The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been grounded because of the fire risk of lithium ion batteries catching fire. There is a news item here, which discusses the problem.
Having read the article my safety first brain, says that the batteries are not proven technology for use in applications such as aviation. This piece to me is crucial.
Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, a former US Airways pilot famed for his precision flying that enabled passengers and crew to survive an emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York, said in an interview that he wouldn’t be comfortable flying an airliner that carried lithium ion aircraft batteries in its cargo hold.
“The potential for self-ignition, for uncontained fires, is huge,” he said. The new regulations “need to be looked at very hard in the cold light of day, particularly with what has happened with the 787 batteries.”
Pilots generally don’t accept unnecessary risks.
So lets get out and do more research and testing. I have a feeling though, that this problem will be solved by the re-engineering of some old technology or a completely new and novel one, that is easily proven to be safe. But it won’t be solved quickly!
Incidentally, I just had a count up and there are five small lithium ion batteries on the table as I type this.
February 3, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Energy, Engineering, Flying, Technology |
2 Comments
We all seem to forget about Tasmania.
I always remember my mother telling a tale about how at Dame Alice Owen’s School, a teacher came into the lesson, one morning and said she wanted a map of the world in five minutes. When they’d all finished, the teacher, then asked who had put in Tasmania. I’m not sure whether my mother ever said, if she had.
I never really thought much about the State and in fact, it was the place least on the list of places I was likely to visit. After all it was so far away.
But one of my regrets in life, is when I flew round Australia with C, in a Piper Arrow, was that we didn’t do it properly and visit everywhere we could. But C was worried, that a long holiday might result in other members of her chambers, stealing all her work. If there is another profession, more paranoid than barristers, I haven’t found it.
But now Tasmania is going farther than anywhere else with a smoking ban for anybody born after 2000. It’s here in the Telegraph.
One of these days, I might get to Tasmania, but it would be a great surprise if I did, as there are so many places to explore without a long boring flight. Unless of course, I go by boat. Whoever heard of ship lag anyway!
January 22, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
News, Transport/Travel | Australia, Flying, Smoking |
2 Comments
On the BBC London News, they’ve just had a spokeswoman from South Eastern Trains, apologising for all the delays last night and saying that although some got home late, they all did get home.
They may not be perfect, but at least they had the decency to face the press, which can’t be said for British Airways, who seem to be intent on committing suicide.
January 19, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | British Airways, Flying, Snow, Trains |
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I’m sitting here listening to the radio at one in the morning, as the drama at Heathrow unfolds.
So no-one has been killed and it’s only the usual chaos caused by rather heavy snow and cold weather, that happens about one in four hundred days or so at Heathrow.
These things happen and you have to have a plan for recovery when it does.
In this instance, the following statements have been made on BBC Radio 5 Live, by professional journalists acting on behalf of their listeners and those stuck at Heathrow.
1. Passengers after being stuck on a plane for several hours are finding, the Help Desk has closed.
2. The phone-in Help Desk has also closed.
3. The staff in Terminal 5 have gone home.
4. Baggage is stuck on the plane.
5. Passengers are being given no help to get a hotel.
6. Stephen Nolan was also trying to get British Airways on the phone to his radio program before it closed at one in the morning. He failed.
The only excuse, British Airways and Heathrow have is that the weather is unprecedented and they can’t get any more staff to the airport.
But where are just a few staff at Heathrow working through a plan to at least sort out the more pressing problems?
It would appear that British Airways and Heathrow, didn’t have any plans to handle such an extreme situation.
So if this weather was unforeseen, why wasn’t their trouble at Gatwick, Stansted, Birmingham and Manchester. There was a couple of problems at Belfast City and Bristol airports involving low-cost airlines, but nothing on the same proportionate scale.
In fact the problems at Heathrow seem to be centred only on British Airways Terminal 5, with the runways and the other terminals seemingly working without major trouble.
I would argue that all airports and airlines must have disaster plans, after all they are very vulnerable from incidents like a blocked runway or perhaps a strike in a critical area like baggage handling or air traffic control.
Admittedly, there has also been a lot of trouble on the roads. But nothing on the scale of the problems at Terminal 5.
The trains have been affected too, but they generally made the sensible decision to run a reduced timetable and asked people to think twice before travelling. Buzz Aldrin arrived safely in Scotland in good spirits as reported here, although the train might have been thirty minutes late. But then that is minor compared to the problems at Heathrow.
Sometimes I think, I’ve made two sensible decisions since my stroke; to not drive and not to fly long haul. There are millions of places worth seeing within the UK, Ireland and the nearer parts of Europe.
I just can’t see any point in having all the hassle of a boring long-haul flight!
January 19, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
News, Transport/Travel | British Airways, Flying, Heathrow Airport, Trains |
2 Comments
Buzz Aldrin got stranded in London today and couldn’t get to Scotland. So according to the BBC News, he had to take the train.
He did seem to be enjoying himself, by talking with all the other passengers. He was in Standard Class too!
This is the only report I can find.
I did find this article though in the Financial Times, about what a lady does if she finds herself sitting next to Buzz.
Remember it’s the FT, so it must be a serious article.
January 18, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Flying, Snow, Trains |
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I took this picture yesterday, a couple of hours after the helicopter crashed in Vauxhall.
Cromwell Tower In The Mist
Helicopters over London, have to fly under what are known as Visual Flight Rules. In layman’s language you must be able to see where you are going.
The visibility yesterday wasn’t good. I have flown fixed wing aircraft in such conditions and it is not easy. But the difference with a fixed wing aircraft is that you can use instruments to climb through the cloud and get on top of the muck. Provided of course you have the flight ratings to do it, which I had and the airspace rules allow it.
Sometimes the best decision you can take when flying any aircraft is to push it back in the hangar.
January 17, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Flying, Helicopter, Weather |
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As a trained pilot, I’ve never liked helicopters and for fifty years, I’ve avoided going in the beasts, which have been variously described as.
Four thousand moving parts flying in a unique formation.
Often by pilots, who know a lot better.
So although only two or three seemed to have died in the latest helicopter crash at Vauxhall, this is two or three too many to add to the list of those who’ve died in similar circumstances.
There is a great exhilaration to fly at a low level and I’ve done it several times at under a thousand feet over a city. But only in a twin-engined aircraft, with myself at the controls. The best was probably to fly up Lido in Venice to land at the San Nicolo airport. I did once use the light-aircraft corridor over Heathrow, that probably doesn’t exist now. Exhilarating stuff, but sadly they are only memories in my brain, as I didn’t have a camera with me.
In some ways, I feel this thrill is one of the reasons we still get large numbers of people wanting to be flown over our cities. Businessmen and politicians will quote the time saved in getting in and out of Central London, but is any death worth it?
We still don’t know what caused the problem, but the building hit at Vauxhall will be nearly 600 feet tall. I also question, why a building that high is being built close to the Battersea Heliport.
Flying in a helicopter is a risky business and you need to minimise what risks you can, rather than add to them!
There is a professional view of flying in the area here in the Standard. It’s also being reported that the Metropolitan Police helicopter was not flying because of the weather.
One of my ambitions amongst many is to live long enough to see the end of the these scientifically-incorrect machines. Hopefully, their jobs will be replaced by something a lot less dangerous and more civilised and environmentally friendly.
January 16, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Accident, Flying, Helicopter, London |
1 Comment
On Tuesday, I took the Eurostar to see a friend in The Hague. This is a picture of me, eating a gluten-free breakfast in Premium Economy on Eurostar.
Eating A Gluten-Free Breakfast On Eurostar
I know it is only a snack, but it is nice to get something if you’re a coeliac and need gluten-free food.
I had orange juice, yoghurt, as much tea as I wanted, some Dove Farms biscuits, gluten-free bread, butter and a small pot of Tiptree jam.
This leg of the journey cost me £107. That may seem a lot, especially as I could have flown to Brussels on BA for £59, if I’d have booked earlier. But I would doubt, I’d have got such a nice breakfast and I would then have to get to and from the two airports at Heathrow and Brussels.
I actually booked a few days ago, but Standard Premier, always seems to be the same price of £107. I could have travelled in Standard for less at less than forty pounds or to any Belgian station for just £44. Standard Premier to any Belgian station is £116. For many travelling to the southern parts of the Netherlands, that will be a good option, as you can go to Antwerp and travel on from there. You’ll also get to see the triple decker station.
If you’re on an evening train, I’ve usually found the dinner and free wine to be excellent.
I had booked a connection in Brussels, that gave me over three hours in the Belgian capital, so I had time to do two things. One was to take an excursion to get some lunch and the other was to see if I could get a ticket on the InterCity train to The Hague.
I tried the Information, and the guy there said that the train had been discontinued. He did offer me a local train, that went via changes at Antwerp and Rosendaal, but I didn’t want to go on a mystery tour of the Low Countries. There were no machines to try out, so I decided to stop being a nuisance and use my ticket on the Fyra high-speed train to Rotterdam. Incidentally, there does seem to be a few teething problems with the organisation at Brussels, with Eurostar and Thalys up one end of the station and the Fyra at the other. They also changed the platform about fifteen or so minutes before the train departed. The carriage numbers are a bit confusing too, if you’ve been used to the old British Rail system of A-K and First generally towards London. Sometimes, I think the EU should lay down a few standards that would help us all.
Fyra Arrives At Rotterdam
The picture shows the train after arrival at Rotterdam.
The train is a typical boring train, where in Standard Class, you get comfortable seats with only minimal leg-room. It was no more comfortable than the Mk 3 coach, I ride in to Ipswich. But one thing that was disconcerting was that there were quite a few thumps coming from the suspension. My neighbour on the train; a Greek physicist, said that that was common. Incidentally, she’d paid the same €22, that I had for my ticket. It was just a sheet of A4 paper. More on this later.
I then took the local train to Den Haag HS station. I stood all the way, as I was talking to a Swiss lady with a Canadian accent, who worked for Rotterdam police.
I actually arrived earlier than I’d expected, as the Den Haag train I got was an earlier connection, so I had a look round the station, as the next day, I would be getting a ticket from there to Schipol for my flight home. I did find an automatic ticket machine, but it only took debit cards and not even cash. I couldn’t find the ticket office either.
Going home, I was dropped at Den Haag Centraal station and the machines were the same; debit card only. After a twenty minute queue at the ticket office, I eventually used cash to buy a ticket to Schipol to take my flight to the jewel of the Essex coast; Southend. If the Dutch are serious about attracting visitors, they need to look at their ticket machines.
The take-off time was 18:00, but we left early and at 18:05 or sixty-five minutes later because of the time difference, I was on the train towards Liverpool Street. I was sitting watching the television with a cup of tea soon soon after seven.
That six o’clock easyJet flight is certainly the fastest way to get back from Schipol to East and Central London, if you have no baggage, as they always seem to be early at Southend. It also cost me less than forty pounds for the ticket and I had a nourishing gluten-free tomato soup on the journey. Not to Eurostar’s standard but who could serve a meal properly in less than forty minutes. I even got an apology from the stewardess about the soup, as she couldn’t give it enough of a stir. But there were other passengers to serve!
January 10, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Food, Transport/Travel | Brussels, Coeliac/Gluten-Free, EasyJet, Essex, Eurostar, Flying, Fyra, The Netherlands, Trains |
6 Comments
The BBC has a news story about a trainee pilot landing his aircraft after it lost a wheel.
They say the pilot was a trainee, as he had only 120 hours of experience and probably didn’t have a full licence. But most pilots with that sort of experience, should be able to handle such an emergency like that with ease. As this pilot did! If they can’t handle it, they shouldn’t be flying.
He did everything right, like using up the fuel and also landing on a grass runway, which is a bit more forgiving. He also seemed to have kept the weight off the damaged undercarriage leg as long as he could.
So as he was just being professional, why was that news?
January 8, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
News, Transport/Travel, World | Flying |
2 Comments
I’ve gone to the Netherlands quite a few times in recent years. I used to used to drive and use the ferries, but now that I don’t drive, I use the trains or the planes.
To investigate the Dutch High-Speed trains, I’m going out next Tuesday by Eurostar to Brussels, from where I’m going to play the stroppy English speaking tourist and try to get to The Hague.
Coming home, I’ll be flying easyJet into Southend. The last time I did this, an hour after I boarded the flight at Schipol, I was on the train to Stratford, as the transfer at London’s newest airport was rather quick.
But the amazing thing was I was able to book the flight on next Wednesday for just £42.41. That looks good value to me, especially as getting home from Southend, is only a few pounds to get to the Zone 6 boundary to get into Freedom Pass territory.
I’ve also looked at a mid-February Wednesday and it would appear that fares to Southend from Schipol, are generally the cheapest, with some fares under thirty pounds.
January 3, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | EasyJet, Flying, Freedom Pass, Southend Airport, The Netherlands, Trains |
4 Comments
The Anonymous Widower 