Jump to content

Random News Items

Rich

By Rich
in General Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 5.3k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

blue_gold_84
blue_gold_84

Shell: $9.1B (https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/05/shell-earnings-q1-2022.html) [highest quarterly profit since 2008] It's not inflation. It's not the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It's not the carbon

Wanna-B-Fanboy
Wanna-B-Fanboy

Kind of big news...    

JCon
JCon

Tax the churches. 

The Unknown Poster Newbie

The Unknown Poster

Posted
Posted

This seems like a pretty big story.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/ethiopian-airlines-plane-crash/h_9e291bb50cb99c1c2afa3363a4c65518

Several aviation authorities have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8, one of the newest and most advanced airplanes.  None of the North American authorities have done so though.  Lots of talk on news shows with experts answering "if you were scheduled to fly the Max 8 today, would you get on the plane".  I wonder how many people have cancelled.  

I have a flight scheduled in May on the Max 8 (pretty far out so could change) and I was pretty excited to fly on that plane.

Sounds like the suspicions are about a safety feature that sees the plane's automation control "angle of attack" to prevent stalling.  A sensor may be malfunctioning and causing the system to enter a dive to regain speed to prevent a stall.  There were cases of pilots receiving contradictory readings and not realizing they're in a stall so this system would, I guess, help with that.  The obvious thing would be for pilots to be able to disengage the system to avoid a nose-dive but I read that many pilots were not fully trained in the use of this system and what could happen if it malfunctions.

itchy Community Regular

itchy

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

This seems like a pretty big story.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/ethiopian-airlines-plane-crash/h_9e291bb50cb99c1c2afa3363a4c65518

Several aviation authorities have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8, one of the newest and most advanced airplanes.  None of the North American authorities have done so though.  Lots of talk on news shows with experts answering "if you were scheduled to fly the Max 8 today, would you get on the plane".  I wonder how many people have cancelled.  

I have a flight scheduled in May on the Max 8 (pretty far out so could change) and I was pretty excited to fly on that plane.

Sounds like the suspicions are about a safety feature that sees the plane's automation control "angle of attack" to prevent stalling.  A sensor may be malfunctioning and causing the system to enter a dive to regain speed to prevent a stall.  There were cases of pilots receiving contradictory readings and not realizing they're in a stall so this system would, I guess, help with that.  The obvious thing would be for pilots to be able to disengage the system to avoid a nose-dive but I read that many pilots were not fully trained in the use of this system and what could happen if it malfunctions.

I recently flew in the 737 max 8, and absolutely loved it. The amount of overhead space was way more than any other plane I've been on, the seats were super comfy, and the entertainment system upgraded.

Totally worth the risk!  ;)

JCon Grand Master

JCon

Posted
Posted

Boeing is not having a good go lately. I hope they figure out the issues with the Max 8 quick, before anyone else gets hurt. 

 

I just checked my upcoming flights and I'm on old school "Next Generation" 737-800s. 

FrostyWinnipeg Grand Master

FrostyWinnipeg

Posted
Posted
45 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Holy **** is this irresponsible to tweet.  He musthave stock on Boeing’s competitors.  

 

I'm just liking the fact twitter has not expanded his texting #. Has to do it in 2 tweets.

 

Mark F Grand Master

Mark F

Posted
Posted

TOKYO -- Woolly mammoths could roam the earth again someday thanks to research reported Monday, where cell nuclei from one of the long-extinct animals showed biological activity when transplanted into mouse cells.

Bone marrow and muscle tissue were extracted from the remains of a mammoth named Yuka that had been frozen in Siberian permafrost for 28,000 years in the study, published online in the journal Scientific Reports. Genomic DNA was compared against that of elephants, and the researchers confirmed that Yuka's DNA overlapped with the DNA and proteins specific to mammoths.

The team injected cell nuclei from the muscle tissue into mouse egg cells and observed the forming of structures that appear just before cell division starts. The researchers also found possible signs of repair to damaged mammoth DNA.https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Science/Japan-team-edges-closer-to-bringing-mammoths-back-to-life

FrostyWinnipeg Grand Master

FrostyWinnipeg

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Mark F said:

TOKYO -- Woolly mammoths could roam the earth again someday thanks to research reported Monday, where cell nuclei from one of the long-extinct animals showed biological activity when transplanted into mouse cells.

Bone marrow and muscle tissue were extracted from the remains of a mammoth named Yuka that had been frozen in Siberian permafrost for 28,000 years in the study, published online in the journal Scientific Reports. Genomic DNA was compared against that of elephants, and the researchers confirmed that Yuka's DNA overlapped with the DNA and proteins specific to mammoths.

The team injected cell nuclei from the muscle tissue into mouse egg cells and observed the forming of structures that appear just before cell division starts. The researchers also found possible signs of repair to damaged mammoth DNA.https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Science/Japan-team-edges-closer-to-bringing-mammoths-back-to-life

giphy.gif

iHeart Grand Master

iHeart

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Was just about to post the same thing with the same comment!ha

 

and I wouldn't be surprised if I find out other stars have been doing it, I mean what has huffman been doing lately? I mean Loughlin could stand to lose quite a bit (I assume the final season of Fuller House has finished filming but she still has When Calls the Heart and the Garage Sale Mysteries movies)

FrostyWinnipeg Grand Master

FrostyWinnipeg

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, iHeart said:

and I wouldn't be surprised if I find out other stars have been doing it, I mean what has huffman been doing lately? I mean Loughlin could stand to lose quite a bit (I assume the final season of Fuller House has finished filming but she still has When Calls the Heart and the Garage Sale Mysteries movies)

She on the lam in Canada I hear. Might extend her Canuck visit.

The Unknown Poster Newbie

The Unknown Poster

Posted
Posted

Im fascinated by flight and aviation so to explain the issue here, the suspicion is falling upon the MCAS system which is software new to the MAX 8 that automatically pitches the nose down if it senses an abnormal angle of attack reading.  This is possible because the engines on the MAX 8 are larger and farther forward than previous 737's and can cause the plane to nose up immediately following take off.  The MCAS is meant to eliminate this.

The LionAir crash report isnt finalized but the belief is there was a faulty angle of attack sensor which caused the MCAS to nose down the plane (put it into a dive) and this confused the pilots were didnt know why it was happening or how to stop it.

Disengaging the MCAS is apparently easy to do but what is coming out now is that pilots were not sufficiently trained on it.  The FAA considered the MAX 8 to be similar enough to the 737NG that it did not require simulator training.  Pilots have complained they have not been fully trained.   Also, previous auto-pilot issues can be disengaged with manual pressure applied to the control column but that does NOT disengage MCAS.  So a pilot experiencing a sudden nose down would instinctively pull back...and nothing would happen.

The Lion Air pilots only received 3 hours of online training.

As we see above, several pilots have filed reports indicating control issues with the MAX 8.  I think its clear that there is an issue with the plane even if its just a matter of insufficient training.  I read one account where pilots basically fought the MCAS, trimming nose up as the system tried to nose down, creating a roller coaster flight.

I saw that Air Canada's flight attendant union wants the planes grounded or for Air Canada to let employees switch off the plane if they arent comfortable.

JCon Grand Master

JCon

Posted
Posted

It's hard enough to get the entire world to shut something down, imagine how incredibly difficult it's going to be to get them to re-open the airspace?

Lawsuits are about to start flying from carriers, insurance companies and victims families. 

 

The Unknown Poster Newbie

The Unknown Poster

Posted
Posted

Beating a dead horse here but I find this incredibly fascinating.

Here's an article (published after the Lionair crash but before the most recent crash).  It explains what the pilots likely faced.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/16/world/asia/lion-air-crash-cockpit.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

In essence the new MCAS system activated, trimming the plane nose down by raising the stabilizers located on the tail.  MCAS actived due to a fault sensor that indicated the plane was too high nose-up (which it wasnt).   The pilot's would instinctively pull back on the yoke to raise the nose.  This force causes the elevators on the tail to activate.  But the elevators provide weaker nose-up than the stabilizers provide nose-down.  So its basically a tug of war that the pilot cannot win.

There is a procedure to overcome this but, incredibly, it sounds like Boeing never shared this with pilots.  In fact, it seems Boeing never shared the existence of the MCAS system at all.  After the Lionair crash, they sent out a guide to over-come the MCAS trimming nose down but its a bit convoluted.

On the left side of the yoke is a switch that controls electrically powered trimming.  So when the MCAS wrongly trims the plane into nose-down, the pilot would have to recognize what is happening and use his left thumb to active this switch, over-riding the MCAS pull on the stabilizers.  But once the nose leveled and the pilot released the switch, MCAS would kick in again and go nose-down.

The pilot must flip two switches to kill electrical power to the trim system to cut off MCAS control and then use the manual trim wheel to adjust the stabilizers back to stable.

And apparently this MCAS was a cost saving move because Boeing engineers originally had plans to create larger stabilizers on the tail to off-set the increased size of the engines but that costs money (and might have caused the MAX planes to be given a new classification, rather then being considered 737's...new classification requires new certification for pilots).  Basically, Boeing said the MAX planes were basically the same 737 and required minimal training to operate.

I imagine Boeing is working on a software patch but there will surely be a push for a re-designed tail section and fleet-wide implementation before the planes fly again.

 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

×
×
  • Create New...