I recall a story from my dad decades ago on a C-121 just as he was taking off, an engine fire alarm was tripped and its an oh crap moment as you are 'too heavy to land' and dumping avgas was not an option. Turned out to be a false alarm- the responsible party sheepishly awarded my dad a wooden plaque with a wooden dowel inserted, and a roll of toilet paper on it as a 'desk ornament'..

(Written on 26/02/2021)(Permalink)

I also believe it is up to the customer (airline, country, whatever) as to what training of crew, and aircraft maintenance are (or aren't) performed- not Boeing.

(Written on 26/02/2021)(Permalink)

Hey bentwing when you say 'Front frame failures ' - do you mean front fan blade failures or is the aforementioned frame perhaps a part of the engine mount/pylon ?

(Written on 26/02/2021)(Permalink)

He is not entirely free to operate his airline as he wishes if there is a government mandate requiring all PAX to have a test prior to flying. How recent a test ? How reliable are they ? Whos to say you didn't contract it after the test and prior to flying ?

(Written on 16/02/2021)(Permalink)

I take that as tailoring things for the 'lowest common denominator' -which is an unnecessary handicap to the 99% who are competent, considerate, and compliant with the rules and regs..... With freedom comes responsibility, some fail and miserably, like this individual. The FA's didnt serve a full size bottle of Vodka, BTW- it had to have been brought onboard. Zip tie him to a seat......

(Written on 16/02/2021)(Permalink)

If DL or any airline abuses this policy, which is already basically Federal law - I think 'the market' will respond appropriately, don't you ?

(Written on 22/01/2021)(Permalink)

Perhaps if you (we) showed that 'bitter FA' a bit of kindness it might improve his/her day, eh ? Frankly our expectations back in the cattle car are way too high- I simply want to arrive in one piece and if possible, be left alone, period. I bring my own food, drink, and electronic entertainment on board and am thus never disappointed by the 'service'.....

(Written on 22/01/2021)(Permalink)

Its about time. Of course any rule can be abused, in this day of everybody filming everything- I highly doubt it will be. I/we have never once had an issue with any of the flight crew- yes as in any profession some are better than others, to be expected. Have appropriate expectations and if you have special needs, make sure YOU make accommodation for them. The FA's cannot wait on you hand and foot back in the cattle car- its just not possible and for a $200 plane ticket- it simply ain't gonna happen ! Don't bring a carryon on board you personally cannot place in an overhead bin- this is also not the FA's job and some physically cannot (or should not) do it, either. For gosh sakes if you do see the frail or elderly passenger flailing with an overweight bag- get off your butt and help them and be thankful you are physically able to do so ! Civility will go a long way, the agonizing process of boarding will go faster, people will be happier, we all win.

(Written on 22/01/2021)(Permalink)

The SINGLE engined F-35 is also expected to perform Marine/Naval carrier operations and, VTOL, STOL, and fly reasonably well despite being overweight and under-powered. In fact its flight performance requirements were reduced several times since it could not handle little stuff like rate of climb, turns/G-forces, etc..... I guess thats one way to meet the performance specs, reduce them !

(Written on 21/09/2020)(Permalink)

I've worked in that field since the mid 1980s, as some of the earliest practitioners of '3D CAD' , while there really wasn't much analysis capability like ANSYS around, even then we had the ability to transfer 3D digital data (no 'drawings') to suppliers for prototyping. Now and for the past couple decades everything is modeled and much of it analyzed, before anything is built.

(Written on 21/09/2020)(Permalink)