End of the road for the 747.

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Which all flies in the face (no pun intended) of the wisdom generated over many years that automation monitoring humans completing a task generally has a better outcome when the wheel comes off than humans monitoring automation.

A prime example of humans failing to correctly identify the problem when automation has failed, and therefore also failing to take appropriate action.

As an aside, Air France is one legacy "flag carrier" airline I will never fly with due to their less-than-stellar performance when it comes to safety matters - both maintenance and in the air.

I watched a documentary last week (which I'd recorded so not sure when it was on) about the Concorde disaster. Most of the mistakes leading to the crash were pretty much down to errors on the Air France side - including overloaded fuel/baggage not all weighed/rotated too soon/fire extinguished too soon/spacer not put on wheel bogey! Maybe Concorde would have stayed in service longer - even though 9/11 finally put the mockers on it - if Air France had handled better?

Anybody else find their breath catching when they see Concorde? It really was the most sublimely beautiful piece of engineering. So wish I could have flown on it
 
Funny, that, I was just watching this clip (probably filmed in the eighties?), and the Ford Trimotor is surprisingly mentioned (at 5:40):

Interesting video - I never knew that the SR-71 had skin corrugations. That must have been filmed in the '90s as NASA didn't have SR-71s till then (after the USAF had retired them).

There were a number of retired pilots doing talks on the SR-71, quite a few of which are on YouTube and many are worth a watch if you're interested in that sort of thing. E.g.

 
I seem to member that Boeing were looking a solution where the plane that has autonomous capabilities and a single pilot on board, with a backup pilot sitting in a control centre on the ground. The idea being that one backup pilot could manage several planes, cutting wages costs.
What happens when the sole pilot on board has the fish for dinner and becomes unwell ?

Did you see what I did there ? 😊
 
What happens when the sole pilot on board has the fish for dinner and becomes unwell ?

Did you see what I did there ? 😊
Shirley you can't be serious...
 
I watched a documentary last week (which I'd recorded so not sure when it was on) about the Concorde disaster. Most of the mistakes leading to the crash were pretty much down to errors on the Air France side - including overloaded fuel/baggage not all weighed/rotated too soon/fire extinguished too soon/spacer not put on wheel bogey! Maybe Concorde would have stayed in service longer - even though 9/11 finally put the mockers on it - if Air France had handled better?

Anybody else find their breath catching when they see Concorde? It really was the most sublimely beautiful piece of engineering. So wish I could have flown on it
It used to fly over me every evening at around 5pm when coming to land at Heathrow; I used to stop and stare every time. It was impossible to miss as the engines were incredibly loud compared to just about everything else on the flight path.
 
He needs to go to a hospital... big building with lots of beds, but that's a different matter.
 
It used to fly over me every evening at around 5pm when coming to land at Heathrow; I used to stop and stare every time. It was impossible to miss as the engines were incredibly loud compared to just about everything else on the flight path.

I used to work in Sunbury-On-Thames and we'd go up on the roof to watch it take off. Awesome sight and sound, especially when it lifted and the afterburners kicked in. I defy anybody not to be moved by that spectacle
 
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I used to work in Sunbury-On-Thames and we used to go up on the roof and watch it take off. Awesome sight and sound, especially when it lifted and the afterburners kicked in. I defy anybody not to be moved by that spectacle

I did a few SAP training courses at a building that was close to the runway at Heathrow - all the lecturers knew the flight times and used to stop when Concorde was due to take off.
 
I have (indirectly) witnessed the Concorde's last commercial flight...

I went to see a customer near Heathrow, and was driving just outside the airport when I saw a large crowd gathering on a green patch and alongside the main road. There were several hundred people there, some with blankets and picnic kits, others with cameras and tripods. I drove by, and later heard on the radio that the last commercial flight landed at Heathrow earlier that afternoon.
 
I watched a documentary last week (which I'd recorded so not sure when it was on) about the Concorde disaster. Most of the mistakes leading to the crash were pretty much down to errors on the Air France side - including overloaded fuel/baggage not all weighed/rotated too soon/fire extinguished too soon/spacer not put on wheel bogey! Maybe Concorde would have stayed in service longer - even though 9/11 finally put the mockers on it - if Air France had handled better?

Anybody else find their breath catching when they see Concorde? It really was the most sublimely beautiful piece of engineering. So wish I could have flown on it

I knew one of the team that worked for the crash investigation team. He eventually did a presentation to our club about their full investigation. It was extremely interesting. If you had to choose one thing, it was apparently the spacer on the wheel which caused the plane track slightly off centre and so teh wheel hit the debris on the runway. However as anyone who has been involved with workplace safety knows, it is never one single thing that leads to an accident. (So called Swiss Cheese Effect)
 
I have (indirectly) witnessed the Concorde's last commercial flight...

I went to see a customer near Heathrow, and was driving just outside the airport when I saw a large crowd gathering on a green patch and alongside the main road. There were several hundred people there, some with blankets and picnic kits, others with cameras and tripods. I drove by, and later heard on the radio that the last commercial flight landed at Heathrow earlier that afternoon.

It was October 24th 2003 - I stood on Waterloo Bridge with hundreds of other people as three of them flew across London one after another in the space of about 5 minutes. Sadly I only had a compact camera with me:

concorde.jpg
 
I used to see it take off from Heathrow from a lake where I sailed, the noise was deafening, ruined your concentration when racing, great sight though.
 
A photo exists of me shaking hands with a Concorde pilot over a (removed) Concorde engine, I could not have felt more out of place but there was the promise of a free lunch.
 
Ive had the fortune to fly on pretty much all the old commercial aircraft from The Comet to Concorde!

The 747 is okay but not great. Yes it revolutionised travel with such a huge capacity but there were and are far better aircraft.

I was at Kemble airfield the other day and they have four BA 747-400’s lined up there or scrapping. Numerous other aircraft too.
 
I remember seeing a Dan Air Comet being broken up for scrap at Blackbushe in the 70s - a very sad sight.
 
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Always remember the first time I saw the 747. I was at work as a young apprentice and approx 3/4 mile away from Prestwick airport when one had just landed. Not sure if this was a test flight as it was early 70’s

Prestwick Airport could take the “jumbo” with ease due to its long runway whereas Glasgow airport at that time could not land the Jumbo.
Prestwick was also used by Concorde many times for touch and go training. In fact the prototype Concorde also took off from a Prestwick whilst carrying out low temp test over the Arctic Circle.
You think the regular Concorde was noisy, the prototype was worse rattling the tiles on our roof about 3 miles from the runway.
 
I used to see it take off from Heathrow from a lake where I sailed, the noise was deafening, ruined your concentration when racing, great sight though.

Dachet? Queen Mary? - I used to sail at HOAC in Harefield. 👍
 
Always remember the first time I saw the 747. I was at work as a young apprentice and approx 3/4 mile away from Prestwick airport when one had just landed. Not sure if this was a test flight as it was early 70’s

Prestwick Airport could take the “jumbo” with ease due to its long runway whereas Glasgow airport at that time could not land the Jumbo.
Prestwick was also used by Concorde many times for touch and go training. In fact the prototype Concorde also took off from a Prestwick whilst carrying out low temp test over the Arctic Circle.
You think the regular Concorde was noisy, the prototype was worse rattling the tiles on our roof about 3 miles from the runway.

I was an Apprentice with Scottish Aviation Ltd (SAL) in the 70's, one of my regular Jobs, in a 3 Man Team, was to Deploy the Starfighters (F104) Arrestor Hook Cable on the Runway when Airtests were being carried out!

1596016564749.png

The Job entailed basically Towing the Cable across the Active Runway, placing Rubber Blocks underneath and Tightening the Cable using Large Ratchets!

All Controlled by Radio from the Tower. I think it was 1973 ish the Cable is halfway across the Runway, up comes a Crackled Message on the Crap Radio "Large Aircraft on Approach, Clear the Runway "EXPEDITE, EXPEDITE, EXPEDITE" :eek:

We looked around and Fast Approaching at ZERO FEET from the West (Seaward and NOT Normally Used) was the BIGGEST MONSTER that we had EVER SEEN!:rolleyes: As far as I am aware it was the First Emergency Landing of a 747 at Prestwick, how it missed the Roof of the SWB Landrover I will never know, but the Noise (WITH Ear-defenders On) was horrendous, the worst part though was the Ensuing Blast from the 4 Engines, two of us were Knocked Over! OK Panic Over we were Alive!

Then came the Wake Turbulence, and it happened all over again! :rolleyes:o_O
 

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