Random Stuff!

[wolfheze]

 

[richard winterbourn]

The psychology of air passengers does take some understanding. I too am baffled as to why people get up to try and leave the aircraft the moment it comes to a standstill when they know full well that it is going to be at least another 10 - 15 minutes.
But my gripe is this: passengers with cabin luggage know that their bags will go into the overhead lockers. Why of why is it that two minutes after they stow their bags and take their seats, they get up again to try and retrieve something from that same bag? recently, i saw one passenger doe it three times before we had even left the runway....
And another thing, if you have a cold get yourself a hanky. I have lost count of the times i have sat next to someone who has sniffed their way through a two-hour flight. Grrrr!

 

[Brum X]

Weather was somewhat better out there this morning!

I love Palma De Mallorca, its what you call a holiday airport even though a little chaotic.

 

[wolfheze]

Firework health and safety video!
Visited a festival at Soller where the townsfolk were celebrating the defeat of the invading moors. Sorry I couldn't keep the camera straight whilst being deafened and peppered with bits of firework debris

 

[58terminus]

I had a truck load of timber, posts and fence panels delivered ready to crack on in the garden and rain stops play.

Don't worry Ray.Leave it to next weekend.Its a bank holiday weekend so the weather is guaranteed to be good

 

[Ray Finkle]

Don't worry Ray.Leave it to next weekend.Its a bank holiday weekend so the weather is guaranteed to be good

I managed to get some work done in between the heavy showers. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I'm now going to light the BBQ, then sit back and blow the froth of a couple

I didn't leave my seat until I could walk straight down the aisle

I'm the same, in fact we're usually the last family off. I don't see the point in rushing.

Looks like you had a good time and great weather

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Always thought that those old diesel locomotives had quite a menacing appearance.
Changing the subject a little, I have just arrived back at Birmingham on ZB951 from palma and have a question about human psychology, namely why do people get out of their seats the moment the aircraft comes to a stop and then spend 15 mins standing in the aisle or bent double under the overhead storage lockers? Same sort of thing happens at baggage reclaim where people all gather at the opening of the carousel? I didn't leave my seat until I could walk straight down the aisle and off the aircraft and went to the unoccupied area of the conveyor belt which happened to be the start anyway. Case was one of the first out so was probably in the taxi before most had collected their cases. The speed of the process is purely down to luck so what makes people push and rush about?

Many people also unfasten their seat belts and stand up before the seat-belt signs have been turned off. The click, click,click, click, click can be heard all around the aircraft.

 

[nancledre]

Now here is a suggestion for the brainy ones, why not make it such that once the aircraft has pushed back, the o/h lockers lock when the fasten seat belts sign is lit - not rocket science I would have thought. Last time in Dubai, the 777 paused whilst taxiing ad suddenly we had aisles full of cases, until the stewards threw them all back into the lockers - well done the stewards

 

[richard winterbourn]

oooh, i think Wolfheze and myself have unleashed a groundswell of support and appreciation for the points we have raised.
But, for a moment, let us consider the seriousness of our 'rants'. I, for one, have seen a deterioration on the special requirements needed for travelling in a plane. It is not a bus, it is essentially a long tube travelling at near 480mph, two miles up in the air (forgive me if the statistics are a little out). It is a potentially very serous environment if, and i stress IF, something goes wrong. I just wish people would appreciate this; obey the advice given, sit at all times with your seat belt loosely fastened, return to your seat immediately you are asked to and don't drink beyond a limit at which you could fend for yourself and others in an emergency.
There are times when i am certain we need to return to basics with regards to air travel. I have witnessed enough incidents to confirm myself of that.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I think it's partly a reflection of modern life. Too many people think that rules don't apply to them and they know better anyway. You see it with drivers on the roads all the time.

A generation or two ago a flight was something that relatively few people had undertaken. The flood gates received their first nudge in the 1960s which slowly became a trickle in the 70s (with the likes of Court Line) rising to the full-blown torrent we see today. Until as recently as the 1980s (which are recent for someone like me) many people still regarded taking a flight as something special and would often dress in their best clothes, with men in a suit or jacket replete with collar and tie even on holiday flights.

Nowadays flying is more common than taking a bus for many younger people. I have four grandchildren, aged 17-20, and they never travel by bus but each has taken numerous flights all over the world. Consequently, they are relaxed - after all it's commonplace - and many don't appreciate that flying, whilst perfectly safe 99.9% recurring of the time, still needs to have disciplines that must be observed by passengers if that nano percentage is not to intrude and send them to Kingdom Come.

 

[wolfheze]

I know what you mean, the points I made are amusing (to me) rather than irritating or dangerous, however you hear about more serious incidents involving unruly passengers very frequently . On the flight out there was a party of around 20 women going on a hen weekend and by chance a smaller group of men on a stag party and although things by no means got out of hand it was always in the back of your mind that it might and for nervous passengers was probably quite upsetting. The groom even stated to the surrounding passengers on arriving at Palma (while he was standing in the aisle naturally) how sorry he was if he'd offended or irritated anyone. Obviously didn't mean it otherwise he wouldn't have behaved badly in the first place. Anyway I must say that the Monarch cabin crew handled the situation very well and managed to keep the disruption to a minimum. Just a bit of a shame they had to.

 

[Ray Finkle]

sit at all times with your seat belt loosely fastened

Don't get me started on this. As soon as those signs go off then click, Mrs Finkle's seat belt goes off. I've shown her articles and video clips of how serious turbulence related injuries can be but I think she is in the 'it won't happen to me' crowd.

Thankfully the kids now know that seat belts remained fastened at all times when seated. I think the look I gave Mrs F when she told my daughter she could release her seat belt said it all.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Over 20 years ago my wife and I flew back from AMS to BRS with KLM Cityhopper in a Saab 340. On the flight was a group of about a dozen 30-something men - a golfing party I think - some of whom were the worse for drink. Why they were allowed on in the first place is an obvious question.

They quickly became boorish, obnoxious and loud with language not normally heard in a maiden aunt's drawing room. I was a lot younger then of course and firmly asked one of them sitting behind us to moderate his language. Unsurprisingly my request was met with more bad language and personal abuse. I certainly did not intend to pursue it any more in the air.

That was bad enough but far worse was their attitude towards the sole cabin staff member, a petite young woman. She was the butt of all sorts of ribald comments but things began to get really out of hand when one of the drunks tried to physically trip her up as she walking along the aisle.

What was the moron thinking of, even in his drunken state? Her primary task was the safety of us all and had she been injured there would have been no-one.

Then providence intervened. We suddenly hit some turbulence which rocked the tiny Saab all over the sky. This went on for the rest of the flight into BRS which can be windy at the best of times. The mouthy ones became instantly quiet and the lout behind me was heard to tell his mate that he was going to be sick.

After we landed and went landside I sought him out and gave him a piece of my mind in my best sergeant-major voice. He was still clearly suffering from the effects of turbulence and better still his wife arrived to meet him in the middle of my harangue. I let her know the sort of man he was and that if I'd behaved in her presence in the way he'd behaved in the presence of my wife I would expect him to have tackled me as I had him.

I contacted KLM (I was a Flying Dutchman member then) to compliment their stewardess on her handling of a situation she should never have been exposed to, and asked the airline what they would do to prevent something similar happening again. I received the expected nebulous answer. At least I got an answer. These days airlines would probably ignore me.

 

[thunderchild]

Me too

It's supposed to brighten up later but at the moment I'm looking out of the window at a huge pile of soaking wet timber knowing that I have so much to do

It did brighten up in the end but after downing the best part of two bottles of Merlot it didn't really matter!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It did brighten up in the end but after downing the best part of two bottles of Merlot it didn't really matter!

Ah, Merlot. One of my favourite reds.

 

[58terminus]

It did brighten up in the end but after downing the best part of two bottles of Merlot it didn't really matter!

I get the feeling your heart wasn't really into it.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

Makes us smile when pax are standing up, in the most uncomfortable positions, for 10 minutes whilst the exit doors are being prepared, then race to the queue at immigration, then race to the baggage carousel which won't start up for 10 minutes.

We also had a grin at Easter when landing back at Birmingham from Dublin. For the first time in a long time, the "Ryanair fanfare" was sounded and half the aircraft, myself included, cheered in appreciation.

 

[Ianbutty]

There has been a Wheels and Wings event at stow Marie's, a restored WW1 aerodrome near where I live here in sunny Essex. Great to see such wonderful old craft in the air. Daft thing is a Tiger Moth makes more noise than the 380s that pass over our house heading for LHR....and sometimes to BHX.

I remember the golden jubilee fly past, a veritable traffic jam in the air flying over Essex en route for the Mall. Forget the tornado's and red arrows, both were awesome, but nothing brings a lump to the throat like the Battle of Britain display does. I and countless others were hanging out east of chelmsford it was those three craft that got the biggest cheer.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

My daughter got me up in a Tiger Moth a few years ago on one of our Australian visits. She and her family live in Victoria on the Great Ocean Road a few miles west of Geelong (at Torquay to be precise - it would have been much easier if they'd moved to Torquay, Devon).

Near them is Tiger Moth World that offers pleasure flights. I went along the coast in a westerly direction and back. It was an incredible experience, especially landing as I was sitting in front. The young pilot didn't seem much older than my grandsons.

Tiger Moths are flying up and down the coast regularly and they make a fine sight and sound when looking up from one of Torquay's beaches. The machine I flew in had to make a precautionary landing on one of the beaches the year after my trip.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

My daughter got me up in a Tiger Moth a few years ago on one of our Australian visits. She and her family live in Victoria on the Great Ocean Road a few miles west of Geelong (at Torquay to be precise - it would have been much easier if they'd moved to Torquay, Devon).

Near them is Tiger Moth World that offers pleasure flights. I went along the coast in a westerly direction and back. It was an incredible experience, especially landing as I was sitting in front. The young pilot didn't seem much older than my grandsons.

Tiger Moths are flying up and down the coast regularly and they make a fine sight and sound when looking up from one of Torquay's beaches. The machine I flew in had to make a precautionary landing on one of the beaches the year after my trip.

Sounds like quite an experience. Open cockpit flight is like nothing else.
I had a similar experience a few years ago, when visiting my Sister who at the time lived in Victor Harbor, a lovely small town around 75mins drive east of Adelaide. We regularly saw two green radial engine aircraft flying over in formation (which I thought were Yak-18's). Following a day out, we were driving home along a quiet country road near Goolwa and passed a small airfield (I can't go past an airfield/airport without stopping - it's just impossible). So we stopped and the two aircraft were parked up. Over a coffee and a wander around the hangar, I discovered that they were Nanchang CJ-6A's and they were doing pleasure flights. Needless to say, that a booking was made for myself and my brother-in-law.

Nanchang CJ-6A VH-NNE in which my Brother-in-Law flew.

My view, sat in VH-NNI preparing for take off.

Climbing.

Formation flying.

Instrument panel - some of it in Chinese. The attitude indicator didn't seem to work and yes, for Soviet aircraft it should be brown for sky and blue for ground (as I was told by a Yak-18 pilot).

The Murray river - the worlds third longest navigable river (after the Amazon and the Nile) at 1566 miles.

Homeward bound.

Myself (looking a little sweaty - as the Aussies would say 'crikey' it was hot), next to VH-NNI in which I flew.

The formation flight photos really don't capture just how close the two aircraft came. I was in the 'chase' plane and my pilot spent the vast majority of his time looking out of the cockpit at the lead plane. On more than one occasion, the lead plane would dip a wing and fly beneath us to re-appear on the other side.
Whilst flying, we were told that we could open the canopy. Looking across, I could see that my Brother-in-Law had his canopy fully back so I did the same. It's quite un-nerving to be able to look down to the ground with nothing between yourself and terra-firma.
Later, I found out that my Brother-in-Law had been told off for fully opening his canopy. Apparently it should only be opened to the first notch in flight, giving about six inches of opening. My pilot said nothing to me.
All in all, a fantastic one off experience even if it did somehow cost us twice as much as the advertising brochure stated.

Kevin