Likely MH370 part found by American adventurer

Aha. So where are you now?

 

Speedbird says they have 36 747-400 (version with winglets) in active fleet.

 

Today, we are finally back home.

But we woke up yesterday in Lisboa, Portugal, which was also the starting location of the trip. In between we covered a reasonable selection of touristy venues through the country, from Cabo sao Vincente (SW corner of mainland Europe), Lagos, Evora, Cabo da Roca (western edge the continent), Sintra, Coimbra, Peneda-Gerês National Park, Porto, and up the Douro river. And a day excursion across the border to Salamanca.

If anyone here has been watching the Eurovision Song Contest, there is a slight chance of having seen me walking across the Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square) just outside the venue fence. I'd be one of the people pointing up at the video drone. But I have no idea whether or not it was among any broadcast clips, or if it is even possible to spot me among thousands of others.

So many things to catch up on here ... And due to a very busy schedule since before New Year's, I was already way behind on a long list of items that should be contributed here. As an elderly aunt remarked long ago, she (and now we) are so busy now, how did we ever find time for a paying job?

Yup, that is the version we were on for the outbound leg. But AA had different craft for the return journey.

Outbound, we hit over 1150 km/hour ground speed with a very bouncy tailwind. The return was much slower, but at least smoother.

 

Welcome home!

I got home last week, and, like you, am scrambling to catch up.

I've never been to Lisbon, but it's one of my parent's favourite cities: they've been going there once or twice a year for the past three or four years - basically, whenever there's a flight for less than 10 pounds from Manchester or Liverpool, they jump on a plane. They go to other places too, but they keep going back to Lisbon because they like it so much.

It sounds like you had a lovely holiday.

There's been a lot of coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest here. But while I've been looking out for you, I haven't seen anyone who looks like this....



.... not even in the drone footage. I'd have thought you'd really stand out.

When we were talking about 747s, I'd completely forgotten about BA. Usually I only see their 777s, because that's what they fly to Sydney, Shanghai and Beijing.

But I did see a lot of BA 747-400s at Heathrow (many from the window of my Vietnam Airlines 787, which was new and lovely). While the few passenger 747s I see in Sydney - mostly Qantas and Thai - look old and dilapidated, the BA ones still look fresh and stylish (on the outside at least - what were they like on the inside?).

Air China has a few of the new 747-8s, which I've seen in Beijing. They look kind of weirdly bland, like an ill-advised mid-term update of a car where they put in clear lenses and stuff to try to make it look more modern.

 

I can see why, it is a very nice area to visit, with plenty more that we didn't get to. We'll likely never be back, as it is far away and the spouse has a strong 'been there, done that, let's try something different' attitude combined with a very long bucket list. But with your parents probably under 1k miles away, it becomes an attractive repeat destination.


That sort of person really would stand out, but I don't recall seeing anyone resembling that view. Mirror or otherwise.

But if you're just grabbing my profile picture (i.e. that isn't a local placeholder to fill things blocked by my browser protections), then do remember that plenty of folks on social media do substitute much more flattering shots of more beautiful people than themselves. Why shouldn't I do the same?

Not having cable or satellite TV service, I have no idea whether or not this event is receiving U.S. coverage.

That was a month ago, so memory is already fading. I mainly remember that it certainly didn't seem anywhere near old enough to be close to retirement. On the other hand, the American Airlines 767 on yesterday's first leg (sold by BA under code sharing) was quite noticeably worn and dirty inside. The A321 on the second leg was significantly fresher.

Despite living nearly in the back yard, I have yet to fly in a 787. Living under one of the secondary air paths in/out of the factory, I usually just get to see their bellies during test flights, and the Dreamlifters transporting in the major components (fuselage segments, wings, etc.).

 

Yes, it's pretty much dead on 1,000 miles for my parents, so it's easy for them. And it is a long, long way for you. Do you have any idea where's next on that bucket list?

Yes, it's your avatar, at least on my Firefox browser: it represents you where my picture of my old Prius with a sofa in the boot appears for me.

And I'm sure you're far better looking than that.

It's huge in Australia, as we're in it, inexplicably. I'm not sure when we became part of Europe, but there you go. Everyone is very excited, because Australia's favourite person, Jessica Mauboy, is representing us this year. We nearly won two years ago with Australia's second-favourite person, Dami Im, so we shall have to see what happens. It's on this weekend.

I've never flown on American, but I've heard that their planes could do with a tidy-up and a vacuum. But they'd have little chance with a 767 anyway: most of them are really very old now. I think the last one I went on was a Shanghai Airlines one, and it was a terrible mess.

On the subject(ish) of Dreamlifters, I saw a Beluga flying from Chester to Toulouse during this UK trip. Both they and Dreamlifters are remarkable-looking things.

As for 787s, I've flown on a few now, with a variety of airlines (Scoot, Xiamen Airlines, Jetstar and Vietnam Airlines), and I do like them a lot. The windows make a massive difference, because they're so much bigger than those of anything else (except maybe the A350, which I haven't tried yet). If you're on the left of the plane, you can see well out of the windows on the right, and vice-versa, so you don't feel so enclosed, and it really is much more pleasant. And looking out of your own window is easy: you don't have to crane your neck to see out. And they're much quieter than anything else, and you have higher-pressure, moister air in the cabin, so you don't feel so tired after the flight.

 

Next up is Iceland, which you might remember getting mentioned last year.

I'm also quite sure that I look better than that sofa in the boot. But I'll make no similar claim in regards to my own avatar.

You aren't missing anything. They have been making their fair share of contributions to why flying is no longer much fun. Various other U.S. legacy carriers have been equal contributors.

I haven't seen seen that one yet, but think that the 6-engine Russian cargo plane (Antonov An-225 Mriya?) has flown over here. It also appears quite massive, even if significantly less bloated than the large-volume Dreamlifters and Belugas.

One source claims that 787 fuselages are transported to Everett by rail. While I've seen many 737 fuselages on rail cars (just cockpits decades ago, but whole fuselage lengths now), especially common sitting in the BNSF railyard next to a bicycle trail through Seattle, I haven't seen any other models similarly transported.

As a widebody model, rail transport of 787 parts doesn't seem to make sense. And a separate source points to transport only by Dreamlifter, not rail.

I've heard many good things about it, but haven't had the luck to ride one. Probably because I'm generally not using the carriers that have a good supply of them. Or maybe just not taking the routes.

 

Oooh, yes. That will be fun. I've always wanted to go.

I doubt lying on you watching TV would be quite as comfortable, though.

Yes. My US carrier experience is limited to United, Continental (in the olden days), Southwest and Aloha. I can't say I was impressed, but probably the Asian and Middle-Eastern airlines have spoiled me.

I saw an Antonov AN-225 up close at the Zhuhai Air Show a few years ago. It was extraordinary: like a big warehouse building with wings and engines.

Yes, I can't see a widebody fuselage dealing well with railway tunnels and bridges. Unless it's sent in quarters and they're bonded on site....

They're a joy - it's my favourite airliner at the moment.

I don't think going to Iceland will get you on to one, unless you fly via Norway, but that's a fairly circuitous route.

 

Latest news article. Little hard news, mostly hypothesis, though I hadn't previously heard about the plane tipping for an apparent final look at the pilot's hometown.

MH370 experts think they've finally solved the mystery of the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight - seattlepi.com

I did recently read about additional old shipwrecks discovered and identified by the various searches for this missing flight.

 

Seen one...seen them all.
Quite an extraordinary aircraft!

We get the "little" 4-engine AN-125s at a local airport on occasion doing the freighter thing, and they're pretty impressive as well.
It's always fun to see one of the locals when they figure out that it's a Rooskie bird.....

$70 megabucks buys a lot of eyeballs looking at a lot of glass.

 

Just came across this article on the 747, which I thought you might both like.

Happy 50th Birthday to the 747

I did actually do a couple of 747 trips this year - I didn't think I'd ever get the chance again, and I thought my kids would never have had the chance to fly on one. But we flew Thai from Sydney to Bangkok and back in June. It was a recently-renovated -400, with very comfortable seats and a great IFE system. It was certainly retro inside, but retro like a new Mini: it didn't feel old, just old-fashioned.

The kids and I will all have our first go in an A350 in January, on China Airlines from Sydney to London via Taipei. I'm looking forward to seeing what they're like.

 

Isn't a Flight 93-style takeover impossible now? (As Germanwings 9525 demonstrated.)

 

Was the aircraft modified with extra locks and heavier panels on the flight deck door? Aircraft used in US domestic service were, but that plane was older and Malaysia isn't a US domestic carrier. It might have been the old school cardboard and tinfoil door.

 

Yes, but the cockpit will be very noisy from all the pounding and other attempts to breach the door, for an extended period. And on a bigger craft, they may eventually find enough tools to succeed.

De-pressurizing the cabin promptly pacifies the passengers, giving the suicidal pilot a calm peaceful journey to eternity.

 

All Malaysian airlines introduced the strengthened doors too.

 

It would also prevent people from getting their phones out while they were still in range of any base stations (although they wouldn't have been in range for long, assuming the plane went where we think it did), or using the in-seat phones (which the pilot could have disabled anyway, I suppose).

 

Cannot remember which airline posted cockpit-access code (electronic lock) on line. Oops. Almost certainly didn't last long, but my point is that strength of the door is not strength of the door. It is of the entire system.

Flight crew always know the codes. Their responses to a ceramic knife on carotid artery cannot be 100% predicted.

Pilots surely can depressurize cabin, so, sensible bad guys would know where crew O2 bottles are. Or, know which airlines allow one to bring personal O2 bottle onboard.

Anyway, in more ways than I'd discuss, systems like these can never be made 100% secure against bad guys. Hard doors are more than window dressing, but not the entire story.

==
Yes, era of more than two engines for ETOPS flights is nearly ended. I hope to never ardently miss it

 

Do these still exist? I mean in functional form. The last several I saw were no longer in service, but had not yet been renovated out of the cabin.

 

Yes, you get them on pretty much all Asian and Middle Eastern airlines. They still have the credit-card-swipe down the side. I've never seen anyone use one, mind you.