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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 0041.PDF
g.mwrsms TS*wS^lfeni**^?,,*'s *^Z US carriers should think again Sir — It may well be time for US carriers to dwell upon their previous track records when it comes to defining future strategies. Delta Air Lines, for example, currently "vocal of the month", is pressuring for increased codeshare capacity Downwind turns: more to do with pilot perception Sir — In reply to the letter "The dangers of down-wind turns" Flight International, 13-19 December, 1995), I believe that Mr Maskens is barking up the wrong tree. The dangers of low- level turns have nothing to do with "the sum of potential and kinetic energy", but everything to do with pilot perception and wind gradient. On a day when there is a wind, for example, if Mr Maskens were to fly an aeroplane in a trimmed, steady, level circle at, say, 2,000ft (610m), would the aircraft descend when going downwind and, conversely, climb when going into wind? The answer is no: the aircraft will maintain its level circle. In my experience, this would also be the case were the exercise to be conducted at low level. When turning at low level, the view out of the window is into Heathrow — not to mention its desire to obtain Heathrow slots in its own right. I recall the 1960s, when Delta operated Douglas DC-8 services into Heathrow. One wonders why this (at the time) large US trunk carrier did not elect to different; when going into wind, the ground speed is lower; and, when going downwind, the ground speed is higher. The increase in ground speed when turning from into wind to down wind is a powerful visual stimulus and the automatic, natural, response of any pilot not used to low-level flying would be to slow down the aircraft. If the aircraft is climbing or descending, then wind gradient becomes a factor and, when going down wind, climbing through a wind gradient will lead to a loss of some airspeed. If flying near the stall, either of these problems could be deadly — the two together are doubly so. Hence the old sayings about flying low and slow. D le ROUX Horsham, West Sussex, UK ...Sir —The majority of engineers confuse aerodynamic effects with mass-dynamics effects, resulting in the belief that kinetic-energy effects are Why didn 't Delta hang on to Heathrow slot in the 1960s? hold on to such an international jewel as a slot at Heathrow. If London is a must, why look further than Stansted — two out of three can't be all bad. PAUL HOWARD Malahide, Co Dublin, Ireland relative to the air mass — not that of earth. An understanding of the effect may be aided by answering the question: "How do you measure [or detect] the accelerative force required to increase the groundspeed in a downwind turn?" D C BENOY Poole, Dorset, UK British Airways Concorde appeal Sir — British Airways would like to speak to the passengers who flew on the BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde inaugural flight to Bahrain on 22 January, 1976. The airline is keen to research the events which surrounded the inaugural commercial flight of the aircraft. Please contact Amanda Ball, British Airways Country Office, PO Box 22, Manama, Bahrain; tel: 226881/229292; fax: 225310 BRITISH AIRWAYS Bahrain The opinions on this page do not necessarily represent those of the editor. Flight International cannot undertake to publish letters without name and address and reserves the right to select or edit letters WHAT'S ON Prospects for Air Travel in the 21 st Century 15 January, London, UK; Future Maritime Surveillance 2 5 January, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK. Contact: IEEIE, Savoy Hill House, Savoy Hill, London WC2R 0BS, UK; tel:+44(171) 836 3357; fax:+44(171) 497 9006. Accounting for Government Contracts 22-23 January, London, UK. Contact: Hawksmere, 12-18 Grosvenor Gardens, London SWiW 0DH, UK; tel: +44 (171) 824 8257; fax:+44(171) 7304293 Product Liability in the USA 23 January, London, UK; 24January, Leeds, UK; 25 January, Preston, UK. Contact: Richard Cox, Bay 807, Kingsgate House, 66-74 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6SW, UK; tel: +44(171)215 4305; fox:+44(171) 215 4604. Reshaping Business Strategies in the European Defence Industry 25- 26 January, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Contact: Euromanagement, PO Box 2192, 5600 CD Eindhoven, Netherlands; tel: +33 (40) 243 3577; fax:+31(40)246 0885. The Fourth Annual Aero-Engine Cost Management Conference 2 5- 26 January, Long Beach, California, USA. Contact: Aviation Industry Conferences, 31 Palace Street, London SW1E 5HW, UK; tel: +44 (171)931 7072; fox:+44(171)931 7186. 13th International Aircraft Cabin Safety Symposium 29 January-2 February, San Diego, California, USA. Contact: Southern California Safety Institute, 3838 Carson Street, Suite 105 Torrance, California 90503, USA; tel: +1 (310) 540 2612; fax: +1 (310)5400532. Radically Reducing Costs in Aircraft Maintenance 30-31 January, London, UK. Contact: IIR, 6th Floor, 29 Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DR, UK; tel:+44 (171) 915 5055; fax: +44(171)915 5056. World Conference on Maintenance Errors and their Prevention 31 January, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Contact: Gordon Dupont, Transport Canada Special Programmes Co-ordinator; tel: +1 (604) 666 5876; fax: +1 (604) 666 9507 International Symposium on Product Quality and Integrity 22-25 January, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Contact: Dr Raymond Sears, 23 Fairway Drive, PO Box 1407, Grantham, New Hampshire 03753- 1407, USA; tel/fax: +1 (603) 863 2832. Aviation Ground Safety- a New Emphasis for the Future Seminar 23- 2 5 January, Sydney, Australia. Contact: Michael Kemmis (QANTAS); tel: +61 (2) 691 7536; fax: +61(2)6918833. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 3 - 9 January 1996 39
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