Me again...!

[Kell]

I can really tell that I have booked my flight because all of the "what if" questions are coming to my mind. I hope you don't mind, but I just have a few more.

1. I am not sure if this is just my imagination, but whenever I fly, I always get the feeling from the angle of the plane and the noise of the engines, that it is struggling to get in the air. The loud, high pitched engine noise sounds to me that it is an effort and the engine is not happy? I have also noticed that the noises are different each time I fly, even if I am on the same type of plane/airline? Any ideas?

2. How many of you are there in the cockpit? Is there the captain, co pilot and a navigator? If so, could the navigator fly the plane too, if he had to?

3. Finally, my mum flew from Paris to Manchester a few years ago and she had an aisle seat. Aprox 10 minutes after take off she heard a loud grinding noise which seemed to be coming from the middle of the plane. She knew it didn't sound "normal" (she's not a fearful flyer) and bothered her slightly, though it wasn't continuous. Shortly after first hearing the noise the Captain
announced that there was a technical problem and the plane was going to ditch fuel over the channel, and return to Paris airport. They all got off the plane and delayed an hour or so. Eventually, they were told they would have to board another plane as their original plane was being repaired. I know this is an incredibly vague question, but do you have any ideas what could have been wrong?

Thanks for your time! :)

Kelly

[Unregistered]

Kelley, you sound like I did before my flight. I was so scared. Have you had a visit to the airport? I found this really helpful. Are you in England? If you live nr Manchester I can tell you a wonderful place to visit that is great for calming your nerves.

Daisy x

[Unregistered]

Right, ok, ive just checked your last post you do live near Manchester! Well just before I travelled the whole family went to Manchester airport for the morning, we went to the viewing area on the top of one of the carparks and familiarised ourselves with the noises and sounds of the airplanes landing and taking off. Then I got brave. We went to a pub called 'The Airport'. Its situated at the end or should i say beginning of one of the runways. If you go through to the beer garden the planes are practically landing on your head!! We spend most of the afternoon watching them, having lunch and generally getting used to the 'feel and sounds' of the airport and planes.

Honestly it really helped me. Not just that but you realise just how many planes are taking off and landing every minute and thats just in Manchester! They all make different noises and they land at different angles etc.. all due {im sure} to their different sizes.

By the end of that day I was really getting excited that soon I would be on one. It helped that it was taking me to Florida too! We went to that pub again today, this time I felt really sad that I wasnt going to be on a plane in the near future. I would sell my soul to sit in the cockpit of an aeroplane during a flight - it must be absolutely fantastic.

Well, I hope you can give it a visit and I hope it helps. If not...can i take your place? ;)

Daisy x

[Falcon]

1)take off speed varies greatly on each day due to temperature, weight, pressure, length of runways etc. This leads to different thrust settings each time. If you can tell the difference you must have a really good ear.

2)there are two of us. Some older aircraft have a flight engineers position but that is rare these days. No he can't fly as the flight engineers rating is a different ball game and they never taught them to fly.

3)Sorry too vague could have been anything. The dumping of fuel was to get the aircraft to the maximum landing weight for a safe landing.

[Kell]

Right, ok, ive just checked your last post you do live near Manchester! Well just before I travelled the whole family went to Manchester airport for the morning, we went to the viewing area on the top of one of the carparks and familiarised ourselves with the noises and sounds of the airplanes landing and taking off. Then I got brave. We went to a pub called 'The Airport'. Its situated at the end or should i say beginning of one of the runways. If you go through to the beer garden the planes are practically landing on your head!! We spend most of the afternoon watching them, having lunch and generally getting used to the 'feel and sounds' of the airport and planes.

Honestly it really helped me. Not just that but you realise just how many planes are taking off and landing every minute and thats just in Manchester! They all make different noises and they land at different angles etc.. all due {im sure} to their different sizes.

By the end of that day I was really getting excited that soon I would be on one. It helped that it was taking me to Florida too! We went to that pub again today, this time I felt really sad that I wasnt going to be on a plane in the near future. I would sell my soul to sit in the cockpit of an aeroplane during a flight - it must be absolutely fantastic.

Well, I hope you can give it a visit and I hope it helps. If not...can i take your place? ;)

Daisy x

Hi Daisy

I went to Manchester Airport before my flight last year, and you are right, it is comforting to see the number of planes going in and out. I think I will go again before my flight in July.

Just watching the amount of planes that fly past my house every day is reassuring too. The worst part of flying for me is taking off. I always think we are not going to get up in the air, and the plane is going to do a nose dive downwards instead. Now, when I watch all these planes passing over my house I keep thinking "there's another plane that took off okay!". Crazy! :rolleyes:

Kelly

[Kell]

1)take off speed varies greatly on each day due to temperature, weight, pressure, length of runways etc. This leads to different thrust settings each time. If you can tell the difference you must have a really good ear.

2)there are two of us. Some older aircraft have a flight engineers position but that is rare these days. No he can't fly as the flight engineers rating is a different ball game and they never taught them to fly.

3)Sorry too vague could have been anything. The dumping of fuel was to get the aircraft to the maximum landing weight for a safe landing.


Thanks Falcon. I am sure the engine noise I can hear when we take off is slightly distorted because of my overactive imagination, and not because I have great hearing! The reason I tend to listen so intently at this point is because I fear taking off the most. I hold my breath for the most of it, though one of these days I will probably make myself pass out!!

I wasn't sure if there were 2 or 3 in the cockpit, though from my recent flight, I did think there were only 2 of you in there.

I guessed my question about the noise my mum heard was too vague! (Sorry to waste your time). I guess rather than focusing on the noise, I should focus on the fact that they decided to dump the fuel, turn round and head back, and they landed without any problems.

Thanks
Kelly