Volcanic Ash - Low Altitude Aircraft?

[bealine]

A thought struck me this morning as I watched the Thames Valley Police helicopter patrol the M4 corridor, probably hunting the cash cow - the odd speeding motorist - and a thought struck me.

How about pressing guys like "Air Atlantique"( Welcome to Classic Flying in the de Havilland Dragon Rapide (http://www.classicflight.com/) ) (sorry, they now call themselves "Classic Flight") into service, with piston engined aircraft, which fly below the dangerous layer, to shuttle passengers from London to and from Prestwick or Aldergrove, the two airports capable of handling large wide-bodied aeroplanes and the first two likely to obtain a lifting of the "no fly" instruction?

I'm sure stranded people would welcome the opportunity of being able to get on the move and, given that these are extraordinary circumstances, the government (through the EC) should pay "Classic Flight" and any other piston-engine operators who could be pressed into service, and recompense the airlines who have entered into the spirit of the EC Charter and provided acommodation and refreshment to stranded travellers.

Is there any reason why aircraft, like the DC3's which have a reasonable passenger and luggage capacity, designed to fly at low-altitudes should still be subject to a "no-fly" restriction?

[nicolai]

I seem to remember the DC-3 falls foul of not having a reinforced cockpit door for carrying passengers - anyone got more information whether that has changed recently?

(I shall not rant at length about the stupidity of such a regulation as I'm confident most agree with me).

[Agaricus bisporus]

bealine, you seem surprisingly misinformed. Firstly your ludicrous suggestion that police helos are used to catch speeding traffic - you don't really believe that, do you? Get real!

But the main point is that this restriction is to AIRSPACE, not individual aircraft, or engine types.

A DC3, a PA28 or a B747 are perfectly legal to fly VFR between Prestwick and Aldergrove, or anywhere else as long as they remain VFR. There is nothing to stop them.

Just seems at the moment not to be too bright an idea if by doing so you'll risk the health of your engines which is probably why no-one is doing it right now.

[On-MarkBob]

I had a load of this ash over my cars this morning, small particles indeed but the same stuff they use in some grit blasting machines. Engines with good air filters might well filter the worst out and save the engine from damage, until it gets clogged and the engine stops. Jet engines are more prone to problems, particularly in this case as the largest part of its content is silica which is effectively glass. The glass particles can melt in the combustion process and adhear to each other and cement themselves to the turbine section. very dangerous!