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Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: MillCreek on November 27, 2021, 01:17:03 PM

Title: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: MillCreek on November 27, 2021, 01:17:03 PM
https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/airbus-340-plane-lands-in-antarctica-for-first-time-in-history/?fbclid=IwAR0AVjNa9f9Kr-oKdkUpB8Z5MnoYUS0Qx0Gd3F7BOzEVf_g7v96XgGmju0U

Perhaps our resident Airbus expert can comment on this: a walk in the park or a sphincter-tightening ride to the gates of a frozen Hell?
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: Fly320s on November 27, 2021, 03:32:42 PM
Looks pretty normal to me.  I assume the runway is long and the plane is light.  We fly in cold weather and land on snow/ice every winter.

The difficulty depends on the weather: winds and visibility are the biggest concerns there.

The Airbus has a minimum temperature they are approved to operate in.  Antarctica probably gets colder than that on a regular basis.
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: Ben on November 27, 2021, 04:03:03 PM
I didn't see a date that the aircraft landed there, but right now highs are in the 20s-30s in that part of Antarctica, so pretty similar to lots of the US this time of year. Obviously the icy runway is more problematic than in the US, where there's a lot more infrastructure to keep up runways in Winter.
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: 230RN on November 27, 2021, 04:38:43 PM
"The flight was commissioned to deliver supplies by Wolf’s Fang, an upscale adventure resort for people who want to experience just inhuman levels of cold during their vacation time."

Oh, I can't wait to set up my souvenir shop in the hotel lobby.  I've got a T-shirt maker all lined up to make "I went to Antarctica and all I got was this down-insulated T-shirt" T-shirts.

I hope they remember to keep the engines idling, like OTR truck drivers at truck stops.

Terry. 230RN
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: Fly320s on November 27, 2021, 05:16:15 PM
Idling jet engines can be... dangerous.  Getting pulled into the engine by the suction would, well, suck.

More likely, it was a quick turn around with minimum ground time so the engines wouldn't cool off too much.
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: BobR on November 27, 2021, 06:51:43 PM
Ambient temp is probably the main concern. we could operate the P3 to -60F ambient temp before we had to change the prop fluid. We came pretty damn close one trip to Fairbanks in the winter. I had to beg the Air Force for a bit of hanger space just in case. They were real dicks about giving up hanger space. We finally had the orders come from above. Craps rolls downhill much faster than trying to push it up. It also helps to be flying JCOS missions. ;)

bob
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: 230RN on November 27, 2021, 07:52:41 PM
I would expect statistically props to be more dangerous than intake fans on jets.  Anyone know for sure?

I never heard of a jet pilot hollering "Clear intake fans!" before cranking the engines.
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: BobR on November 27, 2021, 08:25:26 PM
I would expect statistically props to be more dangerous than intake fans on jets.  Anyone know for sure?

I never heard of a jet pilot hollering "Clear intake fans!" before cranking the engines.

They were both dangerous, anecdotally I heard more about people walking into turning props than getting sucked into a jet intake.

Always dove the intakes before starts on jets. The A7 had a great intake profile, wide enough you could get in it and take a quick nap, it had a tiny rise toward the lip to raise your head. We had a new guy go to sleep in one one night so we slapped the turn screen on it (A mesh cage to keep stuff out during ground turn) and then fired up the huffer (jet start unit) next to the plane. He was not happy when that transpired. He was screaming to beat the band and was just a tad pissed off when we let him out. IIRC he really didn't talk to us much the rest of the cruise. :)

Here is a article and video of a guy getting sucked into an A6 intake on the carrier.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/see-video-us-navy-sailor-got-sucked-6-intruder-engine%E2%80%94and-survived-76751

Come to think of it I had a hell of a lot more fun around airplanes as a sailor than I did around sick/injured people as a Nurse.

bob
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: Fly320s on November 28, 2021, 01:05:43 PM
I would expect statistically props to be more dangerous than intake fans on jets.  Anyone know for sure?

I never heard of a jet pilot hollering "Clear intake fans!" before cranking the engines.

The "clear" call is for piston engines.  They start suddenly, instead of having to spool-up like a turbine.  Much easier to dodge a slow starting jet engine than and instant-on piston engine.

Props probably are more dangerous.  They cover a much bigger area, are hard to see, and they a more prop planes that jets.
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: 230RN on November 28, 2021, 03:14:44 PM
The "clear" call is for piston engines.  They start suddenly, instead of having to spool-up like a turbine.  Much easier to dodge a slow starting jet engine than and instant-on piston engine.

Props probably are more dangerous.  They cover a much bigger area, are hard to see, and they a more prop planes that jets.

Thanks.  I've seen a lot of props in pictures where the tips are painted yellow, presumably to form a big yellow danger circle when spinning.

There was a guy who bought an abandoned airfield to live on and who made a living off his new design for propellers.  Anyone know what was involved in his "new" design?

Always wondered about that. Only things I could think of would be a change in the airfoil as you went to the prop tip to better account for different rotational speeds, or "winglets" on the prop tips to avoid tip turbulence, like the winglets on a plane's wingtips.

I wouldn't even know what to use for a search term for that, but I'm still in Kindergarten on search engine technique.
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: Fly320s on November 28, 2021, 03:30:18 PM
This guy?

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/garden/in-a-remote-part-of-utah-life-alone-in-a-hangar.html
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: 230RN on November 28, 2021, 07:24:47 PM
Thank you, that's the guy.  But I came away from my original reading with the idea that the propellers were a new design of his.  This version doesn't reflect that at all, so back to topic of the cold resort in Antarctica.
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: Nick1911 on November 28, 2021, 07:50:53 PM
A 12 day stay in this luxury extreme adventure camp runs $83k per person.
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: 230RN on November 28, 2021, 08:29:06 PM
Plus tips.
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: kgbsquirrel on November 29, 2021, 06:40:29 AM
A 12 day stay in this luxury extreme adventure camp runs $83k per person.

I wonder what the cheapest transportation there would be?  Short of sail boating it, that is.
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: 230RN on November 29, 2021, 10:49:39 AM
I wonder what the cheapest transportation there would be?  Short of sail boating it, that is.

"Energize, Mr. Spock."

<cue transporter sound effect>

Terry, 230RN

REF:
https://www.soundboard.com/sb/Star_Trek_Sound_Effects
Title: Re: Fly and land an Airbus 340 in Antartica
Post by: WLJ on November 29, 2021, 11:01:01 AM
"Energize, Mr. Spock."

<cue transporter sound effect>

Terry, 230RN

REF:
https://www.soundboard.com/sb/Star_Trek_Sound_Effects

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58c35f74d1758e424ee76710/1562740199338-JUW5N86O2SMK429C8DI4/1967StarTrek.png?format=1000w