The Anonymous Widower

The Geysers of Iceland

I took these pictures when we visited the geysers at Geyser.

Be patient with the Strokkur geyser and wait to see it erupt.

July 14, 2014 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

This Could Be Hekla

Hekla is one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes and this picture could be of it.

This Could Be Hekla

This Could Be Hekla

Two guides thought it should erupt soon, but at least the Icelanders have a comprehensive text-based warning system.

July 13, 2014 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

Geothermal Power And The New Island Of Surtsey

I was on a tour which was called the South Shore Safari. The first real stop was in an area of geothermal power stations, which gave good views of the new island of Surtsey

I can remember the formation of the island of Surtsey being shown on the television in 1963. It was a well-reported news story of the time.

Geothermal power is important in Iceland and contributes nearly 600 MW of electricity, which makes up about thirty percent of what they need. The Icelanders have by no means fully developed the maximum amount of power available, but they do generate a lot of hot water to heat Reykjavik and other towns. For comparison, our large nuclear power station, Sizewell B generates 1,200 MW.

I think the geothermal power station we saw is Nesjavellir. Wikipedia says this about the capacity of the power station.

Plans for utilizing the Nesjavellir area for geothermal power and water heating began in 1947, when some boreholes were drilled to evaluate the area’s potential for power generation. Research continued from 1965 to 1986. In 1987, the construction of the plant began, and the cornerstone was laid in May 1990. The station produces approximately 120 MW of electrical power; it also delivers around 1,100 litres (290 US gal) of hot water (82-85°C) per second, servicing the space heating and hot water needs of the Greater Reykjavík Area.

I woiuld have loved to have a tour of the power station.

What surprised me about geothermal power, was that the Phillipines are very large users of the technology, which is described as a geothermal success story in this article in Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia, twenty seven percent of their power comes from geothermal sources.

I suppose the only drawback with geothermal power is that for the generation of large amounts of energy, you are generally in an area prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

It may seem strange, but even in Cornwall, a company is trying to use geothermal energy to generate electricity. Read about the United Downs project on Wikipedia. Whether it will ever work as planned, will be down to the skill of the engineers and probably the will of politicians.

 

July 13, 2014 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , | Leave a comment

This Wasn’t News Just Good Airmanship

I found this article on the Daily Mail website. The headline is alarming.

Look away now if you don’t like flying: The terrifying moment a plane came in sideways as Britain is battered by 70mph gales

But the pilot just flew the plane, how it was designed to be handled in the circumstances.

I’ve only ever been a passenger once, when an airliner landed in a severe crosswind and that was coming back from India quite a few years ago on a Thai Airlines Boeing 747. The pilot made one approach at Heathrow and then asked for permission to land on the cross runway 23, which has now been removed. The landing was rough and a bit bumpy, but safe. There were a few screams.

The Boeing 737 in the picture is showing what happens in a text book crosswind landing.

I think people don’t realise how manoeuvrable most airliners are. Remember too on landing the weight is low, as a lot of fuel has been burned up and they still have full power to if necessary climb away safely and go to another airport, where conditions are better.

Perhaps the most famous crosswind landing was performed by Captain Eric Moody in the Jakarta Incident.  Although it technically wasn’t a genuine crosswind landing, it probably used similar flying techniques.  A British Airways Boeing 747 had lost all power because it flew through clouds of volcanic ash.  Three engines were restarted, but when it came to landing at Jakarta airport, Captain Moody found that some of the navigation aids on the ground had failed and he had no forward vision, as the volcanic ash had etched the windscreen so it was opaque. By effectively bringing the aircraft in to the runway slightly sideways he could get limited forward vision through the undamaged side window of the cockpit. At the last moment he straightened everything up and landed. Captain Moody described the approach like this.

a bit like negotiating one’s way up a badger’s arse

But it was a genuine case of all’s well that ends well.

One of the reason, I don’t fly with Air Neck End and their ilk, is you can’t be sure of their pilots. I’ve never had any problems with any British, Dutch, Scandinavian or Irish airlines in Europe, but there are some national carriers I just won’t fly.

In my own flying, I only ever had to perform, one extremely difficult landing and that was at Cardiff Airport, where the wind was gusting over fifty knots. but at least it was virtually straight down the runway. It was raining very heavily and the cloud base was about eight hundred feet. I was in my Cessna 340A twin and the aircraft in front was a Boeing 737, that because of the rain and strong wind, was having difficulty keeping the engines alight. I did a very good landing in the circumstances and seem to remember that I cheated by putting the plane down straight into the wind, rather than due straight down the runway. But then Cardiff is a big, wide runway!

April 18, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment

Stromboli Erupts

I read that Stromboli is erupting in The Sunday Times. There are more details here.

I stayed there once on a visit to the Aeolian Islands. Everybody should try to go to these islands at least once in their life.

January 20, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | 2 Comments

London’s First Real Olympics

The Times points out today, that the 1908 Olympics was held in the UK, as it was supposed to have been held in Rome. But Vesuvius exploded, so the Games were moved.

Although, we held them in 1948, that was very much because we got left holding the parcel, after the Second World War, as no-one had any money. If there had been no war, London would have had the Games in 1944.

So that makes 2012, London’s first real Games!

July 28, 2012 Posted by | Sport | , , , | Leave a comment

Volcanic Ash and Pollen Clouds

I don’t care a fig about the volcanic ash from Iceland, but I do find all of this pollen horrendous. And speaking to others, it would appear that I’m not the only one in London, who is suffering badly.

Looking at the pollen forecast, it would appear that I should emigrate to somewhere like Manchester! I think I’ll stay here and fight it out!

May 25, 2011 Posted by | Health, News | , , | 1 Comment

The Volcanic Dust Farce

Farce is not too strong a word.

I was listening to Simon Calder last night on BBC Radio 5.  He was very critical of government and government agencies locking down UK airspace, when if we’d used the US rules, flying would just have been a little more difficult.

Now under EU rules, airlines and tour companies are liable for a lot of the costs of the delays suffered by passengers. But if these delays were caused by bad government science then who pays?

I would not be happy with a bill for several thousand pounds, so I would want someone to pay me.  If the airlines felt the government were at fault, then it would end up being a bean feast for lawyers.

This one will run and run!

I think though that this farce, shows Nulabor in all their stupidity.  They did nothing but hide behind the rules, then they sent a couple of gunboats and then they had to cave in when they were the only European government that was banning flying.

What would I have done in Prudence’s place?

I would have made sure that as soon as possible we tested all of the science and engineering.  If this was being done, we didn’t know about it, which shows how this government feels that nanny-knows-best secrecy is the best policy.

I would have brought in expert advice from countries like the United States, where they have a lot of experience and different rules about flying in volcanic ash. 

In the end they imposed American rules and the airports opened. 

If they had worked quickly, instead of hoping the problem just went away, the airports would have been opened a lot early.

Let’s hope the people of the UK realise who’s to blame for much of this farce.

April 21, 2010 Posted by | News, Transport/Travel | , , , | 2 Comments

Thoughts on Airliners in the Volcanic Dust

As I’ve said before I’m an experienced, although no longer current pilot. I’m also an engineer, who has always been interested in the way planes work and also what causes accidents.

I respect airlines like Lufthansa, British Airways and KLM.  They have excellent safety records and would in my view do nothing rash.  After all, if you took a chance and you had a serious crash, even one without any injuries, your airline would go down the toilet.  So when Lufthansa says that they found no damage after flying through the volcanic dust, I trust their engineers to have checked and checked that there is no damage and their spokesman to be truthful and not put any spin on it.

But these airlines are not the problem, as I believe that all A-list airlines would never do anything that would knowingly compromise safety.  Suppose though that airliners were allowed to be flown in the current state of volcanic dust, but with certain conditions on flight and maintenance rules.  It wouldn’t just apply to the good ones, but to the bad and the ugly too! 

Can governments afford for Air Neck-End to have an accident? 

Of course they can’t!  So they have to legislate not for the best with special rules, but for those airlines that I would never use on grounds of safety.  You’ll probably find that it’s all to do with competition rules and you can’t use safety fears to keep new entrants out of the market.

Let’s also at this point put in a good word for Ryanair.  They have been more than honest with cancelling their schedules for longer than their competitors.  It may be prudent too, so that you don’t have masses of people swilling round the check-in desks. O’Leary is no fool.

But I’m also reminded about a story from Liverpool University.  One of my fellow students came from Derby.  He told how Rolls-Royce bought time-expired chickens to use for testing jet engines.

I hope that large quantities of the volcanic dust are being fired through something like a Trent.

Note that the engine being tested at Derby in the mid-1960s was the RB211, the engine that bankrupted Rolls-Royce.  The Trent is a derivative from that engine and to say it has been successful would be an understatement. The basic design is older than my children.

So we should let the pilots, engineers and air traffic controllers sort this problem out and keep the politicians well out of the way.  And if it means we have different rules for different airlines to satisfy the safety needs, so be it!

April 19, 2010 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | 1 Comment

The Navy’s Going

So Prudence has called in the Royal Navy.

Knowing his luck, this will mean the wind changes and everything will be alright.

April 19, 2010 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment

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