# The Great Ongoing Aviation Thread (general and other) (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 14, 2026, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892 "2026-06-14T14:38:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**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:** [August 25, 2026, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/281 "2026-08-25T12:33:17Z")
I used to own a PA-30 and have maybe 200 hours in type. I still have the operating manual. After some review … Like most light twins, performance is not good single engine. But not horrible either. Single engine go-arounds are dicey, but not impossible. At least under favorable weather / altitude conditions. Which they had. In more detail … 90F is roughly the high temp around here in recent days. Since Florida is at sea level, and the ocean is at sea level 😉 MSL & AGL are equivalent. At 90F, sea level = 0MSL corresponds to a density altitude (DA) of ~2000 and 2000MSL corresponds to ~4000 DA. With an engine failure up near max gross weight the book says the service ceiling would be ~4000-5000 DA. So 2000-3000 MSL = AGL. If they suffered the engine failure on climb-out, getting up to that altitude would take a long time and distance. But if the engine failed in cruise at a presumably higher altitude, they should have had no real difficulty maintaining a comfortable altitude versus the ground and any obstacles as they maneuvered towards wherever they decided to land. The landing gear is electric with a manual backup. The manual procedure free-falls the gear to down, then a small crank is used to engage the downlocks. The cranking part of that would be difficult to perform solo while also flying with asymmetric thrust. If you just free-fall the gear and don’t / can’t do the cranking, one or another main gear will almost certainly fold at or shortly after touchdown. If you did have to manually lower the gear, there is no way to retract it later. And the airplane cannot maintain level flight at any altitude with the gear down while single engine. So any manual gear lowering would have to be done while established on the approach descent and even then you have no idea whether once the gear is down you have sufficient performance to maintain that needed glide path. Compound failures are rather rare in any airplane. That’s the end of the facts. I really wonder what problem(s) the pilot was really dealing with and why they chose as they did. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/282 "2026-08-26T02:22:42Z")
I’ve been in a PA30 with an engine failure on rotation. It had the 200 hp conversion engines. The PIC did not attempt to circle back. Even with the extra 40 hp on 1 engine it took a 1/2 mile of flying in a straight line to clear trees. A stock Comanche would be a handful on 1 engine. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/283 "2026-08-26T03:23:11Z")
If we had a “Most interesting airplane you saw today,” I would have posted this there. We live on the North Shore of Boston, not far off the flight path for planes taking off and landing at Logan’s runways 4/22. A few days ago, I saw this out our big picture window looking NE: [![](https://p.kagi.com/proxy/condor-striped-livery-designboom-1200.jpg?c=PNeOJ3_hL3T1IgJ2ehXPElFU-YQ6W1Fp_FwM9-MiDahIrVGZmUhd_KEEEw_OI7ZaLlXNv9iQhy72qVhYjMDjXqpFbnbNRUNrvyPZmIaZdhJe74HAgScEE9kRAUd2TCUBzWonyuYgdna8HlUBErPY6A%3D%3D) ](https://p.kagi.com/proxy/condor-striped-livery-designboom-1200.jpg?c=PNeOJ3_hL3T1IgJ2ehXPElFU-YQ6W1Fp_FwM9-MiDahIrVGZmUhd_KEEEw_OI7ZaLlXNv9iQhy72qVhYjMDjXqpFbnbNRUNrvyPZmIaZdhJe74HAgScEE9kRAUd2TCUBzWonyuYgdna8HlUBErPY6A%3D%3D) ---
**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:** [August 26, 2026, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/284 "2026-08-26T13:17:53Z")
My, but you live in a tall building. 🤪 Seriously, that is a cool sighting. There are not that many airlines that go wild with the paint these days. I always liked that look. Condor being a cheapo mass-market junket carrier where everybody aboard is heading to/from a vacation just adds to the fun / whimsy. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/285 "2026-08-26T14:03:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > My, but you live in a tall building. I was at the top of One Financial Center in Boston a few months ago, 46 stories up; got some cool photos of planes taxiing & taking off from Logan with appropriate photo equipment. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2026, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/286 "2026-08-26T14:16:16Z")
A takeoff or go-around off Runway 27 with an engine failure might get you a real nice look at the top of the jet as it goes by 1/4 mile to your south. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/287 "2026-08-26T14:42:03Z")
They were taking off from 15R, with one building blocking my view of most of the takeoff roll. But then there was one plane taxiing around 4R or 9 as I remember. Will try to remember to look at them again tonight as it was a couple of months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/288 "2026-08-26T16:03:02Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > A few days ago, I saw this out our big picture window looking NE: Those people are headed for a tropical escape. [![](https://i.ibb.co/N2GJm5FL/Screenshot-20260826-115803.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/N2GJm5FL/Screenshot-20260826-115803.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/289 "2026-08-26T17:15:29Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Those people are headed for a tropical escape. Do they like pina coladas? ---
**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:** [August 26, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/290 "2026-08-26T19:02:30Z")
This time of year they’re sure to be caught in the rain. Apropos of that song I just got back from a 2-week cruise w my GF. People we know often tell us we seem like a long-married couple; we work together very smoothly. So on the cruise there were several occasions where some stranger or other commented to me about my wife or commented to her about her husband. Meaning the other of us two. With that backdrop we developed the comeback: “Oh, no, that’s not my wife. Vacations are a lot more fun if we leave her husband and my wife back home and it’s just the two of us.” Followed by a big leer. 🤪 😁 If the clown shoe almost fits, wear it. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/291 "2026-08-27T01:44:01Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > They were taking off from 15R, with one building blocking my view of most of the takeoff roll. But then there was one plane taxiing around 4R or 9 as I remember. Will try to remember to look at them again tonight as it was a couple of months ago. Not exactly award winning, but pretty damn good considering I was 2+ miles away - [Korean Air on 22L crossing 9](https://www.flickr.com/photos/74663312@N08/55489490367) > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Those people are headed for a tropical escape. I didn’t see the photo earlier; can I go on the red or blue ones, please. - sunsets & underwater exploration! > [@LSLGuy](#): > > If the clown shoe almost fits, wear it. …to a [ribbon cutting](https://www.flickr.com/photos/74663312@N08/54424555905/) ceremony 😯🤡 ---
**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:** [August 27, 2026, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/292 "2026-08-27T10:43:47Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Not exactly award winning, but pretty damn good considering I was 2+ miles away - [Korean Air on 22L crossing 9](https://www.flickr.com/photos/74663312@N08/55489490367) About as good as can be done w gray light. You get an A in timing. That’s a landing. > [@Spiderman](#): > > …to a [ribbon cutting](https://www.flickr.com/photos/74663312@N08/54424555905/) ceremony 😯 🤡 That looks … scary. I’m also reminded of that recent 2-day scandal about some now-former CEO & his now-former VP of HR who was also his secret now-former GF who were caught on the kiss cam at a sporting event. Without their actual spouses in attendance. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/293 "2026-08-27T10:58:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > who were caught on the kiss cam at a sporting event. It was actually a Coldplay concert. And the folks involved worked at Astronomer. > **[Woman at center of viral 'kiss cam' moment at Coldplay concert breaks silence](https://abcnews.com/GMA/Living/woman-center-viral-kiss-cam-moment-coldplay-concert/story?id=128515934)** > > Kristin Cabot, the woman at the center of the viral Coldplay concert "kiss cam" moment, is speaking out in a new interview. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2026, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/294 "2026-08-27T11:49:25Z")
Thanks for filling in / correcting the specifics. That was who I was thinking of. The news cite is from last December (2025), so not new news, despite the headline that makes it sound fresh. I never followed the story beyond the headlines when it was fresh. That article says both people were separated from their spouses at the time. Which, by my lights, converts this from an illicit affair harming two marriages, to simple boss/underling canoodling that’s harmful at work and only at work. Had these folks never reacted to being on camera, the world would probably be none the wiser and they’d still have their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/295 "2026-08-27T12:04:34Z")
I must say that I really dislike that livery. They all look like exotic dangerous insects, which is not a friendly look at all! ---
**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:** [August 27, 2026, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/296 "2026-08-27T12:20:46Z")
**Pilots, Flight Attendants Have Greater Risk of Radiation-Related Cancer Death Than Other Professions** > Of more than 500 occupations in the United States, flight attendants and pilots have the highest and second-highest proportion of radiation-related cancer deaths, a new study has found… It’s been known that aircrew members receive the largest annual effective dose of ionizing radiation of any workforce in the United States, largely due to exposure to cosmic radiation at high altitudes. [https://hms.harvard.edu/news/pilots-flight-attendants-have-greater-risk-radiation-related-cancer-death-other-professions](https://hms.harvard.edu/news/pilots-flight-attendants-have-greater-risk-radiation-related-cancer-death-other-professions) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/297 "2026-08-27T12:56:45Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Those people are headed for a tropical escape. Is there any color they _can’t_ make sound vacation-y? **Whisper Gray:** Basalt gray with white stripes. **Vacation Meaning:** Towering cliffs of ancient granite, inspiring hiking, climbing, and alpine vistas. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2026, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/298 "2026-08-27T13:01:59Z")
This has been a festering sore among the labor groups for decades. If OSHA applied to aircrew, there would be strict annual and shorter term exposure limits and active monitoring with everyone wearing a dosimeter at work. And would have been for the last 40-50 years. But FAA claims exclusive jurisdiction over everything aviation-related. So OSHA is just butted out. And FAA simply declines to address this issue. Claiming that it’s totally within their prerogative to simply ignore. Congress could force FAA to do something, but has not. My father died of a rare cancer that was almost certainly caused by his career as a pilot. I’m older now than he was when he died, and he lived ~15 years after initial diagnosis. So far so good for me. We’ll see. Exposure per unit time increases non-linearly with both altitude and latitude. Flights which spend hours traversing the polar regions are have much larger exposures than the same hours spent banging around the middle latitudes in e.g. the USA or Southern Europe. As well, an e.g. 10 hour non-polar flight has a larger fraction of time flown at cruise altitudes than do 10 one-hour flights between a domestic hub and nearby spoke cities. And the shorter flights will (generally) have lower cruise altitudes to boot. The bottom line being that the routine exposure level of long-haul polar crews is far, far above that of domestic RJ crews. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/299 "2026-08-27T13:06:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The bottom line being that the routine exposure level of long-haul polar crews is far, far above that of domestic RJ crews. Probably why Santa saves all his travel for one night per year. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/300 "2026-08-27T13:37:30Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Those people are headed for a tropical escape. If they replaced the beige with orange, they’d be like [Crazy Wheels](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XVQePsowh8&t=15s). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892.md?page=16)