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32 Years Ago an Aeroflot Pilot Bet He Could Land an Airplane Blind. He Couldn’t.
From The Wing ^ | 12/8/2018

Posted on 12/10/2018 5:47:28 AM PST by Gamecock

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To: Gamecock

There is a reason that they call it “Air Flop”


21 posted on 12/10/2018 7:27:03 AM PST by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: varyouga
Queen Elizabeth II Way between Edmonton and Calgary AB in 2013. A snowsquall caused a whiteout, leading to the carnage above.
22 posted on 12/10/2018 7:31:31 AM PST by Don W (When blacks riot, neighbourhoods and cities burn. When whites riot, nations and continents burn.)
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To: TexasFreeper2009
pilots are trained to land blind.

Not quite, depending upon what you mean by "blind". We are trained to land in Instrument Flight Regulations (IFR) and Precision Approach Radar (PAR) minimums. Further, depending upon the certifications the pilot is holding, they can be trained to 0/0 minimums which is a Special Instrument Rating meaning that they can takeoff and land in 0 miles visibility and 0' ceiling weather conditions.

23 posted on 12/10/2018 7:32:10 AM PST by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
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To: Gamecock
Last year after breaking my leg, I spent some time in a nursing home/ rehab center. One of the residents was a 94 year old former airline pilot.

Out of curiosity, I did a little research on him, and found out he was the captain of National Airlines Flight 193, which did a 'controlled flight into terrain', killing three people. Flew a 727 right into the Gulf of Mexico.

They were doing a night instrument approach, and apparently didn't have the altimeter set properly, and thought they were 1000 feet higher than they actually were. Pretty sure that was the end of his flying career.

24 posted on 12/10/2018 7:32:56 AM PST by real saxophonist (One side has guns and training. Other side's primary concern is 'gender identity'. Who's gonna win?)
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To: varyouga

One winter in Michigan, I came over the top of a hill on a little suburban road, and Newton was in the driver’s seat. It was the shady side of the hill, and there was a thin layer of ice. None of my control inputs mattered.

I slid down the hill for a while, and hit a curb. Wound up bending the front control arm on my car. Did not realize it at the time. It was only about a month later, after driving the car every day, when I finally hit dry pavement, that it became clear that the two front wheels were pointed in different directions.

The funny thing is, the car drove much better in the snow after my impromptu “modifications”. Unfortunately, it tried to tear itself to pieces on dry pavement!


25 posted on 12/10/2018 7:54:11 AM PST by Haiku Guy (ELIMINATE PERVERSE INCENTIVES)
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To: TexasFreeper2009

"...quite bright above the clouds..."


Understood. One would think they would employ tinted windows or similar...not halting all outward visibility from the cockpit.

26 posted on 12/10/2018 7:59:44 AM PST by Blue Jays ( Rock hard ~ Ride free)
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To: SIDENET

“32 Years Ago an Aeroflot Pilot Bet He Could Land an Airplane Blind.”

Blind drunk.


27 posted on 12/10/2018 8:01:06 AM PST by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Red Badger

"...so they can sleep, silly..."


Funny! Reminds me of the comedic pilot who told all passengers to “sit down and fasten seatbelts so he could use the rearview mirrors” to back away from the terminal. :-)

28 posted on 12/10/2018 8:03:23 AM PST by Blue Jays ( Rock hard ~ Ride free)
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To: Gamecock

I have a t-short that says

“I flew on Aeroflot
and Survived

Spent a summer working in the rural parts of the old Soviet in 1995.

I will never go back. Interesting people - yes. Interesting country - No.


29 posted on 12/10/2018 8:04:51 AM PST by ASOC (Having humility really means one is rarely humiliated)
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To: Blue Jays

Lasers


30 posted on 12/10/2018 8:15:44 AM PST by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: Gamecock
Eight years later, in 1994, the pilot of Aeroflot flight SU593 from Moscow to Hong Kong allowed his 16 year old son sit at the controls.

Was flying around Russia quite a bit in those years. Lotsa Aeroflot time.

31 posted on 12/10/2018 8:25:43 AM PST by MarMema (don't forget to stock up on dogfood)
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To: real saxophonist

The night Donna went down

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Airlines_Flight_193


32 posted on 12/10/2018 8:30:34 AM PST by deport
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To: rjsimmon

Seriously? Are you going to let that latter statement go unchallenged?
(”Again, the mistake wasn’t letting them take the controls, the mistake was made by the pilot who should have had his hands lightly touching the controls to ensure nothing unusual happened.”)

That was a commercial flight.


33 posted on 12/10/2018 9:20:38 AM PST by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: Blue Jays
Unsure why an airplane would ever need the windows to be completely obscured.

SOP for hijackers has been to obscure all the windows in an airplane. That is one reason why it was/is held in favor to have all windows open at landing... So folks on the ground know that everything is OK on the plane.
34 posted on 12/10/2018 9:44:07 AM PST by golux
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To: marktwain

All astute observations of the Russian character. Russia is a hard country to live in. It’s got a varied and rather extreme climate and the Russian people , one’s that I’ve known just seem to be a rather brutish, cold and largely reckless bunch. Life isn’t cheap in Russia. It’s worthless. Children however are a different matter. Russians dote on kids in a way Americans would find strange.


35 posted on 12/10/2018 12:06:11 PM PST by jmacusa (Made it Ma, top of the world!'')
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To: jmacusa
Russians dote on kids in a way Americans would find strange.

You wouln't say that if you had experienced their orphanages.

36 posted on 12/10/2018 12:13:47 PM PST by Don Corleone (Nothing makes the delusional more furious than truth.)
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To: rjsimmon

yes, that was what I was referring too. But the pilot with them would be able to see the entire time which is what was so messed up about the situation. The co-pilot shouldn’t have been blinded as well, which was patently unsafe and illegal.


37 posted on 12/10/2018 4:33:34 PM PST by TexasFreeper2009
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To: Gamecock

.
This is why I always fly Aeroflot...


38 posted on 12/10/2018 5:02:29 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: Blue Jays

.
>> “Unsure why an airplane would ever need the windows to be completely obscured.” <<

So the crew can catch up on their sleep of course!


39 posted on 12/10/2018 5:02:38 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: Nailbiter

Win stupid prizes ping...


40 posted on 12/11/2018 7:23:54 PM PST by IncPen ("Inside of every progressive is a Totalitarian screaming to get out" ~ David Horowitz)
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