OT : Volcanic Ash Cloud

[dodge]

... on topic I bet the ash made some cool sunsets.

There was no ash dude, we have probably had the best spring with the clearest blue sky's I have seen in years! I didn't understand the cloud thing, I thought is was about poor visibility, turns out they were worried about it clogging up the jet engines. You would have thought they had air filters or some shit, but then I aint a jet engine expert.

[diezdiazgiant]

There was no ash dude, we have probably had the best spring with the clearest blue sky's I have seen in years! I didn't understand the cloud thing, I thought is was about poor visibility, turns out they were worried about it clogging up the jet engines. You would have thought they had air filters or some shit, but then I aint a jet engine expert.

the granulate clumps and causes the engine to choke

[djmoonie]

My understanding is that after intense pressure from the airlines, flights got moving again, but there are still ash particles in the atmosphere so..

Either they grounded the planes unnecessarily or

They should still be grounded.

Either way, its fubar.

[pilmat]

the granulate clumps and causes the engine to choke

Not quite. The granulate is nasty stuff, hard and destructive. The way a turbine engine works, the compression fan outer tips run close to the outer walls of the engine at very high speeds (in fact the outer walls are wear strips that are designed to maintain minimum gap to the fans). In the volcanic ash, the fans work like sand blasters to the wear strips and other internal engine components wearing them out extremely quickly (minutes). Ounce the engine can no longer compress the air sufficiently, the burner runs out of oxygen and a "flame out" occurs. And as the engine is now worn out, it can no longer be re-lit. Game over.

Volcanic ash and water contamination are two of the biggest contributors to total engine loss in commercial aviation and it is taken VERY seriously. I currently work in aerospace and am finishing the certification of a flight control system, where this failure mechanism is clearly written in the regulations as one we have to cater for.

All that said, how much is too much? We can only err on the conservative side. Hence ground all of Europe.

But my weekend plans are still upset by no MotoGP...

Phil.

[Ciar2001]

The skies in London have been remarkably clear which is odd as they are usually covered in shitty car fumes lol!

as for the cunt leading the Lib Dems god help us all >.<

[JonChase]

Never seen a single bit of ash in Scotland and we were closest in Europe to the volcano. Skies have been fairly clear the last week. Well, as clear as the skies get in Scotland. Still feckin' freezing mind you

Not to get drawn into a political debate, the leader of the Lib Dems talks the most sense of the three main political parties.
That being said, they're all a shower of bastards at the end of the day.

[Karlos Santos]

LOL im not sure that the ash cloud was 'that' visible from the ground.
Some crazy pictures out there of the cloud from space.

Not sure how relevant they are to Jumbo Jets but im pretty certain that the no-fly thing was a good idea.

I aint buying this idea that it was just agencies panicking.


Oh and on the point of Nick Clegg, have listen to him next time hes in debate and try pick out his actual policies and grasp of the actual figures involved in his waffle.

Hes coasting. Just like Cameron 'was'. He just talks in soundbites.
"we need change" "we want an alternative to Lab/Con" "we need to get a grip on immigration"

Thats all hes got.

Meh... just my goofy opinion.

[pilmat]

Thats all he's got.

Meh... just my goofy opinion.

While we are off topic on an off topic thread: Karlos, when was the last time a politician REALLY said something? They all seem like wafflers to me.

I do vote, but never hold my breath that things will change (never mind actually improve).

Who was it that said "if voting could change things it would be made illegal"?

Phil.

[Karlos Santos]

Who was it that said "if voting could change things it would be made illegal"?

Phil.

Wasnt that Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys).

Yeah your right man they all waffle but when you look like, and have the personality of Gordon Brown our PM all youve got going is your grasp of statistics and figures.

He may be the first Prime Minister to bore the nation into voting him out.

Unfortunately we may end up with the one who actually is a bordeline Nazi or the one whos been stupidly accused of being a Nazi who probably cant spell it. Either way we are fucked.

[JWit]

OT thread went WAY OT, interesting convo being in canada tho