Re: Planespotting
 

There was a court case a few years ago, after the F14s were decommissioned and the remaining spares were auctioned off, and the buyer tried to smuggle them to Iran. I still can't fathom why they were sold and not destroyed when there was only one possible end-user customer and any supply of military hardware, or in fact just about everything else that isn't food or medical supplies, to that customer had been illegal for about 30 years. :rolleyes:

Re: Planespotting
 

Article about the last DC-10 Passenger Flight;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-26323216

Re: Planespotting
 

The aircraft was a real piece of crap with Micky Mouse safety systems.. In my humble opinion. Nobody who flew it, liked it.

Re: Planespotting
 

When Northwest retired its last DC-10, Wade Blaufuss, spokesman for the Northwest chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association said,

Re: Planespotting
 

I'll tell ya a story about the DC-10, one crashed in Souix City Iowa and I knew one of the pilots. The plane lost all hydraulics, you need those to control the aircraft and unlike the 747 the DC -10 didn't have an adequate back up system..They had to control the aircraft by using just the throttles. My friend was traveling as a passenger and came out of his seat to help the crew, and to make a long story short by some miracle HE got the aircraft down near the ground and lined up with the runway, it was coming in real hot because they couldnt retract the flaps, and they needed the power to steer the plane, but he said they "had it made", they had it made, they were gonna have to just fly the plane right into the runway going over 200kts, they'd run off the end of the runway into a corn field but they were gonna make it. On an airplane the captain is god and you gotta listen to him, and when they got over the fence the captain told Denny to pull the power, he told him "no", because it the only thing keeping the aircraft level, then as they got right on top of the runway he told him to pull the power again, against my friends wishes he did it, the wing came down, hit the runway and the plane cart wheeled, came apart and a lot of people died..All the pilots lived, and for 10 or 20 years afterward everywhere that captain went they hailed him as a hero, but really he was responsible for all the deaths..Whenever my friend talked about it, he got visibly upset with the captain.

They always try to create Hero's

Re: Planespotting
 

Sioux City Approach - United two thirty two heavy you are cleared to land on any runway.

Al Haynes - You want to be particular and make it a runway.

Re: Planespotting
 

My dad was a captain on it in for about ten years in the 70's and he bitched about it all the time. And all his friends hated it too- I remember him calling it "Micky Mouse", thats why I said it

Re: Planespotting
 

And do you really believe what people say publicly? Whata think he's going to say?

Re: Planespotting
 

Generally no, I don't. I learned "inside" a major news story myself back in the 90's that much of what is reported in the media is, to be charitable, .... er, .... not entirely correct and often misleading. :unsure:

But in this case the plane had been retired, so I see little motive for him to try to polish a turd. Even if he'd wanted to appear positive, he could have said that it was "good in its day, but it is time to replace it with more modern aircraft."

That said, I really don't know and you may be right. :)

Re: Planespotting
 

I'll give you the benefit of doubt, but reading the CVR transcript, I am not sure I believe your story.

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I don't doubt that DC-10 by comparison was a pig to fly, but that would be true comparing a Lada to a new Ford it's hardly surprising.

Re: Planespotting
 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9bda40c8-9...#axzz2uYdTzdK2


Qantas is in the Financial Crapper

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Appears to be a subscription only link. :(

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Re: Planespotting
 

Just Google "Qantas Troubles" then