The Airplane thread

Sitting in the Minneapolis airport waiting for a flight home. I just spent the past two days flying 1250 miles with my oldest son.

Flew across Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and reached South Dakota on day one. Spent the night in Spearfish (black hills airport).

Got up, flew across South Dakota and Minnesota to Willmar. The wet wings will be stripped and resealed. It will take about a month then I'll pick it up.
Couldn't find a hotel within 60 miles that had vacancy. I've had about one hour of sleep since yesterday morning.
Wouldn't trade the experience for anything

Not sure if I should have started a new thread, but this way I get the most attention from all you fly guys who've posted here...

I have two friends who, coincidentally, each own aircraft and who've invited me up! Just thought I would solicit advice on the etiquette of being an invited guest. I know what "NO STEP" means and unless there's an obvious black traction pad the entire craft is "no step". I'm guessing I'll skip breakfast and/or bring some Zofran (one guy has a Super Viking, and the other advises to avoid going up in that one with a full belly because it's known for its aerobatic abilities). So how much do I offer for fuel, considering these guys are multi-millionaires and I'm going through the divorce from hell which will probably leave me bankrupt?
Is it considered bad form to negotiate a trip to visit friends? They both are trying to get practice (should I ask if they've flown much - nah, pretty sure THAT is bad form)...
Should I bring a gift, a token of gratitude?
If so, what?

I'm sure there are a thousand bits of advice that you pilots wish you'd given passengers on their first flight, I'll take 'em here, one or two at a time. Thanks!
-Tom
Of course I don't mean to derail this thread so if the mod o' the day wants to move this (now that it's been "publicised") please do so, with my thanks.

aTOMic said:

I have two friends who, coincidentally, each own aircraft and who've invited me up!

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Have you expressed any interest to either of them?

"Hey, I've never been in a small plane, if I pay for the fuel, will go you give me a ride?"

Unless the guy flying the airplane explicitly invites you to do touch them, keep your hands off the controls!

-Uwe-

In the boating world, it was customary for invited guests to offer covering most if not all of the fuel expenses back in the olden days when I had my boat.

With airplanes, I've found that newer pilots are like teenagers with their first cars! If you fill the tanks, they will take you to the Bahamas just because it's there. Since they don't seem to be "besties" from your hesitation, I'd say go for an hour flight to nowhere if that's what they're offering...if for no other reason than seeing if you'll blow chunks. After you are back on the ground, follow the women's second date rule. If you want to go somewhere, keep it within an hour of their home airport until you can read them and figure out what their comfort zone is.

Most importantly, remember the term IFR. Every time that you make an appointment to fly anywhere in a small plane, It Fscking Rains (IFR) and a non-instrument-rated pilot cannot fly.

Of course, I need to put in my obligatory disclaimer that Homey's feet stay firmly planted on terra firma, so hopefully someone with a better grasp of the passenger customs/expectations (and who actually flies!) will chime in.....

vreihen said:

With airplanes, I've found that newer pilots are like teenagers with their first cars! If you fill the tanks, they will take you to the Bahamas just because it's there.

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I would recommend avoiding the Bahamas for the time being. It's going to be severe IFR there due to hurricane Irma.

I've often wondered how the guys who fly the in hurricane hunter planes manage not to puke.

Good point. The Bahamas might NOT be there by the time they file a flight plan. They are also cautioning that the Florida Keys may be completely submerged by the storm surge...in line with the 1935 storm that destroyed Mr. Flagler's Overseas Railroad.

Of interest is to compare this map from 1935 with the current forecast track.



Hopefully, the 7-Mile Bridge survives if Irma is a direct hit.....

Another ScareBus living up to its name.....



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/air-france-emergency-landing-goose-bay-1.4315132

vreihen said:

Another ScareBus living up to its name.....

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Oh no -- the dreaded 3-engine landing -- that takes mad skillz!

Uwe said:

Oh no -- the dreaded 3-engine landing -- that takes mad skillz!

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...or finding someone still checked out on a 727 or DC-10.

Speaking of emergency landings in Canada and going metric, this is my favorite racing accident story.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

vreihen said:

...or finding someone still checked out on a 727 or DC-10.

Speaking of emergency landings in Canada and going metric, this is my favorite racing accident story.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

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Yep. Famous picture:



Now those guys -- they had mad skillz!

...or a current US Chair Force KC-10 tanker pilot.....

Gotta watch out for those birds when you are flying at 35,000 feet in the middle of the Atlantic.....

https://www.yahoo.com/news/a380-superjumbo-makes-emergency-landing-canada-air-france-223734309.html

The cause of the problem was unknown, with one of the plane's passengers suggesting that a bird might have collided with the engine which was damaged.

The passenger, Miguel Amador, posted online brief video footage apparently filmed from a window of the plane showing the damaged engine.

"Engine failure halfway over the Atlantic ocean... birdstrike possibility," he wrote.

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Was the bird wearing an oxygen mask?

Haha, that's rich!

Uwe said:

Was the bird wearing an oxygen mask?

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The only bird that could hit a plane in the middle of the Atlantic flying over 10 kilometers high:



Does Air France offer Cocoa Puffs for breakfast on long-haul flights?????

The issue is what we call wind milling loads. An engine that comes apart will still have air being rammed through it and be very out of balance.

18-25hz of very violent shaking will do more than curtail beverage service. Sit through that for a couple of hours over open water while you ponder mortality.

I love where the captain confirmed the loss of engine with the passengers.

"thank you Captain obvious"

Sitting there with half an ass crack full of seat cushion

Flaps10 said:

The issue is what we call wind milling loads. An engine that comes apart will still have air being rammed through it and be very out of balance.

18-25hz of very violent shaking will do more than curtail beverage service. Sit through that for a couple of hours over open water while you ponder mortality.

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Does a turbofan engine with the fan GONE actually windmill?

'Cause in all the pictures I've seen of this particular incident, the fan appears to have departed the airplane, and and the rest of the engine appears to be at a full stop:



There also doesn't seem to be any violent shaking here:

There's still a compressor section which has chewed some stuff.

I hadn't done a deep dive of the story so it may have come to a full stop and seat cushions could be uncreased.

My group spent almost two years going through our designs making sure the natural frequency of our structures was well North of that generated by windmilling. It was interesting work

Yup, that's a tank-slapper. The flight crew was lucky to get away with that one, because in most cars the third "snap" puts them onto their roof. (Ask me how many rollover incident reports I've written at events over he years).

My question is whether this counts as a landing or an arrival? I'm leaning towards the latter, with a footnote that I'm sure that steaming ol' lump of something arrived in the pilot's shorts.....