Posted on 01/18/2009 7:20:26 AM PST by suspects
Looking for this week’s classic American tale? Forget the rise of Barack Obama. It’s the fall of Flight 1549.
There, lined up on the wings of a sinking plane like kids patiently waiting for the school bus, was the real America.
Not to name any names, but there are those who believe American society is broken, that our national soul needs healing, that our citizens lack the character to even set our own thermostats. But I believe that the nation this unnamed person will be sworn in to govern on Tuesday is a much better place than many of his supporters (not to mention family members) believe.
And I offer Flight 1549 as Exhibit A.
Captain Chesley Sullenberger III faced a scenario that would embarrass the writers of “24.” A packed plane, both engines out, over America’s largest population center, with no place to land but a nearly frozen river.
Sully did it, and then stood so calmly on the floating jet afterward he could have been handing out drink vouchers for the club room.
Now he’s hailed as a “hero,” a “pilot’s pilot” and a shoo-in for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s vacant New York Senate seat if he wants the job.
But his wife finds the national hero talk “a little weird.” He was just doing his job.
That is such an American phrase. It’s heard often from cops who kick in doors in our worst neighborhoods and Marines who patrol worse ones in Iraq. Americans who do exceptional things nearly every day, and dismiss it as mundane.
And the good news is that, while the media focuses on cash-snatching pols and Treasury secretaries who can’t pay their taxes, America has far more Captain Sullenbergers than Sal DiMasis.
It’s tempting to dismiss Sully as ...
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
What just amazes me is that he came in with the nose up, just like you would in a powered descent. He was able to trim the plane to make it do that with the engines off, or at best, on fire. Now THAT's a pilot!
Every time I see that hero’s picture I SMILE.
He exudes everything that is GOOD about America.
He is of my father’s generation, back when boys were raised to be MEN.
An Anglo-Saxon trait. (Final Voyage section)
I agree that eventually the media and bitter folk (often one in the same) will bring this guy down a notch or two.
Yet, it is not every day that a plane like this lands in the Hudson. So while I realize the plane had just taken off and the pilot was just doing his job, I find there is good reason to celebrate his actions as well as the actions of all those that acted quickly in the rescue.
In addition, at Teterboro he would have had a relatively short space for the touchdown. Too short and it's into the ground before the runway, too long and it's off the other end with an aircraft and its fuel load. One he set up his airspeed and angle of glide the river let him glide as much as needed to bleed off his airspeed.
I think when it's all over and done with it will turn out to be the only choice he had.
Uh, you do realize that this fact made what he did much more challenging, don't you?
What Mariebl said.
If you're flying a heavier-than-air craft, your objective at takeoff is to buy altitude and buy it FAST.
Altitude is to flight what clear stopping distance is to fast driving. It gives you space and control. You're fighting gravity.
When I flew gliders, we used to argue about the feasibility of downwind landings. It seemed to me that when a glider on the rollout reached ground speed equal to wind velocity, there was no rudder control remaining and a ground loop would almost certainly result. What do you think?
Hmm. Center the rudder when you lose authority - because rudder control is about to reverse?
WRT flight 1549, water drag probably overpowered aerodynamic forces as soon as the nacelles settled in. From the pier security cam video perspective the aircraft seems to impact the tail underbody and engine nacelles simultaneously. This effectively is a 3-point landing, not a sailplane landing. He probably pulled up a bit to stall and land with minimum energy.
IMHO, Flight 1549 was dealt a trash hand. Sullenberger drew three cards on his ace (himself) and ended up a royal flush. The only certainty he had to play with was minimizing loss of life on the ground - everything else was skill and luck.
I hadn't considered the wind direction, but if he took off into the wind he would have had to have landed downwind since he did a big 180 degree turn. You're right, though, that is a good way to induce a ground loop in most incidences. It really depends a lot on the airplane. Some gliders will swap ends more easily than others.
As far as landing down wind, we used to do it all the time up to about 10 knots or so, especially in the tow plane because it shortens the turn around time for the next glider in line if you don't have to taxi back from the far end of the runway every tow. Saves fuel, too. You have to make a point of landing a little fast and then pinning the tail on the ground as soon as you can and hold it there. It's certainly a bit of a tapdance if it's blowing. The tailwheel on my Pawnee tow plane was steerable, so not much worry with ground looping it unless it is really blowing and you weren't paying attention. Gliders are similar, but the tail wheels usually aren't steerable. If you land in a stiff tail wind in a high performance racing glider and keep the tail up you are asking to swap ends. Most of the time it isn't a big deal, but you can break the tail boom if you swap ends with enough energy, especially in "T" tail gliders.
In regard to landing speed in a tail wind, if you have a 10 knot tail your ground speed at touchdown will be 10 knots higher. I like to put the mains on a little bit hotter than whatever the wind is if I have to land in a stiff tail wind to keep rudder authority.
Another one I've heard used is "it glides like a bent manhole cover".....
I guess another great by product of this will be to see who the first to sue will be...I hope whomever it is will be tarred and feathered.
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