To be fair, they say that on EVERY Delta flight.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the concept of parts of the plane flying off that "we didn't need anyway."

They do it with fuel all the time.

I've seen this movie...

wanted for questioning.

1980, my first experience flying in a large jet: Landed in Atlanta, plane taxis down runway with a huuuuge hangar, with the words "Fly Delta" on the roof; inside said hangar were the remains of a Delta jet missing most of its really important bits, seemingly from an unhappy meeting with the ground.

Yeah, that didn't stick in my indelible child mind a bit. Advertising at its best right there.

Damnit!! you win Bf+

its gotta do something.. what?

sigh of relief:

rand al'thor: I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the concept of parts of the plane flying off that "we didn't need anyway."

As opposed to parts flying off that "we really could have used"?

rand al'thor

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the concept of parts of the plane flying off that "we didn't need anyway."


All good designs include a significant amount of redundancy. Do you think the plane actually needs two wings to fly?? Nope - it only needs one. The other is a backup.

How does anyone notice a large chunk of the tail falling? It's behind you and there's no windows.

Airplane tails are like tonsils and appendixes. You don't really need them. They are just going to get infected at some point, and cause you a bunch of problems.

The_Sponge: Do they at least give you a free drink when that happens?

Maybe. I got offered a bottle of Sutter Home when a woman barfed on me. It also took the stewardess 10 minutes to get to me. Great flight in case you were wondering

/love ya United

Psumek: How does anyone notice a large chunk of the tail falling? It's behind you and there's no windows.

Tailspin.

Oh, has anyone posted this yet?

Usually, when the captain is speaking, it is to tell us about Pussy Control.

Clearly the brand name "United" is just a marketing ploy to keep consumers diverted from their real problem.

Its ok, we won't need that part till we landto crash.

FTFT[hem]

thespindrifter: Psumek: How does anyone notice a large chunk of the tail falling? It's behind you and there's no windows.

Tailspin.

?

thespindrifter: Psumek: How does anyone notice a large chunk of the tail falling? It's behind you and there's no windows.

Tailspin.

Oh, has anyone posted this yet?

A terrible movie by a terrible director. Don't believe me? Watch "Southland Tales" to see what that asshole did when people gave him some money.

akya: Clearly the brand name "United" is just a marketing ploy to keep consumers diverted from their real problem.

Fail...

What i meant to say was this is why i fly United.

Psumek: Tailspin.

Ohhhwheeeayyyyy

If it's not needed to fly, why is it on the plane?

I bet the whistling sound was annoying as fark.

rand al'thor: I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the concept of parts of the plane flying off that "we didn't need anyway."

A good engineer always adds extra stuff. It's a fact that something will fail. Unavoidable. So if you've got 9 critical systems, there's a 100% chance that a critical system will break. If you have 9 critical systems and 1 non-critical system, you've now got a ten percent chance that the non-critical system will be the one that fails. The more non-critical systems you add, the greater the chance that the failure(s) will hit the non-critical systems. And you can tip the odds even farther in your favor by making those non-critical systems more prone to failure than the critical systems.

Don't worry about it!

/flying Delta friday

tetsoushima: thespindrifter: Psumek: How does anyone notice a large chunk of the tail falling? It's behind you and there's no windows.

Tailspin.

Oh, has anyone posted this yet?

A terrible movie by a terrible director. Don't believe me? Watch "Southland Tales" to see what that asshole did when people gave him some money.

I watched part of it and then all of a sudden The Rock was singing "Three Days" by Jane's Addiction. Then it got weird.

Like others said - tail cones reduce fuel consumption. (Same with winglets.)

So now you just have to wonder if there's enough fuel in the plane to get to your destination without it.

Englebert Slaptyback: rand al'thor

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the concept of parts of the plane flying off that "we didn't need anyway."

All good designs include a significant amount of redundancy. Do you think the plane actually needs two wings to fly?? Nope - it only needs one. The other is a backup.

The aircraft can actually operate in Bullet Mode for several miles even if both wings become disengaged. Passengers seated in exit rows may be requested to stick their legs out the door to help the pilots coordinate turns via the additional wind resistance. It really is quite routine, but inexperienced travelers sometimes express alarm at first.

Face_T_Facts: Damnit!! you win Bf+

If it would make you feel better, according to the time stamp, it's a tie.
Great minds, and such...

FTFA: It plummeted thousands of feet into a Long Island neighborhood before landing harmlessly leaving a dent in the farking face of the Earth on someone's lawn.

Where's the Airbus/Scarebus cut and paste? Come on, people, you're slipping!!

Someone flipped the "parts fall off" switch, didn't they.

FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac (SAHL'-ak) said Friday the jet doesn't need the part to fly and passengers weren't in any danger.

Surely they can't be serious.

The_Sponge:
GAH! Dealing with noisy brats on a flight doesn't sound quite as bad.

Did Lady McBarf at least apologize? Did she have the decency to pay for your dry cleaning?

No she said it was too hot in the plane and swears she wasn't drinking even though I now smelled like shrimp and vodka. I just didn't care at that point. Was already stuck in Denver trying to go NYC. I was just happy to be on a plane.

/did get a $50 voucher from the airline at the end of it
//it's sitting unused and will probably stay that way

Psumek: The_Sponge:
GAH! Dealing with noisy brats on a flight doesn't sound quite as bad.

Did Lady McBarf at least apologize? Did she have the decency to pay for your dry cleaning?

No she said it was too hot in the plane and swears she wasn't drinking even though I now smelled like shrimp and vodka. I just didn't care at that point. Was already stuck in Denver trying to go NYC. I was just happy to be on a plane.

/did get a $50 voucher from the airline at the end of it
//it's sitting unused and will probably stay that way

With 50 dollars, you can get halfway to Scottsdale.

Honest question: Isn't one of the emergency evacuation slides stored in tail cone, or am I thinking of a different kind of aircraft? I remember a tail cone slide deploying on an plane that Obama was on during primary season, and it causing some difficulties.

Psumek: Tailspin.

I LOVED that cartoon! Baloo reminded me of my flight instructor.

Ignominiousbob: The aircraft can actually operate in Bullet Mode for several miles even if both wings become disengaged. Passengers seated in exit rows may be requested to stick their legs out the door to help the pilots coordinate turns via the additional wind resistance. It really is quite routine, but inexperienced travelers sometimes express alarm at first.

This is true, but generally I prefer my plane to have some forward motion in addition to downward motion when I fly.

But that's just me.

They bought their tickets...they knew what they were getting into...
I say: "Let 'em crash!"

Craptastic: Honest question: Isn't one of the emergency evacuation slides stored in tail cone, or am I thinking of a different kind of aircraft? I remember a tail cone slide deploying on an plane that Obama was on during primary season, and it causing some difficulties.

Oh! And since the plane was a Boeing, did it make a boinging sound when it popped off?