Biman DC10 Flights

[Airbanda]

I was a passenger on the flight at noon yesterday and am trying to establish where we flew.

Departure runway was 33 and tracked out pretty close to runway heading. Looking at the AIP it would be consistent with a Whitegate SID.

At some point we were joined by a chase plane, a US registered Beech 99, for air/air photographs. During these we flew a number of 360degree turns.

I suspect we were over Shropshire and the Welsh Borders but have been unable to confirm as the a/c does not show on FlightRadar 24.

Does anyone have any concrete facts?

[Tom the Tenor]

Hi Airbanda, I am flying over tomorrow from Cork for the day for a flight on the DC-10. As I am being expected to get some merchanise etc is that facility in place for trinkets, cups and the like?

Thanks & greetings from Cork.

[Diverskii]

I was on the same flight, I have to say you were keeping track of the turns a lot better than I was.

I have it on the authority of one of the American enthusiasts (who had come from Dhaka, and had links to Ian Allan tours) that we were in military airspace out to the west (Welsh border somewhere). They had supposedly opened it to allow the chase plane to take photographs.

Not sure on the truth in this, but it fits with what was said in the Birmingham thread on Thursday:

http://www.pprune.org/airlines-airports-routes/506454-birmingham-6-a-94.html#post8330475

[BobAgg]

Today it's flying up to MARGO then turning South back towards the MCT

[Invicta DC4]

I have watched some of the flights on flight tracker and the ones I've seen have all headed up to Scotland before turning south back to BHX.

[Doors to Automatic]

Airbanda - we watched your flight depart and then tracked it on Flight Radar until it disappeared. You went directly NW then turned W tracking just to the North of Snowdon and out over the Irish Sea.

We were on the 1500 flight which took off on Runway 15, turned left and tracked NW to a point just to the NE of Keswick, before turning left and tracking SE back towards Wolverhampton, then E to Lichfield before flying an orbit and turning finally SE for an approach to 15.

I don't know about you but I was glad to be back on terra firma! The old girl looked like she was ready for the big hangar in the sky!

[Diverskii]

Also forgot to mention that BG002, the 9.00am morning flight, on Saturday reportedly went as far as Lockerbie

[Airbanda]

Thanks for responses.

We were over broken cloud throughout except for about 5 mins complete cover. That must have coincided with coasting out as I never saw ocean below. Some heavier cloud cover and presence of the odd lenticular formation is consistent with a proximity to Snowdonia though.

Mil airspace over the borders tallies with my 'feel' for where we were, presumably keeping east of the Brecon/Knighton/Wrexham airway (Amber25 in my spotting days).

[PAXboy]

BBC News - Remembering the DC-10: End of an era or good riddance? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-26259236)

[Diverskii]

A full video of the flight is available for anyone who is interested. One of the passengers (charlest103) filmed the whole thing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozCZ7zGveUQ&feature=share&list=UUG4vE36NwbzLVvTAnmSUxHw

[matspart3]

Anyone get any air-to-air of the Beech 99...I was in it!

[ematom1]

Biman Bangladesh | DC-10-30 | S2-ACR | Final Flight | Takeoff & Landings Birmingham Airport | HD - YouTube

[Skipness One Echo]

I have no idea when BG002 routed on Sunday as most of my fellow passengers were poking about the interior and having their photos taken with the cabin crew, pointing out the Canadian Airlines and Singapore Airlines logos on various bits and pieces and generally wandering about with a silly smile on their faces.

Such fun!

[Doors to Automatic]

These flights certainly dispelled the theory that electronic equipment can interfere with the aircraft systems. 150 people on our flight and at least 150 individual electronic gadgets in constant operation filming take-off, landing and taking photos of every nook and cranny througout the cruise! :ok:

[getonittt]

Hi Matspart3 there are some photo's of the beech 99 from the DC-10 here :


Biman DC10 Farewell Scenic Flight — Trip Reports Forum | Airliners.net (http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/250141/)

[crewmeal]

Quite a lot of extensive coverage on BBC Midlands Today and ITV Central, last night.

DC-10 aircraft makes final passenger flight | Central - ITV News (http://www.itv.com/news/central/2014-02-24/dc-10-aircraft-makes-final-passenger-flight/)

BBC Player available for a few more hours.

BBC iPlayer - Midlands Today: 24/02/2014 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03w658g/Midlands_Today_24_02_2014/)

[rampratbillyboy]

I too was on the 'air to air' flight, was treated to lots of power changes, slat popping, banks climbs, dives and spoiler activations-wonderful stuff. Until I saw the Beech alongside us, I had no idea what we were up to, I just assumed it was a wild ride for us enthusiasts!
Someone on board told me we were in 'Military Airspace', and after getting home that night I was sent this by a friend of mine who plotted the flight-I cant vouch for its accuracy, but it seems to fit pretty much what we did?!
Bill

http://www.pprune.org/[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/W2wD7YI.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/W2wD7YI.jpg

[rampratbillyboy]

I got loads matspart3 (http://www.pprune.org/members/27418-matspart3), here is one to start with :O

You looked great from our viewpoint, we must have looked awesome from yours!
Where and when can we see your results??

http://i.imgur.com/lfgPn2K.jpg

[PPL Hobbyist]

Diverskii, I enjoyed the video. I get the impression from the fluctuations in engine power through most of the flight that the PF was also enjoying probably his last chance to fly the DC10 and hand flew it most of the way. Good for him :)

Doors to Automatic, Most electronic equipment like cameras, laptops, I-pods and so on don't cause any interference to flight instruments or comms. They operate at much higher frequencies than the radios or avionics operate at. They also produce very little RF.

Transmitting devices such as mobile phones and radios do interfere with radio communications. A transmitting device or even just an RF receiving device such as a little FM radio could cause problems with the avionics especially if they are both working at the same frequency, which is why they are not allowed to be used on an aircraft. I could go into more technical details, but I would most likely bore you all to death with it.

[matspart3]

That plot looks pretty accurate. Not sure where/when the official pics will be up but I'll post when I do.

[rog747]

i did Sunday 1200

had an amazing time hats off to biman for doing these flights

[bhx bod]

Approximately 1,300 enthusiasts from 52 different countries flew on the 9 flights over the weekend.
Brilliant PR for BHX as well as a very enjoyable experience for all who participated.Let's hope Bimans' scheduled service is every bit as successful!!!:)

[BN2A]

DC-10 Final Commercial Flight on Vimeo

[paulfuller128]

Hi all,
An interesting forum thread, and I was wondering. I travelled on the 12:00 lunchtime trip of the DC-10 on the SUNDAY. The weather was shocking so I have absolutely no idea where we flew over. Does anyone know, and more interestingly, does anyone have a flight map/radar track of the route flown please? I would love to keep a copy if at all possible.
I'm also on Monarch's A300 farewell flight in April, so no doubt will be asking the same question then!!
Thank you!
Paul F

[rog747]

hi Paul
i was on Sunday 1200 too

last row LHS window 40a!

amazing landing from down the back

[paulfuller128]

It was an amazing landing, and a great flight overall, just a shame about the weather and not knowing where we were going, hence I was wondering if anyone could assist with a radar track.

My photos from the day (not the best but still a record) are here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulfuller128/sets/72157641425573954/

Enjoy!

Paul F

[rog747]

great pics thanks

i was in 40A
last row and have the landing video

i heard we went up over snowdonia then towards Scotland and back but cannot confirm that

[paulfuller128]

Having used flightradar24, I think this is the route taken as shown by playback on the day?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulfuller128/13133775463/https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7318/13133775463_d4288c4492_o.jpg

Regards

Paul