A few views of today's Chipmunk line-up seen at the 'fly-in' at Duxford, part of the IWM VE flying day, courtesy of David Mummery. According to Vintage Aviation news the 'special formation flying display' gathered together at least 18 Chipminks flying together in formation (see below) although of the 40+ aircraft that came to Dx, a number of pilots would not have had a 'display' licence so a little short of the hoped-for 40 machines that were slated to fly at the event..
Video of the event by OscarLKZ - a single click to view here
An Air France machine, the 'blue' Pepsi Concorde was unveiled during April 1996 at London Gatwick airport. Ironically Air France had already closed down their LGW operations several years previously - I was one of those staff members (ground crew/dispatch) made redundant. ( Staff members were given the option of transferring to LHR but I chose to leave). We had seen AF (and British Airways) Concordes on several occasions during the late 1980s at LGW. The spectacular 'blue' repaint was part of a $500m re-branding project by Pepsi Cola but in the end it lasted barely a fortnight. 2,000 hours of painting work were needed at Paris Orly for the surprise unveiling at Gatwick in the presence of a number of show business and sports stars. A promotional tour of 10 cities across Europe and the Middle East followed. Supersonic flight above M1.70 over 20 mins in the blue paintwork was not allowed due to heat concerns. (Vandervord via Wiki commons)
.. a shocking tragedy, 179 killed while on the ground. Most reports focusing on the 'concrete' ILS transponder 'wall' off the end of the runway, presumably because reporters know something about brick walls - they certainly know little about the B737. If I hear another Sky News reporter say that the 'landing gear' was not working....
There's only one logical explanation for that B737 to come in and attempt a 'crash' landing in the configuration that it did. The airliner came in like a glider and put down on its belly ..because it was glider. The landing gear on the B737 does not fail - it can be deployed manually by pulling on the three long cables behind the seats in the cockpit. The glider 'theory' obviously presumes that neither engine was developing full thrust; after all the B737 can operate reasonably comfortably on one engine and redundancy is such that one engine can power most nearly all of the systems. Coming in as a glider though immediately poses other problems, horribly evident on watching the video footage - the ground effect meant that the aircraft 'floated' along the runway ..and put down far too long. With the airliner flying like a glider, the landing gear and flaps could not be deployed - minimal drag configuration was perhaps the only way the crew could stand a chance of getting back to the runway. The other possibility, as mentioned by Juan Brown on his Blancolerio channel - given the elapse of only 7 minutes from birds strike to touch-down - is that the crew didn't have time to run through any check list and failed to deploy the gear. That doesn't bear thinking about. And from what the commentator below says (Max Afterburner channel) in this 'NO-TIME' scenario, the crew didn't/wouldn't/couldn't run through their emergency check-list that includes gear down where a decision has to be taken immediately. I used to hate check-lists. Although they exist and you could consult them, in a real emergency you simply don't have the time to consult them - you need to know them! (all 100 pages of the emergency procedures section!) The crew fought to keep the machine airborne for as long as possible, that is the only explanation that fits what we have seen. With the tragic consequences we have all witnessed. A single click to view the video here..
Getty Images slide-show courtesy of Getty Images for non-commercial websites
On May 22, 2020, Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK 8303 crashed into a residential area close to Karachi Airport. Nearly 100 people lost their lives. The aircraft on this flight was an Airbus A320, with the registration AP-BLD.
This crash has stimulated the usual debate and speculation. When the full story is known there is a good chance that this accident will prove to be one of the most appalling cases of pilot error ever in a commercial aviation disaster. There have been numerous accidents as a result of blatant pilots' errors, but they were usually part of a chain of events involving one or other external cause (the weather, a technical malfunction of some sort, a difficult approach / terrain). Incredibly - and tragically- it appears that the pilots attempted a landing having omitted to deploy the landing gear after flying in on a 'high and hot' approach - referred to by the professionals as 'unstablized', possibly unaware that their speed exceeded the Airbus limits for lowering the undercarriage on the A320 (VIe speed). Coming in too fast over the threshold the aircraft perhaps 'floated' too far along the runway but when the engines hit the runway and scraped along the ground, the pilots - one of whom had 17,000 hours in his log-book - almost 'instinctively' attempted to lift off and go around. Or perhaps they were simply running out of runway at that stage with no means of slowing or braking. Having damaged the engines, both power plants then failed during the go-around and the aircraft' glided' down at a steep angle of attack into a residential area close to the airport.
but there are so many questions and much speculation;
- how did the flight crew manage to not hear the cacophony of noise being made by the alarms warning that the gear was not deployed. Complacency ? didn't bother with the check-list? stuck in the 'zone' ?
- why did the tower not warn them about their gear ?
- was this a 'failed' go-around, gear being retracted too late and the sink-rate taking the aircraft onto the tarmac ? This scenario is examined in detail in the second video below.
Juan Browne on the 'blancolirio' youtube channel has some of the best analysis but here you can watch a carefully compiled simulation by 'Captain Mayday' ...a single click to view
Below; first CCTV image screen-shot from "Captain Mayday" video on youtube
The most crucial data sets used in this video are:
- ADS-B Transponder Data from Flight 8303 (source: Flightradar24.com)
- Eyewitness pictures (source: different media)
- ATC transmission of flight PK8303
- Airbus A320 Standard Operating Procedures
- Airbus A320 system and failures simulation
- The simulation is based on the Airbus A320 from FSLabs for Prepar3d
Diese EINZIGARTIGE Sammlung von Flugzeugen stammt wohl aus den letzten Kriegsjahren 1917 / 18 und die Fotos wurden wohl im Flughafen "BERLIN - JOHANNISTHAL" zwischen 1917-1918 gemacht !!! Gegen Ende des 1.Weltkrieges wurden dort viele seltene Flugzeug-Typen und Flugzeuge von sehr namhaften Piloten getestet
rare types seen at Berlin -Johannisthal between 1917-18, below Pfalz E. I Eindecker
Zeppelin C1
Unbekannter DOPPELDECKER - "Kon.B.I"
PILOT "ALBERT DOSSENBACH" - POUR-LE-MÉRITE
Focke Wulf A29 Möwe Oktober 1929 Lufthansa Friesland
Launched and displaying at the Farnborough Air Show during the weekend of 16-17 July. I used to dispatch B727 with Air France during the 1980s. We operated the first UK-CDG departure of the day at 06:30, sometimes with just 6 passengers on board! Although on busy days this would be at least 166 passengers IIRC. These new newly out-fitted B727s must though must be two of the very few B727s still flying in the UK today. It's role is to disperse oil spills via a spraying system and tanks of dispersant in its fuselage. It can be called out very quickly to deal with emergencies.
OSR have two B727s on strength, G-OSRA and OSRB. Both are ex-FedEx and both painted at Air Livery Manchester. 'RB was in fact the last B727 constructed.
" ....The aircraft, two Boeing 727-SS2F (RE), are now central to OSRL’s aerial dispersant capability and will be officially launched during this year’s Farnborough International Airshow, 11th – 17th July 2016. Fitted with internal tanks, pumps and a spray boom to deliver dispersant liquid, the specially adapted Boeing 727-2S2F (RE) aircraft are truly a first-of-a-kind capability for the oil and gas industry. The Valsan engined 727-2S2F (RE) proved to be an ideal aircraft for OSRL, offering greater stability, adaptability and an almost unrivalled power to weight ratio. "OSRL’s main requirement was to acquire a more up-to-date asset that could travel further and faster than its extant capability offered by the organisation’s L-382 Hercules” says Andy Offer, former RAF Harrier and Red Arrows pilot, the Owner and Director of 2Excel Aviation Ltd...." via OSR.com
Above and below; two from Neil Cotten seen during Saturday's display
More screen captures via planesTV.com live coverage
" ..The Boeing 727 is highly distinctive because of its three engines and a high T-Tail design. The middle engine, or engine 2, is stationed at the very rear of the fuselage and obtains air from an inlet ahead of the vertical fin through an S-shaped duct.
...The aircraft has a built-in Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), which is mounted in a hole in the keel beam web in the main landing gear bay. This allows the aircraft to have power for electrical and air-conditioning and not to have the main engines running while sitting on the ground; the APU is also used to restart the engines.
..To be able to use the required shorter runways the Boeing 727 has a unique wing design. With no wing-mounted engines, leading-edge devices (Krueger, or hinged, flaps on the inner wing and extendable leading edge slats out to the wingtip) and trailing-edge lift enhancement equipment (triple-slotted, aft-moving flaps) can be used on the entire wing. Together these high-lift devices produced a maximum wing lift coefficient of 3.0 (based on the flap-retracted wing area).
The 727 is very stable at very low speeds compared to other early jets. A key feature is the aircraft’s ability to use a very short runway. The nose wheel brakes are available as an option to reduce braking distance on landing which provides reductions in braking distances of up to 150m. Another important feature is that the 727 is equipped with a retractable tail skid that is designed to protect the aircraft in the event of an over-rotation on take-off..."
via OSR.com
" ...A late 60's early 70's picture at Gatwick showing a Caledonian 707 and Transeuropa Caravelle with a Connie and Dak in the background. Provides a bit of a feel for what it was like on the terrace in those days..."
"....when Tridents, VC-10's, DC-9's and the like were the norm. Heathrow in the 80's. Here 2 Tridents wait their turn to erupt into noisy, dirty yet beautiful flying machines........."
PlanesTV.com streaming live from Farnborough all week - this was the flying action from Monday at Farnborough International Airshow 2014. Super camera work from the PlanesTV crew and I really cannot recommend their broadcasts too highly - exceptional coverage for those of us who can't always get to these big expensive shows - not that the public is even admitted on the 'trade' days ...a few screen 'captures' follow, posted here as an advert for the PlanesTV live streaming service!
Flying display times as published Monday morning:
1315 - Tekever AR4 & AR2
1330 - Aribus E-Fan
1340 - Airbus A380-800
1350 - Airbus A350-900
1400 - Airbus A400M
1417 - Rotron Parajet
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