For the aviation fans

[Spokey]

Righty Oh! So a pic of our G7500……..again……sorry, it is just that is all I fly these days. 
Kuwait Airport was closed last night for a few hours with a monster dust storm passing through. We had to delay our departure from Dubai. For ages it was 200m viz . It cleared to 1000 m TDZ RVR for our arrival and the wind was howling. At least in Kuwait it tends to be straight down the runway. The pic does not show it but a very fine dust was still blowing when I took the photo, very crap for breathing and also for one’s eyes which also struggle in the dry 38 degrees of the evening. Much like a talcum powder. Anyways, still dusty this morning.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Spokey
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[SwissVan]

20 hours ago, Spokey said:

Righty Oh! So a pic of our G7500……..again……sorry, it is just that is all I fly these days. 
Kuwait Airport was closed last night for a few hours with a monster dust storm passing through. We had to delay our departure from Dubai. For ages it was 200m viz . It cleared to 1000 m TDZ RVR for our arrival and the wind was howling. At least in Kuwait it tends to be straight down the runway. The pic does not show it but a very fine dust was still blowing when I took the photo, very crap for breathing and also for one’s eyes which also struggle in the dry 38 degrees of the evening. Much like a talcum powder. Anyways, still dusty this morning.

That dust looks hectic, not good for the aircraft to be flying around in it as it will get in everywhere. 
 

We have a customers plane here now that flew to Morocco through the Sahara sand storms earlier this spring, it’s unbelievable how much sand we found during the annual inspection…. Literally 100 hrs labour to clean it up and we still have some more cleaning left.
 

Nearly as bad as the pollen in Switzerland at the moment…. 

 

[Spokey]

19 minutes ago, SwissVan said:

That dust looks hectic, not good for the aircraft to be flying around in it as it will get in everywhere. 
 

We have a customers plane here now that flew to Morocco through the Sahara sand storms earlier this spring, it’s unbelievable how much sand we found during the annual inspection…. Literally 100 hrs labour to clean it up and we still have some more cleaning left.
 

Nearly as bad as the pollen in Switzerland at the moment…. 

 

Ah pollen……great, will be in Switzerland for WEF next week. Yeah, this dust was so fine, like powder, horrible. Will see what the aerie looks like tomorrow on departure to UK. Likely have it washed there. Or find some rain on the way

[Bateleur1]

8 hours ago, SwissVan said:

That dust looks hectic, not good for the aircraft to be flying around in it as it will get in everywhere. 
 

We have a customers plane here now that flew to Morocco through the Sahara sand storms earlier this spring, it’s unbelievable how much sand we found during the annual inspection…. Literally 100 hrs labour to clean it up and we still have some more cleaning left.
 

Nearly as bad as the pollen in Switzerland at the moment…. 

 

Pollen is bad here as well.   Bike was cleaned up last week after fixing it up.  One ride and the pollen is all over the leading edges of the frame and components.

[Robbie Stewart]

On 3/21/2022 at 9:57 PM, SwissVan said:

This thing went down like a lead balloon

If this is actual footage of it crashing....

 

 

 

 

WSJ reporting that it seems likely that this plane's nose dive was intentional according to FDR data.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-eastern-black-box-points-to-intentional-nosedive-11652805097?mod=hp_lead_pos2

[Long Wheel Base]

On 5/18/2022 at 1:34 PM, SwissVan said:

That dust looks hectic, not good for the aircraft to be flying around in it as it will get in everywhere. 
 

We have a customers plane here now that flew to Morocco through the Sahara sand storms earlier this spring, it’s unbelievable how much sand we found during the annual inspection…. Literally 100 hrs labour to clean it up and we still have some more cleaning left.
 

Nearly as bad as the pollen in Switzerland at the moment…. 

 

There's that side to it and also the erosion on the leading edges of the aircraft. I've seen paint completely "sand blasted" away from just a few flights in those conditions. 

Surely it must also affect engine performance, volcanic ash can cause a flame out. 

[Spokey]

This dust is like powder, incredibly fine. I did not notice any issues with the aeroplane performance on departure. Of course all the sensitive vents and probes were covered on parking. It is also way less hazardous than volcanic ash which I expect is just due to volume or amount of dust per cubic meter of air versus the concentration of ash in a volcanic ash cloud.  My reasoning, perhaps flawed! Sand is a different matter entirely. A large sandstorm can cause significant damage to a parked aeroplane, worse if flying in it. 
It is remarkable how these machines still function in the conditions they are often subjected to.

[Spokey]

Recently arrived  in Switzerland for the WEF at Davos. Lucky to have great weather. Often the winds from a few thousand feet up are very strong and gusty and the 4degree glide slope becomes a bit of a challenge with speed control. The 7500 has a great A/P and A/T and is also smooth with the spoilers out if required on a steep glide slope so does make it easier than the Classic or the Challenger. Unlike the old Global this one can have a 5 kt tail wind on the approach, nicer to shoot the ILS and not do the Circle at Altenrhein. An interesting limitation on the 4degree slope is the landing mass restricted due to sink rate. Anyways, a few pics to share.

They towed us to the far end of the airfield, right out of the way!

[SwissVan]

3 hours ago, Spokey said:

Recently arrived  in Switzerland for the WEF at Davos. Lucky to have great weather. Often the winds from a few thousand feet up are very strong and gusty and the 4degree glide slope becomes a bit of a challenge with speed control. The 7500 has a great A/P and A/T and is also smooth with the spoilers out if required on a steep glide slope so does make it easier than the Classic or the Challenger. Unlike the old Global this one can have a 5 kt tail wind on the approach, nicer to shoot the ILS and not do the Circle at Altenrhein. An interesting limitation on the 4degree slope is the landing mass restricted due to sink rate. Anyways, a few pics to share.

They towed us to the far end of the airfield, right out of the way!

Altenrhein St Gallan, i thought there would be more aircraft parked there during WEF.... they must all be at Zurich or Dubendorf?

We had a what i think was a Global 7500 parked here at Buochs for a day or 2 which has now departed, think it was Netherlands registered (PH)...the little apron here is a bit small for these kind of birds.

 

[Spokey]

Apparently it has been busy, they expected many arrivals after we had left the airport and during the following day. Two of my colleagues have flown in, a 7500 from Oz landed at Samedan and a 6000 from USA, landed at Zurich.

Parking at Altenrhein is limited for an aerie like ours. Span is 104 feet so we have to towed around. As you see from tail cam in the fin the apron is small. There is an Embraer 170 or 190 schedule that pops over from Austria every so often, hard to fit the Globals/ 650’s on there when he is in town!

Edited May 25, 2022 by Spokey
Additional content.

[Spokey]

Back to The Mud Patch today, descent as we coast out over Belgium was pretty busy!

[Bonus]

As I mentioned on our "Bonus & Wendys Big Adventure" thread, I've been working for my son in the UK on and off throughout this year. My son works for a big events company and the highlight of my year so far by far has been my four weeks at RAF Fairford - the joint RAF/USAF airbase near Swindon which hosts the annual RIAT - Royal International Air Tattoo - for a weekend every July.

Install takes three weeks, then de-rig takes a week - all for two days in the middle! But what an amazing two days. I'll post some work photo's first, then some planes 🙂   

 

[Bonus]

Welfare cabin arrived. Has it's own electricity and water - so a home from home!

 

Equipment started arriving by truck soon after. 7, 9 and 12m flagpoles and their concrete bases....

[Bateleur1]

2 minutes ago, Bonus said:

Welfare cabin arrived. Has it's own electricity and water - so a home from home!

 

Equipment started arriving by truck soon after. 7, 9 and 12m flagpoles and their concrete bases....

I envy you. Enjoy

[Bateleur1]

Well if all goes according to plan, I will realise one of my dreams ... to fly in the 747-8.  Flying with Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Johannesburg.  I am as excited as a kid on Christmas

[Bonus]

We had to hang some big vinyl banners on the aircraft hangers facing the crowd areas. They were over in the USAF section of the base, so we needed a lots of paper work sorting out first.