How Stupid Are They?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

That must have been like trying to glide a brick to the ground..

Like pigs & pumpkins, given enough thrust bricks are surprisingly aerodynamic...

[up148]

When I read that I become livid. The gate has to swing both ways. If the left can do what they want and not be considered hateful and intolerant in their beliefs then the right ought to be able to do the same. And we wonder why this country is so divided.

It's $250 - write them a check if you feel livid.

I'm more irritated that GU supports any of these idiotic groups at all - for what tuition costs there, maybe they should go to class and get an education instead of wasting time and money both.

“If we cannot safely advocate for beliefs synonymous with Catholic social teaching,” she said, “then no group at Georgetown can be certain of its security.”

Can them all and get over it, and go back to being an educational institute.

+1. Actually, I didn't read the article, only read Hondo's paraphrasing. I don't send money to campaigns or causes anymore....except maybe "Rufus for President 2020".

BH

[webenda]

The aircraft was metric, the ground crew was not.

Located out of where?
Montreal, 23 July 1983. Canada went metric in 1975, but the ground crew was used to the old Imperial measures on existing aircraft.

............the fuel quantity indicating system on the AC 767 was inoperative on the day of the flight.

I might have wondered if it permitted to fly then.....maybe not any more after this happened

It is still up to the pilot whether to fly or not even today. In the case of the Gimli Glider, rather than canceling the flight, the pilot instructed the engineers to check the fuel level manually. The four-month-old 767 was a state-of-the-art machine with state-of-the-art glitches, and Fuel Quantity Indicating System issues were becoming a common complaint. Several independent dipstick checks later, the fuel hosers were satisfied that sufficient fuel was loaded, and they advised Air Canada Flight 143 to take off.

[up148]

Most aviation accidents are pilot (crew) error. The have gauges in the cockpit (just like cars) that tell you how much fuel was put on. Both pilots had their heads up the *sses, and I doubt if either is still flying commercially.

BH

[webenda]

The pilot managed to glide the plane down safely as he was a very experienced glider pilot. 22,300 pounds of jet fuel had been put in instead of 22,300 kg.

Big difference between a glider and a 767. That must have been like trying to glide a brick to the ground..

Depends on which glider you want to compare it to.. A trainer like the Schweizer 2-22 I used to fly has a glide ratio of 17:1. The Boeing 767 has a glide ration of 12:1. Whether that is a BIG difference or not depends on your perspective. A Boeing 767 can glide for 75 miles from a cruising altitude of 33,000 ft. My glider was limited to 12,500 feet altitude (non pressurized cabin) and could fly 40 miles in zero lift conditions. From a distance of glide perspective, the 767 does better than a 2-22 glider.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

+1. Actually, I didn't read the article, only read Hondo's paraphrasing.

Sort of like the ever so slightly tilted news of the world

I don't send money to campaigns or causes anymore....except maybe "Rufus for President 2020".

I need to set up a PAC and start collecting money; from all that I know about them, there's nothing that states I actually have to use any of it for anything other than for me,

[webenda]

Most aviation accidents are pilot (crew) error. The have gauges in the cockpit (just like cars) that tell you how much fuel was put on. Both pilots had their heads up the *sses, and I doubt if either is still flying commercially.

BH

Boeing took the blame for an instruction manual disconnect that caused the fuel load error.

The pilot, Captain Robert Pearson, is still considered a hero.
Pearson is 78 years old today and retired, so he is not flying commercially but not for the reason you suggested.

Co-Pilot, Maurice Quintal, became a pilot after the fuel error incident and continued flying commercially. Quintal died at age 68 on September 24, 2015, in Saint-Donat, Quebec, so he is not still flying commercially either.

[HONDO74]

Gimli Glider
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

Fascinating story. Full of suspense and drama. I am surprised they haven't made a movie about this one.

This is on the internet so it has to be true, right

[Rufus T. Firefly]

This is on the internet so it has to be true, right

Absolutely...........at least my Magic 8 Ball says so.....

[HONDO74]

This is on the internet so it has to be true, right

Absolutely...........at least my Magic 8 Ball says so.....

And all this time I thought you were using a Ouija board. Calling up the spirits of the dark force clowns for your info.....

[Mitch]

You're all missing a couple of other aspects of the plane runnin' out of fuel. Canada began to implement the metric system in the very late '70s, and like most things Canadian, they had it fully implemented in roughly 5 years. So, the metric system was fairly new to the ground crews. When I was in the Navy, but flying with the Air Force, I distinctly remember hearing one Captain tell the ground crew, (as we were boarding), "put on 25,000 lbs. of fuel". I can easily see the thinking of the ground crews. I remember buying fuel in Canada during my truckin' days. For quite a while, it was Imperial gallons, then switched to liters. It wasn't all that hard to convert Imperial gallons to U.S. gallons. Speed limits were Imperial when I first started drivin' up there in '74, but eventually went kilometers. I still can't tell how cold it is up there when the radio announcer says it's 9. I wind the window down and say, goddammit, it don't feel that cold.
The other thing about the metric system: Over 200 years ago, we broke away from the rest of the world to become our own sovereign country. Number and measuring systems should remain Imperial. What's up with you, Wayne. Ya think we should speak Spanish too 'cause we're soon gonna be outnumbered?

[up148]

Most aviation accidents are pilot (crew) error. The have gauges in the cockpit (just like cars) that tell you how much fuel was put on. Both pilots had their heads up the *sses, and I doubt if either is still flying commercially.

BH

Boeing took the blame for an instruction manual disconnect that caused the fuel load error.

The pilot, Captain Robert Pearson, is still considered a hero.
Pearson is 78 years old today and retired, so he is not flying commercially but not for the reason you suggested.

Co-Pilot, Maurice Quintal, became a pilot after the fuel error incident and continued flying commercially. Quintal died at age 68 on September 24, 2015, in Saint-Donat, Quebec, so he is not still flying commercially either.

Damn, when am I going to start reading what is being posted. You got me (again) Wayne. I wish most accidents were manual related as we'd have a whole bunch less.

BH

[rogruth]

I don't think a liberal arts college and a liberal college are the same thing.

[Wolf]

The other thing about the metric system: Over 200 years ago, we broke away from the rest of the world to become our own sovereign country. Number and measuring systems should remain Imperial. What's up with you, Wayne. Ya think we should speak Spanish too 'cause we're soon gonna be outnumbered?

Over 200 years ago we broke away from the "Mother Country" (England), I think we stayed with the rest of the world.
And to think we nearly became the second adopter of the metric system (but did not due to a diplomatic kerfluffle
with the French, who originated the system, we got stuck with the "English" system for many of our measurements)...

Thanks to several of the more far-sighted among our founding fathers, we at least go rid of that arcane English monetary
system, or do you want to go back to pounds, shilling, pence, et al., Mitch? The decimal monetary system is extremely nice,
convenient, and everyone has gotten quite used to it, thank you. The same would be true if we jettisoned the "English"
system of measurements for distance and temperature. Heck, even the English don't use the "English" system
anymore! The USA is the biggest holdout, along with Liberia and Burma. Just because it is habitual,
does not necessarily mean that it is correct or better (or even desirable).

During the Nixon administration, the FHA changed some of the road signs here in Maryland to included km
distances as an adjunct to the distance in miles. Don't remember if this was only an experiment or the precursor
to a planned gradual changeover to the metric measurements. They got replaced by miles-only signs in the next
go-round several years later...

[rogruth]

I think adding kilometers to the signs was the precurser to dropping miles and going metric then somebody figured out how much all the new signs
were going to cost and that that money could be used for other benefits. There are still some places that are marked with both.