# 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:** 17
**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:** [September 2, 2026, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/321 "2026-09-02T01:15:44Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’m pretty sure Boeing keeps it around specifically because Ryanair wants it. I could be remembering wrong, but I think I remember reading somewhere that Boeing wanted to kill the airstair option on the Max, but Ryanair insisted on having them. I guess it helps them keep their costs down by not having to pay to use jetbridges and airstairs from the airport. And I would imagine maybe some of the airports they serve actually don’t have that infrastructure, since they like to serve “secondary” airports. I can believe that. I wonder how much it costs to rent a truck with boarding stairs, or for Ryanair to own some at all the airports they serve. It must cost them something to have the airstairs installed on each of their planes, plus the extra fuel burn from carrying the extra weight. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/322 "2026-09-02T01:57:29Z")
Did the investigation consider how many drunk passengers were involved on a Ryan flight? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/323 "2026-09-02T09:20:30Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I will grant you, I can’t recall seeing them on a _commercial_ RJ, but I assume they were available as an option if an airline wanted them. I think the entire CRJ family has stairs integrated into a bottom-hinged door as standard equipment. The railings can be lowered to allow a jetway or ramp to be used instead, but the stairs are always there. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2026, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/324 "2026-09-02T12:53:45Z")
Replying to myself for context. Here is a remarkably complete and informative article about the salvage effort of the airplane that ditched near the beach a week-ish ago: > **[Downed Plane in Boca Raton Park, Will Be 'Winched' by Crane and Hauled Away](https://bocadailynews.com/2026/08/downed-plane-in-boca-raton-park-will-be-winched-by-crane-and-hauled-away/)** > > Crews were at Silver Palm Park and boat ramp in Boca Raton on Sunday, preparing a twin-engine airplane that went down in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, to be winched by a crane and hauled away on a flatbed. The plane was towed to the boat ramp... Would that all news reporting, aviation or otherwise, was this complete and devoid of speculation or premature conclusion. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/325 "2026-09-02T15:04:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Would that all news reporting, aviation or otherwise, was this complete and devoid of speculation or premature conclusion. but then how do we know what happened? Surely you don’t want us to _wait_…even for a second! 😱 ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/326 "2026-09-03T02:49:06Z")
The twin Comanche fuel drain is below the tank switching valves that are accessed from a door in the floor. To drain the system of water and contaminates the PIC has to manually open a valve from inside the plane and it just dumps on the ground. There’s no real way to tell what is purged. If the tanks get a microbial contaminate then the danger of an acidic build up exists in the switching valves. What this means is that they can stick open or closed with a potential loss of engine. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2026, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/327 "2026-09-03T12:35:17Z")
The TC also has bladder fuel tanks. Which over time can develop a wavy bottom. Which means water & contaminates settle in those low furrows. Which are undrainable and eventually accumulate enough condensation or rain infiltration to matter. The bladders also eventually deteriorate. Which means they need to be replaced. Properly reinstalling replacement bladders to avoid furrows is not for the faint hearted. And as old as these planes are, bladder replacements have either already been done or are overdue on the whole fleet. Yet another fun way to get fuel contamination. You can also have the drain valve stick or vibrate open. Leading to a slow and unseen fuel leak. Although it does not seem that total fuel exhaustion was the problem. Given the ability to crossfeed & with tank-mounted electric boost pumps, I don’t see how single-sided contamination forces an engine failure. It sure might cause one that the pilot then fails to find the correct remedy for. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2026, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/328 "2026-09-03T12:53:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The TC also has bladder fuel tanks. Which over time can develop a wavy bottom. Dad’s '68 Skylane had those. There was an AD about them, but the recommendation I remember from the time (late-'70s/early-'80s) was to push up on the wing tips to move any water toward the sumps. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/329 "2026-09-03T14:58:42Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Small plane landing hits police helicopter hovering. NTSB [Preliminary](https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA26FA309) report us out ---
**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:** [September 3, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/330 "2026-09-03T15:54:10Z")
Sounds like the airplane pilot did not consider wake turbulence / rotor turbulence to be a factor. And was surprised to be knocked half out of control near touchdown. Then was riding the bucking bronco trying to avoid crashing. They did not, for some critical seconds, decide to go around, and may never have decided. In all the thrashing the airplane flailed into the helicopter hovering off the side of the runway with its tail to the approaching hazard. Helo wake is not to be ignored. Especially not when your airplane weighs ~1/4th of the helo and is significantly smaller in every dimension. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/331 "2026-09-03T16:02:26Z")
The Cessna crossed runway threshold about 30 seconds after the helicopter, while the helicopter was still over the runway itself, assuming I’m reading the report right. That seems tight even without a rotor turbulence concern, no? Given that the helicopter pilot asked the Cessna pilot to extend his downwind, I would have expected a little more of a gap. Looking at the truncated ADBS data, that doesn’t seem to be a particularly extended downwind leg. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/332 "2026-09-03T17:45:17Z")
Agree there was not much if any extension. It sounds like the Cessna was mostly just steering their way around the pattern not really in reference to the traffic. Or the Cessna had a particular unstated expectation that the helo would immediately vacate the runway area once it got there. Which expectation did not match the helo’s actual plans at all. Been a long time since I’ve been in the lightplane biz. Technically as best I know you can’t cross the runway threshold still intending to land if the runway is “occupied”. If it’s occupied and you get to the threshold, a go-around is mandatory. For a helo, hovering over the runway is “occupying” it in my book. I doubt the regs get that specific. But that was the situation as the Cessna descended into the wake which he first encountered more or less simultaneously with crossing the threshold Upon further thought, the occupied / threshold cutoff might in fact be an FAA ATC controller standard, which would not be binding on pilots at an uncontrolled field like this one. But probably represents something that could be called “best practice” for uncontrolled ops. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/333 "2026-09-04T01:35:51Z")
What plane did I see today? It departed KACY today but I wasn’t paying attention to the time. My best guess is 11:00 AM - 2:00PM It looked like a small business jet with straight wings set far back on the fuselage. What made me look up was the sound. To me it sounded like a turbo prop as it approached but clearly like a jet after it passed. It was too far away to be sure about engines location but maybe twin jets on the tail? It just looked and sounded odd. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/334 "2026-09-04T03:44:43Z")
At 10:38 am your time a Piaggio Avanti took off to the southwest. It’s the only thing close to your description within several hours of your window and it is an very weird sounding thing. > **[Piaggio P.180 Avanti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaggio_P.180_Avanti)** > > The Piaggio P.180 Avanti is an executive/VIP light transport aircraft, designed by Piaggio Aero and built in Italy. It features twin, wing-mounted turboprop engines, in a pusher configuration. The Avanti seats up to nine people in a pressurized cabin and may be flown by one or two pilots. The design is of three-surface configuration, having both a small forward canard wing and a conventional tailplane, as well as its main wing, with the main wing spars passing behind the passenger cabin area. A... ---
**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:** [September 4, 2026, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/335 "2026-09-04T03:49:12Z")
Jay Leno flies the Cirrus G3 Vision jet. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WYN2WEi7VQY/maxresdefault.jpg "Jay Leno Test Flies the Revolutionary Cirrus G3 Vision Jet! | Jay Leno's Garage") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYN2WEi7VQY) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/336 "2026-09-04T11:36:24Z")
World’s fastest prop plane. Been around for 35 years. I had no idea! ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/337 "2026-09-04T12:55:25Z")
The pilots I know who fly the Piaggio call it the Pistachio. Not so many of them around these days. IIRC, there was some big scandal with a company forging their maintenance records. This resulted in many Piaggios having parts that could not be certified for flight. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2026, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/338 "2026-09-04T13:23:43Z")
First crewed flight of REGENT Viceroy "seaglider, " an electric-powered [wing-in-ground-effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing-in-ground-effect) vehicle under development by REGENT Craft Inc. of [Rhode Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island), (REGENT is capitalized because it is an acronym, standing for “Regional Electric Ground Effect Nautical Transport”). 12 passengers will be carried on flights of up to 180 miles (290 km) over coastal waters, with retractable [hydrofoils](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofoil) used during the take-off run. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qBEpEfii6U0/maxresdefault.jpg "REGENT Viceroy Seaglider First Flight") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBEpEfii6U0) ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/339 "2026-09-05T01:40:46Z")
Without a doubt, that was the plane. I don’t believe that I’ve ever seen one before yesterday. It sounds like a nice airplane, at least on paper. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/340 "2026-09-05T02:29:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Been a long time since I’ve been in the lightplane biz. Technically as best I know you can’t cross the runway threshold still intending to land if the runway is “occupied”. If it’s occupied and you get to the threshold, a go-around is mandatory. Except Oshkosh. 🙂 So do you think he tried to climb out of the turbulence and stalled it? The 150 is designed as a trainer and it’s not shy demonstrating a stall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892.md?page=18)