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Heavy Metal

By lex, on March 8th, 2010

AKA, the road not taken.

This courtesy of occasional reader Chris.

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March 8th, 2010 | Tags: | Category: Flying

26 comments to Heavy Metal

  • SJBill
    March 8, 2010 at 10:11 pm

    Great video. Really worth staying up for! ;-)
    Did you see the follow-up vid posted a few hours ago as to how he made this film?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yo-BZM5BfU

    Sweet!

  • Edward
    March 8, 2010 at 10:19 pm

    Lex,

    I know that flying the heavy metal is definitely not your bag and would likely drive you nuts from ennui.

    But I also know that you are someone whom I can trust with the lives of 300+ travelers.

    So your rational choice is our (the traveling public) loss.

    And Sully has retired …

    • Byron
      March 9, 2010 at 5:35 am

      One wonders if Sully figured that his barrel of Good Luck has hit empty. I know if I was in his position I’d know for sure that I had, and asking the good Lord for help again would be a bit much. God bless this amazing aviator. He took responsibility for his pax, and brought them all home.

  • SCOTTtheBADGER
    March 8, 2010 at 10:36 pm

    That was cool!

  • BillT
    March 9, 2010 at 3:57 am

    I got to 2:20, thinking, “Okay, so they’re gonna *taxi* all the way to Maputo…”

  • Anymouse
    March 9, 2010 at 5:54 am

    Paradigm check: Why do I side with other pilots and say the JFK kid in the tower incident is a wrist slapping affair, yet when I see a pilot intentionally put the nose gear down without the mains just to get a video I think “No good can come of this”?

    • BillT
      March 9, 2010 at 7:34 am

      As long as he didn’t exceed the maximum safe speed for lowering the gear — *shrug*.

      Last trip, the pilot lowered the nose gear while we were still over Iraq so we could watch the full approach into Kuwait City on the dinky screen in the seat-back. What struck me when I saw *this* vid was that the camera was facing to the rear — I’d always figgered it was fixed *forward*, but now that I think about it, it makes sense to have one swivel so that the crew can visually check an “Unsafe Gear” light.

      • Idaho Joe
        March 9, 2010 at 7:41 am

        If you check out the video SJBill refers to above, you’ll see that the video was made with a small, hand-held camera that was attached to the landing gear with a couple of wire ties.

  • AO3 Ken
    March 9, 2010 at 7:19 am

    I had no idea you could selectively put the nose gear down. COOL! :D

  • Idaho Joe
    March 9, 2010 at 7:30 am

    I was thinking the same thing, re the nose gear. Also, they dropped the flaps and slats just after they pushed back and taxied all the way to the runway with them down. It was my understanding that airliners tried to taxi with their wings as clean as possible to avoid skin damage from flying rocks etc., only lowering the flaps as they prepared for take-off.

    I don’t know if it’s really true, but I was told years ago that if an airliner taxied to the gate with his flaps down, that was supposed to be an indication that they were being hijacked.

    • BillT
      March 9, 2010 at 7:36 am

      Nope — it’s an indication that the cockpit crew hasn’t followed the checklist.

    • Dave
      March 9, 2010 at 10:19 am

      It was true in the olden days of flying (70′s). Most guys only did it once.

      Putting the flaps down USED TO BE about the third thing the FO did after pushback, start and taxi clearance (again, in those OLDEN DAYS now 80′s). Actually shot an ADF one afternoon into LAX, again 80′s.

      Check six, they’re coming out of hiding.

  • Snake Eater
    March 9, 2010 at 9:05 am

    I was waiting for something to happen…alas from this ground-pounder’s point of view nothing… yawn.. did…that said…the cat nap half way through was refreshing. Best

  • Dave
    March 9, 2010 at 10:23 am

    I realized my addiction when I agreed to spend 7:31 of l my life watching this, and somehow liking it.

    It sort of looked like tankering off a KC 135, only going backwards.

    Thanks Lex.

  • RonF
    March 9, 2010 at 12:06 pm

    So I’m looking at the gouts of smoke that come up when the wheels touch and I am driven to question; how long do those tires last? How many landings will they take before they have to be replaced? And how often do you get a blowout on a landing?

  • BillT
    March 9, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    They don’t last long, but they’re retreads — and they keep recapping them as long as the sidewalls look good.

    To crib from an old Heinlein tale — “Blowouts Happen”…

  • Flatlander
    March 9, 2010 at 3:25 pm

    Yes, airline flying is boring – check

  • Quartermaster
    March 9, 2010 at 4:04 pm

    I’m not sure what the point is, but you don’t really need a point to watch clouds flash by and ground go by under your wings.

    I have an addiction as well, but I long ago surrendered to it and it seems to be harmless nowadays.

  • Dave
    March 9, 2010 at 4:38 pm

    Obama took the money I used to use for a fix. Now all I can do is get a window seat and read this blog.

    Oh well, I guess I could buy another Toyota.
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