Author Topic: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...  (Read 6207 times)

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #25 on: 18 July, 2020, 10:17:02 pm »
10,003 ft. Short, compared to Heathrow and Gatwick, but long enough for most purposes. 747s (and A340s, A350s, B787s and 777s) don't go there because there's no demand for longhaul travel from Stansted - and, under normal circumstances, Ryanair and the other locos have got the place stitched up.

Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #26 on: 18 July, 2020, 11:32:06 pm »
Wasn't it a Korean Airlines cargo 747 that crashed when taking off from Stansted ?
Rust never sleeps

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #27 on: 19 July, 2020, 06:51:56 am »
Yes it was.

10,003 ft. Short, compared to Heathrow and Gatwick, but long enough for most purposes. 747s (and A340s, A350s, B787s and 777s) don't go there because there's no demand for longhaul travel from Stansted - and, under normal circumstances, Ryanair and the other locos have got the place stitched up.

Though before lockdown I flew twice from there on Emirates heading east, very much more convenient from north cambs, and I'm just in range of the free pick up for business class.  At the time they seemed to be flying from pretty much any capable airport in the UK
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Giraffe

  • I brake for Giraffes
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #28 on: 19 July, 2020, 09:11:00 am »
Yous made me have a nosey, the only reference to a 747 at Malta I could find was a hijacking that saw the Maltese PM at the time trying to convince the hijackers that they wouldn't be able to take off.
This was told to me by a local chap who was acting as my guide and liaison on a business trip. Didn't check it at all.
2x4: thick plank; 4x4: 2 of 'em.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #29 on: 19 July, 2020, 12:49:51 pm »
I'd do long-haul from Stansted if it was available because Thiefrow and Airwick are a PITA to get to from here.  But no bugger is going to lay on a long-range Airbus just for me and a few other miserable Eastenders chiz.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #30 on: 19 July, 2020, 03:04:20 pm »
Other than Emirates as above.  AA also used to do a route which my wife used once or twice, then BA moved in, undercut it, so AA pulled out, and BA pulled their flight - Job Done
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/


ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #34 on: 19 July, 2020, 07:26:44 pm »
From @angrypiln aka Scaryduck.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Nick H.

Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #35 on: 19 July, 2020, 08:32:30 pm »
Here's an airliner which managed 545 mph sixty years ago:


Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #36 on: 19 July, 2020, 10:08:52 pm »
Tu-114.  Bit of a drink problem compared with the current crop and, by all accounts, brain-buggeringly noisy.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Pingu

  • Put away those fiery biscuits!
  • Mrs Pingu's domestique
    • the Igloo
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #37 on: 19 July, 2020, 10:32:35 pm »
And that was just the pilots  :P

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #38 on: 20 July, 2020, 12:54:33 am »
Tsk!  Norty Pingu!

Want gin with that? ;)
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Fennec

Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #39 on: 20 July, 2020, 01:10:38 pm »
I’ve always been vaguely troubled by ‘civilian’ airliners which appear to have a bomb-aimer’s window in the nose.

No doubt someone who knows about such things can tell me exactly what the innocent explanation is.

Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #40 on: 20 July, 2020, 01:32:45 pm »
IIRC, it's a navigator's window.

ETA - worth reading through the replies to this Quora question about the glazed nose on the Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft. WRT commercial aircraft, it mainly boils down to the USSR not being over burdened with electronic navigation beacons, so having a backup navigation mode using the Mk 1 eyeball and a map was considered a good idea. 

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-Ilyushin-Il-76-have-glass-under-the-nose
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." ~ Freidrich Neitzsche

Fennec

Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #41 on: 20 July, 2020, 01:59:27 pm »
Ah, that’s interesting, thanks. I’d always wondered why they were common on Soviet airliners, but not the equivalent Western ones.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #42 on: 20 July, 2020, 02:05:10 pm »
Disappointingly, it seems that the fuselage of the Tu-114 was one of the few bits of the thing that was unrelated to the Tu-95 BEAR.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #43 on: 20 July, 2020, 02:54:54 pm »
Disappointingly, it seems that the fuselage of the Tu-114 was one of the few bits of the thing that was unrelated to the Tu-95 BEAR.

Which is still giving our Typhoon pilots a reason to get  up in the morning...

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #44 on: 20 July, 2020, 06:45:28 pm »
Disappointingly, it seems that the fuselage of the Tu-114 was one of the few bits of the thing that was unrelated to the Tu-95 BEAR.

Which is still giving our Typhoon pilots a reason to get up in the morning...

And will, I've read, continue to do so for another 20 years.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Nick H.

Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #45 on: 20 July, 2020, 10:20:16 pm »
The Tu-114 was from the glory days of Soviet aviation, when they mass-produced severely compromised designs which sort of looked OK, but would never have left the drawing board of a Western designer. The Tu-114 deafened its passengers and its undercarriage was so long that it was out of reach of all the airstairs.

Its replacement, the Il-62, had problems with underpowered engines, which might explain why every other row of seats had been removed from the Aeroflot one I was on once. I think it must have been fun to fly though - here's one being landed on an 800m grass strip so it can become a museum exhibit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=68&v=3w_Qj2jwxi4&feature=emb_logo

More of the story here: http://www.sovietauto.fr/2017/12/insolite-lady-agnes-ou-le-miracle-de-stolln.html

Edit: here's a more complete film of the grass landing with some German text quotes from the pilot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Of55qSsnC8&t=145s  With the help of Google translate I think this is what he said:

[For the recce] I wanted to drop 250m in front of the landing point so that I could see it better. The west side of the little hill behind the forest was marked by strong erosion, so the plane was not allowed to touch down there. The touchdown point had to be exact.

The braking force on the wheels was 9 tonnes. The sandy soil had never been subjected to this force. [I think the risk was that the undercarriage would dig in and snap.]

I came up with the idea of deploying the spoiler at the point of touchdown and holding the nose as high as possible to achieve great air resistance.  [The spoiler is a type of airbrake on the wing] During the final approach, the inner engines were switched off and the reverse thrust of the outer two engines was activated at a height of 50m... a special feature of the Il-62.

Two people on the ground observed the wheels during braking, They said 'release' in their radio when an earth wall built up in front of the wheels. The pilot released the brakes immediately.

Then the internal engines were started again ... the Il-62 rolled on its own initiative over the hill at Gollenberg to the final position.

Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #46 on: 20 July, 2020, 10:29:39 pm »
Ah, that’s interesting, thanks. I’d always wondered why they were common on Soviet airliners, but not the equivalent Western ones.

Some older western ones had an astrodome for celestial navigation.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #47 on: 21 July, 2020, 09:11:41 am »
East German prog rock!  :o
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #48 on: 21 July, 2020, 11:10:28 am »
I think BA do the seat thing on their Embraer 190s so they can use London City.  I've never had that much legroom in Cattle Class on any other plane.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: Queen of the Skies... Abdicates...
« Reply #49 on: 22 July, 2020, 10:26:56 am »

Looks like Quantas have also retired their 747 fleet. Tho they did it with more style...



J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/