For those who like Aircraft pictures

[monkeysarefun]

There is a small WW2 airstrip up the road from here, built by the RAAF  in 1942 to evacuate military aircraft to in the event that the major bases were attacked by the Japanese. It still operates as a recreational airstrip, though the runway was chopped in half by a road and it is now grass rather than the original tarmac.

 

One landmark there is this derelict ex-Qantas Hawker-Siddeley HS-125. Its been there for decades and I keep thinking I should take a photo of it because one day it might not be, so today I finally did. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today  the aisrstrip is run by the Sydney Recreational Flying Club and its main operator is "Daves Flying School".

 

 

That emergency response vehicle is less reassuring when you zoom in!

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[St Enodoc]

8 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

There is a small WW2 airstrip up the road from here, built in 1942 to evacuate military aircraft to in the event that the major bases were attacked by the Japanese. It still operates as a recreational airstrip, though the runway was chopped in half by a road and it is now grass rather than the original tarmac.

 

One landmark there is this derelict ex-Qantas Hawker-Siddeley HS-125. Its been there for decades and I keep thinking I should take a photo of it because one day it might not be, so today I finally did. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today  the aisrstrip is run by the Sydney Recreational Flying School and its main operator is "Daves Flying School".

 

 

That emergency response vehicle is less reassuring when you zoom in!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oaks_Airfield

 

A very interesting place. I drove by once on a Sunday drive. Let's hope it stays interesting:

 

https://theoaksairport.com.au/

[monkeysarefun]

25 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oaks_Airfield

 

A very interesting place. I drove by once on a Sunday drive. Let's hope it stays interesting:

 

https://theoaksairport.com.au/

 

 

 

The vision

Our vision is to create Australia’s premier fly-in community, offering a range of high-end hangar homes, exclusive resident clubhouse, and state of the art recreational facilities, all interconnected via a separate roadway and taxiway network providing direct access to the Oaks Airport. 

The experience

The Oaks Airport is a lifestyle you can enjoy year-round. Alongside prestigious homes and private hangars will be a multiuse aviation, leisure and commercial hub to support Sydney’s aviation sector whilst generating local economic growth and employment opportunities for The Oaks community.

Edited December 28, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Sidecar Racer]

 

 Not to dissimilar to @monkeysarefun's post above I came across these this

on Google maps ,

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.1027793,-2.9030135,69m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

 

 And the closest and clearest shot from the road.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.1050311,-2.9031903,3a,15y,177.08h,90.25t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1svPX4uCOIqzLaYiChEXWgHA!2e0!5s20210301T000000!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

 

Why my interest you may or may not ask . Well I grew up locally in the two villages at either side of the

airfield  in the early 1950's . At the time it was still an operational base , and what flew from there ,

Meteors . So I was slightly taken aback when I saw the upper picture while just doing a trawl of

childhood haunts to see how much has changed over 70 years . The one pictured is actually

standing on an area that housed a hanger at the time . There were two on this side and two more on the

Westonzoyland side .

 

A history of the site is here .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Weston_Zoyland

 

 And the one in the photos is mentioned here deep down in the UK section .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_Gloster_Meteors

 

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Sidecar Racer

[kevinlms]

This article might be in the wrong place, and it is probably pay walled, but since you are plane fans, you might be interested to read of the Australian air safety inventions.

https://www.theage.com.au/traveller/travel-news/the-australian-invention-that-saved-countless-plane-passengers-lives-20240103-p5euv7.html

[J. S. Bach]

No paywall, at least when I read it.

[jjb1970]

This must be popular, it's a special livery for a festival from 14 years ago still being carried.

 

[jjb1970]

This pic of the A350 we flew in illustrates an odd quirk of Air China, they seem to leave aircraft parked with the rudder over to Stbd. It's not just a one off, I noticed virtually all of their aircraft at Beijing Capital had the rudder in this position.

 

That said, the Air China A350's are nice aircraft. 

 

[jjb1970]

Unfortunately a cloudy day so lighting all wrong, but this was quite an interesting visitor with crossover appeal to ship enthusiasts, an MSC 777F. The aircraft was operating an Atlas Air flight from Liege to Singapore.

 

[J. S. Bach]

It took me a bit to get the "crossover", at least until I saw the tail marking. 😉

[rob D2]

On 06/01/2024 at 13:25, jjb1970 said:

This pic of the A350 we flew in illustrates an odd quirk of Air China, they seem to leave aircraft parked with the rudder over to Stbd. It's not just a one off, I noticed virtually all of their aircraft at Beijing Capital had the rudder in this position.

 

That said, the Air China A350's are nice aircraft. 

 

Do all 350s do it ? It’s not a choice as such , it’s where the hydraulics leave the control surface as default on shutdown normally. On the Boeings the flaperons, droop.

[Paperlad]

4 hours ago, rob D2 said:

Do all 350s do it ? It’s not a choice as such , it’s where the hydraulics leave the control surface as default on shutdown normally. On the Boeings the flaperons, droop.

A350-1041 from my old outfit, pictured in  Feb 2018 when it was new. Rudder is defo centred and as far as I recall this is the default position but things could have changed since I stopped flying.

[jjb1970]

The rudder issue is intriguing, looking at some pictures and thinking back, the aircraft sat with the rudder in a central position at Singapore, Geneva and Heathrow, but at Beijing Capital in December and last week virtually every Air China aircraft except the 747-400 and 747-8I had the rudders over to Stbd (I've added a few more pics) so it doesn't seem to be a one off aircraft/crew issue. Thinking further back, I don't think it was the same in the summer and Autumn when temperatures were much higher (it was sub-zero on these visits), could it be a temperature issue, something done when temperatures fall very low? 

 

 

[The Pilotman]

When an aircraft is parked with the engines shut down there will be no hydraulic power supplied to the rudder. The rudder will remain in its neutral position (as it would be when the aircraft parks and the engines are shut down) unless the wind is strong enough to deflect it to one side or the other (Newton’s First Law). In the picture above of the A330, the rudder is deflected to the opposite side to that of the rudders of the two B777s in the background. I suspect that the wind was blowing towards the camera, from a direction somewhere between the longitudinal axes of the A330 and the B777s (which are not parallel). Either that, or the rudders were affected by localised wind conditions as sometimes happens given the large buildings (terminals and hangars) present at airports. Also, unless the photograph was taken with a long exposure, it looks like the number 2 engine is spinning which will happen when a significant wind blows into the rear of the engine. 

Edited January 10 by The Pilotman
Additional information

[J. S. Bach]

What about non-Air China birds?

[The Pilotman]

Air China’s aircraft will have the same essential hydraulic architecture as the same types operated by any other airline.

[jjb1970]

It was noticeable that the non-Air China aircraft seemed to have the rudders centred (Beijing Capital T3 is the Air China international + Star Alliance terminal and serves Lufthansa, Singapore AL, Eva Air, Asiana, ANA and others as well as some non Star carriers such as JAL and Emirates). It didn't seem windy on any of the days and one of them was a glorious bitterly cold but cloudless and still day. I've never noticed it before. 

[Paperlad]

Some possible scenarios regarding rudder position whilst aircraft ‘on stand’:

 

A) Aircraft on stand, parking brake set, engines shut down but APU (auxiliary power unit) running. The essential hydraulics system would be pressurised and the rudder will be hydraulically held in the neutral (centred) position.

B) Aircraft on stand, parking brake set, engines shut down, APU off but GPU (ground power unit) connected and energised. Most ground required hydraulics remain pressurised and rudder held in the centred position.

C) Aircraft on stand, parking brake set, engines shut down, APU off, GPU connected but not energised (or not connected), batteries off - essentially a dead aircraft. Any required ground hydraulic services eg. brakes, doors, hatches etc., activated through hydraulic accumulator(s). Rudder would be free to move according to the wind direction and strength.
 

The question remains regarding the rudder position in the ‘dead aircraft’ scenario. Does it deflect according to any wind force before any gust locks engage? I dunno what the answer is and without access to any Airbus manuals I can’t give a definitive answer, it’s also nearing six years since I last flew one - recollections my vary🤣

Can’t comment on Boeing, never flown one.

 

PS. It’s unlikely to be temperature related.

 

Further edit: Having chatted to a current ‘bus pilot it would seem that I’m wrong (again😂). After engine shut down and after the system hydraulic pressure has ‘ebbed’ away the rudder is free to move according to the wind, irrespective of APU/GPU being used. Every day is a school day.

Edited January 10 by Paperlad

[Paperlad]

13 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

The rudder issue is intriguing, looking at some pictures and thinking back, the aircraft sat with the rudder in a central position at Singapore, Geneva and Heathrow, but at Beijing Capital in December and last week virtually every Air China aircraft except the 747-400 and 747-8I had the rudders over to Stbd (I've added a few more pics) so it doesn't seem to be a one off aircraft/crew issue. Thinking further back, I don't think it was the same in the summer and Autumn when temperatures were much higher (it was sub-zero on these visits), could it be a temperature issue, something done when temperatures fall very low? 

 

 

The first picture is (slightly) interesting in that the main subject aircraft (A330) the rudder is deflected to the right but the two aircraft in the background (Triple 7’s) both rudders are deflected to the left. Wind deflection, system differences, alien activity? Anyone’s guess🙄

 

When I get round to it, I’ll ask one of my chums who’s still flying the ‘Bus.

 

P.L.

 

I just realised that ‘pilotman’ already pointed out the above, I really should pay more attention.

Edited January 10 by Paperlad

[St Enodoc]

6 hours ago, Paperlad said:

After engine shut down and after the system hydraulic pressure has ‘ebbed’ away the rudder is free to move according to the wind, irrespective of APU/GPU being used.

How interesting. In my PPL days (admittedly 40 years ago) we always fitted control locks to prevent that. In high winds, what stops the rudder (and, presumably, other control surfaces) flapping around with the risk of damage?

[Jeff Smith]

It could be that when the hydraulic pump is shut off the actuator has residual pressure on one side enough to swing the rudder - if so this may always be the same way!.....

[Paperlad]

11 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

How interesting. In my PPL days (admittedly 40 years ago) we always fitted control locks to prevent that. In high winds, what stops the rudder (and, presumably, other control surfaces) flapping around with the risk of damage?

The short answer is, I don’t know and until the question was posted here I’ve never really thought about it - but I’ll find out. Perhaps with big stuff there’s enough inertia in the rudder (and other control surfaces) to prevent any ‘flapping’ around or maybe the hydraulic actuators provide sufficient damping to stop any unwanted movement of the control surfaces? There would be little benefit with using traditional gust locks on a ‘fly-by-wire’ aircraft as there is no mechanical (cables or rods) connection between controls and moving surfaces.

 

Also from my PPL and instructing days we always tied the seatbelt around the yoke (with into-wind aileron) to act as a basic control lock - didn’t help with the rudder though. Even when I was flying the Embraer 145 we had an electro-mechanical gust lock that we engaged after each flight. It was positioned around the thrust levers so you couldn’t get airborne with the locks still engaged - that would really spoil your day and require lots of paperwork😂

EMB 145 gust lock arrangement.

 

Edited January 11 by Paperlad

[newbryford]

Maybe should this be elsewhere.

 

[PMP]

On 10/01/2024 at 15:47, Paperlad said:

Some possible scenarios regarding rudder position whilst aircraft ‘on stand’:

 

A difficult question to answer potentially, Though I have an physical environment theory. Are most of @jjb1970 a350 images taken at the same terminals in roughly the same parking stands? I.e. a regular trip between the same airports, and/or airports visited having the same general terminal parking NESW orientation.

 

 If so the the annual prevailing wind will have an impact. Eg if the prevailing wind is 70% westerly at both locations, and coincidentally the parking stands at those locations are north facing, 70% of the time the rudder would naturally free fall starboard side. Therefore there’s a 70% chance of every image reflecting that environmental effect if taken facing the nose of the airframe. 
 

I need to get out more🥸

[F-UnitMad]

11 hours ago, Paperlad said:

Even when I was flying the Embraer 145 we had an electro-mechanical gust lock that we engaged after each flight. It was positioned around the thrust levers so you couldn’t get airborne with the locks still engaged - that would really spoil your day and require lots of paperwork😂

🤣🤣🤣🤣👍👍👍 classic understatement!!