The plane enthusiasts thread

[MichaelW2]

Mystery sonic boom over Swaffham
RAF say "not me guv"
Neither the USAF, Russian Airforce and People Liberation Army Airforce of China has commented.

 

[midlife]

I think the USAF have fessed up .

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8e54293p5eo

 

[Conrad_K]

the most exciting thing we ever did was the escape chute simulator rig. When completed volunteers were called for so we all put our names down and so did all of the secretarial staff. What fun we had sliding down the chute, girls screaming and bodies everywhere in a heap at the bottom.

A friend works for a major airline. They have an escape simulator. We went in after hours one night and tried it.

That particular style was a canvas tube that unrolled from the door to the ground. It had inflatable supports so it hit the ground at about a 45 degree angle.

Apparently it is traditional to NOT warn victims that it does not work like they might assume. Ahem. It looks like you'd slide down the tube and then contact the floor at a modest speed, like a children's playground slide.

But the tube is flexible, so you fall about 20 feet straight down, hit a sharp corner, and then get ejected onto the (not moving) floor at about 75 miles per hour. Well, it felt like that, anyway. I'd wondered what all the karate mats at the end of the slide were for... "tuck and tumble" is your friend on the escape chute.

 

[DaveReading]

A friend works for a major airline. They have an escape simulator. We went in after hours one night and tried it.

That particular style was a canvas tube that unrolled from the door to the ground. It had inflatable supports so it hit the ground at about a 45 degree angle.

Apparently it is traditional to NOT warn victims that it does not work like they might assume. Ahem. It looks like you'd slide down the tube and then contact the floor at a modest speed, like a children's playground slide.

But the tube is flexible, so you fall about 20 feet straight down, hit a sharp corner, and then get ejected onto the (not moving) floor at about 75 miles per hour. Well, it felt like that, anyway. I'd wondered what all the karate mats at the end of the slide were for... "tuck and tumble" is your friend on the escape chute.

I've only once witnessed a slide deployment (not in an emergency, I hasten to add) and it was pretty spectacular.

The CAA had decided that they wanted to see the TriStar slide being deployed, so we positioned an aircraft in the hangar in front of the assembled audience.

The TriStar was unusual in that the doors didn't open outwards, but retracted upwards into the roof space, fairly sedately under the power of an electric motor. But in an emergency (which might involve a complete loss of electrical power) there was also a humungous (15,000 lb) clockwork spring that drove the door upwards into its stowage in an instant, accompanied by a tremendous bang.

Normally, the slide pack stays attached to the door when it opens, but in an emergency (with no "disengage slides" call), it remains attached to the door sill and, once the door itself is out of the way, the nitrogen bottle inflates the slide and it falls into position.

Sadly, the CAA requirement didn't include having people descending on the slide, so mine and my colleagues' offers to demonstrate were politely declined. Possibly not a bad thing, given that a slide evacuations from a widebody aircraft will typically result in some injuries - mostly minor one like grazes or friction burns, but also the occasional broken leg.

 

[figbat]

Quite a few years ago I attended a flight safety training event at BA in Heathrow. This included a number of simulations, including evacuating a smoke-filled cabin and also going down an emergency slide. They also gave us lots of hints and tips.

The slide we went down was slippy most of the way down but had a grippy texture at the bottom; this had the effect of tipping you up onto your feet if you were ready for it, or face planting you if you weren’t.

They also said to keep your shoes on during take off and landing (as these are the most likely times for an emergency evacuation) because despite the warnings, people will still grab their precious belongings before evacuation - including their duty free. This mean you can make a perfect exit, get tipped onto your feet at the bottom of the slide, right into a pile of shattered bottles.

It was honestly a great session and very eye-opening. During the safety brief I still reach under my seat to check the life jacket is there (another tip - apparently they get pilfered) and always count the rows to the nearest exit. I also do up, undo, do up my lap belt several times to ingrain the muscle memory (in crash investigations, bodies have been found with scratch marks where the unfortunate victim in a panic has desperately tried to undo the belt like a car seatbelt).

Finally, having done the training I was told that should an emergency occur I should let the cabin crew know I have done it; they are likely to position me in an emergency exit row as I have experience of removing and exiting through an overwing exit.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Quite a few years ago I attended a flight safety training event at BA in Heathrow. This included a number of simulations, including evacuating a smoke-filled cabin and also going down an emergency slide. They also gave us lots of hints and tips.

The slide we went down was slippy most of the way down but had a grippy texture at the bottom; this had the effect of tipping you up onto your feet if you were ready for it, or face planting you if you weren’t.

They also said to keep your shoes on during take off and landing (as these are the most likely times for an emergency evacuation) because despite the warnings, people will still grab their precious belongings before evacuation - including their duty free. This mean you can make a perfect exit, get tipped onto your feet at the bottom of the slide, right into a pile of shattered bottles.

It was honestly a great session and very eye-opening. During the safety brief I still reach under my seat to check the life jacket is there (another tip - apparently they get pilfered) and always count the rows to the nearest exit. I also do up, undo, do up my lap belt several times to ingrain the muscle memory (in crash investigations, bodies have been found with scratch marks where the unfortunate victim in a panic has desperately tried to undo the belt like a car seatbelt).

Finally, having done the training I was told that should an emergency occur I should let the cabin crew know I have done it; they are likely to position me in an emergency exit row as I have experience of removing and exiting through an overwing exit.

That's useful
I alway try the release mechanism on the seatbelt

I also try to remember to keep my hand near it as we take off and land - so I know exactly where it is if the cabin suddenly fills with smoke!

checking the lifejacket is a good idea - didn;t think of that

 

[figbat]

Another - keep your passport on you. You might make a miraculous emergency evacuation and are safe and well, but if your passport is burning with the plane you now have some new problems that you could just do without.

 

[DaveReading]

They also said to keep your shoes on during take off and landing (as these are the most likely times for an emergency evacuation) because despite the warnings, people will still grab their precious belongings before evacuation - including their duty free. This mean you can make a perfect exit, get tipped onto your feet at the bottom of the slide, right into a pile of shattered bottles.

That said, the exception to keeping your shoes on during an emergency evac is that ladies (or anyone else ) wearing high heels should remove them before jumping on the slide, for obvious reasons.

 

[figbat]

That said, the exception to keeping your shoes on during an emergency evac is that ladies (or anyone else ) wearing high heels should remove them before jumping on the slide, for obvious reasons.

View attachment 799673

Yes, good catch. Best not to fly in high heels at all really.

 

[Mike_P]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM-ZGBDyhj8

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Just had a dream where I explored a nearby set of warehouses that were deserted and found several DC - 10s and KC - 10s just left to rot (how they got there, I don't know).

I hoped they would be preserved somewhere, even though I do find them to be probably the most ugliest airliners ever (and I've seen them in service too). 🤣

Sorry, but even now, I just have the fear that that engine is going to fall off the back, taking the tail with it.
Besides, they always look so fat and stubby to me anyway.

 

[Bristolian]

Back in the 1980's I had a job that meant I travelled all over the world, generally by 'plane. I made myself a promise that I'd never fly in a DC-10 due to their habit of falling out of the sky with little or no notice.

I had booked a flight from Tokyo to Osaka with JAL and checked the aircraft type wasn't a DC-10 but was horrified to find they changed the plane at the last moment. I had no choice but to fly and things got worse when the Captain turned on a nose mounted camera and put it onto the movie screens in the cabin. Who wants to watch themselves crash into a mountain? I returned to Tokyo on the Shinkansen

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Back in the 1980's I had a job that meant I travelled all over the world, generally by 'plane. I made myself a promise that I'd never fly in a DC-10 due to their habit of falling out of the sky with little or no notice.

I had booked a flight from Tokyo to Osaka with JAL and checked the aircraft type wasn't a DC-10 but was horrified to find they changed the plane at the last moment. I had no choice but to fly and things got worse when the Captain turned on a nose mounted camera and put it onto the movie screens in the cabin. Who wants to watch themselves crash into a mountain? I returned to Tokyo on the Shinkansen

Latterly they were ok, but their reputation from the early days stuck.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I returned to Tokyo on the Shinkansen

A good decision:much more comfortable with more legroom.