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Irni Mastura

Aviation: Facts and Trivia

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Huwaa... Capt Radzi got all of them correct! :yahoo: Thanks for the links ya.

  • Identify the below image (parts of an aircraft) and state what it is used for. Hint: Wings!2353024090102624702S425x425Q85.jpg
    Yup, these small extensions which look like antennas along the trailing edge of the wings (and some at tail) are called static wicks alright. These static wicks release the static electric charges (caused by the friction of air moving over the metal frame of the aircraft) into the air.
  • What is the fastest airplane ever flown? Hint: Mach 6.7.
    X-15 reached Mach 6.7, which is 4,520 mph, in 1967. Not only that, it was able to fly as high as 354,200 ft up, or 67 miles above the Earth.
  • What do you get when a jet airplane (B767), flying at 41,000 ft, completely runs out of fuel? Hint: No one onboard was injured during the landing, and the aircraft just retired last month, 24th Jan '08. (Thanks Bennedic for the correction! :D )
    A very large, very expensive 132 ton glider. Or famously known as Gimli Glider. :rolleyes: This glider was a two-engine Boeing 767, Air Canada Flight 143 from Ottawa towards Edmonton on 23rd July 1983, an unbelievable yet true story. A series of bizzare errors by the pilots and ground crew, adds up with computer malfunctions, resulted in the plane with only half the fuel to reach their destination after take-off. Its the kind of story one would put up in something like Ripley's Believe It Or Not :p because not only the causes that led to the half fuel were bizzare (e.g. a highly improbable, one-in-a-million sequence of mistakes by Air Canada technicians investigating the Fuel Quantity Information System (FQIS) problem), the solution was also set in bizzare circumstances... imagine, neither the pilots nor air traffic controller knew that the primary runway of the decommissioned Royal Canadian Air Force Base in Gimli (on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg), the closest airport within the plane's range for them to land after loosing both engines, was being used for auto racing, and worse still, July 23 was the Winnipeg Sport Car Club's "family day", which means, loads of people at the tarmac! Amazing that no one was hurt during the glide-landing stop, but ironic when some passengers got hurt hitting the tarmac when they evacuated!And what more to spice up the Gimli Glider historic flight - the Air Canada mechanics who were dispatched to drive to the airport and repair the aircraft - get this - ran out of fuel en route! :blink:

 

I think CX's HKG-JFK also qualify to be part of the gang. 8,072 miles each way. The longest is undoubtedly SQ's SIN-EWR at 9,535 miles each way.For me the easiest way is to jot down the aircraft's registration number and check it out later on at www.airfleets.net. The website is like a registrar of all aircrafts ever existed. For one particular registration number, one can get the following information (using MH's A333 9M-MKJ as an exhibit):
Aha... this is one of the reason why I started this thread - we can't depend from just one source of information. Thanks for sharing this info, Azizul! And really useful link too, yup. :)

 

 

1) What will happen if the pilot rotate the plane much after the VR speed ?

2) Why the pilot must land the plane after the piano keys ?

 

1. Er... we need more vomit bag onboard? :p

2. Okay, not sure what are the piano keys, but to give safe distance, i.e. 'green light' for landing?

 

Edited by Irni Mastura

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so that in the event anything unfortunate happens, folks outside can look in for survivors.

 

It allows the cabin crew to assess what is happening outside eg engine on fire and then they decide the next procedure. Eg whether or not to exit through that emergency door in case anything happens during take off and landing! It applies to all airlines not only AK

 

Thanks Nicholas for the info

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It allows the cabin crew to assess what is happening outside eg engine on fire and then they decide the next procedure. Eg whether or not to exit through that emergency door in case anything happens during take off and landing! It applies to all airlines not only AK

 

Thanks Nicholas for the info

 

 

This rule does not really apply to all airlines. It really depends on the SOP of the airline in question with regards to whether the window shades have to be open for landing. While some airlines enforce this rule such as AK. Most airlines do not. This is particularly true outside Asia where most airlines do not insist that window shades be left in the open position.

 

Here are some pics of planes on TO or landing with window shades closed.

 

1325113.jpg

 

1322579.jpg

 

1300367.jpg

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Wooops! If that's the case i stand corrected Bennedic!

 

I know MAS and AK do enforce such rule...

Edited by Walter Sim

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Wooops! If that's the case i stand corrected Bennedic!

 

I know MAS and AK do enforce such rule...

 

I know CX, SQ, TR and I think TG and 3K do enforce it which has led me to think that it is an Asian thing because I have not been asked to keep the window shades up on any non-Asian carrier.

 

Flight attendants use the window or porthole on the door itself to assess the situation before opening the door in an emergency and not the pax windows. The only case where pax windows are used is on aircraft whose emergency exits do not have windows or portholes such as the CRJ, F50, Dash8.

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want to ask about the window cover especially for ak flight , why they need us to open the window cover before landing ???

 

thanks

So that if ever any of the engines ripped apart from the wings (a la American 191), everyone on board will get the chance to witness it.

 

 

 

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So that if ever any of the engines ripped apart from the wings (a la American 191), everyone on board will get the chance to witness it.

hehehe.... Ewan, you left me in a confused state la bro. I'm not sure whether to nod and applaud or to laugh my a** off :clapping: :rofl: :wacko:

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So that if ever any of the engines ripped apart from the wings (a la American 191), everyone on board will get the chance to witness it.

 

though about that too ewan :D

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An orchid, if I were to be shallow minded.

 

Actually in A.Net, there is a lenghty discussion about TG's tail livery, some even relate the design to a wat, a 'Jumpee' symbol (the traditional "wai" greeting of bringing the two palms together and the pitched roof of Thai architecture) and a streetside flower called Phuang Malai or simply slanged as Dok Rak (Jasmine Garland), which looks exacly like the logo.

 

I had a very successful thread about airlines' tail livery in A.Net. Have a read. http://www.airliners.net/discussions/gener...ad.main/2928680

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haha, nice thread.

 

I briefly ran through it, but still found no factual or conclusive answer.

 

Anyway, I was told that the logo has something to do with an ancient religious symbol that symbolizes the great male genitalia!

 

Something called "Phallus" or something.

 

Its a bit crazy and far-fetched, I know.

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If MAS' logo is a wau, what is Thai's?

 

thai%20airway%20logo.jpg

 

;)

 

Quoting Thai Airways' "2005- Celebrating THAI's 45th Anniversary" book, the logo is described as:

 

During its formative years, when THAI was mainly a regional airline, the aircraft carried a logo which became known as a Thai classical dancer. By the mid-1970s, when THAI had greatly extended its global reach, a new design was considered desirable, to project a more modern international image. The design chosen, created by Walter Landor Associates, was the purple, magenty and gold 'jumpee', which incorporated elements of traditional Thai imagery, the gold temples and rich colours of tropical orchids and Thailand's lustrous silk.

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From what I understand, before pilots push back from the gate, they must get permission from ground control. Ground controllers keep watch over gates and taxiways.

 

As the airplane approaches the runway, ground controllers will hand the pilots over to tower control. Tower controllers oversees the runways and managing the precise timings of takeoffs and landings.

 

After tower control gives permission to take off, and once the aircraft is airborne, tower controllers will hand the pilots off to Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON). TRACON controllers handle all air traffic within about 30 miles of the airport and supervise all arrivals and departures for one or more airports.

 

However, TRACON controllers only oversee air traffic up to an altitude of 17,000 ft, thus airline pilots are only communicating with TRACON controllers in a matter of minutes. They are then handed over to Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), or just generally known as the Center. Center controllers handle all high-altitude flights en route to their destinations. In a small country, there may be only one Center controlling all the air traffic.

 

A single Center may oversee many states and hundreds of thousands of square miles, so they are typically broken down into sectors (between 50 miles to 200 miles wide each). For long international flights, Center controllers may hands off the communications with pilots to another Center controllers.

 

 

Out of curiousity (and by this, I mean I do not know the answers..) can anyone tell me:

  • How many TRACONs in Malaysia, and where are they located?
  • How many ARTCC (Center) in Malaysia, and where are they located?
  • How many sectors do we have in Malaysia? (And what are they?)

 

Interesting to know that Center is usually a windowless building nowhere near an airport.. hmm...

 

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Since no one answered Irni, I would like to ask my own questions.

 

What does the last two digits on a Boeing model number mean?

 

E.g.

 

Cathay's is Boeing 777-367/ER while Emirates is Boeing 777-31H/ER

 

Ryanair's is Boeing 737-8AS while Air Berlin uses Boeing 737-86J

 

 

Whats the difference?

 

 

 

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What does the last two digits on a Boeing model number mean?

Denotes the customer that first ordered the particular plane from Boeing

MH is xH6

SQ is x12

and so on and so on

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So MAS and SIA will always have the same H6 and 12 for all their Boeings?

Only for those birds they order directly from Boeing. If SQ buys one of MH's 744, it will still be tagged 747-4H6 Another example would be the case of MH's first two 747's - originally ordered by BA from Boeing, order subsequentlly cancelled and delivery taken by MH. Birds still had 747-236 designation

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Only for those birds they order directly from Boeing. If SQ buys one of MH's 744, it will still be tagged 747-4H6 Another example would be the case of MH's first two 747's - originally ordered by BA from Boeing, order subsequentlly cancelled and delivery taken by MH. Birds still had 747-236 designation

 

Another case of point is the ex-MH bird, 9M-MPE, which is B747-4H6. She is now flying with SQ as 9V-SPR in Star Alliance c/s, the 747-4H6 designation stays with her despite being with SQ.

 

Boeing customer code

http://www.airlinecodes.co.uk/boeing.asp

 

Boeing's customer code actually beings with 20 (Boeing) and finished with 99 (British Caledonian) before they go back to 01 (Piedmont) and then to 19 (Air NZ) and after number 19 it went to A1 - Z9 pattern before becoming 1A - 9Z pattern, I believe. Now the customer codes are between AA-ZZ pattern.

 

SQ's -12 customer code was originally MSA's customer code, as SQ is the true heir of MSA.

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