Sorry guys. Was in Chicago at a conference all week and my flight was delayed so I wasn't in position to post. Haven't seen this picture on a full size screen. Outer loop (counter clockwise) train approaching state and lake on Chicago's loop L.
Still an interesting view, maybe undershot these days. Brings back memories of Metra, LIRR, the Tube and Germany...
So, the first half hour delay was because the plane at the gate took forever to fuel and pushback. The remaining hour and a half was because our plane, which had landed on time, first had some sort of broken bit in the cavin that needed repair followed by the discovery that it had scraped its tail on the tarmac in LAX on the flight there and associated checks for safety done in the rain. So rain made the delay worse, but didn't cause it.
There is a video circulating on the 'Net showing a passenger jet landing on it's nose wheel. This stuff makes me nervous! Glad I've not flown in a long time!
Saw one a bit back of an AV-8 (Harrier) whose nose wheel would not deploy, so he landed with a stack of pallets or the like for a nose gear. Nerves of steel!
United use to have channel 9 aka cockpit to ATC radio available. If your the type to be a nervous flyer it would not have been in your interest to listen in especially at O'Hare. Barely controlled chaos that was.
Great photos so far. The problem with airlines these days is that the pilots being recruited have less and less hand flying experience, relying a lot on the automation. When the going gets rough and they need to fly the plane for real, that's when they make the mistakes. Plus some aircraft, like the Airbus, have a squirrely, heavily automated fly-by-wire control that seems to have trouble in rough conditions. I've seen planes coming in to land here in Montreal, in heavy winds, and the Airbus birds roll and pitch visibly (I can only imagine how it feels inside!), while the Boeings are steady as rocks. Trains are way better.
I've seen some photos of this unit, going back to mid-last summer. It always seems to be spotless, shining like new.
Finally got that 'dutch drop' viddo posted to youtube, [video=youtube;JJHyFihI4Sw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJHyFihI4Sw&feature=youtu.be[/video] It was fun to watch these guys work so well together.
Noted your on video comment. I had thought this had pretty much been 'outlawed' for safety reasons these days.
Me too! It's been many years since I've seen this. Heck, I think many roads forbid mounting or dismounting moving equipment these days. Though a Dutch Drop wouldn't require that, it requires a skilled crew. When I lived in Alabama, I'd hear a certain ICG crew on the radio regularly shout, "KICK'EM Bubba, Kick 'em!" as they went about their local switching. They were all senior GM&O men and knew all the tricks to get their work done and mark off early if they could.
Watching MRL that weekend I think they may not be as rigid about the no getting on or off if it is moving rule. A friend here told me that even BNSF is easing up on that rule to some extent. The class 1's have probably all outlawed a lot of time savers like this in the name of safety.
As a former Boeing and current Airbus jockey, all what I can say is that the Airbus' FBW system is made to automatically work against gusts. But when you're not too much used to deal with this feature (ie when you're a newbie on these aircraft), you have a trend to counter-react these gusts, meaning you often over-react them... Nice to see good old '35s in pristine condition! And indeed, I too thought that switching operations "on the fly" were definitly banned and severely enforced if ever.... Dom
