The Wings Stayed On!: Go With the Flow...

May 11, 2011

Go With the Flow...

Have to share this time-lapse video taken at KBOS:

5 comments:

5400AirportRdSouth said...: Nice find, I liked watching the different levels of exhaust from the newer/older models.; May 12, 2011, 3:29:00 AM
Sarah said...: I was waiting for a ratty C172 to "line up and wait". Must have missed it; smallest I saw was a Diamond twin.; May 12, 2011, 6:46:00 PM
jjdebenedictis said...: Great video!

This makes you wonder why anyone is scared of flying. How often do you hear about a crash? Not very often, but ooh--look. It isn't for lack of opportunity.; May 14, 2011, 7:31:00 PM
Jim said...: Amusing. I also noted the height of the water on the rocks in the foreground - the tide is going out. Slowly.; May 16, 2011, 4:09:00 PM
Aluwings said...: I've been trying to figure out the actual camera angle and runway(s) that we're looking at. I'm having a problem making it all fit with the runway chart for KBOS...

For example, all the aircraft clearing the landing runway cross the departing runway, then turn towards the camera and exit to our right side... most BUT not all traffic arriving at the runway comes from the right side of the screen.

At about 1:25 - 1:45 three aircraft land in very quick succession - two biz jets/props and a 737 right behind ... They're too close together to be on the same runway...

The best I can come up with is that they're landing on 27, and taxiing across the active up at Kilo ... The three landers look close together because they're actually no longer on the runway but on Kilo...?

This seems to fit with everything except .. where do the jets come from that arrive at the departure runway from screenLeft? ...

Any ideas?; May 16, 2011, 5:38:00 PM

What"s this about?

An eclectic series of articles based on my experiences as a commercial pilot. Sometimes behind-the-scenes tales; sometimes more technical descriptions of Jet Transport Aircraft - and the people who fly them. While the stories are based upon actual experiences and real people, I use composite characters and made-up names*. If they seem familiar, they are. They're the people you live and work with every day. The world is full of interesting people - if we only knew!

The title of this blog comes from my first observation after test-flying my home-built aircraft: "The wings stayed on!" And later I realized that life is often like that. We are continually faced with new adventures. And though we study and train and prepare as much as we can, finally we have to launch and put all this preparation to the test. And unexpected things still happen. As the bumper sticker says, Life Happens. And we deal with it - hopefully with a good dose of humour and hope. And if the "wings stayed on!" well at least that's the main thing. And everything else is just details.

My stories are usually drawn from looking back over my career, which thankfully has been pretty dull. Trust me. When flying a commercial airliner, boring is good. You wouldn't like exciting... So don't expect many stories about engines exploding, and wheels falling off, and cabins catching fire. Though that kind of stuff goes on, thankfully, it hasn't been my experience. My stories are the more mundane things, the little things that inhabit real life.

And while mundane is the reality of modern airline flying, still it's an amazing feat, a dramatic and dynamic accomplishment that we shouldn't take for granted. Perhaps day-in, day-out our world-wide airline industry represents our civilizations' most complex achievement. And though it has become mundane we should never forget that the real drama lies in the times when these bigger disasters are too close for comfort. The times when some small factors could produce seriously different outcomes.

Sometimes all the calm around you is an illusion -- a little like the movie Jurassic Park where the investors are touring the not-quite-ready-for-opening facility, while the technicians thrash away at command central, trying to keep everything together - trying to keep up the facade that it's all under control. But if it is, it's not by much.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Like everyone in the airline industry who's blogging, I'm hoping to write a book, and I'm practicing on you folks. I'm always trying to hone my story-telling skills so if you have any comments please leave them. Also, please respect the copyright thing.

Thanks.

Aluwings