Planes
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@antipodean said in Planes:
The end of an era. I never felt as excited by the 380 as I did by the 747, but it was a very comfortable plane to travel in
Qantas' first A380 and they upgraded the wife and I, couldn't go back to peasant class after that. OS trips became noticeably more expensive.
We got upgraded on one for the Singapore to London leg of a trip on Singapore Airlines. Best flight ever and incredibly difficult to go back to the squashed end of the plane.
My very first ever international flight - Auckland - LA... got upgraded to First Class, United Airlines. I just assumed that was the norm.
Bit of a rude awakening when my next flight was economy, AeroMexico. Much hotter stewardesses, but.My first Singapore Airlines flight I definitely noticed a significant step up in stewardess quality from QANTAS, ANZ and other airlines I'd flown on. All slim yet curvy, in those classic uniform dresses
Ahhh.... Singapore Airlines flight crew. They used the same hotel that I was staying at in New Delhi for work - I spent a total of about 10 weeks in that goddamn hotel, spread over 3 stays... all of us knew the arrival times of Singapore Airlines flights off by heart... the seats in the bar with a view of reception were highly sought after real estate.
Small sample size, but I once flew AKL-Bangkok-London on a 747. Got to sit in the bubble, which freaked me out because it was so damn quiet!! The stewardesses were tidy and very courteous there too
Yeah - my first-class experience was in the "bubble". But United Airlines, for whatever reason, allocate all their more "experienced" stewardesses to 1st class. Very... matronly.
My dreams of a young, hot, inexperienced stewardess - seeing a young (23?) chap in first class, assuming he's loaded, and providing a special turn-down service... thwarted.UA are probably responsible for my worst ever experience. I try at all costs to avoid them
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MH370 pilot left ‘false trails’ to avoid detection before plane disappeared
THE PILOT of the doomed MH370 left “false trails” to avoid detection before the plane disappeared killing all 239 on board, it has been claimed. The theory that the captain made a serie…
Still gives me shivers.
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@r-l said in Planes:
MH370 pilot left ‘false trails’ to avoid detection before plane disappeared
THE PILOT of the doomed MH370 left “false trails” to avoid detection before the plane disappeared killing all 239 on board, it has been claimed. The theory that the captain made a serie…
Still gives me shivers.
Interesting theory. I've never quite believed that the pilot deliberately did it, but I have serious bias there.
Have flown over there hundreds of times and pretty hard to avoid radar until you get well west over the Indian ocean where it really does become the wild west. Have spent hours out there on the way to Sth Africa with no contact with anyone. Radar, VHF, HF. Just nothing. Quite disconcerting. If he did it deliberately he went to the right place.“The pilot appears to have had knowledge of the operating hours of Sabang and Lhokseumawe radar and that on a weekend night, in times of little international tension the radar systems would not be up and running.”
If he did it, he certainly did his research.
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@r-l said in Planes:
I've never quite believed that the pilot deliberately did it
What do you think?
When it first happened it sounded like they had a major failure of some sort. Most likely a fire onboard. There were reports of it being on fire from an oil rig and would explain why they turned around to get back on the ground. It would explain the transponder going off and if they were overcome (yes I know, we have discussed that before) with smoke inhalation the aircraft would continue.
That doesn't explain these course and altitude maneuvers though.
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One of the many weird/frustrating things about MH370 is how a 2014 plane crash can be about as mysterious as the disappearance of Amelia Earhart.
I still have a small hope that they'll find it one day, but I guess the CVR may well have since perished, even if it survived the original impact.
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I’m not sure how well an R44 autorotates but an engine failure should not be that bad for injuries
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@machpants Now they've got an interesting story to tell.
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@machpants said in Planes:
I’m not sure how well an R44 autorotates but an engine failure should not be that bad for injuries
It was right after take off so might have been dead mans curve stuff. Not masses of inertia in R44 blades but they auto O.K. Not like a Huey that you can land, pick it up turn it around but not too bad.
Have done practice auto in a mate's one but had airspeed and altitude. This guy probably didn't have either.
Strange comment about Robbies in there. The R44 doesn't have a bad record and 22 only did because of crazy shit that people were doing in them. Mostly Kiwis. Mast bump and clutch issues aside.
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@snowy yeah I guess they'd just taken off from the golf course? The gazelle was a bitch to auto, but could be done at any stage - enough that you don't get those injuries. The photographer mentioning the pilot was 'freaking out' is not a good look!
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@machpants said in Planes:
I’m not sure how well an R44 autorotates but an engine failure should not be that bad for injuries
It was right after take off so might have been dead mans curve stuff. Not masses of inertia in R44 blades but they auto O.K. Not like a Huey that you can land, pick it up turn it around but not too bad.
Have done practice auto in a mate's one but had airspeed and altitude. This guy probably didn't have either.
Strange comment about Robbies in there. The R44 doesn't have a bad record and 22 only did because of crazy shit that people were doing in them. Mostly Kiwis. Mast bump and clutch issues aside.
And as you typed that this story hit the headlines. A probable mast bump in a R44.
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@NTA Yeah knew about the Komet and the 262. Those bastards knew how to build shit alright
They still do.
Miele, Bosche, to Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, etc. Just good, built to last, engineering.Falke. Best socks I've ever bought, and I went through a phase of trying out a few pricey ones.
My bad. Forgot about socks.
To this day, the thing I resent most about my virus-enforced repatriation to NZ - is that my extensive collection of Falke socks are sitting in London... the one I brought with me, wore out on the London-Beijing trip.
And, those socks are the thing pressing me most to consider shipping all my shit back to NZ.
But... I can't quite bring myself to spending a couple hundred dollars on new ones, with the availability in NZ being shit.Airplanes -> socks. I give you... The Silver Fern.
I ran into the same problem with being stuck in NZ. Love my Falke socks. You can get them at Smith & Caughey, and they do free delivery.
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@machpants said in Planes:
@crucial Jesus, not nice. You wouldn't get me in a Robinson, esp R22
I've done a bit in them, but reluctant about the 22 in particular.
Really a twin turbine is more my style anyway. I just have some finance issues with them.
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@machpants said in Planes:
@crucial Jesus, not nice. You wouldn't get me in a Robinson, esp R22
Ugh, stats are appalling
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125559838/robinson-helicopter-crashes--pilot-error-or-faulty-design
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@machpants a friend has lost two brothers to R22 crashes. Not sure if mast bumping was a cause but both were highly skilled and experienced pilots.
I don't really want to ask details from him to be honest. -
@machpants a friend has lost two brothers to R22 crashes. Not sure if mast bumping was a cause but both were highly skilled and experienced pilots.
I don't really want to ask details from him to be honest.Fucking hell! I thought fast jet flying in RAF was dangerous enough!
'Total power loss' caused wedding day chopper crash
