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Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

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Re: Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

#311

Post by DonHopkins »

holoduke wrote: post #307
throwaway290 wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Russian I'd say this guy lives in some other country. Probably imaginary. Based on how little reality there is in the comment I would not believe comments about airplane brakes either... Not a single person I know much less their kids has "foreign crypto virtual cards" etc. Ofc even if they had they would be locked out of transacting with any serious business that doesn't take crypto. The exodus is real, ask Arm…

Sorry but i have to comment. Hackernews should not be political but still. In Russia there is currently an all time high support from the current regime. The small moscow bubble you are referring to isnt remotely representing the common Russians. Most of that bubble was anti regime before the war anyway. Braindrain? You know how many Indians and other nations are currently immigrating to Russia? Tech is booming right…

In 100% war mode, but refuses to admit it's at war? More like in 100% lie mode.

Re: Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

#312

Post by saiya-jin »

justsomehnguy wrote: post #131
areyousure wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Firstly, there are no Chechen restaurants. Especially in the center of St. Petersburg. I don't know why, but anybody living here in Russia wouldn't be able to find any Chechen restaurant in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Russian, Ukranian [sic], Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, whatever, but not Chechen. In case anyone was curious, there is a halal cafe called "Брат" ("Brat", meaning brother) in central Saint Petersburg which…

That's great what someone treats the cafe as a restaurant. It doesn't make it a restaurant, though. And what about vodka in Chechen restaurant?

I've had beers and wine in western restaurants representing cuisine of muslim-majority countries, that's nothing special. Its up to owner to decide whether they want to cater to wider local audience or be strict. For example beers attract a lot of people, we like to pop a small one with lunch as digestive.

I am not saying what is or isn't possible in russia or how chechens are viewed by russian populations, but the whole concept is more than fine elsewhere.

Re: Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

#313

Post by Eavolution »

reacharavindh wrote: post #3

How in the world would any common Russian trust an airplane in this current sanctioned state in Russia and fly in one?! Are people that brainwashed to trust their leader to get on a plane that doesn’t have brakes?!

If a regular russian businessman needs to get from one side of russia, to the other, what else can they do?

Russia's a big country like.

Re: Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

#314

Post by DonHopkins »

Dalewyn wrote: post #175
Waterluvian wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This feels like “it’s not as bad as it seems. Only three rooms are currently on fire, not twelve.” …They’re disabling brakes?

I think the moral here is there is an unhealthy dash of sensationalism and propaganda that must be sifted away, if we actually want to take any worthwhile information out of this. As the saying goes, the first casualty in war is truth.

I thought Russia claimed it wasn't officially at war? Are you telling me that's not the truth??!

Re: Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

#315

Post by kakwa_ »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #285
Johnny555 wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>More importantly, there is absolutely no shortage of airplane parts in Russia — they’re just delivered in a more “wink-wink” obscure way. That sounds like a hazard in itself, airlines being forced to buy parts outside of official supply lines makes it much easier for unscrupulous sellers to substitute counterfeit parts.

You raise an interesting point. How does Iran, Cuba, and Syria get parts for any Boeing or Airbus civilian aeroplanes? Or are they all flying Russian aircraft now?

Iran (Iran Air and Mahan Air) is flying mostly Airbus and Boeing, but really, really, really old planes.

Given these are rather old planes, with a wide international distribution, I'm kind of expecting it's not too hard to find second hand parts cannibalized from retired planes and coming from neutral countries.

They were even able to smuggle parts to keep some of their F14s flying. In comparison, civilian airliner parts surely are easy to get.

Cuba is flying Russian except for a few ATR 72. I guess finding parts after 60 years to keep these Super Constellations flying is beyond reasonable.

These two countries are in a bit of a pickle actually. Parts can only help you up to a point, they will need new planes. With the EU and US mostly aligned and inter-dependent anyway, if you are under embargo, the only place you can get a full aircraft is Russia, but their industry is lagging behind (particularly engines and avionics). Their most modern planes cannot be built without using western parts currently.

China might be another provider in the future, but they are still dependent on foreign parts, engines in particular.

And in both cases, while they have regional jets (ARJ21 and Sukhoi Superjet) and 737/A320 equivalents (Comac 919, Irkut MC-21), the long range offer is more sketchy (Soviet era IL-96 and still in design phase Comac 929).

Re: Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

#316

Post by Eavolution »

striking wrote: post #66
woodruffw wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A train without breaks isn't really comparable because the planes can break using thrusters. I'm pretty sure a plane at V1 can't break using thrusters.

I believe this to be true (the article definitely states "Brakes are also necessary for aborting takeoffs", and V1 is the speed at which takeoff ~~occurs~~ edit: must be committed to), but this is only one instant of the journey. At other times it is certainly feasible to brake (landings included) with just the use of the thrust reversers.

I thought V1 was the decision speed, where you must takeoff unless the plane is literally incapable of leaving the ground.

Technically I think the takeoff speed is VRotate, where the plane is rotated and actually starts to leave the ground.

Re: Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

#317

Post by cjrp »

kkfdkerpoe wrote: post #268
martin8412 wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Black market from where? If caught selling parts to Russia, you'll be banned by Airbus and Boeing, meaning you can't maintain your own fleet.

There absolutely is a black market for selling airplane parts to sanctioned countries. As an example, Cuban state airline Cubana has been flying ATR turboprops with American made engines (and many other parts) since 2002 or so. Even with wide sanctions, Iran has maintained an operational fleet of old Boeings, and during past decade even newer aircraft. https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/31395-here-is-how-iran-sm...

Aren't the engines made by P&W Canada (which is admittedly a subsidiary of a US company). Not sure what Canada's sanctions with Cuba are like.

Re: Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

#318

Post by The_Colonel »

holoduke wrote: post #307
throwaway290 wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Russian I'd say this guy lives in some other country. Probably imaginary. Based on how little reality there is in the comment I would not believe comments about airplane brakes either... Not a single person I know much less their kids has "foreign crypto virtual cards" etc. Ofc even if they had they would be locked out of transacting with any serious business that doesn't take crypto. The exodus is real, ask Arm…

Sorry but i have to comment. Hackernews should not be political but still. In Russia there is currently an all time high support from the current regime. The small moscow bubble you are referring to isnt remotely representing the common Russians. Most of that bubble was anti regime before the war anyway. Braindrain? You know how many Indians and other nations are currently immigrating to Russia? Tech is booming right…

> It is convinced that it cannot lose the war in Ukraine. And they are probably right.

Very much sounds like "fake it till you make it". But sometimes the facade goes down before you make it.

Re: Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

#319

Post by DonHopkins »

supernova87a wrote: post #159

Why would you deactivate the brakes, rather than just tell the pilots "don't use the brakes unless it's absolutely necessary, and use thrust reversers instead"?

If professional Russian pilots could be depended on to soberly follow the rules and do what they're told, then maybe Russia wouldn't be having so many problems getting their ass kicked in Ukraine, while "accidentally" bombing so many apartment buildings full of civilians, don't you think?

...And if only they had better leadership!

Re: Aeroflot deactivates brakes on nine aircraft, relies solely on reverse thrust

#320

Post by The_Colonel »

tivert wrote: post #110
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure they would do it using the most efficient methods available. That will reduce the overall cost, but not the concept I laid out. You'll still need all those steps at a minimum. The bottom line is that it's not a trivial "why don't they just..."

Oh, I agree it's not trivial, though with Russia it at least seems doable . They already have an established advanced aerospace industry, so they're already most of the way there. It's not like they're going to have to start from scratch. One other thing: >>> And all of this has to be financially worthwhile over some time horizon, unless the airline is also going to foot the upfront cost of all this. And bear in mind…

The general problem is that Russia has a lot of these issues + war going on + missing workforce due to conscription and emigration.

They can fix any of these problems, but not all of them. The war effort will likely get a priority.

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