Scared the wings/motors will fall off? (Also a "encore" of a FF)

[Aurora]

Don't be anymore. I have personally tested their strength just recently, and I can promise they are sturdy. You can actually sit inside the engine casing, and you can walk (!) out on the wings. Nearly using them as a spring board. They hold many persons and are very well "put on" (bolted) to the frames. Only areas you can't walk on are the flap / spoiler / slat areas (Leading Edges... or what it's called ;) ) - naturally. It's not that they can't take the weight, but it's not constructed for such shenanigans. "Don't take the risk".

In other awesome news I've had four plane trips recently, they all went like a fun game. Had slight pre-flight anxieties 2 weeks before the first trip (thoughts about being the lucky one winning the extremely hard lottery of plane crashes) - but they disappeared after a "sit down with myself".

Right before the flight (sitting in the gate area) I got a slight reaction of sweating and "having to move around a lot, nervously" (almost like a recovering alcoholic, haha! :lol: ) - but again it all disappeared as soon as I sat down in my seat.

I think the reason for these two reactions was the fact that it's almost a year since the last time I flew. Such a long period of waiting RIGHT after I pronounced myself "cured" from fears about flying - was a bad choice. If I only had kept on flying regularly this wouldn't have happened.

It was a super great time flying around, I visited a tech-centre (where they fix airplanes with snags) and talked with even more pilots. Some of them fly cargo in sometimes harsh weather, seeing how little they cared about that fact is again awesome. I have such a different view about sitting in an airplane now - as I said in another thread: where I before "didnt trust" the airplane, where I before felt like my seat was only held up by razor thin sewing thread and I had to "hold on" not to fall off - I now can sit TIGHTLY and "HEAVILY" down in my chair. I can relax. I don't have to hold my muscles ready "to fall down", I don't have to fear just a small error will cause a full on catastrophy, I don't have to get anxious about strange noises (cause I know them all!) - everything. In a big mesh of "calmness". I enjoy the view, I love flying through clouds.

Well now. That was my "encore" after some flights now. Airplanes are SO fascinating, I love them!!!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4715162943_e389879be5.jpg
Pitot-tube, the one that measures air flow, i.e speed (indicated air speed, isn't it? not true air speed, and not ground airspeed)
Taken from the captain's cockpit window.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4715802688_2471a84931.jpg
Master Caution button.
Got a display from the flight technician of how it looks like in the cockpit if "everything goes to hell". He put on all fire alarms, stick shakers and whatnot. One hell of a noise, kudos to pilots who manage to keep their calm through such distress.

[Pilothelp]

wings cannot fall off, simply
there is only one way in which a wing can fall off, you may see fighter jets upside-down, they are built to do this, if a big airliner manages to somehow go upside-down the wings will fall off
otherwise, it just wont happen, even the heaviest of turb wont make it happen, go onto youtube and look up some turb vids and see how much the plane will shake
good sense there

[Barb-SAN]

if a big airliner manages to somehow go upside-down the wings will fall off

Are you SURE about this? I thought they were bolted on...:rolleyes:

[Aurora]

LOL - say what now? It's odd that airplanes such as the dash 8 keeps it's wings on then..... Sorry mate, that's a very weird thing to say - not only do I doubt it - but it's not of any concern either.

[TXflyer]

Yeah... pretty sure this is not true, at least not in all cases.

Obviously this is a much older jet, but here's one piece of proof:

Tex Johnston does a barrel roll in a 707 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vHiYA6Dmws)

Somehow I doubt they decided to make the wings detachable after this. Also, I know this is a quick roll only (maybe you're referring to longer periods of belly-up flight?), but back when I was a nervous flyer and had the crazy idea that reading about crises in the air would help me, I read about a couple situations where large jets ended up upside-down while flying... these flights were certainly in trouble, but not because their wings came off.

???

[TXflyer]

ALSO, almost missed the point of Aurora's original post! Great pics and stories. Glad you came through a small resurgence of your FoF just fine -- and probably stronger because of it. :thumbsup: I think it's totally normal to have AA/FoF rear its ugly head now and then -- luckily you know just what to do to beat it back down!

[MathFox]

wings cannot fall off, simply
there is only one way in which a wing can fall off, you may see fighter jets upside-down, they are built to do this, if a big airliner manages to somehow go upside-down the wings will fall off
otherwise, it just wont happen, even the heaviest of turb wont make it happen, go onto youtube and look up some turb vids and see how much the plane will shake
good sense there

You could also try to find the video of a Boeing 707 making a "barrel roll" (Or read Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_367-80#The_barrel_roll ). Wings will stay on the plane, even when it files upside-down.

BTW, for the comfort of your passengers, keep the right side up. Should be easier in an Airbus than in a Boeing! :D

[TXflyer]

You could also try to find the video of a Boeing 707 making a "barrel roll"

I should have been more specific -- that link I posted goes to a youtube video of that barrel roll.

One of the many things that made me feel better about flying was realizing how even jetliners are capable of doing much more than they do in civilian flight... videos like that one and hearing from pilots like Capt. Hutch about things like how big planes can handle much steeper turns than we ever experience... made me realize how routine civilian flying is in another way!

[Barb-SAN]

BTW, for the comfort of your passengers, keep the right side up Should be easier in an Airbus than in a Boeing! :D
Perhaps Pilothelp could tell us WHY that would be easier in an Airbus than a Boeing, since he's told us he's an Airbus pilot. ;)

[TXflyer]

Perhaps Pilothelp could tell us WHY that would be easier in an Airbus than a Boeing, since he's told us he's an Airbus pilot. ;)

As someone who doesn't know very much about the science of flight/different airplanes, I'd love to know the answer to this... :)

[D3X]

You can't barrel roll a modern Airbus in 'Normal Law' because the fly-by-wire systems will stop it from happening. If you push the sidestick (the joystick-like control) as far to one side as possible, the aircraft will only go as far as 66º before ignoring your inputs.

Don't get me wrong, 66º is a very high roll angle (typically, the maximum you'll experience in normal commercial operations is 25º) but you wont be upside down.

As soon as the pilot releases the control stick at 66º the aircraft will roll wings-level.

Of course, in the other laws some of the flight envelope protections are removed so it can behave just like Tex Johnson's 707.

[Barb-SAN]

D3X :welcome2:Thank you for answering the question about the Airbus! It sounds like you have some first hand knowledge of the Airbus, yes? And you are a Nikon fan? :D Hope you will stick around and join our discussions.