Hey N 82 50 24, here's my 2nd attempt to answer this one. I'll try to remember to actually hit
Submit Reply this time. BTW, is your name a significant latitude?
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Originally Posted by N 82 50 24
1) Are they any handling differences with rear fuselage mounted engines like the DC-9 or any stretch 9 like the MD-88 that you used to fly? Or are they similar to wing-mounted engines like the 763? I'm asking this irrespective of differences accountable to things like power, size and such.
The only real noticeable difference from the pilots' perspective is during an engine failure. Rear mounted engines have less of a problem due to asymmetric thrust. With wing mounted engines, the thrust line has a longer moment arm about the C.G. and requires more rudder to compensate when one motor isn't running.
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2) About a year ago I was on a flight from ATL to SJO and we had an engine failure. We were on a 752 which, I think, was a problem that the NTSB had warned Delta about already based on some research I did after the incident (the problems Delta has had with 757-232s with certain P&W engines was referenced earlier in the thread). I've seen you say that you've only had a few engine failures in your whole career so, if Delta is having this problem on a repeated basis do you think they're doing anything irresponsible by continuing to fly this fleet of 752s with P&W engines? Oddly enough, my blog entry about this trip actually ranks #1 in Google for "Delta Engine Failure".
I remember when Delta was experiencing problems with the P&W engines on the 757 fleet and they had the engineers from Pratt & Whitney working on it. Delta even parked a bunch of 757s for extended periods (this was early this century). At the time, I wasn't flying the 757 so I just exercised a variant of my life philosophy (which is: "There is no problem so big that it can't be run away from.") by ignoring it, figuring they'd have it worked out by the time I got to the 757. Turns out I was right...I haven't heard of any problems with these engines since I've been on the plane. (We also have a lot of 757s with GE engines.)
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3) Last August I flew on the 772 ATL-JNB. As I understand it, it's the longest range airliner in the world with the most powerful commercial turbofan jet engines in history. I am wondering if the JNB-ATL leg is among the most difficult takeoffs in the world during the South African summer due to the elevation of JNB (5500 feet), the number of people aboard, the size of the plane, the fuel for a 16-17 hour flight and the possible heat during the summer. By most difficult I mean requiring the most lift. I know that the regulations assume one engine failure on takeoff for calculation purposes but I have to believe that this sort of takeoff strains even the GE monsters on the 772.
The 777 does have tremendously powerful engines and the performance stats are based on worst-case for takeoff, i.e. engine failure at V1 when the plane is at its heaviest and slowest. I've heard that the engines are so powerful that during a V1 engine failure, it's necessary to actually
reduce power on the good engine because the asymmetric thrust is greater than the rudder can handle.
Even on the flight you mention, I wouldn't be surprised if they use reduced thrust for takeoff, as we try to do on most flights (exception: we use full thrust for icing conditions or if windshear is reported) to prolong the life of these incredibly expensive engines.
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4) While over in Africa on that trip, we took a lot of small bush planes with a single pilot. Some of them were Cessnas, some of them were some companies I'd never heard of like the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander plane we flew in -- but none of them were remotely comfortable. We had elephants on the runways and such. What sort of danger is one placing oneself flying in these little planes as opposed to the big jumbo jets? Or is it pretty much pilot/maintenance/weather dependent?
Those island flying companies don't have the FAA oversight that we have in the U.S. so you don't know the quality of the pilot training/checking, maintenance program, or requirements for their dispatchers (if any). They may be excellent, but how can you know? At least in the U.S. (and most "first world" countries) there is some agency verifying compliance with certain standards. And with the major U.S. airlines the compliance goes beyond the minimum required.
I'm not trying to criticize them -- I'd fly on them if I was on vacation -- but it's just a different ballgame with on-demand charter flying.
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I have tons of other questions but I won't attack you all at once. Thanks again for this awesome thread.
EDIT: Oh yea, if you ever find yourself in Grand Cayman, drinks on me
My wife likes to go someplace in the Caribbean every year and we try to go somewhere new each time (it was Punta Cana last year). We went to Grand Cayman about 4 years ago and she still has a picture on the refrigerator of her holding a 4 foot stingray during our visit to Stingray City. Great place!