COULD’VE BEEN WORSE !

Dear Friends, I often tell my student pilots that it is wise to hold on before taking off when another aircraft has just taken off. Even two minutes is not enough sometimes because the wake turbulence may move in an unpredictable way – rather sideways – depending on the wind but not only. You can watch a previous post in which a spectacular uncontrolled roll happened: https://airforces.fr/2016/03/06/must-see-weird-takeoff-explained/ I have repeated that over and over – waiting is as wise as safe:

We cannot see clearly what really made the seaplane – assumed to be a French Canadair CL-415 Superscooper water bomber – veer off but it was definitely too close to the previous aircraft. Maybe the pilot wanted to do the right thing by saving time to save more lives. Was it because of the bow wake of the flying boat? Because of the air wake turbulence? A human error? A control failure? Or a combination of several factors? Anyway when you see an aircraft of this size taking off, please wait for two minutes before entering the same path. Fortunately, a pole was clipped, the Canadair was damaged, but it could have been worse.

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FIRE EXTINGUISHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Watch, and read the transcript below:

 

 


Transcript:

 

In this tutorial, we will explore the foremost common classifications of fire extinguishers.

The first, and most common type of extinguisher is used for a Class A fire. These are fires fueled by ordinary combustible materials such as paper, wood, carbon, most plastics. The Class A fire extinguisher uses the water to smother the fire.

Class B fires are fueled by flammable liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, grease, and oil. Remember this classification extinguisher – think « B » for Boil, or oil. Class B extinguishers typically use liquid foam agent to smother the fire. You never want to use water on a Class B fire, as the water can cause the flammable liquids to spread like we accidentally drip water on a frying pan, and the grease pops, and in boiling liquid into the air.

Class C fires are fueled by electrical current traveling to wires, circuits, and outlets. Class C extinguishers most commonly use a dry chemical powder to smother the fire. In more sensitive environments such as a recording studio, a Class C extinguisher may use a halon gas that does not leave a residue. These are often referred to as clean agents. You would also never want to use water on a Class C fire for obvious reasons.

Most household extinguishers are a combination of Class A, B, and C ratings. These extinguishers can be used on ordinary combustible fires, liquid fires, and electrical fires.

The last of the four common classifications of fire is the Class D fire. The Class D fires fueled by combustible metals such as magnesium, potassium, and sodium. Class D fire extinguishers are used exclusively for Class D fires, and use materials such as sand, and dry chemical powders to smother the fire.

 

Special thanks to RVTCDEN who shared this video on Youtube.

 

And… Thank you Vince for your help! 😉

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HOW to SURVIVE an AIRCRASH

cours anglais aviation Toni Giacoia FCL .055 OACI en ligne à distance

Cours d’anglais aéronautique sur FCL ANGLAIS

This video shows how you can survive an airplane crash.
 
In case you are caught up in an air disaster situation, this is what you need:

  • an aisle seat or one close to it
  • long-sleeved pants and top;
  • and flat closed-toe shoes;
  • and a smoke hood or a wet washcloth

 
Click on the video hereafter:
 


 
If you need the transcript, it is available here: Transcript-link (below the video)
 

 

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FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT FALLOUT

Firefighters, as well as military personnel might be involved in a CRO (Crisis Response Operation – WARNING as this acronym has many other meanings in the military).

To whom it may concern, a short vocabulary review could be useful in case of (let’s hope you won’t deal with it) either natural disasters or a nuclear powerplant accident.

For instance:

  • « Fallout » is used in the headline above, and it means « consequences » but it also means « fallout » like in « radioactive/radiological fallout » (retombees radioactives/radiologiques)
  • NRBC (Nuclear, Radiological, Biological, and Chemical) or CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear)
  • Meltdown scenario = scenario de fusion du coeur du reacteur
  • Plume of smoke = Panache de fumee
  • Tidal wave, tsunami = Tsunami
  • Earthquake, quake = Tremblement de terre
  • Tremor = Secousse, replique
  • Shake, shaking = Secousse
  • Mud slide (prononcez [meud slaïd])/Land slide = Coulee de boue/Glissement de terrain
  • Flood/Flooding (prononcez [fleud] ou [fleuding]) = innondation
  • Fire/Arson = Incendie/Incendie criminel

…and so on. Watch, and listen carefully to this PBS News-Hour video:

  

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BOEING 767 BELLY-LANDING in Warsaw

November 1, 2011 – A commercial aircraft performed an emergency landing onto Frederic Chopin International Airport two hours ago. The LOT Polish Airlines B-767 that had taken off from Newark had then been circling over Poland’s capital for an hour as a landing gear failure had been reported. The belly-landing unfolded perfectly, and the firefighters responded immediately. No casualties have been reported among the crew members and the 230 passengers.

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