Can turbo prop aircraft fly at the moment ?

Anonymous

Just wondering, because i know RAF Hercules fly fairly low and if they were not adversely affected why could they not be used to ferry brits back from Spain etc, or am I completely wrong ? Why not rotate planes rather than ships ?

finchy

The ash has to fall some time, and from what I've heard, it's totally unpredictable when that might happen. I might be wrong though.

bikeav8or

Turbo props are really Jet engines with a propeller on the front so same rules regarding ash apply.
It all getting a bit silly he Europeans are all flying :evil:

MrChuck

bikeav8or wrote:

Turbo props are really Jet engines with a propeller on the front so same rules regarding ash apply.
It all getting a bit silly he Europeans are all flying :evil:

But do they fly at the same altitudes? Certainly plenty of prop planes around over Cambridge at the weekend.
Although as johnfinch says the problem altitude could change.

deptfordmarmoset

I hadn't thought about turbo-props, but I was wondering wondering whether helicopters' air intakes would be affected. Our resident rig hopper1 might have the answer to that one.

rick_chasey

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

I hadn't thought about turbo-props, but I was wondering wondering whether helicopters' air intakes would be affected. Our resident rig hopper1 might have the answer to that one.

They don't normally go high enough do they?

iainf72

A few airliners just flew over SE London - Probably those BA ones which were going to attempt to land at Heathrow.

skyd0g

The Civil Aviation Authority has declared that all UK airports can open from 10pm tonight.

8)

Thomsonp811

Most large aircraft use jet engines to provide propulsion. Turbo props use a drive to a propellor helicopters use a drive to the rotor. This means they will all suffer the same fate.

However, I don't think the ash is a major problem in reality. It would only be an issue if the cloud was really dense then it would reduce the efficiency of the engine sufficiently for it to lose thrust. If it was that thick though we would be able to see it from the ground! Bear in mind we have lots of jet engines opperating in very dusty conditions right now - Kandahar Airbase is v dusty and I would expect not too dissimilar a composition to the ash.

Interestingly I haven't seen many senior engineers sticking their necks out on the news...

rick_chasey

Thomsonp811 wrote:

Most large aircraft use jet engines to provide propulsion. Turbo props use a drive to a propellor helicopters use a drive to the rotor. This means they will all suffer the same fate.

However, I don't think the ash is a major problem in reality. It would only be an issue if the cloud was really dense then it would reduce the efficiency of the engine sufficiently for it to lose thrust. If it was that thick though we would be able to see it from the ground! Bear in mind we have lots of jet engines opperating in very dusty conditions right now - Kandahar Airbase is v dusty and I would expect not too dissimilar a composition to the ash.

Interestingly I haven't seen many senior engineers sticking their necks out on the news...

http://www.ilmavoimat.fi/index.php?id=1149

Finish fighter jet engines.

Pictures of the damage caused by the ash.

When it first broke I also heard a story of a pilot claiming the ash 'stripped the paintwork off, so imagine what it can do to the engine'.

mrushton

There was a spokesman from the Inst. of Mech.Engineers yesterday on the BBC who commented on the f-16 in Finland. He was saying that there was clearly damage to that engine and that as an engineer he could not possibly recommend flying if safety was compromised. If you were the CEO of Boeing or Airbus would you say that your specs were incorrect only to find in a years time your aircraft failing?

mrushton

iainf72 wrote:

A few airliners just flew over SE London - Probably those BA ones which were going to attempt to land at Heathrow.

long-haul flights allowed to fly over UK airspace as long as they stay above the ash layer

iainf72

mrushton wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

A few airliners just flew over SE London - Probably those BA ones which were going to attempt to land at Heathrow.

long-haul flights allowed to fly over UK airspace as long as they stay above the ash layer

Yep - The only reason I noticed was I heard one of them. So it must've been not toooo high.

spen666

skyd0g wrote:

The Civil Aviation Authority has declared that all UK airports can open from 10pm tonight.

8)

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From BBC Website

Flight ban for most English airports extended




The flight ban will remain across most of England until at least Wednesday, air traffic control body Nats said.

It hoped to resume flights but further concerns about a new volcanic ash cloud meant restrictions were extended until 0100 BST on Wednesday.

The cloud, from the volcano eruption in Iceland, has spread over the UK and poses a threat for aircraft.

Newcastle Airport is operating some flights and its airspace will remain open until 0100 BST on Wednesday.

But there will be no flights until at least 0100 BST for the rest of England.

There is concern tiny particles in the ash cloud could clog aircraft engines.

Nats said: "We will continue to monitor Met Office information and the situation is likely to change during the course of the day."


Trail bikers stranded in Spain bought a 24-year-old car to travel home in
It had hoped to be able to allow flights to resume on Tuesday, but further volcanic activity has meant only a few flights can operate from northern England and Scotland.

The situation is due to be reviewed again at 2100 BST.

Newcastle Airport reopened at 0700 BST, allowing a few flights to land and leave. A flight from Aberdeen landed at the airport at 0939 BST and a return service took off at about 1200 BST.

A Jet2.com plane left Newcastle at 1100 BST on a rescue mission to pick up 229 stranded passengers in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

British Airways said 12 long-haul flights were currently en route to Heathrow, from Beijing, Singapore and the west coast of the US.

A spokeswoman said they had contingency plans for each flight if Heathrow was still closed.

Ferry company Norfolkline was carrying 49-seat coaches for foot passengers on some of its Dover-Dunkirk crossings for a second day.


rail bikers from Essex who were stranded in Spain bought a 24-year-old car to travel the 1,000 miles home.

Elsewhere, a mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan is unable to get to the inquest of her son due to the flight ban.

Lorraine McClure is in Gran Canaria and is desperate to get to Trowbridge, Wiltshire, where the inquest is resuming into the death of Pte Aaron McClure.

Pte McClure and two other British soldiers were killed by a 500lb (227kg) bomb dropped by a US aircraft.

Mrs McClure's solicitor appealed for help to get her back as soon as possible.

British troops stranded in Spain are being taken home by warship HMS Albion.

The Plymouth-based ship is bringing home more than 450 service personnel who were on their way back from Afghanistan, the MoD said.

"Also on board are around 280 British civilians at the request of the Foreign Office as part of the government's overall response to the crisis," an MoD spokesman said.

Two other Royal Navy ships are on standby for similar rescue missions.


British troops are returning from Afghanistan on HMS Albion
A groom in Manchester may miss his own wedding after getting stranded in Madrid.

Stuart Forrest, 33, had his flight from Mumbai to Manchester cancelled, but caught a plane to Madrid on Monday.

His fiancee Ann-Marie Richards, 31, has appealed online for train and ferry tickets to help bring him home on time.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Kerr from Spennymoor, County Durham and her fiance Mark were due to get married at Disneyworld in Florida on Wednesday, but their flight was grounded on 16 April.

The couple hope they will be able to make the trip in May or June.

Foreign visitors stranded in the UK are being offered free entry to National Trust sites if they show their passport and a flight ticket to prove they are stuck due to the flight ban.

ride_whenever

volcanic ash is awesome stuff...


it is really really small sharp particles hence it causes so much damage.

Pokerface

spen666 wrote:

skyd0g wrote:

The Civil Aviation Authority has declared that all UK airports can open from 10pm tonight.

8)

????????????????????????????????

From BBC Website

Yes - check the UPDATED news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8633597.stm

spen666

story changed on BBC website between my posting and your reply!

Monty Dog

Turboprops are effectively a jet turbine engine driving a shaft with a propeller on the end. Likewise, helicopters use similar types of engine. The only engines that are OK are piston-engined aircraft that benefit from a big air filter over the air intake. Many turbine blades are hollow to aid cooling and sav weight, featuring some very fine holes which would block easily because the high running temperatures would cause the ash to form glass on the blades, leading to them overheat and failure - a broken blade passing through an engine can be terminal.

SteveR_100Milers

The problem with the ash is that it melts and coats the engine internals with a layer of what is effectively glass. The engine overheats and shuts down, and is starved of fuel. In the case of previous BA 1992 incident, diving the plane forced the fan round and cooled the engine which resulted in the now solidified and glassy ash layer to crack and disperse.