Who says Planes can't fly in the UK!

Good old fashion stuff this....

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Taken today (Saturday 17th) in Hampshire. It's actually a friend flying the plan around Hampshire.... If you cant see it then you need to view the whole picture as it's pulling a banner like the good-old-days.....

Is it just me or does the sky look extremely clear???

Can you see any volcanic ash up higher? To me, in the picture at least, it looks like a beautiful day!

its not a jet plane thats why its allowed to fly.
jet planes would fly probably fine too but why take the risk?

that photo looks doctored imo..

the banner appears to be in front of the trees, and is political propaganda. with such a controversial thread title, i call BS

Originally posted by lpowell0627
Is it just me or does the sky look extremely clear???

Can you see any volcanic ash up higher? To me, in the picture at least, it looks like a beautiful day!

Well I'm down in Plymouth, right down in the south west, and I've been watching the sky with a passing interest past few days.

It's been pretty sunny, sparse clouds nice blue sky, got a little overcast on the first night so I couldn't see the stars.

Today could be a little different, there is a haze, that sort where I look out on the horizon and it's white but the further up I look it's blue... I mean the skies have been really nice.

Apart from the news and the almost complete absence of air traffic, a few helicopters and I herd one small to mid sized plane flying lo somewhere - and I live in quite a busy local airspace, I would have no idea at all about this ash cloud... The air is crisp and fresh, I may have a closer look at cars paint work things like that when I walk about for signs of dust settling.

But if they say don't fly, well that don't bother me, just one plane falling outta the blue is bad news, people just gotta put up with it (and they are by and large).

Musing aloud on this, I would say that the more dense concentration of particles is at higher elevations. It could be that if a 767 flew at 2000 feet, they would likely be alright.

I don't know if that might be allowed, though.

in the west midlands the skies have never been so clearer, its a load of rubbish planes can easily fly in the uk, i don't know what the fuss is about the dust hasn't come anywhere near us

From the little I know of airplanes, the jet engines are fragile. If a rock particle in the air gets sucked into the turbine, poof, engine failure. I don't know if it is as simple as one particle, or if it breaks after sucking in a cloud of em. Propeller planes don't have jet engines, so they don't suck in air the same way.

I suggest that everyone settles their camera right now and set it on night vision.

Just start taping the sky. It can be done in day and light

www.youtube.com...

Now its the best time to do it... Ive done it last night, and wanted to post the picture. How can i do it? You will see a strange object.

Originally posted by selfisolated
that photo looks doctored imo..

the banner appears to be in front of the trees, and is political propaganda. with such a controversial thread title, i call BS

you cant be serious?

it appears so because the lens is focusing on the plane

besides it is not jets, who can proof this is really taken these days?

reply to post by selfisolated


LOL @ thinking its doctored..

chill yer boots their mr over skeptic heeheehee

its deffo real, their have been loads of them flying about my area (blackpool) as well, and the air ambulance yesterday, although it flow REAL low the whole time! ... much lower than it usualy does to get about round here!

my guess is, they all fly too low for it to be an issue as they never really go very high (when compared to jets).

Hopefully this can clear up a few things.......

Airports operator BAA confirmed that all flights at Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick would be suspended from midday.

"Air traffic restrictions have very properly been applied," said Dr Rothery. "If volcanic ash particles are ingested into a jet engine, they accumulate and clog the engines with molten glass."

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5812b4cb328f.gif[/atsimg]

In 1982, British Airways and Singapore Airways jumbo jets lost all their engines when they flew into an ash cloud over Indonesia.

Reports said that the ash sandblasted the windscreen and clogged the engines, which only restarted when enough of the molten ash solidified and broke off.

A KLM flight had a similar experience in 1989 over Alaska.

Stewart John, a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and former president of the Royal Aeronautical Society, explained that the ash can cause severe damage.

"This dust really is nasty stuff," he told BBC News. "It's extremely fine and if it gets into a jet engine, it blocks up all of the ventilation holes that bleed in cooling air.

"Jet engines operate at about 2,000C, and the metals can't take that. The engine will just shut down."

In the case of the 1982 British Airways flight, Mr John explained, when the plane emerged from the cloud, the pilot repeatedly tried and failed to restart the engines

(Click Here)

Originally posted by jumpingbeanz
in the west midlands the skies have never been so clearer, its a load of rubbish planes can easily fly in the uk, i don't know what the fuss is about the dust hasn't come anywhere near us

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/841775b3f957.gif[/atsimg]

Are you sure it hasn't come Anywhere near us?

But as you can see that's from the 15th, the ash is actually covering most of the UK as of right now.

We are seeing some planes but that's because of a small window where the ash is not covering but that was in Scotland i believe.

Also you should know that apparently the ash went as far as sheffield as shown in this link here.

[edit on 17-4-2010 by Rising Against]

The skies here in the Midlands are clearer than I can ever remember. Even on a normal clear summers days, trails from the jet engines create stretched out wispy clouds. Today... nothing.

A slight haze on the horizon and a light layer of dust on the cars and in the ridges of my front door outside.

As for people who are saying that the dust has come anywhere near us, go and run your hand over a car that's was cleaned recently and there is a thin film of sticky dark grey dirt.

Also... jets can't fly any distance at low altitude because they are designed to cruise at high altitudes in high winds. At lower altitudes, the winds aren't powerful enough and they would burn far too much fuel.

Enjoy the peace and the clear skies.

I can assure all its a legit picture, with a legit plane pulling a legit banner... lol.

I did spruce up the blue slightly as the sky is SO blue as so many others have mentioned, but when I took the picture it came out quite dull due to being so bright. I have plenty of other pictures and the original if the person who thought i'd created this.. so funny.

2 Points I would like to make:

- The sky is awesome, its quiet both during the day and during the night. It is shocking how clear it is. Coincidence? I have no idea.
- I love this banner pulling stuff! It's hard to remind people when you are a smaller party so I think this is very clever. There were plenty of people looking up in shock to see a plane and found it even more amusing to see it pulling a banner! Great stuff.

Volcanic ash is seriously abrasive, and isn't always visible even though the sky looks clear.

Just the other day, a Finnish f-18 Hornet nearly overheated, and the pilot said that there wasn't any apparent ash plume to be seen... before they shut down the airspace.

F-18 Damage (it's in Finnish, but there's pictures)

Any planes risk internal engine, wind-screen, prop/leading edge damage, and turbo-jets melt the ash which cools and clogs everything up.

On the other hand, planes fly right next to the volcanoes to get stellar pictures, but they have to stay up-wind, and since the plume hasn't yet dispersed (assuming the wind hasn't changed direction in a while) there's a distinct edge where clean air meets the plume.

Don't let that blue sky fool you.

[edit on 17-4-2010 by lernmore]

there is no dust on my neighbors cars going up the street

reply to post by jumpingbeanz


Yes but there is in other parts of the UK such as Sheffield (i'm only about 20 minutes from Sheffield) and in certain parts of Scotland as well for example.

reply to post by Rising Against


who knows but I do know that so far we aren't affected.
I will certainly know if I get affected because I have mild asthma that only flares up with plenty of dusty environments

god as if I aint got much better to do on a sunny saturday than rubbing peoples cars

i need a life

reply to post by jumpingbeanz

god as if I aint got much better to do on a sunny saturday than rubbing peoples cars

Well everyone has a hobby

But who knows, you seem to be in Manchester which maybe slightly be too far west to have gotten any ash settling or maybe you just wasn't looking hard enough.
But the Ash (even though we do have blue skies) is here and it may be here for a few more days still.