Simviation Forum - Buckle up!

Nov 17^th, 2004 at 1:18pm

Mr. Bones Offline
Colonel

Posts: 4304

today i got this e-mail with the attached photos. what do you think of it?

Quote:

This was sent by a Boeing engineer!

Those Rascally Chinese Engine Mechanics

Thought you all might like to see just how friendly the skies are in different parts of the world.

A pilot for a Chinese carrier landed in FRA (Frankfurt, Germany) for an unscheduled refueling stop. The reason soon became apparent to the ground crew: The fan on the number 3 engine didn't look so good. This had apparently been no problem for those rascally engine mechanics back in China: they took some sturdy straps and wrapped them around both the fan blades and the structures behind, thus stopping any unwanted windmilling and associated uncomfortable vibration caused by the suboptimal fan. Note that the straps are seatbelts....how resourceful! Off they went into the wild blue yonder with another revenue-making flight on only three engines!

When they got a bit low on fuel, they just set it down at the closest airport for a quick refill. That's when the problem started: Those Germans are kinda picky about this stuff, and they grounded the aircraft. The airline operator had to send a chunk of money to get the first engine replaced (took about 10 days), and the repair contractor had decided to do some impromptu inspection work on the other engines, none of which looked all that great either.

The result: a total of 3 engines were finally changed on this plane before it was permitted to fly again.

Raw power...the J-58.&&&&&&My Anet collection.&&

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Reply #1 - Nov 17^th, 2004 at 2:39pm

chomp_rock Offline
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I must confess, I was
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I find that story a tad hard to believe, but wonder what caused that damage to the blades? It must have been rather hard to damage all of those blades, from what I've seen a 2x4 does not do any damage to them when chucked in.

AMD Athlon 64 3700+&&GeForce FX5200 256Mb&&1GB DDR400 DC&&Seagate 500Gb SATA-300 HDD&&Windows XP Professional X64 Edition&&&&That's right, I'm now using an AMD! I decided to give them another try and they kicked the pants off of my P4 3.4!

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Reply #2 - Nov 17^th, 2004 at 3:32pm

Ben_M_K Ex Member

Woah!

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Reply #3 - Nov 18^th, 2004 at 3:48pm

Hagar Offline
Colonel
My Spitfire Girl
Costa Geriatrica

Posts: 33159

Hi Bones. I think the photos are genuine enough but they're a little old now. I remember these doing the rounds a few years ago.

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Reply #4 - Nov 18^th, 2004 at 6:40pm

Boss_BlueAngels Offline
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I fly airplanes upside
down for fun.
Snohomish

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It's probably just one of those dumb e-mail stories that goes around. Someone finds some cool pics, then makes up some bogus story about it. But, that's just my take though. Cheesy

(Awesome pics nonetheless!)

The day is always better when you're flying upside down.&&&&www.fight2flyphoto.com&&&&Canon RebelXT&&Canon 18-55mm&&Sigma 10-20mm F/4-6.3&&Sigma 100-300mm F/4-6.3&&Sigma 50-500mm F/4-6.3

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Reply #5 - Nov 18^th, 2004 at 6:44pm

Craig. Offline
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Birmingham

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i posted these a while back a long while back, i did some research back then and i am sure the story was true. Have to go back and double check at some point

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Reply #6 - Nov 18^th, 2004 at 10:32pm

Rocket_Bird Offline
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Canada

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From the looks of it, sure looks like that engine injusted something heavy and perhaps rattled around in there for a short period of time, im surprised the compressor behind it still looks intact.. (visually anyways). But sheesh, what kind of aviation authority allows a plane to fly with seat belts wrapped on the fan and called it airworthy

Cheers,
RB

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Reply #7 - Nov 19^th, 2004 at 6:40am

jrpilot Offline
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Nice pics....strong seatbelts

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Reply #8 - Nov 20^th, 2004 at 5:50am

ozzy72 Offline
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Pretty scary huh?
Madsville

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Now I do actually remember this, and it is genuine. It was some Chinese airline, and the plane was grounded (in Holland I think), and they wouldn't let the plane fly until it had got a new servicable engine fitted.
Its kosher!

Mark

There are two types of aeroplane, Spitfires and everything else that wishes it was a Spitfire!

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Reply #9 - Nov 21^st, 2004 at 1:11pm

Tequila Sunrise Offline
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Nunquam non paratus
Glasgow Scotland

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remind me never to fly with a chinese airline Shocked

If someone with multiple personality disorder threatens suicide, is it a hostage situation?

Thou shalt maintain thine airspeed lest the ground shalt rise up and smite thee

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Reply #10 - Nov 21^st, 2004 at 3:14pm

Ben_M_K Ex Member

Chinese airlines are great! I've flown with Eastern and Southern and both were very good. They give lots of freebies like blankets and stuff, and the FA's are very professional. Grin

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Reply #11 - Nov 22^nd, 2004 at 12:14am

Rocket_Bird Offline
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Canada

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I just dont trust their aircraft maintainers Wink

Cheers,
RB

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Reply #12 - Nov 22^nd, 2004 at 9:52am

Ben_M_K Ex Member

LOL yeah, I guess, and now that China Eastern CRJ just crashed killing 50 some people. Cry

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Reply #13 - Nov 22^nd, 2004 at 3:55pm

Fly2e Offline
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It's 5 O'clock Somewhere!
KFRG

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Can you imagine operating an aircraft like that! Shocked

Can that thing possibly fly smoothly. I know the tires on my cars are balanced. When they are out th slightest bit, you get a wobble or vibration at higher speeds! That thing had to to feel the effects of those pics!

Dave

Intel Core i7 Extreme Processor 965, 4.2GHz/8MB L3 Cache, Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Intel X58 Chipset Cross
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