United seems to be canceling tonights flights into London.

Gatwick and Heathrow closed from 1am.

GF007 "delayed"
 

Ash spreading measured by IR on satellites
 

The following is taken from "Teknisk Ukeblad" which is a jounal published by the Norwegian polytechnic society in Oslo.

"Satellite Images

The ashes that spread from the volcanic eruption is powdered stone that comes in and blocks the ventilation of the engine, but the plane's radar can not detect it. At NILU, with the researcher Fred Prata at the helm, has been developed a set of algorithms that convert data from U.S. satellites which could be useful for the aviation industry.

Prata uses publicly available images taken with an infrared camera by NASA satellites, then runs it through his proprietary modeling program. There are calculated the total ash quantity, concentration and size of particles in the discharge.

- Fred has several patents on this, and we have also taken this technology a step further and use it against other commercial applications, including to measure emissions from ships, "he said."

Apparently a special version of the IR camera and its software is being developed for use as a warning device on commercial aircraft. - similar to weather radar.

Finally for those of you who do not believe, there is a rather large amount of data available about single or double engine shutdown incidents at high altitude. Most of this is assumed be due to ice particles, but some may also on ash or mixed ice/ash particles.

The BBC news seems to indicate a minimal closure of LGW and LHR. Hopefully opening before midday (London time)

H

last week I saw Volcanic Ash in clouds, over the English Channel and down in Spain, north of Madrid. The clouds are dirty looking, but very thin, maybe 100-200 feet in depth. Like smoke from a fire on a still day.

This is the biggest scam ever and I hope it gets sorted using technology, before an airline folds up under the financial pressure.

ExSimGuy

The BAA website is saying that LHR is closed between 0100 and 0700 tomorrow (Monday).

Dave

Diversification

Where does this extrapolation fit into the discussion subject:confused:

It's already known what ice crystals can do on their own and where they are likely to be encountered so as to avoid.

Likewise it's already known what certain types of encounters with VA can do and how best to avoid and/or cope with it.

The two are not the same as far as the engine is concerned nor have they ever been linked together.

BBC now saying LHR & LGW will have a limited operation from 0600Z, any further info?

LGW Atis( 5 mins ago) is saying departures only from 06.00 on 08R--wondered why it was so quiet!
Hopefully ash will disappear soon!
0727
Still the same here (as apparently ash cloud is to the west of the airport) all Spanish etc deps will be going out off 8R on a DOVER/Clacton dep
Ist departure is imminent:)

Hello JetII

Looks like BA 64 is the leader of the pack into LHR as the arrivals start again with a thundering heard in hot pursuit in the holding patterns...

One factor in your favour - apparently still 'scheduled'
But two potentially against:
- The southern edge of a Black ash area is predicted to move Eastwards, VERY close to LGW between now and 1200.
- There are no arrivals into LGW at the moment, so if the aircraft in question is not already there, the Boss ain't moving, until 1800 at earliest. :uhoh:

Thank you, booksjg - I'm guessing you are addressing me.... It appears that the mods have deleted my query and Charley B´s reply.

Curiously the latest midday ash notam now shows no sign of the no fly black zone that was over England this morning! (Wonder what will happen to the VAAC graphics at midday?)

So far I've not found any evidence of ash damage in all the aircraft I've inspected (northern european regional routes). I've asked a lot of my colleagues in other airlines if they've found any evidence of ash damage or if they've heard of it being found :- Nothing. Not one engineer I've contacted has found or known of anyone finding damage. Now I don't claim to know every engineer in Europe, but it does seem that ash damage is thin on the ground (or the blades). I think that any maintenence cost saving from not flying is going to be dwarfed by the loss of revenue.

Very strange. I would have thought they'd have to keep it closed.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporat...1005171200.gif

Quite a few flights overhead here in North Beds at about 10 to 15K, thought it was strange having looked at the Met office charts earlier. :confused: