USAF KC135 Divert To LHR
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But why not Heathrow? What does it really matter?
Apparently it had a hydraulic problem and was short of fuel, or so I read on an egroup.
No big deal - Heathrow was a diversion for V-bombers when I was there....
Apparently it had a hydraulic problem and was short of fuel, or so I read on an egroup.
No big deal - Heathrow was a diversion for V-bombers when I was there....
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Originally Posted by ATCO17
Now at ten miles finals, there's a KC135 Quid30 inbound to Heathrow on a Mayday with hydraulic problems.
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Originally Posted by Pontious
Why not Fairford or Macrahanish? They're both 11,000ft+ & FFA is or was a USAFE tanker base.
As to who fixed it, they would carry a / some engineer(s) on board who might be able to do a fix, otherwise it'd be a case of someone going to Hethrow with the required tools and spares.
Hope this clears up your questions / thoughts
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<<Er, guys - it was (apparantly) a MAYDAY. Remember that hydraulic failures (more often than not a loss of hyd oil) can affect the flying controls, so a diversion would be made to the nearest suitable runway. There may not be time to fly to Brize, and certainly not all the way to Scotland!<<
Unless the KC is vastly different from civil 707's - I seem to recall that the 707 didn't have much in the way of hydraulic flight controls other than the rudder boost and the flaps, and they were no trouble to extend on the electrical system, the rudder boost was only a problem if one had lost an engine.Dutch roll was hardly a problem at low levels.
The only speed increment I could find when quickly looking through my old flight manual was a 15kt increase in Vref if the LE flaps hadnt extended - and that was on a 320B/C with full span LE flaps - most of those old KC's I've seen only have the LE flap/slat between the engines. Providing the reversers work stopping was not a problem.
Which brings us back to the original question - why LHR? - unless of course the P1 was an AF reserve pilot and in his other life was more familiar with LHR than other UK airfields.
Unless the KC is vastly different from civil 707's - I seem to recall that the 707 didn't have much in the way of hydraulic flight controls other than the rudder boost and the flaps, and they were no trouble to extend on the electrical system, the rudder boost was only a problem if one had lost an engine.Dutch roll was hardly a problem at low levels.
The only speed increment I could find when quickly looking through my old flight manual was a 15kt increase in Vref if the LE flaps hadnt extended - and that was on a 320B/C with full span LE flaps - most of those old KC's I've seen only have the LE flap/slat between the engines. Providing the reversers work stopping was not a problem.
Which brings us back to the original question - why LHR? - unless of course the P1 was an AF reserve pilot and in his other life was more familiar with LHR than other UK airfields.
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arem.. The only person who could answer you question would be the aircraft commander. I don't know why there should be a query about the use of Heathrow - the commander made that decision and as it was a Mayday call ATC would have offered him the closest airport, which might just have been Hounslow International. End of story so far as I see it...
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and a nice picture of said beast up at Mildenhall (based on the serial number give above!)
pic from airliners - http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1029906/M/
pic from airliners - http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1029906/M/
