-----Message d'origine-----
De : rotaryeng [
mailto:rotaryeng@earthlink.net]
Envoyé : samedi 22 mars 2014 06:08
À : AAA-rotaryeng
Objet : Boeing 777 Captain Opinion
From a retired USAF Col now flying 777s: Just a quick update with what
I know about the Malaysia 777 disappearance. The Boeing 777 is the
airplane that I fly. It is a great, safe airplane to fly. It has, for
the most part, triple redundancy in most of its systems, so if one
complete system breaks (not just parts of a system), there are usually 2
more to carry the load. It’s also designed to be easy to employ so 3rd
world pilots can successfully fly it. Sometimes, even that doesn’t
work…as the Asiana guys in San Fran showed us. A perfectly good
airplane on a beautiful, sunny day…and they were able to crash it. It
took some doing, but they were able to defeat a bunch of safety systems
and get it to where the airplane would not help them and the pilots were
too stupid/scared/unskilled/tired to save themselves
There’s many ways to fly the 777 and there are safety layers and
redundancies built into the airplane. It is tough to screw up and the
airplane will alert you in many ways (noises, alarms, bells and
whistles, plus feed back thru the control yoke and rudder pedals and
throttles. In some cases the airplane’s throttles ‘come alive’ if you
are going to slow for a sustained period of time) All designed to
help. But, it’s also non-intrusive. If you fly the airplane in the
parameters it was designed for, you will never know these other things
exist. The computers actually ‘help’ you and the designers made it for
the way pilots think and react. Very Nice.
Now to Malaysia . There are so many communication systems on the
airplane. 3 VHF radios. 2 SatCom systems. 2 HF radio systems. Plus
Transpoders and active, ‘real time’ monitoring through CPDLC (Controller
to Pilot Data Link Clearance) and ADS B(Air Data
Service) through the SatCom systems and ACARS (Aircraft Communications
Addressing and Reporting System) thru the VHF, HF and SatCom systems.
The air traffic controllers can tell where we are, speed, altitude, etc
as well as what our computers and flight guidance system has set into
our control panels. Big Brother for sure! However, most of these
things can be turned off.
But, there are a few systems that can’t be turned off and one, as
reported by the WSJ, is the engine monitoring systems (not sure what the
acronym for that is, but I’m sure there is one….it’s aviation…there has
to be an acronym!). The Malaysia airplane, like our 777-200s, use Rolls
Royce Trent Engines (as a piece of trivia….Rolls Royce names their
motors after rivers….because they always keep on running!) Rolls Royce
leases these motors to us and they monitor them all the time they are
running. In fact, a few years back, one of our 777s developed a slow oil
leak due to partial equipment failure. It wasn’t bad enough to set off
the airplane’s alerting system, but RR was looking at it on their
computers. They are in England, they contact our dispatch in Texas.
Dispatch sends a message to the crew via SatCom in the North Pacific,
telling them that RR wants them to closely monitor oil pressure and temp
on the left engine. Also, during the descent, don’t retard the throttle
to idle…keep it at or above a certain rpm. Additionally, they wanted
the crew to turn on the engine ‘anti ice’ system as that heats some of
the engine components.
The crew did all of that and landed uneventfully, but after landing and
during the taxi in, the left engine shut itself down using it’s
redundant, computerized operating system that has a logic tree that will
not allow it to be shut down if the airplane is in the air…only on the
ground. Pretty good tech.Anyway, the point was, that RR monitors those
engines 100% of the time they are operating. The WSJ reported that RR
indicated the engines on the Malaysia 777 were running normally for 4 to
5 hours after the reported disappearance.
Malaysia denies this. We shall see.
Parting shot. If you travel by air, avoid the 3rd world airlines.
Their operators and maintenance are substandard. Substandard when
traveling by Bus or Boat isn’t so bad when the engines quit. You just
stop on the water or by the side of the road. Not so in airplanes. My
piece of advice….if traveling by air use 1st world airlines. So, that
leaves USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, most of Europe, Japan and
just a few others. Avoid the rest….just my opinion. If you get a real
deal on air fare from ‘Air Jabooti’…skip it. Oh, there are a lot of the
‘developing’ countries that use expatriate pilots from the 1st world.
Emirates and Air Jordan come to mind and are very safe. As is Cathay
Pacific. Air Pakistan and Egypt Air…not so much. Do the research or
just drop me a note. I’ll give you my opinion.
And don't EVER get in an Airbus!!
That is all!
[ signed ]
A retired Boeing 767 captain friend agrees with him regarding Airbuses -
DWM.
Thanks for the very interesting info. As living in an EU country, and
many governments here invested in Airbus, I can't be free of bias, but:
May I ask you about the reasons for your dislike or negative feedback
about Airbus?
Besides two relatives working in Airbus related companies, another one
working as an Aeronautical Engineer for Iberia, another relative that
was formerly the president of SEPLA, the airline pilot's union, and a
not much close relative working as airline pilot, and myself having done
my mandatory army service in the Spanish Air Force as Physician, I have
no direct connection to the aviation industry.
Thanks for your kind attention, have a nice weekend, best regards.
Salut † Jose Gros-Aymerich Madrid, Spain
By the way: does anybody have an explanation or info about the reasons
why the German Air Force didn't get rid of the F-104 fighters bought
with the help of a bribery, until more than 250 pilots were killed
flying it?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The government "investment" is probably the problem. It is not the
business of government to "invest" in anything. They can't govern or
operate a medical service efficiently let alone run a manufacturing
business. The exorbitant tax rate in Europe proves this.
Private companies invest to make money. If they make a bad product they
go out of business. With all due respect for a doctor you sure don't
know much about economics. I recommend reading this book.
"Economics in One Lesson"
The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics. by Henry Hazlitt
<
http://www.amazon.com/Henry-Hazlitt/e/B000AP5TAQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Over a million copies have been sold.
Maybe the German pilots were incompetent or poorly trained. The F104 did
not kill 250 American pilots.
Who had super sonic fighter planes other than America at the time?
Nobody but the Russians.
Germany needed to defend themselves from the communist Russians.
BTW Vladimir Putin is a communist. The communist realistically believe
that communism won't work as long as people have an alternative so
therefor they must control the world with guns. If you let the
government take your guns you deserve what you are going to get.
The Ukraine is learning that lesson now. Those that fail to learn from
history are doomed to repeat it.
Our current stupid president understands none of this.
Paul Lamar
I remember the delamination of flying surfaces discussion in this forum,
years ago, related to American Airlines Flight 587
<
http://www.airfleets.net/crash/crash_report_American%20Airlines_N14053.htm.
Numbers can be confusing but important to know that B-737's (which had
their share of accidents) have been flying since 1970, when NO AirBus
was on the air until 1982 (use it for a longer time, more mishaps
accrue). OTOH next gen. 737's seem to have had a brilliant record since
2005.
Can anybody give some info about hours of flight vs. # of mishaps? I
couldn't find that.
In the mean time, I fly Boeing, period (and NOT the O'Bozo's periods).
Alfonso Lebron
By the way, the beginning of the Ping-Pong mails was that a Boeing was
lost not an Airbus.
Jean-Claude Silvestre
(Everything but an expert)
True by subjects drift :)
Paul Lamar
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