wood glued together and temporarily nailed in the middle. Perhaps 10 planks, which were laid on top of each other in to a rough propeller shape that was whittled (or whatever) away to the final shape. When it's finished you can see the different layers as bands and changing patterns and colours along the surface, when you now know what to look for:

You can just about make out these bands in the hub of this (the first suitable) photo I found, although it's prettier along the blade:

Beautiful!

Nowadays we fly with variable pitch propellers to change the propeller to different thrust levels and air speeds so that the propeller blades don't stall, hence degrading the propulsion system's efficiency, unlike a fixed blade as the one pictured.

Here's a youtube vid of a Thomson Boeing 757 from Manchester having a bird strike on departure, no real problems as both engines are overpowered by 100% but great to hear the radio chatter from the ATC and aircrew.

(SFW)

[BdP]

Where's the 'after' picture?

My dad took a business flight on a small turbo prop from Filton when he worked for BAC in the 70's, on take off a large bird (maybe a Heron?) came straight through the front screen and practically disintegrated leaving the dozen or so passengers and crew looking like a scene from a Quentin Tarentino shoot out. They circled and landed, I think he took the train the next day.

True Story.

You have a father? Really? Well done!

[TimberWolf]

I saw how wooden propellers of yore were made the other day, which I thought was both interesting and ingenuous. They weren't made from a single piece of wood, but rather multiple planks of thin(ish) wood glued together and temporarily nailed in the middle. Perhaps 10 planks, which were laid on top of each other in to a rough propeller shape that was whittled (or whatever) away to the final shape. When it's finished you can see the different layers as bands and changing patterns and colours along the surface, when you now know what to look for:

You can just about make out these bands in the hub of this (the first suitable) photo I found, although it's prettier along the blade:

[kandr]

That picture smacks of fake or at very least a trick of distance. She managed to see the birds, pull over, camera out, climb on roof all in time to capture the one shot of the birds inline with the plane?

If they were anywhere near the air front from the plane would have changed the shape of the ball.

How come the birds all have a small white halo around each one but this isn't evident in the plane?

Doesn't look right at all.

Yeah shes just sprinkled some iron fillings on the picture.

[northernladuk]

That picture smacks of fake or at very least a trick of distance. She managed to see the birds, pull over, camera out, climb on roof all in time to capture the one shot of the birds inline with the plane?

If they were anywhere near the air front from the plane would have changed the shape of the ball.

How come the birds all have a small white halo around each one but this isn't evident in the plane?

Doesn't look right at all.

[gingerjedi]

When I worked at an aerospace firm they did make something called a 'birdcatcher' for Dornier, a sort of scoop that sat bellow the engine on a turboprop.

I'm sure it must have been a nickname for the blower intake as I can't see any bird getting passed that prop!!

[MrRobin]

It's difficult to tell from the photo whether the birds are actually in the aircraft's flight path, or whether they are just somewhere between the photographer and the aircraft.

Airports should have multiple devices to scare birds away e.g. gas guns, decoys etc etc. Don't know why there was such a large flock near this one.

2. Why don't airlines fit high tensile fine mesh cones over the engine intakes to prevent birds being drawn in. It's got to be cheaper than a replacement engine (or aircraft)?

At 500mph, the mesh would aerodynamically resemble a brick wall. Secondly, the engines would not be able to draw in enough air and the efficiency would plummet.

[wobbegong]

Dramatic moment birds engulf plane - Telegraph

Just as well it wasn't on take off.

Two thoughts occurred (both will probably be subsequently shot down, but hey-ho here goes);

1. As bird usually fly away from loud noises and large imposing objects, is it possible that the birds regarded the plane as a predator and tried to 'mob' it?

2. Why don't airlines fit high tensile fine mesh cones over the engine intakes to prevent birds being drawn in. It's got to be cheaper than a replacement engine (or aircraft)?

[gingerjedi]

Where's the 'after' picture?

My dad took a business flight on a small turbo prop from Filton when he worked for BAC in the 70's, on take off a large bird (maybe a Heron?) came straight through the front screen and practically disintegrated leaving the dozen or so passengers and crew looking like a scene from a Quentin Tarentino shoot out. They circled and landed, I think he took the train the next day.

True Story.

[zeitghost]

Dramatic moment birds engulf plane - Telegraph

Just as well it wasn't on take off.