Flying in Puerto Rico

[Kair]

To address the earlier thread, I'm horribly sorry. It was an old joke that I thought some of you might have heard before. At the same time "What the hell?" Was no way to respond to it, and I think I deserve a little respect than that. That being said, here they are again.


Rise and shine to an empty St. Thomas airport, where empty 757s sat waiting and our Cessna was fueled and ready to go.


In a holding pattern near San Juan.


As a bonus, here's a flamboyantly gay man boarding the plane in Vieques.

[Daddy]

How high were you in the second picture?

[wawi]

Those are some good pictures. I laughed at the guy in the last one.

[Kair]

How high were you in the second picture?

2,500 feet. Later in that flight we had a hydraulic failure which the aircraft is famous for. We had to intentionally stall the plane to lose altitude because we had no control over our pitch. Scary.

[Kair]

Those are some good pictures. I laughed at the guy in the last one.

He kept tapping on my shoulder and saying "this plane is LITTLE "

[Geno]

I like this new guy

[wawi]

He kept tapping on my shoulder and saying "this plane is LITTLE "

It must of been along flight for you 

[V]

. At the same time "What the hell?" Was no way to respond to it, and I think I deserve a little respect than that.

This is Boyah.

So with that being said, it won't be the first time; you better toughen up.

[Kair]

It must of been along flight for you 

Yeah. He was sitting in the First Officer's seat, too, so he kept messing with the yoke while the autopilot was on and I kept telling him that he was going to fuck something up. He thought I was flirting with him, I guess.

[Socks]

We had to intentionally stall the plane to lose altitude because we had no control over our pitch. Scary.

How low was the stalling speed of that particular aircraft, I assume below 75 Knots. Also, aren't the hydraulics like quadruple redundant?

[Kair]

How low was the stalling speed of that particular aircraft, I assume below 75 Knots. Also, aren't the hydraulics like quadruple redundant?

Stall speed's about 68 knots, but we were heavy so it was closer to 73.

I'm not sure I understand the second question...

[Socks]

I'm not sure I understand the second question...

I mean, are the hydraulic lines quadruple redundant? Meaning if one goes down there are three others ones to route fluid to the area in question.

[Kair]

I mean, are the hydraulic lines quadruple redundant? Meaning if one goes down there are three others ones to route fluid to the area in question.

Ah, I see.

This was actually an issue of the hydraulic fluid cask (we were taught to call it a cask). Sometimes, the fluid solidifies and looks a lot like lard. That's why the cask has a heater to keep it liquid. The heater wasn't getting the job done and the fluid was solidifying, which means it couldn't squeeze through the lines. It happened with a 182 RG in New Jersey the other day.

[Full Metal Ryder]

I don't get all this nautical slang.

[Socks]

The heater wasn't getting the job done and the fluid was solidifying, which means it couldn't squeeze through the lines.

Interesting, shouldn't this only happen at very high altitude and speed over pretty cold areas? I know that recently some 777s were having problems as their fuel was solidifying and turing slushy over very cold areas (Russia I think) and high altitude. When their fuel heaters in the wing failed it caused some of the engines to become unresponsive and shut down.