Large plane discussion

[jiml]

Aussie Dennis Bunnik did a review of FC on the Lufthansa A340 on the Munich route pre-Covid, in anticipation of their retirement. Sounds like he liked it:



If I win the lottery before they're actually retired, this is high on my list.

 

[Mailliw]

I remember that you weren't allowed to line up on the stairs to wait, not because of some 9/11 thing but because there were no emergency masks over the stairs!

I never thought about this, but do aircraft lavatories have oxygen madks?

 

[Cal]

I never thought about this, but do aircraft lavatories have oxygen madks?

I think so...

 

[Devil's Advocate]

At one point the FAA ordered US airlines to remove emergency oxygen supplies from the lavatories of domestic aircraft but I believe they eventually changed their mind and now they’re back again.

 

[PVD]

It was 2011, a security issue was discovered with the oxygen generators. I do not know what year a solution was applied and they were put back into service.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The Bathrooms have gotten So Small, most people try not to use them unless it's a true Emergency!

I really felt uncomfortable in one on my last flight from BWI- AUS on Southwest , there was only One in Service @ the Front, and you had to sign up and wait your turn on the flight that was 2 Hours Late due to Weather!

 

[railiner]

The Bathrooms have gotten So Small, most people try not to use them unless it's a true Emergency!

Indeed...even the lavs on buses are cavernous in comparison to most airliner lavs...

 

[Mailliw]

The Bathrooms have gotten So Small, most people try not to use them unless it's a true Emergency!

I really felt uncomfortable in one on my last flight from BWI- AUS on Southwest , there was only One in Service @ the Front, and you had to sign up and wait your turn on the flight that was 2 Hours Late due to Weather!

Airsickness bags are waterproof, right?

 

[jis]

The Bathrooms have gotten So Small, most people try not to use them unless it's a true Emergency!

I really felt uncomfortable in one on my last flight from BWI- AUS on Southwest , there was only One in Service @ the Front, and you had to sign up and wait your turn on the flight that was 2 Hours Late due to Weather!

Whatever happened to the usual two in the rear? Did they decide to embark on a flight with both of those out of service? Or did they both fail en route in such a short flight?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Whatever happened to the usual two in the rear? Did they decide to embark on a flight with both of those out of service? Or did they both fail en route in such a short flight?

That, the plane was Full and the rears failed right after take off!

 

[jis]

That, the plane was Full and the rears failed right after take off!

I guess speaks volumes about Southwest maintenance of toilets eh? One could say it has gone down the toilet

 

[Bob Dylan]

I guess speaks volumes about Southwest maintenance of toilets eh? One could say it has gone down the toilet

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Airsickness bags are waterproof, right?

They look like they might hold liquid for a few minutes at most so move fast.

I guess speaks volumes about Southwest maintenance of toilets eh? One could say it has gone down the toilet

If only we had known what was coming. There are several potential reasons why Southwest keeps falling apart while other airlines seem to be functioning normally, but I think in some ways they're simply too big and too aggressively utilized for the operations software to recover from interruptions with a fleet of this size.

 

[west point]

About Air craft toilets. Even with multi toilets either front or back the blue fluid all comes out of one tank each front and back. So if the tank springs a leak ----------- !!!. What is worse if the leak does not happen at the service outlet but it leaks into the plane Not good at all as the fluid is or at least used to be corrosive. EAL had a L-1011 that front tank leaked into lower electrical compartment and then into the nose landing gear compartment. When the plane put landing gear down over lake Renton Washington the frozen glob came down into the water and Seattle 911 got several reports of a body falling off airplane into the lake.

 

[Dakota 400]

About Air craft toilets. Even with multi toilets either front or back the blue fluid all comes out of one tank each front and back. So if the tank springs a leak ----------- !!!. What is worse if the leak does not happen at the service outlet but it leaks into the plane Not good at all as the fluid is or at least used to be corrosive. EAL had a L-1011 that front tank leaked into lower electrical compartment and then into the nose landing gear compartment. When the plane put landing gear down over lake Renton Washington the frozen glob came down into the water and Seattle 911 got several reports of a body falling off airplane into the lake.

What is the "blue fluid"? Aren't aircraft toilets metal? If so, how can the liquid be corrosive?

 

[Barb Stout]

What is the "blue fluid"? Aren't aircraft toilets metal? If so, how can the liquid be corrosive?

Bleach can be corrosive to metal, but I don't know what the blue fluid actually is.

 

[jis]

I think only older planes have blue fluid. New ones don’t.

Of the planes that I fly these days only the 757s seem to have blue fluid. Admittedly that is possibly the only old model plane that I have flown in of late.

 

[Ziv]

I love looking out the window as the aircraft is flying over land. Over the ocean? Not so much. I flew over what looked like a near perfect asteroid crater in North Central Montana and have spent hours trying to figure out where the crater is so I could see it from the ground. It is up near Browning but I can not find a map point that has the same road/town/creek patterns.
Flying over Canada on the Dulles to Narita route is very cool in the respect of just how wild that area is. And flying over the mid USA it is kind of interesting to see the 1 mile squares of the old homestead sections. The other thing that happens fairly often is seeing other aircraft zip by a couple thousand feet up or down from the aircraft you are on.

....

Even when it is dark, flying over areas such as Orlando en route to ATL on a flight from Argentina was very interesting to witness the size of that metropolitan area. Such provides a different perspective to one's thinking, I believe.

 

[Trogdor]

I think only older planes have blue fluid. New ones don’t.

Of the planes that I fly these days only the 757s seem to have blue fluid. Admittedly that is possibly the only old model plane that I have flown in of late.

I think everything designed after the mid 80s uses a vacuum system nowadays, which on “large” planes would be A320s, 737NG/MAX, and all currently in-production widebodies.

I don’t fly 767s enough to know what they use (first designed concurrently with the 757, but stayed in production a few years longer; it’s possible they got some kind of upgrade at some point).

 

[Asher]

About Air craft toilets. Even with multi toilets either front or back the blue fluid all comes out of one tank each front and back. So if the tank springs a leak ----------- !!!. What is worse if the leak does not happen at the service outlet but it leaks into the plane Not good at all as the fluid is or at least used to be corrosive. EAL had a L-1011 that front tank leaked into lower electrical compartment and then into the nose landing gear compartment. When the plane put landing gear down over lake Renton Washington the frozen glob came down into the water and Seattle 911 got several reports of a body falling off airplane into the lake.

redacted

 

[WWW]

About Air craft toilets. Even with multi toilets either front or back the blue fluid all comes out of one tank each front and back. So if the tank springs a leak ----------- !!!. What is worse if the leak does not happen at the service outlet but it leaks into the plane Not good at all as the fluid is or at least used to be corrosive. EAL had a L-1011 that front tank leaked into lower electrical compartment and then into the nose landing gear compartment. When the plane put landing gear down over lake Renton Washington the frozen glob came down into the water and Seattle 911 got several reports of a body falling off airplane into the lake.

Aircraft toilets 101
The older planes had an electric pump that flushed the blue fluid around the bowl - the metal bowl was of stainless steel therefore non staining
The typical recharge of blue fluid that goes into the aircraft blue room is composed of chemicals that turn ugly green when enough urine has
been mixed and the smell gets much worse without routine maintenance:
That Maintenance involves driving or pushing a de-germ wagon up to the aircraft - small planes have one service hatch - larger ones one - forward
somewhere on the external sheet metal fuselage and one aft.
The hatch is opened and hose is connected tightly to a fitting sealing the flow of the de-germ -
A valve handle is then pulled releasing the reservoir of the used fluid into the de-germ vehicle -
The handle is shut - and a small hose with new fluid is hooked up to a valve and filled -
NOW for cheap skate airlines that is it disconnect the hoses close the hatch and move on -
The real operation is fill the toilet again and then pull the valve handle again draining new fluid and any remaining particles into the holding tank -
Close the valve and disconnect the drain hose -
Then refill with the required amount of fluid that particular aircraft requires -
Disconnect the the filling hose and close and latch the hatch

ANY QUESTIONS - Seriously this job is important and NOT DONE IN A HURRY least one avoid have a blue bath

The newer planes have the same toilet system that is found on cruise ships - a vacuum flush using much less fluid -
AND CAN BE TEMPERMENTAL JUST LIKE THE CRUISE SHIPS WITH THE WRONG THINGS FLUSHED diapers paper towels napkins and pads !
Depending on the aircraft there maybe only one service point to a central reservoir - smaller planes only one - wide body large planes
having two separate systems so at least one is available

The change of fluid is only one part of the servicing - spiffing refreshing up the interior of the blue room top side is the other part.

The blue de-germ pin stripes on the side of the fuselage is due to a bad seals on the hatch covers -
Too much fluid collecting will ice up and chunk off falling to earth some harmlessly and others with amazing concern (i.e. body parts LOL !)

One of my 99 hat job changes working a small airline station was to service the overnight aircraft - and turn around aircraft needing
urgent care - oh and blue de-germ pin stripes wash off with a little elbow grease.

 

[basketmaker]

Aircraft toilets 101
The older planes had an electric pump that flushed the blue fluid around the bowl - the metal bowl was of stainless steel therefore non staining
The typical recharge of blue fluid that goes into the aircraft blue room is composed of chemicals that turn ugly green when enough urine has
been mixed and the smell gets much worse without routine maintenance:
That Maintenance involves driving or pushing a de-germ wagon up to the aircraft - small planes have one service hatch - larger ones one - forward
somewhere on the external sheet metal fuselage and one aft.
The hatch is opened and hose is connected tightly to a fitting sealing the flow of the de-germ -
A valve handle is then pulled releasing the reservoir of the used fluid into the de-germ vehicle -
The handle is shut - and a small hose with new fluid is hooked up to a valve and filled -
NOW for cheap skate airlines that is it disconnect the hoses close the hatch and move on -
The real operation is fill the toilet again and then pull the valve handle again draining new fluid and any remaining particles into the holding tank -
Close the valve and disconnect the drain hose -
Then refill with the required amount of fluid that particular aircraft requires -
Disconnect the the filling hose and close and latch the hatch

ANY QUESTIONS - Seriously this job is important and NOT DONE IN A HURRY least one avoid have a blue bath

The newer planes have the same toilet system that is found on cruise ships - a vacuum flush using much less fluid -
AND CAN BE TEMPERMENTAL JUST LIKE THE CRUISE SHIPS WITH THE WRONG THINGS FLUSHED diapers paper towels napkins and pads !
Depending on the aircraft there maybe only one service point to a central reservoir - smaller planes only one - wide body large planes
having two separate systems so at least one is available

The change of fluid is only one part of the servicing - spiffing refreshing up the interior of the blue room top side is the other part.

The blue de-germ pin stripes on the side of the fuselage is due to a bad seals on the hatch covers -
Too much fluid collecting will ice up and chunk off falling to earth some harmlessly and others with amazing concern (i.e. body parts LOL !)

One of my 99 hat job changes working a small airline station was to service the overnight aircraft - and turn around aircraft needing
urgent care - oh and blue de-germ pin stripes wash off with a little elbow grease.

Excellent explanation. After many years in the industry and on the tarmac/ramp I have been told by several ramp agents that the best and easiest duties was working the "Honey Bucket". Just pay close attention to what your doing.

 

[saxman]

I think everything designed after the mid 80s uses a vacuum system nowadays, which on “large” planes would be A320s, 737NG/MAX, and all currently in-production widebodies.

I don’t fly 767s enough to know what they use (first designed concurrently with the 757, but stayed in production a few years longer; it’s possible they got some kind of upgrade at some point).

The 767s I’m familiar with have the suction toilets. I’m sure they were updated over the years like everything on the 757/767 has been. Some have glass cockpits now too.

 

[jis]

Flying over Canada on the Dulles to Narita route is very cool in the respect of just how wild that area is. And flying over the mid USA it is kind of interesting to see the 1 mile squares of the old homestead sections. The other thing that happens fairly often is seeing other aircraft zip by a couple thousand feet up or down from the aircraft you are on.

if you like to fly across wild and truly desolate areas take any non-stop flight from the North America to India. Flying across the Stans and then the Hindu Kush or the Pamirs and Karakoram (depending on the routing across the Karakoram/Pamir/Hindu Kush massifs, depending on how things are going in Afghanistan. Is always a fascinating experience for me.

Before the US left Afghanistan they used to fly right over Kabul or Kandahar on the south side of the Hindu Kush, but now they cross Afghanistan over the narrow Wakhan Corridor across the Pamirs. I am yet to fly that route, and am scheduled to do so in the latter half of January (EWR - DEL UA nonstop).

Of course on the way back flying across the Svalbard Archipelago far up north of the Arctic Circle is yet another different interesting experience. They often fly that far up north specially in the winter to avoid the more intense jet stream. Then again there is the EWR - SIN nonstop of SQ which sometimes (not always) flies right over the North Pole. I got to do that once, and also at a relatively low altitude because it was on a day with elevated Solar Flare activity.

 

[BlackDiamond]

For interesting flight views over places I would likely never go I would add seeing Greenland on flights between BOS and KEF. Only drawback is there always seems to be turbulence over Greenland.