i feel bad for u.s. airways pilot captain sully sullenberg

[Mudge]

And all this is related to Warbirds how????

Note to moderators: I thought you were out to rid this Forum of pea-brained mouth breathing paranoids using the Forum for their own obscure political agendas. I think you missed a few.

I'm outta here. I'll be back in about 10 years, to see if you've grown up yet.

I was gonna' make a very pithy comment about your "pea-brained" remark and your promise to leave but it would get me put on probation.
But you're right about one thing, this is not even remotely connected to warbirds and shouldn't be here.

Mudge the subtle

[Nathan]

wow we all woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning huh?

[jet1]

I think he addressed the question of too much publicity yesterday.

He said he didn't mind because he sensed that the public was hungry for a positive story amidst the uncertain times and bad news everyone is experiencing.

I'll buy him dinner any time! CLASS ACT for sure.

[Django]

Fortunately I missed most of the drama it seems.

Ordinary people? Perhaps at home, but as stated he's a professional. Could an ordinary person have safely ditched a plane with no loss of life? When an airliner does go down, how often are there are no casualties? That certainly seems heroic to me, and probably every one of those families that survived. And this country could use some REAL positive role models instead of all these ridiculously overpaid (worthless IMO) football, basketball and baseball players. He should be in his uniform... because he's a professional.

Last edited by Django on Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Second Air Force]

First, I agree that everyone involved in this incident did what they had to do expertly, from the pilots, to the attendants, to the ATC guys, to the rescuers.

That being said, I agree completely with Tom's initial post that started this thread--and PbyCat-Guy's reply. The airline in question is milking these people, especially the captain, for all they can.

I'll be very interested to see how much actual damage was caused to both engines by the bird strikes, and also what part the FADEC and ships computer systems played in this accident. IF that part of the incident ever sees the light of day.....

Scott

[skydaddy61]

I'll be very interested to see how much actual damage was caused to both engines by the bird strikes, and also what part the FADEC and ships computer systems played in this accident. IF that part of the incident ever sees the light of day.....

Scott

I was just thinking the same thing.

[Second Air Force]

I'll be very interested to see how much actual damage was caused to both engines by the bird strikes, and also what part the FADEC and ships computer systems played in this accident. IF that part of the incident ever sees the light of day.....

Scott

I was just thinking the same thing.

WARNING: I don't want this to turn into a manufacturer bashing session--both major airframe builders use fly-by-wire on their most modern stuff. I just prefer a mechanical link between the throttles and the fuel control--call me old-fashioned.

Thanks for the reply, Skydaddy61.
Scott

[skydaddy61]

Not planning to bash anyone. It's not electronic controls that are the problem. It's programming logic that shuts down an engine that's producing thrust without the pilot's command (if that's what happened). The ATC tapes seem to indicate that the crew did not shut down the engines deliberately.

[Second Air Force]

I didn't aim my warning at you, skydaddy. I apologize if it came across that way. I didn't want an Airbus v Boeing thing to get started with the general viewership because of my comments. I didn't want to imply that the pilots did anything incorrectly either. I agree with what you posted pertaining to the logic and ship's programming. I prefer the judgement of the folks on the flight deck to some computer in the electronics bay any day.

Scott

[AviaS199]

Hmmm ... tough call. Goodness knows, Sulleberger deserves every good thing that has been said about him. And the others are right, it's about time some real heroism was recognized, instead of the phony heroism of professional athletes, or (especially) the nihilistic excesses of some nitwit pop/rock star. If we absolutely, positively have to hold up someone as an example of what a hero should be, the good Captain is a fine choice. I think the country instinctively realizes this, which is why so much praise has been showered on him.

One thing I have learned from dealing with the media: Being in the public eye has its drawbacks. No doubt, Captain Sullenberger and his family (and the other crew members) have had their privacy invaded to a fare-the-well by now. As members of the aviation community, we are in a unique position - we have greater respect for his accomplishments than the average citizen, but nonetheless respect his privacy more.

Bottom line on this: Leaving politics aside (TOTALLY aside), I think we can all agree with President Obama, who said something like, "If we all do our jobs as well as Captain Sullenberger did his, the country will be in fine shape." Something to shoot for, anyway.

[Django]

Did you guys see the crew on Letterman last night? Good stuff.

[Moonlight]

Regarding the automation of the Airbus, I think it ended up being a double-edged sword. While the FADEC may have shut the engines down (we don't know), the fly-by-wire system on the aircraft was part of the reason the ditching was successful. I fly a fly-by-wire airplane, and one of the features of this type of control suite is a built-in stall protection system. The FCCs, simply put, won't let you stall the plane. In ours, you can pull the power to idle, pull the sidestick fully aft, and after the barking (TOO SLOW!) and the wing reconfiguration stops, it enters a protection mode, and will literally drop the nose to keep the plane about of a stall.

Putting this in practical terms, Sully would only need to pull full aft on the sidestick and let the computers do the rest without having to worry about stalling the bird, hence enabling him to keep the plane flying as slowly as it possibly could when it hit the waters of the Hudson.

My hat's off to the crew, they're a credit to the profession.

[jtramo]

They aren't being exploited by anyone. The company can't make them do any interviews. They can ask or encourage but they can't order these folks to do anything. If they didn't do these interviews the press would be camped out on their lawns hounding them for months.

I think its great that they are doing it because it is good news in a era or nothing but gloom and doom 24/7. Plus, the flight crew can now retire early doing similar lectures at aviation schools and symposiums and make some serious "supplemental income."