NY Times GA feature

"Maxwell" wrote in
:


"James Sleeman" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 27, 6:33 pm, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
don't make a dent in the nation's air traffic. Nobody is landing
737s on grass strips.

Yes, they are.

I've done it.

Do tell. It'd have to be a pretty hard packed grass strip I'd have
thought?


Many years ago, the AP ran a story on a 737 dead stick landing in the
south. Perhaps Mississippi, Louisiana? It think the pilot put it down
on a levee or something if I recall. The photo showed the main gear
buried to the top of the tires, without folding the gear. That pilot
was both very lucky, and very good. It think all souls walked away. I
still can't imagine it.



We do it in the sim farily frequently, though at the time that happened
deadstick landings weren't usually on the list of things to do.
If the ground is anyway soft, they will sink, and badly. Quite a few pilots
have made a corner too sloppily and put a gear leg off the taxiway and got
stuck. not surprising with tire pressures as high as 270 psi (the 737's is
considerbly, less, though I can't remember the number)
Hard packed earth will support one though.

Bertie

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Intersting site, but the screens inside the wheel well were on all -200s
of the period. They aren't for gravel protection, they are to protect
the hydraulics in the event of a tire burst. If they are badly
disturbed, there's a warning in the office to say so. Later ones didn't,
but on those, most of the hydraulics and the aileron actuator were
forward of the wheel well bulkhead.
the gravel deflector on the nosewheel is huge compred to the one we had.
Our's retracted inside the wheel well, unless i'm remember ing it wrong.
I have a pic of the airplanes somewhere.
It doesn't show the vortx killers under the nacelles. They looked like
long pitot tubes that stuck out a couple of feet in front of the intakes
and used bleed air in some mystical way to keep dust from coming into
the engines. They may have workedm but you could shave with a fan blade
after six months of operaton in fine dust and sand.

Alaska Airlines used to operate some combis fitted out with all that
gear. I've been a passenger on them in the past in some of their smaller
stations. Here's a photo of one showing the vortex killers as well as
the nosewheel deflector:

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=459024

Rich Ahrens wrote in
. net:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Intersting site, but the screens inside the wheel well were on all
-200s of the period. They aren't for gravel protection, they are to
protect the hydraulics in the event of a tire burst. If they are
badly disturbed, there's a warning in the office to say so. Later
ones didn't, but on those, most of the hydraulics and the aileron
actuator were forward of the wheel well bulkhead.
the gravel deflector on the nosewheel is huge compred to the one we
had. Our's retracted inside the wheel well, unless i'm remember ing
it wrong. I have a pic of the airplanes somewhere.
It doesn't show the vortx killers under the nacelles. They looked
like long pitot tubes that stuck out a couple of feet in front of the
intakes and used bleed air in some mystical way to keep dust from
coming into the engines. They may have workedm but you could shave
with a fan blade after six months of operaton in fine dust and sand.

Alaska Airlines used to operate some combis fitted out with all that
gear. I've been a passenger on them in the past in some of their
smaller stations. Here's a photo of one showing the vortex killers as
well as the nosewheel deflector:

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=459024


Yeah, that one also has the large nosewhel gravel deflector. I'm almost
positive our's didn't, but I could be mistaken. Been years since I've seen
them. Al the same, our gear extension speed was quite low, 210 knots, IIRC
as opposed to 250 or 270 normally. One of our guys, who was fond of putting
it out at a reltively high altitude for a steeper initial approach, took to
using th emergency extension onthe mains only until he was on final.
This one doesn't seem to have the elephant ears posted previously. the kits
must have been ala carte..

Bertie

James Sleeman writes:

Do tell. It'd have to be a pretty hard packed grass strip I'd have
thought?

There's a kit for unpaved strips, but I rather doubt that most grassy surfaces
would be hard enough to resist the weight of the aircraft.

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

James Sleeman writes:

Do tell. It'd have to be a pretty hard packed grass strip I'd have
thought?

There's a kit for unpaved strips, but I rather doubt that most grassy
surfaces would be hard enough to resist the weight of the aircraft.



We'll you'll never find out, because you'll nev er fly.


Ever


I, OTOH, have done it.



Bertie

On Oct 28, 8:10 am, Richard Riley wrote:


Now that's not fair, Bertie. I'm sure he's flown.

Bought a ticket and everything.

ROTFL

Richard Riley wrote in
:

On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:02:25 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip
wrote:

Mxsmanic wrote in
m:

James Sleeman writes:

Do tell. It'd have to be a pretty hard packed grass strip I'd have
thought?

There's a kit for unpaved strips, but I rather doubt that most grassy
surfaces would be hard enough to resist the weight of the aircraft.



We'll you'll never find out, because you'll nev er fly.


Ever


I, OTOH, have done it.

Now that's not fair, Bertie. I'm sure he's flown.

Bought a ticket and everything.

Wouldn't he have to leave his bedroom for that?


Bertie

Richard Riley wrote in
:

On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:51:44 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip
wrote:


Wouldn't he have to leave his bedroom for that?


Yeah, but didn't he move from the US to France? I doubt he went over
on a tramp steamer.

True. I forgot about that.He has more nerve than I gave him credit for.

Maybe they put a computer and some Backstreet Boys posters inside a
container and shipped him.



Bertie

Richard Riley wrote in
:

On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 20:57:19 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip
wrote:

Richard Riley wrote in
m:

On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:51:44 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip
wrote:


Wouldn't he have to leave his bedroom for that?


Yeah, but didn't he move from the US to France? I doubt he went over
on a tramp steamer.

True. I forgot about that.He has more nerve than I gave him credit for.

Maybe they put a computer and some Backstreet Boys posters inside a
container and shipped him.

That's possible. I was figuring a thorazine at the boarding gate.


For th eflight attendants and the poor ******* next to him, of course.


Bertie

On Oct 28, 10:17 am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

For th eflight attendants and the poor ******* next to him, of course.

The eflight attendants huh...
I believe I believe