Northern Ireland Aviation Enthusiast's Forum
Civil Aviation => Modern Civil Aircraft => Topic started by: Dave on February 20, 2009, 04:54:26 PM
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Well at first I thought I wasn't too bothered about posting photos from my Sunday's trip as quite frankly I didn't want to bore you all with photos similar to practically any other spotting day at the City Airport. However now I have uploaded afew to JP.net, they seem to be doing ok ratings wise so I might as well share the best ones here. Enjoy :)
(http://images3.jetphotos.net/img/1/0/9/2/91249_1234719290.jpg)
(http://images3.jetphotos.net/img/2/6/1/8/22828_1234718816.jpg)
(http://images3.jetphotos.net/img/1/7/7/0/95602_1234720077.jpg) This photo isn't spectacular but it does show the aircraft with the tip tanks removed...I'm not sure the reason behind there removal as they were still installed a week before this photo was taken.
(http://images3.jetphotos.net/img/2/1/1/6/87256_1234745611.jpg)
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Nice pics there - i like the flybe ones 8) 8)
We had two King Airs visit EGAB this morning but they left before i finished work :-\
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Thanks! Pretty unfortunate about the King Airs. Thankfully the daylight is getting logner and the temperatures warmer so spotting should start improving :) Random but I've always wanted to take a deck chair up to Enniskillen and just sit at the airport plane spotting. I quite fancy getting some helicopter pictures as to date, I've got zero :(
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Love the vortices in the first shot :)
I've always wanted to take a deck chair up to Enniskillen and just sit at the airport plane spotting.
Maybe we should arrange this in the next few weeks, what do you think?
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It's a bit on the cool side yet for the deckchairs :-X ;)
The Amphibious fly-in weekend at Lisnaskea might be a good one - and it's only a few miles away from the airport.I would think that most of the aircraft will be like G-TAFC and G-BOLL in that they can land in and out of water.They may well visit the airport during the course of the weekend.
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When was the picture of OK-UBA taken? I know the tip tanks were removed after an incident when the aircraft was blown off the runway in Ronaldsway in high winds and the tanks were damaged by a digger.But that was almost 2 years ago.
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Love the vortices in the first shot :)
I've always wanted to take a deck chair up to Enniskillen and just sit at the airport plane spotting.
Maybe we should arrange this in the next few weeks, what do you think?
I'd certainly be up for it once the weather improves and the work load dies down.
When was the picture of OK-UBA taken? I know the tip tanks were removed after an incident when the aircraft was blown off the runway in Ronaldsway in high winds and the tanks were damaged by a digger.But that was almost 2 years ago.
The photo was only taken on Sunday there although I was aware that they had previously been removed after an accident. I just find it hard to believed the same aircraft suffered another incident since. I'm not sure what the tip tanks are used for. They can't hold fuel as Belfast to Isle of Man is a pretty short hop.
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The photo was only taken on Sunday there although I was aware that they had previously been removed after an accident. I just find it hard to believed the same aircraft suffered another incident since. I'm not sure what the tip tanks are used for. They can't hold fuel as Belfast to Isle of Man is a pretty short hop.
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Ah but they DO hold fuel-that`s exactly what they are for-When I worked at Aldergrove some of the Manx 2 crew told me the tip tanks sometimes caused handling problems in strong crosswinds-I suspect that`s why they were removed.
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Whilst they carry fuel, I can't understand why they would be required on the short hop between Belfast and Isle of Man as surely they would add weight to the aircraft thus requiring extra fuel. If the aircraft can operate without the wingtip tanks as shown by Sundays photo then it really should be operating without the tip tanks on a daily basis ???
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Love the vortices in the first shot :)
I've always wanted to take a deck chair up to Enniskillen and just sit at the airport plane spotting.
Maybe we should arrange this in the next few weeks, what do you think?
I'd certainly be up for it once the weather improves and the work load dies down.
Just to give you fellas an idea of movements down here,today i heard
G-BXJW DA20 Katana (b)
G-JOYT PA28 (b)
G-TAFC Maule (b)
D-EFDL Grumman (v)
G-CEYG C150 (b)
and helos
G-HARR R22 (b)
G-HRHE R22 (b)
G-SUCT R22 (b)
G-LRSN R44 (v)
(b) based
(v) visitor
1200 - 1700 is usually busiest at weekends with mornings being quiet.No scheduled movements so impossible to predict if anyone will turn up.A pity there wasn't the odd fly-in at the airport like the one planned for Knock ???
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Whilst they carry fuel, I can't understand why they would be required on the short hop between Belfast and Isle of Man as surely they would add weight to the aircraft thus requiring extra fuel. If the aircraft can operate without the wingtip tanks as shown by Sundays photo then it really should be operating without the tip tanks on a daily basis ???
The Tip tanks are standard fit on the LET 410 and you are quite right the aircraft can operate happily without them,however it`s all a question of operating costs.
The Manx2 aircraft usually refuelled at Aldergrove after the morning arrival-the aircraft also operates flights between IOM and Blackpool,perhaps you weren`t aware of that.
Basically the less times they have to refuel the better,as it keeps operating costs to a minimum.Manx2 have very tight turn around times (as most budget airlines do)15-20Min's was the norm.
The crew told me that sometimes the tip tanks caused handling problems when taxiing in strong winds so maybe they were removed for the winter season when high winds are more likely-that would be my guess.
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I hadn't thought about that. It's amazing to think that the cost of carrying around the extra fuel weight may possibly outweigh the handling costs for refueling at the airports :)