PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Dublin: 2 x RYR in contact during taxi. Both damaged.
Old 16th Oct 2014, 08:31
  #91 (permalink)  
Aluminium shuffler
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: UK
Posts: 730
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sailvi, you can see the wing tips of the 737, but if the no.3 window is fogged up, as is usually the case early in the morning in very damp conditions, you can only see them if you lean all the way forward and put your head within 2" of the upright between the no.1 and no.2 windows and look over your shoulder. It is no way to taxy an aeroplane! If the no.3 window is clear of fog and rain, then you can see the wing tip without leaning forwards much.

It seems perverse that the automotive industry is producing cheap kits for ultrasonic parking sensors, reversing cameras and so on for vehicles which are easy to manoeuver and see out of, but the aviation industry has no interest in making aircraft easy to taxi (or even fly - handling characteristics are getting worse on every new model). I know that part of it is volumes - there are many more cars than aircraft, so it is a bigger market, but with the mark ups in aviation, you'd think someone would be taking it seriously. How hard can it be to have a few strategically placed small cameras, like those used almost as throw away items by the media, connected to a relatively small display? Useful for seeing airborne non-normals as well as for taxi clearance. Why are there no improvements for information to pilots unless the authorities mandate it?
Aluminium shuffler is offline