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 ...
What if a pilot neede a go-around? This sounds nuts.
“We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” is a science fiction novelette by American writer Philip K. Dick...
I think they are saying the engines are at idle not off. Just not producing thrust.
Works okay for prop, not so much for jets. In case of an emergency jets take too long to spool back up. Dumb idea all round.
This is absurd. Big, heavy airliners do not “glide” like a Piper Cub. They have to carry engine power all the way to touchdown.
You can trade altitude for airspeed but speeds would be too dangerous for a safe landing and the big planes would smack down hard enough to collapse the landing gear and might not be able to stop, even on a 10,000 foot runway. Airliner landing gear are designed for a range of touchdown speeds far below what this would create.
This is a airliner fireball in waiting, ready to kill everyone aboard on impact.
They would have to deploy multiple drag parachutes like the Space Shuttle to get slowed down enough not to run off the end of the runway.
Every 10 MPH extra speed at touchdown dangerously increases impact speed and damage exponentially. Think about what happens to a pro dragster at 200 mph when it careens out of control in a drag race.
Just more crap falling out of the sky and attacking the Pineland Shopping mall.
Tough to abort a landing with no power.
Minho Kim.
Environmental and Civil engineering grad from Cal Berkeley.
Intern at Politico.
My experience is <1% of environmental engineers know how a turbine engine works.
He probably thinks they can stop/start at will and respond instantly like an electric motor.
Not to mention ordinary cross winds, updrafts etc that occur every day.
Read the article again.
Minho Kim says the engines will be turned off .. like a paraglider.
SA hosted this trash article on their website.
Stop blaming the messenger for pointing out stupidity.
Insanity.
As one who learned to fly (pilot father) before I could drive a car, one never lands without a hand on throttle in case of needing 100% power suddenly for any number of reasons.
End result would invariably result in deaths......
This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever read.
Not possibly true.
Actually Happened before and documented(AC, Boeing 767, out of fuel at 26,000’). One hell of a feat of piloting!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wnja3h70DM
What’s with John Wayne airport?
This is really stupid. Airliners do NOT glide! They have to be going very fast to make a safe landing. Maybe the greenies need to stay off airplanes.
Mea Culpa. I re-read it and spotted “Off” in the first intro paragraph. You are right. I can’t believe it. I kind of skipped over that paragraph (my mistake to do that) to get to the meat of the article which was factual. What a stupid intro paragraph. Maybe some editor wrote it because the rest is reasonably good.
“...all by having incoming planes turn off their engines and glide down to the tarmac like a paraglider.”
@RomanSoldier19 — sorry I called you out on that. It is indeed in the article as UNGN points out.
I live about 40 miles from Reno airport.
SEE/HEAR commercial planes year around.
Not a good feeling about this change-—Reno is in a ‘bowl’ & there isn’t a good glide path, IMO.
Yes-—reversed to slow/stop
“They’re still running and can be powered up if necessary.”
You are correct. However, there is a lag time before the engines give full power, hence the pilot phrase “Behind the power curve”. Done correctly, these approaches are quieter and safe - but they inherently involve a bit more risk.
But yes, the headline and many who read nothing else are arguing about something that is NOT happening, and whoever wrote the headline is an idiot or a deliberate liar.
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