2 questions!!!
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2 questions!!!
Q1. whilst about 5th in the queue for T/O at LHR i saw the 'Cripple Seven' that came down before runway threshold recently-its tail is gone and some fencing is surrounding it in an attempt to hide it -why is it still on view? 
Q2. on 21st august i was on BA flight BA026 from LHR - PEK i was sat at seat 51B on 744 right at the back. About an hour after reaching cruise at FL330 the engines spooled up and aircraft pitch increased this continued untill aircraft reached FL365. Something to do with weather or other Aircraft??
please help thanks beckenhamboy
Q2. on 21st august i was on BA flight BA026 from LHR - PEK i was sat at seat 51B on 744 right at the back. About an hour after reaching cruise at FL330 the engines spooled up and aircraft pitch increased this continued untill aircraft reached FL365. Something to do with weather or other Aircraft??
please help thanks beckenhamboy
Last edited by Beckenham_Boy; 3rd Sep 2008 at 20:06.
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Q1. AFAIK, the plane now belongs to the insurance company, not BA. Presumably it's still there because the AAIB has not finished the investigation. Alternatively it's being gutted from the inside for spare parts, and eventually only a ghostly skeleton will remain.
Q2. If the new flight level was maintained, then this was a planned step up to a more economical height, made possible by the lower fuel weight. If the level was not maintained, the move was probably instigated by ATC to avoid traffic or weather.
Q2. If the new flight level was maintained, then this was a planned step up to a more economical height, made possible by the lower fuel weight. If the level was not maintained, the move was probably instigated by ATC to avoid traffic or weather.
If your routing took you via Russia then, at a guess, it probably was a bit more than an hour, and I would presume a combination of: having burned fuel and (thus being lighter) climbing to a higher level whilst at the same time entering Russian airspace which operates using metres iso feet. (this could explain the FL365 reading).
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At a guess, the removal of the tail may well be part of an attempt to make the aircraft much less visible and much less identifiable to the general public. Those of us who can identify it by what's left of it probably already know enough not to be spooked by its existence. But most passengers passing through LHR probably wouldn't have a clue now about "that funny plane with no tail".
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Beckenham Boy
I'm not a professional pilot, but I have a number of hours in a sim with an airline TRE (training capt)
It sounds as if your 744 may have "step climbed" to a more fuel efficient altitude when the weight loss due to fuel burned allowed this. (jet engines consume less fuel as they climb, in simplistic terms.)
As to 36,500 feet, your aircraft would be flying at a "flight level" which is calculated using a barometric pressure of 1015 hectopascals (millibars in old money)
As the real pressure is usually a little different, flight levels do not necessarily coincide with actual feet, e.g. FL350 might be 34,656 feet, so this probably explains that.
WIth a bit of luck, a professional may come along and give you an authorative answer, but int he meantime I hope this helps.
I'm not a professional pilot, but I have a number of hours in a sim with an airline TRE (training capt)
It sounds as if your 744 may have "step climbed" to a more fuel efficient altitude when the weight loss due to fuel burned allowed this. (jet engines consume less fuel as they climb, in simplistic terms.)
As to 36,500 feet, your aircraft would be flying at a "flight level" which is calculated using a barometric pressure of 1015 hectopascals (millibars in old money)
As the real pressure is usually a little different, flight levels do not necessarily coincide with actual feet, e.g. FL350 might be 34,656 feet, so this probably explains that.
WIth a bit of luck, a professional may come along and give you an authorative answer, but int he meantime I hope this helps.
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About an hour after reaching cruise at FL330 the engines spooled up and aircraft pitch increased this continued untill aircraft reached FL365.
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Russian metric levels
Hola Beckenham Boy -
xxx
The reason why you saw FL365 (probably your "airshow" TV flight progress) is that your aircraft climbed to an "Eastbound" metric level for the Russian airspace. You were actually at the 11,100 meters level, which on a feet altimeter would be indicated by FL 364 according to my table. Maybe it indicated FL 365... as you tell us here.
xxx
Russian airspace high altitude Eastbound levels are 9,100 meters (29900 ft), 10,100 meters (33100 ft), 11,100 meters (36400 ft), 12,100 meters (39700 ft) and 14,100 meters (46300 meters)
xxx
Going Westbound in Russia, levels are 8,600 meters (28200 ft), 9,600 meters (31500 ft), 10,600 meters (34800 meters), 11,600 meters (38100 ft) and 13,100 meters (43000 ft)...
xxx
Happy contrails
xxx
The reason why you saw FL365 (probably your "airshow" TV flight progress) is that your aircraft climbed to an "Eastbound" metric level for the Russian airspace. You were actually at the 11,100 meters level, which on a feet altimeter would be indicated by FL 364 according to my table. Maybe it indicated FL 365... as you tell us here.
xxx
Russian airspace high altitude Eastbound levels are 9,100 meters (29900 ft), 10,100 meters (33100 ft), 11,100 meters (36400 ft), 12,100 meters (39700 ft) and 14,100 meters (46300 meters)
xxx
Going Westbound in Russia, levels are 8,600 meters (28200 ft), 9,600 meters (31500 ft), 10,600 meters (34800 meters), 11,600 meters (38100 ft) and 13,100 meters (43000 ft)...
xxx
Happy contrails
Too mean to buy a long personal title
