Wayne T Mathews Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 In a previous life, I used to fly around the Pacific in B727s with a Captain who, to protect the guilty, I'll call Percy Goodfellow. On one trip whilst carrying out the walkaround while on the ground at Christmas Island (the nuclear one on the equator south of Hawaii), I found an eight inch nail in one of the main tyres. Looking around, I saw Percy standing in the shade of the shed that doubled as a terminal, smoking his pipe. I walked over to him and quietly explained what I'd found. "Well did you take it out?" Percy asked. "Yes I did," I said, "but the tyre started leaking so I put it back." "Did that stop the leak?" After I nodded yes, he asked, "So what's the problem?" "Well, I'm concerned that during takeoff, the wheel rotating may cause enough centrifugal force to fling the nail. And if it flings up into the wheel well, we could damage our hydraulics and such..." I went on to explain to Percy that I had no idea how long it would take to repair the tyre, or even if I could repair it out there in the middle of no where. After considering what I'd told him while staring off into the distance, Percy turned to me and said, "Never mind, Old Chap, We'll go with it the way it is. I'll just take off slowly..." 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Baa Baa Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Could have replaced the nail with a screw. Got one in the ute tire and just nip it up every now and then Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf jessup Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Awesome Wayne, Old captain got to be old through innovation i see. Alf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazza 38 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 In a previous life, I used to fly around the Pacific in B727s with a Captain who, to protect the guilty, I'll call Percy Goodfellow.On one trip whilst carrying out the walkaround while on the ground at Christmas Island (the nuclear one on the equator south of Hawaii), I found an eight inch nail in one of the main tyres. Looking around, I saw Percy standing in the shade of the shed that doubled as a terminal, smoking his pipe. I walked over to him and quietly explained what I'd found. "Well did you take it out?" Percy asked. "Yes I did," I said, "but the tyre started leaking so I put it back." "Did that stop the leak?" After I nodded yes, he asked, "So what's the problem?" "Well, I'm concerned that during takeoff, the wheel rotating may cause enough centrifugal force to fling the nail. And if it flings up into the wheel well, we could damage our hydraulics and such..." I went on to explain to Percy that I had no idea how long it would take to repair the tyre, or even if I could repair it out there in the middle of no where. After considering what I'd told him while staring off into the distance, Percy turned to me and said, "Never mind, Old Chap, We'll go with it the way it is. I'll just take off slowly..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Eminent personalities like your quoted person, existed in the environment you describe. In reality what they suggest as a course of action is ridiculous. There is NO logic in taking off with a nail in the tyre . Hopefully we have outgown that larger than life response . When you pay for an Airline ticket you should get a professional up front of the plane you in. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz3g Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Eminent personalities like your quoted person, existed in the environment you describe. In reality what they suggest as a course of action is ridiculous. There is NO logic in taking off with a nail in the tyre . Hopefully we have outgown that larger than life response . When you pay for an Airline ticket you should get a professional up front of the plane you in. Nev Hi Nev... no logic at all in some of the things such larger than life characters did, but they certainly created their own mythology, didn't they? I remember DogsBody (Douglas Bader) used to open the window of his Spit on the way home from a sortie and smoke his pipe, knocking the bowl out on the frame. Probably not a good idea when there was a chance avgas was leaking from somewhere, but it built the myth of his invincibility and bolstered the morale of his young pilot comrades at a time when they so badly needed it. I've managed to lose that book (Reach for the Sky) and never seem to come across another copy in the secondhand shops, dammit! kaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I've managed to lose that book (Reach for the Sky) and never seem to come across another copy in the secondhand shops, dammit! Great book, I found one in a book store one day and had to get it, have a few copies now... but he's a great character Dougy! Got the movie too which is good watching on a rainy day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Reach for the Sky by Paul Brickhill, library binding $13.46 new at www.amazon.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andys@coffs Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 When I was in the RAAF we went on exercise to the USA via Hawaii. On the way home in the 707 at Hawaii, the truck that empties the onboard toilets backed into the the 707 and punctured the pressure hull. All of us had been away for 5weeks and were desperate to get home. The aircraft metal worker that was with us, grabed a lump of aluminium from the USAF and ussed some F111C fuel tank goup (sorta like a silastic glue....but with a whole heap of nasty chemicals added....and after time it reverts back to a liquid state) to stick the aluminium over the puncture and off we went.... I guess seeings as the oxygen masks never deployed the seal was good, or the pressurisation system was able to cope with the leak.... I remember that take off as being the longest I have ever experienced. At the piano keys at one end of the main Hawaii Runway throttle full bore.....noise increased and ever so slowly slowly we started to acceelerate.....At the piano keys at the other end the mains were only just off the ground and we were about 6ft up.... I thought we were going to create a small 707 powered tsunami..... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Longden Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Didnt they need 3000m to get airborne? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 The 707 is really old now. The engines were pure jet engines with no bypass and therefore a quite low thrust output. They took a long time to get airborne and notoriously put out quite a lot of 'soot' out the back. They established reliable intercontinental air transport although prone to a fair amount of "dutch roll" at low speeds due to the wing sweepback, dihedral and tail area. An incredible airframe structurally where the wing tips were able to move through 27 feet without any permanent deformation. I cannot recall any event where they fell apart in flight. Truly a monumental aircraft. All the derivatives ( 727 737 ) used many parts in common. The jet age goes back to the early 60's. and none of them now go any faster than the earlier ones. They are quite a bit more fuel efficient. Nev 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne T Mathews Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 The 707 is really old now. The engines were pure jet engines with no bypass and therefore a quite low thrust output. They took a long time to get airborne and notoriously put out quite a lot of 'soot' out the back. They established reliable intercontinental air transport although prone to a fair amount of "dutch roll" at low speeds due to the wing sweepback, dihedral and tail area. An incredible airframe structurally where the wing tips were able to move through 27 feet without any permanent deformation. I cannot recall any event where they fell apart in flight. Truly a monumental aircraft. All the derivatives ( 727 737 ) used many parts in common. The jet age goes back to the early 60's. and none of them now go any faster than the earlier ones. They are quite a bit more fuel efficient. Nev Just to add a bit of historical trivia to Nev's post if I may: The first commercial jet, a 36 seat Comet 1 built by De Havilland, flew for the first time in July 1949. Boac were the first to begin commercial jet operations when they began flying the Comets between London and Johannesburg in South Africa in May 1952. Unfortunately, The original Comet's square windows in the cabin were a serious design fault that caused the airframe to fail catastrophically in flight, and allowed Boeing to catch up, and in fact take over the lead in the race that began in the late 50s, and was in full swing by the early 60s, to supply the world with jet transport. As Nev said above, the commercial jets being built today are a hell of a lot more efficient than the four engined commercial jets (EG: B707, DC8, Convair 880 & 990) that were built in the late 50s and 60s, but none of todays jets are as fast. The Convair 880 and 990s as an example, which were built in the early 60s and have the same engines as the B58 Hustler and the F4 Phantom, are recognised as the fastest subsonic commercial aircraft ever built. They cruised at over Mk 0.9. But man alive, they were smokey sons of guns... One of Elvis Presley's personal jets, "Lisa Marie", which is parked across the street from "Gracelands" in Memphis, is a Convair 880. And John Travolta has a B707 (in old QANTAS colours even) which he parks in the back yard of his house just North of Ocala Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgmwa Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I remember DogsBody (Douglas Bader) used to open the window of his Spit on the way home from a sortie and smoke his pipe, knocking the bowl out on the frame. Probably not a good idea when there was a chance avgas was leaking from somewhere, but it built the myth of his invincibility and bolstered the morale of his young pilot comrades at a time when they so badly needed it. I've managed to lose that book (Reach for the Sky) and never seem to come across another copy in the secondhand shops, dammit! kaz Kenneth Moore did a pretty good job as DB in the old b&w movie years ago too. rgmwa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz3g Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Kenneth Moore did a pretty good job as DB in the old b&w movie years ago too.rgmwa I've got it on video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bull Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 There was an incident in south africa i think, A707 lost and engine or both engines off the stb wing ,major fire burnt most of the leading edge away ,,still managed a full stop landing at a airforce runway somewhere........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 That captain wasn't the KLM captain who caused over 500 deaths in one accident was he? On second thoughts I think he must have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pookemon Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 For some reason I get the feeling I could substitute a few words like "Cracks" and "A380" and "Qantas" and come up with a similar, modern day story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 At risk being a wet blanket can we stick to the facts of all this.. or are we just going to mouth on . Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pookemon Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Nev - this is posted under "Aviation Laughter"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 So it was, but the matters mentioned have gone well past the humour aspect. I don't believe we should encourage cowboy attitudes. All sorts of people read this stuff, so that's why I comment. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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