# The Great Ongoing Aviation Thread (general and other) (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499 "2011-10-23T02:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 211
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4203 "2023-07-16T01:53:08Z")
God bless the tricycle landing gear. Healer of minor discrepancies. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2023, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4204 "2023-07-16T02:16:48Z")
OK, I finally looked at the [Alef Model A flying car](https://www.google.com/search?q=Alef+Model+A&source=hp&ei=h1GzZNSMLI6mptQP5-izgAo&iflsig=AD69kcEAAAAAZLNfl6JujbJX-vS7I0-FMLKxwsVXPSBG&ved=0ahUKEwiU7LT2kpKAAxUOk4kEHWf0DKAQ4dUDCA8&oq=Alef+Model+A&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IgxBbGVmIE1vZGVsIEEyCBAAGIAEGLEDMggQABiABBixAzINEAAYigUYsQMYgwEYQzIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgARI5zZQAFgAcAF4AJABAJgBYaABYaoBATG4AQzIAQD4AQL4AQE&sclient=gws-wiz#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:7771dd8a,vid:4QaTwebs5nY). Definitely not what I expected. It rotates sideways on it’s longitudinal axis and flies 90 degrees to that axis. Air flows through the vehicle and the left and right sides of the car act as wings in this configuration. The passenger compartment gimbals to match both rotations. It’s like a tailess biplane. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4205 "2023-07-17T02:10:57Z")
Does anyone know why the 380 main gears land on the front set of tires first? I’m not sure it matters which set of tires hit first but there must be a reason behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4206 "2023-07-17T13:49:48Z")
Probably for the same reason French helicopters’ rotors turn the wrong way. 🤡 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4207 "2023-07-17T17:22:20Z")
It’s happened again: > **[Passenger takes controls of small airplane from ailing pilot and crash lands...](https://www.aol.com/news/passenger-takes-controls-small-airplane-115451517.html)** > > A passenger of a small airplane took the controls and crash landed on a Massachusetts island on Saturday after the pilot suffered a medical emergency, police said. The 79-year-old male pilot suffered the emergency during the plane's final approach,... ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4208 "2023-07-18T20:28:20Z")
And see: > **[Passenger lands plane without landing gear after pilot suffers medical...](https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/07/17/passenger-lands-plane-pilot-marthas-vineyard-cprog-cnc-vpx.cnn)** > > A pilot of a small plane suffered a medical emergency in the air, prompting a passenger to take over controls and make a crash landing with no landing gear at Martha’s Vineyard Airport, authorities said. Police say the woman, 68, suffered minor... ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4209 "2023-07-18T23:23:04Z")
It grates on my nerves that anything smaller than a 747 is called a small plane. And it’s not the size of the plane that is in question so much as how they lump 300 mph turbo-props in with 172’s. That was a fast, complex airplane that she landed by herself. Good on her. The owner should take some metal from one of the bent props and make her some serious jewelry or some kind of memento. Maybe a frame for an honorary first solo flight. Or a nice slice of the prop all polished up with an image of the plane model she flew engraved on it. It would make a nice trophy sitting on a shelf. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4210 "2023-07-18T23:29:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Probably for the same reason French helicopters’ rotors turn the wrong way. 🤡 Well that just means they stuck the engine in backwards. They have an independent streak in them. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4211 "2023-07-18T23:55:37Z")
Not the wrong way, metric! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4212 "2023-07-19T00:04:37Z")
Yeah. There’s US standard “clockwise” and there’s metric standard “clockwise”. Ne’er the twain shall meet. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4213 "2023-07-19T17:37:58Z")
Today is July 19, the 34th anniversary of the crash of United Flight 232. > **[United Airlines Flight 232](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232)** > > United Airlines Flight 232 was a regularly scheduled United Airlines flight from Stapleton International Airport in Denver to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, continuing to Philadelphia International Airport. On July 19, 1989, the DC-10 (registered as N1819U) serving the flight crash-landed at Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, after suffering a catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine due to an unnoticed manufacturing defect in the engine's fan disk, which resulted in... > **[Fields of Fortune: The crash of United Airlines flight 232](https://admiralcloudberg.medium.com/fields-of-fortune-the-crash-of-united-airlines-flight-232-9cf65ae14c68)** > > On the 19th of July 1989, a United Airlines DC-10 bound for Chicago was rocked by a massive explosion… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4214 "2023-07-19T19:15:37Z")
That’s an amazing story. I have a videotape somewhere of Captain Haynes giving a talk about it. In other aviation news, the FAA has released the initial form of the regs for air taxis. And yeah, there won’t be thousands over cities ar a time. For now, they each will have to be under ATC control with typical Class B/C airspace rules. Flights will only be allowed to take off and land at approved heliports and eventually VTol ports, but no ad-hoc taking off and landing from homes or streets. And a pilot with a license will be required in every one. The pilots will require a type rating for each one they fly, and will be regulated under Part 135. They expect them to be VFR-only. It sounds to me like the FAA sees these as an extension of helicopter-style mobility between fixed vertiports. There won’t be so many that ATC can’t handle them all with current systems. The use case they probably see is simply to ferry people from an airport to downtown to a heliport on a high rise or something. They will also be developing fixed routes for these things once the vertiports or other defined infrastructure is in place. So no thousands of electric airplanes easing congestion. Just another airport taxi service until at least after 2028 when the next phase of regs is started. It actually seems pretty restrictive. VFR-only means it’s not a reliable service and will only be available when the weather is decent. And if it’s landing inside a city on a vertiport, I’ll bet there will be some fairly low wind limits. > **[Advanced Air Mobility Implementation Plan | Federal Aviation Administration](https://www.faa.gov/air-taxis/implementation-plan)** > > The FAA released an implementation plan providing the steps it and others will need to take to safely enable advanced air mobility operations in the near term. ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4215 "2023-07-20T16:26:36Z")
In the new regulation topic, FAA released a NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) for sport pilot updates: [https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2023-14425.pdf](https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2023-14425.pdf) Have only skimmed the first 40 pages out of 318, really opens up the kinds of airplanes that can be operated under light sport rules. Up to four seats, no max weight limit, up to 250 KCAS airspeed. Does keep a max clean stall speed of 54 kts which sets a minimum wing loading. Seems like that includes just about all of recreational airplanes with the exception of some high performance aerobatic or racing types. Also opens up the category to electric, turbine engines and “powered lift” for those overgrown quadcopter things. Would allow flying even an [RV-10](https://www.vansaircraft.com/rv-10/) with a sport pilot license (with only one passenger and a controllable propeller endorsement). I bet they wanted to announce this at Osh, with the official release date as Jul 24. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4216 "2023-07-21T22:45:43Z")
WOW. That’s a huge change in sport pilot rules. ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4217 "2023-07-21T23:55:06Z")
Do have to make a small correction, I misread the flaps stall speed as clean, so a RV-10 (or indeed my RV-8) is just a touch to fast to qualify. A 172 with one person and plenty of baggage would fit easily. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4218 "2023-07-24T13:43:22Z")
All aboard! Well, no… only some. > **[The new 'private jet'-style airline flying to the Maldives | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/beond-airline-maldives/index.html)** > > Beond is a new all-business class airline to the Maldives, based in capital Malé. Launching from Dubai and Delhi, with plans to expand to Europe, it promises lie-flat beds and a “private jet” experience. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4219 "2023-07-24T20:16:00Z")
Well, there is this outfit in the USA which is not _that_ exclusive, but is still offering the “not quite bizjet” experience for a premium, but not insanely premium, price. **[JSX | Book Non-Stop Flights & Airfare](https://www.jsx.com/home/search)**\* ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4220 "2023-07-24T20:39:01Z")
If you don’t want to read 318 pages, a summary of the light sport proposed rules: > **[FAA’s MOSAIC Preview Has Major Implications for Helicopters, eVTOL - FLYING...](https://www.flyingmag.com/faas-mosaic-preview-has-major-implications-for-helicopters-evtol/)** > > MOSAIC, if approved, would shake up the advanced air mobility space with new certification paths and light-sport pilot privileges. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4221 "2023-07-24T21:32:22Z")
A very good friend of mine flies them from the Bay Area to Vegas all the time. She loves them, and the experience. Says it’s well worth the freight. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/4222 "2023-07-25T10:35:38Z")
There are turboprop Grumman Mallards – why not a turboprop Catalina? > **[CATALINA AIRCRAFT](https://catalinaaircrafttrust.com/)** > > Catalina Aircraft - Providing worldwide continued airworthiness support for the PBY-5A and 28-5ACF Catalina / Canso amphibious seaplanes. I only need to win the lottery twice (once to buy, and a second time to pay for fuel/maintenance) Brian [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499.md?page=210) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499.md?page=212)