Apparently the United Arab Emirates has been seeding clouds in its sky in an attempt to produce more rain. It seems to have worked, not just very well, but perhaps too well. A storm was brewing anyway, and the seeding appears to have "encouraged" it. See for yourselves.
I can't believe they taxied that airliner right through floodwater like that! It'll require major maintenance before it flies again. The undercarriage will probably need fresh hydraulic fluid, and I think the engines are bound to have ingested rather more water than they prefer. If I'd been a passenger on that thing, and looked out of the window to see all that spray, I think I'd have been hammering on the cockpit door, demanding to be let off the plane before they tried to take off! I wonder if Boeing or Airbus offer a water-ski or flotation upgrade to their landing gear?
Oh, well. I suspect the cloud seeding company can probably apply for some sort of bonus after being so successful - just as long as they don't apply to the airlines!
Peter
8 comments:
Takeoffs are more important than landings in that part of the world...jes' sayin'..
S.v.
I expect to see more of this in the future, and I think it'll have noticeable effects on the global food supply.
Those jet engines can handle quite a bit of water ... they fly through rainstorms in the air all the time.
Cloud seeding.
Based on my two years of owning a Fiat 850 convertible, I believe that I could have caused rain in any given location by simply lowering the top and driving.
I'm not sure how much water is a really bad thing, because planes are designed to fly through some level of storms.
(I would leave that to those who actually know what they are talking about)
Seems to me the form factor of the water might be a consideration as to how much is too much. Whether an engine can handle (to pick a random quantity) a gallon per second, might depend on whether that gallon is distributed over the entire intake as little drops (e.g. raindrops) versus a continuous single stream (e.g. hose, or engine partly submerged).
As a pilot, I"d be worried about what else is in the water. Not just water ingestion (wear and tear on rotor and stator blades) but FOD - grit, sand, plastic bags, don't-ask-in-Third-World, Jimmy Hoffa* ...
TXRed
*Well, OK, maybe not Jimmy Hoffa.
How did the pilot see the runways and the taxiways ? That is a heavy jet, it will sink in muddy ground.
The engines can ingest quite a bit of water as long as they are going fast enough. And those are high bypass engines, 80% to 90% of the air does not got through the jet engine. Of the air going through the jet engine, it has a 11 to 13 stage compressor and is 350 F to 400 F when it goes through the combusters. We use water injection to cool compressor outlet temperatures all over the world.
I'd be worried about erosion of the fan blades. In order to enter the core engine (compressor, combustion chamber and turbine sections) the air usually has to take a sharp turn of up to 90deg. This acts to centrifugally separate dust, ice and water particles out of the inlet air which improves engine longevity and prevents inlet icing.
I'd want to dry out the brakes if they're carbon-carbon. Carbon discs will absorb water, after takeoff with the gear retracted the carbon disks lie on top of each other so they freeze together at altitude locking the wheels. The landing gear will need to be greased to drive any water out of the joints and I would clean and pack the wheel bearings with fresh grease.
I'm sure that chapter 5-50 Unscheduled Inspections has an "Inspection after Taxiing through Standing Water"
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