Use caution walking in potential jetblast area

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pelmet
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Use caution walking in potential jetblast area

Post by pelmet »

I have seen some strange things when it comes to jetblast. Like the time some mechanics were running up a 727 on the hangar ramp with the tail pointed at the perimeter road. There was a very high snowbank behind the jet(likely with chunks of ice in it) being blasted on the cars driving by.

Best to just plan on being out of the way when it is an aircraft that can put out significant power and try to anticipate where the blast might be. Things can happen very quickly. You could get blown away or something could get blown at you. Being below the blast level might not work out for you. If you are a marshaller, perhaps consider which side of the aircraft to stand on when giving signals.

Check out the video at 6:30....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o55yZUmHsNs
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KissPlusOne
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Re: Use caution walking in potential jetblast area

Post by KissPlusOne »

That pilot could have also gotten a bit more momentum before turning so that he wouldn't need to blast the power to finish his turn... Or kept a bit of power in at the start... A few options.

Interesting to see that this type of turn happens on military jets as well as 152's. Goes to show that the learning process is the same no matter what aircraft you fly. A basic turn isn't so basic some days.
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AuxBatOn
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Re: Use caution walking in potential jetblast area

Post by AuxBatOn »

You can lose your momentum fairly quickly in tight turns in a fighter, especially when you don’t have a too much space to build up speed at high density altitude (because of the low by-pass ratio). I have had to use power in turns before not because I didn’t try (build up as much speed as possible with reasonable power and put keep just enough power for the nozzles to stay open, ensuring a minimum exhaust speed). I would not be so quick to judge the pilot.
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pelmet
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Re: Use caution walking in potential jetblast area

Post by pelmet »

AuxBatOn wrote: Sun Nov 17, 2019 9:16 am I would not be so quick to judge the pilot.
Actually, as a pilot in such a situation....knowing that people are behind you would be a good time to wait an get the marshaller back. Perhaps one could open the canopy to signal for him to come over. Someone could have been severely injured by that fence that got blown over.

We all make mistakes and coming to a stop in a turn will happen to most of us at some point. The same thing happens to airliners sometimes as well and the pilot adds too much power to get going again without considering what is behind them. My company had two jet blast incidents at a west coast airport where the gate lead-in line is slightly uphill. One was a return to gate when heavy and another was after shutting down engines on taxi-in and then needing a bunch of power to get going again after coming to a stop. Sometimes it is best to just wait or shut down.
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Donald
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Re: Use caution walking in potential jetblast area

Post by Donald »

With 20/20 hindsight, this was a failure prior to engine start.

Always plan your path ahead of time, with particular attention to jetblast.

It’s called “airmanship”.

The choice between blasting the larger crowd, or the few random people plus an unsecured fence, should’ve resulted in a no-go decision.

Don’t set yourself up to fail. Push the aircraft back, or move the fence and bystanders back. It was amusing to watch, but if someone gets hurt or something gets broken, it’ll be expen$ive.
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KissPlusOne
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Re: Use caution walking in potential jetblast area

Post by KissPlusOne »

True, I am too quick to judge sometimes.
And, to be honest, this still happens to me every once in a while when I get distracted (not blowing people over, but losing momentum in a turn and having to give 'er guns to finish the turns. I've never flown a jet before).
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