"It will be interesting to see the analysese of ash densities when they are published."

It will indeed. It'll also be interesting to see what level of density is assumed to be acceptable; (thinks: is there already an ICAO figure for this)?

England wins the Ashes !!
 

For info, a small prop plane flew low, going north over Wigan Lancashire around 4.30pm. Only one I've seen, usually the sky is full of high altitude jets, and a few low level light a/c & helicopters here.

Anyway, this may be just the start. BBC news says volcanic activity is increasing, and have a look at this "good news" from the Telegraph.

Volcano ash chaos: previous eruption 'lasted more than a year' - Telegraph

Professor Bill McGuire, of the Aon Benfield Hazard Research Centre at University College London, said the previous eruption, in December 1821, lasted until January 1823.
He said air travel could be curtailed repeatedly if the current eruption lasted the same amount of time.
However, he added: "There is no way of knowing for certain how long this eruption will last based on previous events. The level of disruption would also depend on how much gas and ash is produced."
The most notable previous example of Icelandic volcanic activity causing problems for Britain was in 1783, when an eruption at Laki sent a huge toxic cloud of sulphur across Western Europe, killing an estimated 23,000 Britons.
The cloud first reached Britain on 22 June and was followed by reports of a choking smog containing sulphur dioxide and sulphuric acid which attacked the lungs of its victims.
The amount of gas produced was enough to cause increase temperatures for a whole summer.

Regards to all affected.

Lid

Hey Cessna,

Be thankful someone else has put a stop to your getthereitus.

Can never be too safe.

The plume certainly is not very dense, it only shows up on channel 3 (short wave infra-red) of NOAA 15 AVHRR @ 1600Z
That doesn't of course mean it's not dangerous though.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...rald/plume.jpg

We've played safe this afternoon and kept our spotter plane grounded and safely wrapped up in the hangar.

Oxford Airport was closed until approx 3pm. Now open to VFR only max 2500 ft.

Had one bizjet leave at 4pm. 2400ft to Biggin. Saw one PA28 fly the overhead. Other than that it's been a lovely peaceful afternoon here!

Having flown through a lot of Sahara Dust, and a small amount of volcanic dust, the most noticeable difference is the abrasion of windshield glass. It becomes micro-pitted, almost looks frosted, after volcanic dust. No effect noticed after Sahara dust.
And forecasting where the effects will be noticed is not easy either.
I remember during an eruption of St Vincent, that we all went out east to avoid the obvious plume that was being carried off to the west of St Vincent on the southeast trades. Imagine the headscratching that took place when volcanic dust came floating into Barbados, over 100 miles east of St Vincent, on the southeast trades.
What had happened is that the dust had left westbound, and risen through a masking layer of cirrus, to pick up the upper level westerlies, ride several hundred miles eastward whilst drifting back down, to hitch a ride back into Barbados on the southeast trades. So here came volcanic dust from the east with the nearest volcano on that side being several thousand miles away.
Go figure. :confused:

Mirror site for Radarvirtuel
 

Hi All

Volcano kill my provider and isp :)

I have mirror site here with no delay RadarVirtuel.com
Use firefox or google chrome better than IE.

Regards
Laurent
LFRN

Where is the Ash?
 

I thought the volcanic ash was in the Jet stream streaming across the north of scotland? Can someone tell me how that would affect a VFR flight at 2500ft flying across the south coast of England?

Animation here showing time lapse , over five hours , of traffic this morning as flights were grounded

http://i42.tinypic.com/2valeuw.gif

Notice the exodus to the SW in the final few frames.

closing airspace entirely?
 

If volcanic activity prevails for a while perhaps it will re-stimulate looking at Zeppelin technology.

I hope so. I'd like to go a bit slower, enjoy the view, some fresh cooked fine food, good books, iSomething and cultural social interactions. :8

dwshimoda

Neither you nor I (or anyone else for that matter), know exactly what degree of damage an aircraft would suffer if it were to fly through such a cloud.

To evaluate this all relevant factors would need to be known, vis: size and composition of dust particles, duration of flight through these particles, and effects of these particles on the aircraft and it's engines at a given speed and altitude/attitude.

Since these factors are not known (to anyone), common sense dictates that we should not put any aircraft into such a situation.

Don't you agree?

CJ

Not sure if it's the same one but only 1 aircraft on PlanePlotter over the UK right now, HGR857A (G-FBFI) flying at around 2000ft just south of biggin hill. Not something you see everyday..that's for sure!

That's Bernie

Baldrick`s opinion for the cause of the Great War was

"I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry".

Mine for shutting down the UK airspace is so that the whole nation is now stuck with nowhere to go but to sit in front of the box and watch the Three Magi.

Still one commercial service operating aparently...
 

Seems one comercial service is still operating - the Glasgow to Oban sea plane. :)

I still feel it is an overreaction. Yes, it is unsafe to fly inside a volcanic ashcloud, we've seen the flameouts and damage.
Yes, it is wise to avoid flying into severe concentrations of the stuff and it is wise to have a safety margin.

But a total shutdown of aviation? Without any scientific debate on concentration levels and dispersion?

It is akin to the world wide panic over all sorts of supposedly lethal flu strains that caused nothing more than a ripple in the illness levels, yet caused a lot of stress and a huge strain on health services.

I'm afraid the "better safe than sorry" attitude does not cut it. Because the apparently safe decision may and will have unforeseen aftereffects that may be quite detrimental to safety levels. Like a lack of trust in the next stern warnings. One can only shout "wolf" so often before it becomes ineffective.

Solid particles in the air do nothing to improve engine and component life. But why the panic? Why the shutdown of a large part of airspace? What defines the boundary of safe vs unsafe sky? It is all too fuzzy for my liking, too much "we know what is good for you so don't ask awkward questions".

I am not convinced that it is not a huge overreaction. I would love to be convinced otherwise, but doubt it will happen. We are becoming so docile with the constant war on terror that numbs the mind, takes away liberties and destroys critical thinking that this goes virtually unchallenged..

Maybe we will get another "permanent resident " on the sigificant WX-chart-just like "Etna":)

Continueing problem? Jet Stream
 

Have a look at this site - Jet stream predictions - not good. Use nudge back / forward buttons to view jetstream for next few days.

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/jetstream.asp

Lid

I hope this is not a repetitive info:

you have to distinguish between ash/dust (which are hard particles and CO type and other gaseous emissions which are preceding the cloud of hard particles. Pollution of air with volcanic gases at high altitudes will inhibit normal combustion of any air breathing engine. Gas wave precedes the dust. So a mere presence of additional pollutants in the air will also be a reason to close the airspace, even before the dust cloud arrives.

The flu strain in its first year was less lethal than it could have been, therefore a volcanic dust is safe for a a jet engine to ingest.

Yes I can see the logic in that.