The entire gear well cavity is fully inspectable on 707, 717, 727, 737, DC9, MD80. And all RJs & bizjets. Not so much on the much taller 747, 757, 767, 777. But any bloody sludge smooshed onto the ceiling of the cavity ought to be readily visible to anyone looking diligently up from the ground.
I don’t know about 787; it sits low enough that a tall pilot might be able to see over the door lip & thereby see everything from top to bottom. They’ll definitely be able to see much of the ceiling.
I’ll defer to you on all things Airbus. But even the 320 series sits pretty tall.
As did L1011 & DC10 which pretty well covers them all.
On any of these the doors can be hydraulically actuated open on the ground for full inspection or access into the well if someone has any suspicion that needs resolution. But it’s not a routine procedure IME.
Yeah. 757 & bigger were the same way. The sill height of the closed gear door was well above even a tall man’s eye level. So you get a good look at the area where the gear leg pivot connects to the wing spars, but not really into the vacant space where the wheels end up.
The 707, 727, & DC-9 in all its variants had the same sort of door, but the sill height was about neck level on an average man, so easy to see into the entire bay even when the doors are closed. The 737 went Cheap Charlie and doesn’t even have gear doors; you can walk around in there all afternoon. So easy for stowaways to enter, but hard for them to hide in.
It’s been awhile but it seems there were aircraft where you had to be real careful around an open gear door to avoid tripping the close switch.The demonstration put the fear of Og in you. They would close quickly and forcefully in a manner that would ruin your day. DC-8, or DC-10? Can’t remember.
Those two are about the only big jets I have zero experience with. I don’t recall the DC-9 & related door control arrangements as being especially goof-prone, but that was between 10 and 20 years ago now (!).
For sure the doors on any big airplane would crush a person as thoroughly as a bulldozer blade or skip-loader bucket. The doors are about that big. Or if the person is luckier, it’ll just whack them aside or hoist them into the gear well. Still and all, not a ride I’d like to try.
As you know, …
In general ground crew and pilots don’t leave the hydraulic systems powered up on a parked airplane. And switching it on is a bit of a “moment of truth” switch action; are you sure you’re sure it’s safe? [Click]. On some airplanes, e.g. 737 there’s really nothing that could move unexpectedly and abruptly when hydraulic power is applied. So not quite such a big deal as on airplanes where doors might move and flaps will move.
Although part of every “entering the cockpit” first-look check is “gear handle down, flap handle up, and speed brake handle down”. If those 3 levers are in the right place, you’re at least starting your day right. If they’re not in the right place, don’t touch anything; instead go outside and figure out why stuff’s abnormal. Maybe someone is working on the flaps, etc.
I mostly go into maintenance hangars and the controls can be at all kinds of positions, but at least they are very diligent about tagging controls to indicate why they are positioned as they are, and who is responsible. It doesn’t really affect me much, for my responsibilities, but I find it interesting to look over.
My favorite “fun fact” is that a Challenger 60X has no cabin utility power when flaps are extended. So my work becomes a race against my laptop battery because I can’t plug the damn thing in! It’s something I check, because I have had to ask for an extension cord if the customer wanted me to do the work I’m there for.
The airplane appears intact and on a paved surface. It would be odd to evacuate for an engine fire and seemingly successful abort (“rejected takeoff” in the modern argot.)
With two big exceptions:
You start getting smoke or fumes into the cabin.
Somebody in back, pax or FA, got panicky and started opening doors on their own without good cause. Once the stampede starts, it’s wiser for the cockpit to concede defeat on controlling that, rig the plane for an evacuation, and then belatedly order one, then go deal with the aftermath outside.
[aside]
That is a 757-300. Not too many were made, very few airlines ever operated them, and it is very, very long and thin. Northwest had a few of them and after they got absorbed into Delta, Delta chose to keep the airplanes. I’m a little surprised to see they’re still operating them.
Supposedly they have a pretty low operating cost per passenger, on routes where they can fill them. They’re also some of the newest 757s out there (granted, even the newest 757s are 20 years old at this point).
IIRC United is still operating the -300s they got from Continental as well.
punishable by up to 12 months in prison or a fine of up to $75,000.
Too bad it’s not both. Idiot, selfish, drone operator.
The photo doesn’t look too bad in terms of repairability, just the leading edge skin it seems. Hopefully no deeper damage underneath, and a quick return to service.
The winning bid was $20 higher than the next-highest bid.
The city listed the plane “in derelict condition” for auction on the government surplus website govdeals.com, and the auction closed Monday with 56 bids. The plane was further described as needing repairs that exceed its value.
IIRC the empty weight is ~100K lbs. Most of which is aluminum. Haul it to a recycling center?
Some googling shows $6100 as the top bid a week ago.
It’s painted corporate, private, or sports team style, not airline style. The back story might be real mundane or real interesting. Probably not in the middle.
No asbestos, but the standard aviation aluminum primer used to be zinc chromate based. Until it was banned as wildly unhealthy in the application or teardown. Not so much in service.
As to making a house, lotta stuff I’d not want to breath 24/7 in older age. IMO YMMV.
Records show the plane was registered to Blue Falcon Corp., whose president, David Paul Tokoph – the first person to fly from Russia to El Paso – died from his injuries after thevintage Navy plane he was piloting crashed just outside the Las Cruces International Airport in August 2015.
Blue Falcon had purchased the Boeing 727 from the U.S. Marshals Service at a government auction, Nevarez said. Records show the plane had been used as part of the agency’s Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System – often referred to as “Con Air” after the Nicolas Cage movie.
OTOH, since it doesn’t have to be functional, you can get rid of basically everything that isn’t structural aluminum and deep clean the rest. Including stripping all the paint.
I had that demonstration in 2002-2004 when UPS was operating DC-8s at our airport, so I’m going to put in a vote for the -8.
The DC-10 may also be a contender (they did have the same manufacturer…), but the only time we had them they were wayward KC-10s and we didn’t get the cook’s tour like UPS and FedEx would give us.
