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Old 25th June 2004 | 05:01
  #12 (permalink)  
Dibble&Grub
 
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
From: Far Far East - and a good touch of South
Interesting idea .....

The premise of salvaging very much from the main airframe in the form of "workable" bits is, as has been mentioned, just about totally impossible. Obviously the ELTs, torches, extinguishers, portable O2 bottles etc are easy to get at and out. The rest (of the useful bits) are more problematic without some technical knowledge. So do have a pilot and (better) an engineer in the survivors!!

Let's look at a list of what could be useful if circumstances allow (I guess you have a certain amount of poetic license with a script - but I will try to be realistic).

The premise of no fire is useful so let's stretch this to the limit :

In the proper format for survival - Protection Location Water & Food ....

Protection :
The slide rafts are the obvious primary survival aid. If they can be accessed and with 4 a side (in each door) a few should be. Each slide is also a primitive raft and has a small survival pack attached to it. This includes (but not a complete list). Heliograph, water, Dramamine (sea sickness tablets), day/night flares, 10 guage pistol flares (pen type), bailer (bucket), repair kit (for the rubber material), plugs, dingy knife etc etc. The list goes on and it depends on the regulatory authority of the aircraft's owner nation. But lots of flex here for much quite useful stuff. Each slide/raft is self contained so plenty of duplication if they can be found/salvaged. Rafts will deploy inflated if not carefully removed by someone who knows how it works. Probably one or more will have already deployed. They use a Nitrogen bottle to inflate and once inflated are very ungainly. Uninflated they are just heavy !!

A slide raft has a full canopy and can be quite comfortable and dry if correctly placed on a flat surface. It will need pegging down in any sort of wind. Instant housing and protection.

There is lots of carpet in the cabin and most of it will come up without too much work. Likewise there is plenty of insulation and sound proofing materials. The stuff in the cabin will need some heavy cutting but the hold walls are lined with good material that comes away easily.

Location = Find Me : Well the ELTs are the obvious BEST THING. But there will be plenty of fuel to start a controlled signal fire. Forget the HF radios etc - you will never get them to work. It is often bad enough when the fuselage is in one piece to get it all working - smashed up - forget em.

Water : There is 1000 liters of semi potable water in the aft tank - it can be drained from using the fuselage in the aft section. Try not to get the "blue" water drain. This could prove a useful humor diversion at that juncture !!

Food : Well there are the galley carts and usually quite a bit of dry stores for initial consumption. Obviously a decent triage of resources (perishable v non) will help to make it last. Lots of booze around too - so controlling that would be a first issue for me...

Now let's look at some longer term issues :

1. Fuel - even if the main tanks have ruptured there will be plenty of fuel for a small group for quite a while. This really depends on where the wings are relative to the body and wether the undersides are accessible. First though you will need the fuel/water drain stick (pogo). This is usually in the rear (No5) hold. Once you have that and access to the underside of a wing you can get at any of the drain nozzles and get fuel in any quantity you want with damaging the tank structure. Overwing defuelling is a bitch and not really practical without some fairly fancy kit. A length of hose and a good such will just no hack it !! With fuel - even Jet A1 (kerosene) you can do much in the survival situation.

2. Cargo. This must be your best "script" bet. There is a huge potential for just about anything you want to put in the hold and have survive. Give the "survivors" a couple of "small" diesel generators and some garden light kits and they could be in clover. Just remember to blend the Jet Fuel with 1% oil and they will, run for ever. Plenty of Aeroshell 555 (aviation engine oil) in the rear hold in the engineering pack. Those RB211's like to burn oil and no 1011 I ever flew went anywhere with a few liters of 555 in the back hold.

3. Flyaway Pack. Depending on the operator and destinations, most 1011s carry a simple engineering pack in the 5 hold. This could well hold a jack and tow bar as well as a spare wheel and some tools. Nothing terribly useful on the face of it but I can think of some variations to bring them into play.

I could go on for quite a while with this and I wouldn't mind doing so, but it might not be best for public consumption. PM me and perhaps we can take it further.

DG
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