Posted on 02/02/2023 4:00:43 AM PST by RomanSoldier19
Eleven more U.S. airports plan to adopt a new way of landing planes that reduces both emissions and noise — all by having incoming planes turn off their engines and glide down to the tarmac like a paraglider.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday that planes heading to Orlando, Fla.; Kansas City, Mo.; Omaha, Neb.; Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base; Reno, Nev.; and six airports in South Florida soon would make idle descents to runways. It's a method called “Optimized Profile Descent,” and more than 60 U.S. airports already have it in place.
(Excerpt) Read more at scientificamerican.com ...
It is amazing this article got through editing.
There is a big difference between “idle” and “off” which they use synonymously. Likewise with descent and landing. Idle descents are common, idle landings (meaning significantly greater than a three degree glide slope) are not.
As a former hobbyist private pilot, one question, rhetorical: “What could possibly go wrong?”
“Nobody will be shutting their engines off while landing.”
The article says they’ll idle the engines, not shut them off. I’m not a pilot. Can the engines be sped up quickly if they are idling? Seems like the thrust reversers remain necessary.
Yes, Scientific American, like National Geographic, ain’t what it used to be.
What if they encounter turbulance or over shoot and have to do a go around?
Scientific American is neither.
Watch for The Big Guy to order the Navy to use “glide approaches” on carriers.
This is the type of approach almost all airports used 60 years ago, until suburbs grew up around airports that used to be in the boonies.
With this lower, flatter approach the airplanes fly lower over more houses, disturbing more people.
The current method is to fly a steeper approach, thereby keeping the airplane higher from housing for as long as possible, but requires a bit more fuel to keep level longer.
IDLE doesn’t mean the engines are off.
Given this article seems to think it is, I question every conclusion being made from it.
So what happens when a plane lands and needs to stop???? Does the pilot quickly turn them back on and put engines into reverse thrust?
Just imagine the ultimate ‘green’ vacation, where you physically do not go anywhere, but are convinced, like Guided Meditation and Hypnotism, that you really traveled. You and your fellow ‘travelers’ board a plane, but instead of a pilot, a facilitator guides you through your experience.
Facilitator - “okay, everyone settle down, your trip is about to begin. Please slow your breathing and...
Concentrate… see yourself arriving at your destination. You idle at the airport gate,. Family and friends are there to greet you. Now you are in your Uber, touring the city and country side. A few more long, relaxed breaths,, Now you are packing for the trip and the flight home..
Now you have boarded your plane and found your seat.
Now you are sitting next to the liberal, leftist creepozoid who is offended by all your Maga gear (hat, shirt, hoody, you wear it all)..
Now you hear the other passengers clap and cheer as they remove the leftist creepozoid. Now, you are back home and can tell everyone about your fantastic, imagined vacation.
I don’t worry about it.
I haven’t been on a plane in twenty years and I don’t plan on changing that any time soon.
Airliners are the most energy efficient mode of people transport ever invented. The biggest energy inefficiencies are actually at the government run airports. For many flights, the indirect CO2 emissions of the airport staff and facilities exceed that of the actual flight. Focus on that.
“DELTA HEAVY 154-NINER, GO AROUND, REPEAT- GO AROUND”
...
Q: When is a jet airline not like a paraglider?
A: All the time.
It’s the “reporting” that is idiotic.
No one is going to shut engines off while landing.
Throttling engines back and "gliding" to "be greener" isn't going to happen either since the amount of throttle needed is dependent on the altitude of the runway and thus the altitude of the plane that's landing. The higher the altitude, the more power needed just to maintain lift and control.
The real title to the article, not the one shown here, does NOT include the parenthetic about “turning off” the engine. The article describes “bringing the engine down to idle”. There is a HUGE difference. A dead stick landing has the engine totally off for the whole landing. At idle, the engine still provides hydraulics, generator power, and more, and can be throttled up quickly when needed.
Re #5, the first plane that crashes and takes out a major downtown city will change this idea.
...they are thrust reversers, not engine reversers...you can’t “reverse” a jet engine....
Last words..."Get your a$$ to Mars"
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