On Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:08:49 -0400, Gerald Miller
wrote:
On Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:15:28 -0400, john
wrote:

There are a number of other things to consider when it comes to aviation
and metric. Flight levels... in feet. Runway distances and aircraft
performance figures in the US are all in feet. All the aircraft
instruments are in feet, inches or lbs/sq. in. When you have a working
system you stay with it unless there is a vast improvment with a new
system.

Remember the Gimli Glider

Any "Bus Drivers" out there? I still want to know...

Did Boeing ever write that section of the flight manual covering
'All Engine Out" flight, the glide rate, optimum speeds, install
mechanical altimeters with rate of descent gauge, etc.? Did they ever
quantify the safety of side-slipping or other techniques you may need
to use in a dead-stick approach?

And one of the things Captain Bob Pearson mentions is that "Luckily
we were in a Boeing - you can't side-slip an Airbus, the computers
won't let you." Did Airbus ever correct that?

Murphy's Law Number (mumblety-seven...): When you ask about a rare
emergency and they say "Oh, you don't have to worry about optimum
glide speeds in a Jumbo Jet, since that can NEVER happen!" you can
rest assured that it in fact /can/ happen. And you're liable to be
the guinea pig that gets a front row seat to see how it turns out...

In EMT Class they told me I'd *never* witness a Grand Mal seizure
from the onset, so learning how to use (or improvise) a bite stick
wasn't really necessary... Two inside of a year.

-- Bruce --