Period Skies

[christianb]

It's mainly to do with the particular engine a plane has.

Although we commonly call them "jets", all big commercial airliners are actully fitted with 'turbofans'. These suck air in, compress, and expel even more quickly to provide thrust. The problem with volcanic dust is that is begins to clog the turbine and can, in serious cases, cause the engine to overheat and completely fail.

Although not a great idea to fly them through dust clouds, "turboprops" don't have the same problem. Hence why you see pretty pictures of the cloud from the unspellable volcano.

 

[biffvernon]

Talking of pretty pictures:

More at http://www.swisseduc.ch/stromboli/perm/iceland/eyafallajokull_20100416-en.html

 

[skier-hughes]

Not sure which city my brother is in, but he was supposed to be back Friday and he has also been told Wednesday at the earliest.

 

[biffvernon]

Alain de Botton, philosopher, writer and recent writer-in-residence at Heathrow airport imagines a world without aircraft.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8626000/8626927.stm

 

[Pford75]

Not sure which city my brother is in, but he was supposed to be back Friday and he has also been told Wednesday at the earliest

Yep - I have a confirmed flight on Weds...but there is obviously a chance that could be cancelled. If that gets cancelled, my next available flight from San Francisco is the following Tuesday :!:

 

[Penners]

I have a confirmed flight on Weds...but there is obviously a chance that could be cancelled.

Well, not necessarily. I understand that the western Atlantic is not affected, so you'll probably get at least halfway across.

:shock:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Listening to Any Answers while weeding my allotment today I heard a man who modestly conceded that he was pretty expert in these things suggesting that the manufacturers should turn their minds to building aircraft that didn't rely on the sort of engines we use today - neither jet nor propeller-driven. He mentioned some sort of aircraft that got its energy transmitted via airwaves, and said that sufficient research has been done to make it a real possibility. It would also have the benefit of being "as green as a lettuce leaf".
I'm afraid that just about sums up all I can remember of the conversation (I was doing some very concentrated fingertip weeding round my budding asparagus plants at the time) - perhaps someone else here didn't just listen to the programme but also understood it?

I listened too, but didn't really understand. He was talking about different types of propulsion for aircraft, and mentioned electrically powered planes as a solution. Apparently he was suggesting you can overcome the really long extension lead needed for flights to New York with "remote" power. He was suggesting you could "beam" electricity from the ground; "tesla" was a phrase used. All seems a bit fanciful to me.*

And quite how "electricity" is as green as a lettuce leaf, I don't know!

*actually I have heard of power being beamed like this, but it was small scale - for recharging phones, etc.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Nikola Tesla, great scientist, complete nutter, possibly right
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla

 

[Flyfisher]

I didn't hear the programme in question but I've read about using microwaves to 'beam' power around, although it isn't very efficient. I found this article suggesting 10% efficiency: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,876401,00.html. I don't think I'd like to get in front of the sort of beam that could keep a 747 in the sky! :shock:

The general idea has also been proposed as a method of sending power to the ground from orbiting solar energy collectors but, again, is not without its problems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-based_solar_power

Wirelessly recharging phones and other small gadgets using a much simpler induction technology has been demonstrated for many years but doesn't seem to have caught on. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2861987.stm. I suspect this is because there are no standards to ensure that all portable devices will be compatible with all charging stations. Recent moves to form an international standards committee might mean we see some real progress within a few years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Power_Consortium.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Coming back to the original thread - we are lucky, as we don't get many planes flying over us, except for the rather impressive Airbus "Beluga" which carries the wings of their superjumbo from the factory at Broughton to the south of France; a huge, oddly shaped thing that is rather beautiful.

However, it is lovely not to have con trails across the sky or the noise of the occasionally diverted queasyJet bound for Liverpool.

The only plane to fly over here yesterday was a low-flying Spitfire that comes over most Saturdays in the summer. Absolutley magnificent.

Would that it were the only thing flying every Saturday.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Ah well, true to form the Royal Navy is coming to the rescue. Always dependable in an emergency----- ( so I am reliably informed) :wink:

 

[Flyfisher]

I can sort of understand how the navy could help ferry people back to Blighty but I'm surprised we're apparently sending Ark Royal. Is a massive aircraft carrier really the ideal ship for this sort of thing?

I heard Dan Snow on the radio earlier today describing how he tried to 'rescue' some people from France using small boats but was prevented from doing so by the French authorities. Unfortunately, I didn't hear the full story about why they did this? Now we're all Europeans, I thought the borders were open to all EU nationals, so why should he be prevented from carrying a few people across the channel from France to the UK (assuming their passports were all in order of course). Has H&S finally beaten the Dunkirk spirit into oblivion? Or perhaps that's why Ark Royal has been ordered into the fray?

A few years ago, I went across the channel on a RIB as part of a Branson PR outing in an amphibious car and I don't recall any French authorities in Calais bothering to check our passports as we landed on the beach.

 

[Penners]

the Royal Navy....Always dependable in an emergency----- ( so I am reliably informed)

Ah, yes. All the nice girls love a sailor. :wink:

 

[Penners]

I'm surprised we're apparently sending Ark Royal. Is a massive aircraft carrier really the ideal ship for this sort of thing?

I suppose you could argue that the ability to send helicopters ashore to collect the passengers is an advantage.

But I suspect that in today's minimalist navy it's a more a case of "whichever vessel is nearest and available"

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I suppose you could argue that the ability to send helicopters ashore to collect the passengers is an advantage.

I didn't think we had any helicopters!

What a topsy-turvy world - our troops are buying their own basic kit in Afghanistan and complain of a lack of helicopters and armoured vests , but we have a spare aircraft carrier we can suddenly redeploy to collect moaning holidaymakers who can't get back from their Easter breaks on the continent. :roll: :roll: :roll:

If one more person describes sleeping in Helsinki airport or an overnight coach trip from Madrid to Paris as a "complete nightmare", I swear I won't be responsible for my actions! :twisted:

I even heard one woman on the news last night bemoan the fact that she had to spend 2500 Euros on a chauffeur driven car to get home! :shock: Hello, Earth calling mad woman with money to burn! :lol:

 

[Juju]

I'd quite like my partner back from being stranded abroad. Well, I've got no-one to cook my dinner! I don't expect the navy to rescue him but also I don't want him spending money we haven't got on getting back. Actually work are paying for him but they can ill-afford it. Still it's just one of those things - he's safe and well and getting on with working via the wonders of the internet. I could mention the grief he's no doubt getting from his ex for having the audacity to miss childcare duty but it'll only get me wound up...

 

[biffvernon]

What a topsy-turvy world - our troops are buying their own basic kit in Afghanistan and complain of a lack of helicopters and armoured vests , but we have a spare aircraft carrier we can suddenly redeploy to collect moaning holidaymakers who can't get back from their Easter breaks on the continent.

Clearly the Ark Royal should be in Afghanistan.

 

[another_richard]

I have a confirmed flight on Weds...but there is obviously a chance that could be cancelled.

Well, not necessarily. I understand that the western Atlantic is not affected, so you'll probably get at least halfway across.

:shock:

Cannot understand how this one slipped under the radar! Quality.

So air travel is it a right or a Privilege?

Personally, I think we should all be allotted a finite number of 'airmiles or 'airhours' during our life time, use them or lose them and once they run out...

 

[LadyArowana]

I tried to convince dearest husband that I should return to Singapore on the Orient Express. He reminded me that although you can get to some parts of E.Europe, and also from Laos or N. Thailand through Malaysia to Singapore, there is a big gap in the middle He then mentioned something about "Trans Siberian Railway" at which point I lost interest.

 

[Flyfisher]

Personally, I think we should all be allotted a finite number of 'airmiles or 'airhours' during our life time, use them or lose them and once they run out...

Now there's a slippery slope if ever I saw one.

I have a friend stuck in Chicago en route home from Costa Rica. Originally due home tomorrow but currently on standby for 29th April. She's planning a bit of cruisin' on Route 66 during the day and the blues clubs in the evening. Seems OK to me.

I agree with the previous comment about the "nightmare" of being stuck abroad, but I suppose that's the sort of hyperbole we expect from the media these days. "A bit of a nuisance" probably doesn't sell as many newspapers. Anyway, whatever happened to British stiff upper-lip?