This is a great video showing how flights resumed over Europe after the volcanic ash cloud was deemed safe to fly in. I love looking at films like this but I’ve never seen one for Europe, only the US. Hat tip: Steve Clayton’s Geek In Disguise.
What to do if you get lost in a plane
This is a guest post by Jason Schappert from the highly recommended M0A blog.
Even in today’s age where the navigational instruments are state of the art and technologically advanced, pilots will still find a situation wherein he or she is lost in the air.
There can be a momentary panic at the onset of the thought that the airplane is lost. That is understandable: airplanes depend on fuel to fly, and every minute that you are lost you are wasting precious fuel. It might even come to a point to make an emergency landing somewhere if the fuel is not enough. Such a thought is scary for pilots, as some emergency landings are just controlled crashes that can result to injury. However, it is important for pilots not to give in to these thoughts and instead keep their wits about them.
In order to circumvent the effects of panic, the five C’s of aviation have been devised. The five C’s are: Confess, climb, conserve fuel, communicate and comply.
Confess
In some cases, panic kicks in when one has denied to himself for sometime that he is lost. When you find that you are seemingly off-course, admit to yourself that you are lost. Trying to tell yourself otherwise will only amplify the shock that you will feel once the truth sets in. Remember you need to be very calm with this. Check the instruments and find out how far you are off course. If there are errors in the instruments, note them as well.
Climb
Climb to the maximum safe altitude that your aircraft can fly. This will be useful later on as it can help you save fuel and spot landmarks from the better vantage point.
Conserve
Conserve fuel so that you are minimizing the chances of you having to “perform a crash” or emergency landing because you don’t have sufficient fuel to reach your destination. Cut down to the most fuel-efficient speed and power that your aircraft can muster as you wait for instructions.
Communicate
Call for help. Controllers are there to help you out, and make sure your transponder is on so they can see in your their radar. This way, they can pinpoint your exact location and give you the necessary course to set you back on the right path.
Comply
If the tower or controller gives you directions, don’t argue. Remember, you are the one who is lost and they are the ones who has the instruments to guide you back in. You’re not in the position to dispute their vectors and suggested approaches.
(Matthew Stibbe here – in the UK, it’s well worth calling Distress and Diversion on 121.5 if you’re, ahem, temporarily unsure of your position. They have satellites, tracker dogs and all kinds of cool stuff at their disposal. Plus they’re nice people and they like helping pilots.)
Space porn (Pictures, SFW)
The International Space Station has a new viewing port. I thought I would celebrate with some gorgeous pictures. I really wish I had $20m – I would go tomorrow. (Hat tip IO9, also for their great tag line ‘We come from the future’. More NASA pics on Flickr).
Egelsbach (EDFE)
Located 5 miles south-east of Frankfurt am Main, Egelsbach is Germany’s busiest general aviation airport. It’s a non-controlled VFR-only airport in class D airspace, with a permanent implicit clearance to enter, granted from Frankfurt Tower. On busy days, up to 80 movements per hour are not unusual. Yes, 80 landings or take-offs in 60 minutes, on a single runway. I flew there in 2009 when I got my multi-engine rating flying a DA42 TwinStar at the Motorflugschule Egelsbach. I used to fly at busy, international airports, but I must say that what I experienced at Egelsbach is something different. Before flying there, I never had to overtake other aircraft in the airport pattern.
The runway has an east / west orientation and there are two circuits, one on the north side for training, and one on the south side for aircraft coming to land or leaving the area. The circuits for runway 09 have almost no final leg, the base turn is to be flown shortly after passing abeam the threshold, to avoid intruding the Frankfurt CTR. Both circuits must be flown at 1’300 feet, and the Charlie airspace of Frankfurt TMA starts at 1’500. Finding the circuits is rather easy, thanks to two nearby motorways and a power line on the south. The golden rule is easy: you should in no case fly west of the A5 motorway – this is Frankfurt airspace.
Because of the proximity with Frankfurt, approaching and leaving Egelsbach is possible only via the south and the east. Five VFR reporting points are defined (J, D, K, E and T) and routes between these points and the airport are published. Beware of one important details: these routes are all one way, and change according to the active runway. Don’t think of an overhead join, or a mid of downwind entry. A bit more than the standard preparation is required here. The “Egelsbach info” frequency is active when the airport is open and the guys operating it are rather helpful and they have good radar coverage. Even if it is not formally a Tower, not following their advice would be silly.
The Egelsbach train station is approximately 20 walking minutes away, and taxis are always available. From there, Frankfurt is a 20 minutes ride away. The airport’s restaurant is one of the best in the area, I personally like their fillet of springbock.
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This plane is its own checklist (Pictures)
This Kulula 737 has a great paint scheme that labels the different parts of the plane. I guess it helps dozy first officers do a thorough walk-around. Excellent. I want to paint all planes like this. I particularly like the sign for the captain: ‘the big cheese’ and the label for the registration mark: ‘secret agent code.’ Awesome.
Gliding in the Alps in HD video
This is probably the most beautiful bit of aviation filming I have ever seen. It’s just gorgeous. It’s mostly film taken from a glider in the mountains around Sion in Switzerland at 10,000-21,000 feet. If you’ve never flown before, this film will explain why we do it. It’s worth clicking on the ‘full screen’ button just to see it in all its HD glory.