Malaysia Airlines 777 missing

BeReal said:
a7azyzeg.jpg

My dad's second aircraft. Gives me the heebie jeebies just looking at it.

The picture isn't my dad's gyrocopter, but that's exactly what it looked like.
Click to expand...
Now is that an autogiro? If so that's a little bit less scary from a mechanical standpoint because at least you're not pumping torque through the rotor. Now from an aerodynamic standpoint they're terrifying.
 
Pilot Fighter said:
I spent a week trying to balance the rotors of my buddy's Mini-500. It continued to try to tear itself apart. My hour hovering this death trap is my only rotorcraft time. Interesting bit of trivia, a rotorcraft rating is not required for experimental helicopters unless there is a passenger or required by operating limitations. No, I didn't log it. Hey rotor heads, anybody hear of folks that used experimentals to build time?
Click to expand...


Mini-500....right there was your problem. Didn't they end-up recalling all of those things or something? That's the only helicopter that makes a Robbie Double-Deuce look good.;) I think that reg loophole only applies to single seat because another person can be carried. I know a 91k guy who got 1500 hrs in a Rotorway Exec, crashed it (t/r issue), and has been flying EMS for awhile now.
 
Pichettet1 said:
I seem to recall myth buyers testing this one. Definitely not true. But, an unbalanced rotor can be devastating, if it's unbalanced enough.
Click to expand...
After reading your post I researched it. Looks like mythbusters tested the myth with a postage stamp on one of the blades. They didn't use a penny. I'm not necessarily saying a penny would bring a helo down....but I'm not willing to try ;)

Are you?
 
Roger Roger said:
Now is that an autogiro? If so that's a little bit less scary from a mechanical standpoint because at least you're not pumping torque through the rotor. Now from an aerodynamic standpoint they're terrifying.
Click to expand...
Not sure. I was in elementary school when we had it. I thought it was cool as hell at the time. My dad has survived more than 9 aviation-cat lives. Looking back, flying this contraption is the hairiest!
 
deadstick said:
Mini-500....right there was your problem. Didn't they end-up recalling all of those things or something? That's the only helicopter that makes a Robbie Double-Deuce look good.;) I think that reg loophole only applies to single seat because another person can be carried. I know a 91k guy who got 1500 hrs in a Rotorway Exec, crashed it (t/r issue), and has been flying EMS for awhile now.
Click to expand...
Heh. I was listening to a Fed telling Rotorway horror stories just yesterday.
 
Fox News just commented on the 777 ACARS. They stated that what ever happened to the flight happened so fast that the crew could put the ACARS or Transponder in an Emergency mode.

Can some explain to what the emergency function in the ACARS is? I have minimal acars experience but don't recall it on my units.
 
Pichettet1 said:
I seem to recall myth buyers testing this one. Definitely not true. But, an unbalanced rotor can be devastating, if it's unbalanced enough.
Click to expand...
I don't know if it's true, but my interaction with helo mechs does suggest that there is definitely something odd about them. The mechs I mean. Well and the machines...
 
jgheggie said:
After reading your post I researched it. Looks like mythbusters tested the myth with a postage stamp on one of the blades. They didn't use a penny. I'm not necessarily saying a penny would bring a helo down....but I'm not willing to try ;)

Are you?
Click to expand...
Ah it was a stamp! I couldn't remember specifics. And no, I wouldn't fly my hawk with a penny on a blade. Though I don't thing it would be unblanaced enough to do any harm, I'm not gonna risk it. :)
 
A Life Aloft said:
As I remember, the first true items/pieces of wreckage from AF447 were found 5 days after it crashed. You have to remember that it takes time to organize a proper search, bring all the entities together and get/travel to what you believe the actual area of the search will be, grid it out and proceed to search. You are talking about searching a very large area in an organized and methodical fashion. The sea is huge, whatever bits they may find, many are damned small. The currents/winds have to be taken under consideration also. We do not even know at this point in what state (how intact) the aircraft was when it crashed. No eye witnesses of any sort have come forth either.
Click to expand...

I guess I see what youre saying. For some reason, I thought it was less than 2 days before they spotted the first AF wreckage and had a team there within 24 hours. It just seems a little off that no boats have reached the area considering its proximity to a coastal city of some sort. The US and China surely cant be the only boats around. Unless they are looking to treat it as a possible crime scene and asked the locals to stay away?
 
SeanD said:
I guess I see what youre saying. For some reason, I thought it was less than 2 days before they spotted the first AF wreckage and had a team there within 24 hours. It just seems a little off that no boats have reached the area considering its proximity to a coastal city of some sort. The US and China surely cant be the only boats around. Unless they are looking to treat it as a possible crime scene and asked the locals to stay away?
Click to expand...
I would imagine that fishing vessels have been asked to keep a "lookout", but larger (mostly military) better equipped vessels with trained crews will/are being brought in for the serious search efforts. They also will not want to have every Tom, Dick and Harry with a power boat of some sort out there cruising around for safety sake and other issues. It will be disheartening if they find next to nothing and have to expand the search to other locations as well. That may happen. I hope not, but no one really knows at this point. Debris will be located at some point in time. The lack of any eye witnesses (land or sea) in an area so crowded with vessels is very disconcerting at this point. And the lack of any type of final communications whatsoever from the aircraft is even more puzzling and disturbing. We can only assume something horribly catastrophic and occurring very quickly. I have no idea what this may have been and cannot come up with any other scenario at the moment.
 
Last edited:
A Life Aloft said:
As I remember, the first true items/pieces of wreckage from AF447 were found 5 days after it crashed. You have to remember that it takes time to organize a proper search, bring all the entities together and get/travel to what you believe the actual area of the search will be, grid it out and proceed to search. You are talking about searching a very large area in an organized and methodical fashion. The sea is huge, whatever bits they may find, many are damned small. The currents/winds have to be taken under consideration also. We do not even know at this point in what state (how intact) the aircraft was when it crashed. No eye witnesses of any sort have come forth either.
Click to expand...
From look at FlightRadar24 track there wasnt an airplane within 50-80NM of them either... fireball or not, nobody would have seen a thing
 
canadian_atc said:
From look at FlightRadar24 track there wasnt an airplane within 50-80NM of them either... fireball or not, nobody would have seen a thing
Click to expand...
Interestingly enough, I just found this blurb about an hour ago: http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/pilot-i-established-contact-with-plane-1.503464?cache=03/7.212150?page=0?page=0/7.247066/7.490557/7.502513/7.576388#ixzz2vQ8TnTsw

Pilot in another plane was flying 30 minutes ahead of MH370
SEPANG: A BOEING 777 pilot, who was flying 30 minutes ahead of the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft, said he established contact with MH370 minutes after he was asked to do so by Vietnamese air traffic control.

The captain, who asked to not be named, said his plane, which was bound for Narita, Japan, was far into Vietnamese airspace when he was asked to relay, using his plane's emergency frequency, to MH370 for the latter to establish its position, as the authorities could not contact the aircraft.

"We managed to establish contact with MH370 just after 1.30am and asked them if they have transferred into Vietnamese airspace.

"The voice on the other side could have been either Captain Zaharie (Ahmad Shah, 53,) or Fariq (Abdul Hamid, 27), but I was sure it was the co-pilot.

"There were a lot of interference... static... but I heard mumbling from the other end.

"That was the last time we heard from them, as we lost the connection," he told the New Sunday Times.

He said those on the same frequency at the time would have heard the exchange.

This, he said, would include vessels on the waters below.

He said he thought nothing of it, as the occurrence (of losing contact) was normal, until it was established that MH370 never landed.

"If the plane was in trouble, we would have heard the pilot making the Mayday distress call. But I am sure that, like me, no one else up there heard it.

"Following the silence, a repeat request was made by the Vietnamese authorities to try establishing contact with them."

Obviously I cannot attest to the authenticity of this report.
 
Well then....

Following a friend 777 driver from FedEx, he says its routine for Vietnamese control to lose flights, moreso than your average control center.... it may have nothing to do with the event at all.
 
Pilot Fighter said:
I spent a week trying to balance the rotors of my buddy's Mini-500. It continued to try to tear itself apart. My hour hovering this death trap is my only rotorcraft time. Interesting bit of trivia, a rotorcraft rating is not required for experimental helicopters unless there is a passenger or required by operating limitations. No, I didn't log it. Hey rotor heads, anybody hear of folks that used experimentals to build time?
Click to expand...
That's correct. Could never imagine jumping in one without training. Curious how you're going about balancing/swinging the blades. Not sure on a mini but remember you have 3 ways to to dial in the blades, with weight, sweeping the blades or adjusting the tabs. Which one you use depends on pitch in the blade, RPM that is shakes and whether the vibration is a 1 or a 2 per. Also is it Lateral or vertical? I'm probably just repeating stuff you already know. Are you using a Chadwick unit or flagging? Have a funny story about trying to flag blades with a piece of plywood, duct tape and my partner's kid's crayons while I hovered the damn thing.
Perhaps another time :)
 
Bandit_Driver said:
Fox News just commented on the 777 ACARS. They stated that what ever happened to the flight happened so fast that the crew could put the ACARS or Transponder in an Emergency mode.

Can some explain to what the emergency function in the ACARS is? I have minimal acars experience but don't recall it on my units.
Click to expand...

AFIK, there isn't one. But I have no 777 ACARS experience. It may be different for different companies/software.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top