Min fuel ops - why not shut down one engine?
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 719
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From: California USA
Ah, like the old story…
747 at night going across the pond. A couple hours out of JFK, the Captain makes an announcement to the pax:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We’ve had a little mechanical trouble with one of our engines and we’ve gone ahead and shut it down just as a precaution. We’ve still got three good engines and that’s more than enough to safely get us to our destination, so there’ s nothing to worry about. However, not having that engine means that we won’t make the same kind of time we’d have made with all four, so our arrival is going to be a little later than planned. It’s looking like we’ll be about an hour behind schedule when we land. Hope this doesn’t cause too much trouble for you. Thanks.“
An hour later, the Captain makes another announcement:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We’ve had some trouble with another engine and had to shut it down as well. Again, nothing to worry about. On this aircraft, two engines provide more than enough power to safely get us where we’re going. The bad news is that this is going to slow us down even more, and we’re going to be almost three hours late on our arrival. We’re really sorry if this has an impact on your plans. Thank you.”
An hour later, the Captain makes still another announcement:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain again. Well, we’ve had a little difficulty with a third engine and had to shut it down as well. Rest assured that this aircraft can safely fly anywhere in the world on a single engine, so there is absolutely no danger. However, it now looks as though we’re going to be right around six hours late on arrival. We’re terribly sorry about this. If there’s anything we can do to make your flight more pleasant, don’t hesitate to let one of the flight attendants know.”
Upon which one passenger turns to another and says, “Good Lord!. If we loose one more engine we’ll be up here all night!”
Dave
PS Lots of flexibility on the punch line. Like, “Upon which your mother turns to me and says…”
747 at night going across the pond. A couple hours out of JFK, the Captain makes an announcement to the pax:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We’ve had a little mechanical trouble with one of our engines and we’ve gone ahead and shut it down just as a precaution. We’ve still got three good engines and that’s more than enough to safely get us to our destination, so there’ s nothing to worry about. However, not having that engine means that we won’t make the same kind of time we’d have made with all four, so our arrival is going to be a little later than planned. It’s looking like we’ll be about an hour behind schedule when we land. Hope this doesn’t cause too much trouble for you. Thanks.“
An hour later, the Captain makes another announcement:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We’ve had some trouble with another engine and had to shut it down as well. Again, nothing to worry about. On this aircraft, two engines provide more than enough power to safely get us where we’re going. The bad news is that this is going to slow us down even more, and we’re going to be almost three hours late on our arrival. We’re really sorry if this has an impact on your plans. Thank you.”
An hour later, the Captain makes still another announcement:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain again. Well, we’ve had a little difficulty with a third engine and had to shut it down as well. Rest assured that this aircraft can safely fly anywhere in the world on a single engine, so there is absolutely no danger. However, it now looks as though we’re going to be right around six hours late on arrival. We’re terribly sorry about this. If there’s anything we can do to make your flight more pleasant, don’t hesitate to let one of the flight attendants know.”
Upon which one passenger turns to another and says, “Good Lord!. If we loose one more engine we’ll be up here all night!”
Dave
PS Lots of flexibility on the punch line. Like, “Upon which your mother turns to me and says…”
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 126
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From: Australia
g-spot here's a photo of a Qantas 744 carrying a 5th pod to Singapore. http://www.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!/open.file/289429/L/
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 28
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From: Enzed
P3s routinely shut down one or more engines to extend endurance generally because they were also operating at a relatively low altitude, say 15,000' and below. They also shut them down for range when forced to remain at low altitude. For example, patrol work was routinely carried out at say 9,000' and below and you were there for eight hours or more. Shutting one down in those circumstances saved a lot of gas. The jets I later operated only had one engine so options were limited in this area.
Cheers
Cheers
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,167
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From: Location: Location:
Thankyou gents
Most interesting, with the engine not spinning I would of thought that a lot of drag would have been created.
reading the report it seems that the cruise speed was only reduced to .81
Thanks for the explanations.
Most interesting, with the engine not spinning I would of thought that a lot of drag would have been created.
reading the report it seems that the cruise speed was only reduced to .81
Thanks for the explanations.
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 509
Likes: 0
From: Darraweit Guim, Victoria
Funny thing about P-3's, I've had a couple unable to restart one of the engines at the end of a patrol. Despite having the thing dead on the wing for several hours they call PAN when they have to land that way
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 545
Likes: 1
From: Dunstable, Beds UK
Rob,
Big engines can be gagged if inop before departure ( But not In Flight )
On RB 211 the fan is gagged by legs going through the fan blades and locking them to the fixed stator behind. This stops the fan turning, then a blank ( two semi circles) is fitted over the core engine to stop that rotating.
Podded engine are normally gagged so no fuel/oil requirement.
The original Big fans ( JT9, CF6 and RB211) were a pain to move as the the engine was basically one big lump with this big 12-15 ft diamter fan on the front. This needed a freighter aircraft to ship it hence the need for 4th ( L1011) and 5th ( B747) pods.
Later engines like the Trent ( and I'm sure the other lessor known makes) can be removed leaving the fan on wing and the rest just fits in a suitcase
and goes in the cargo bay
Big engines can be gagged if inop before departure ( But not In Flight
)On RB 211 the fan is gagged by legs going through the fan blades and locking them to the fixed stator behind. This stops the fan turning, then a blank ( two semi circles) is fitted over the core engine to stop that rotating.
Podded engine are normally gagged so no fuel/oil requirement.
The original Big fans ( JT9, CF6 and RB211) were a pain to move as the the engine was basically one big lump with this big 12-15 ft diamter fan on the front. This needed a freighter aircraft to ship it hence the need for 4th ( L1011) and 5th ( B747) pods.
Later engines like the Trent ( and I'm sure the other lessor known makes) can be removed leaving the fan on wing and the rest just fits in a suitcase
and goes in the cargo bay
