"Contentious Acres" has 8 Labrador breeder-visitors trapped here by the Icelandic ash until their planes leave or our dated septic system fails...whichever occurs first. One is from Wales, one from Finland (Lappland), one from The Netherlands and five from Scotland.

Please send food and booze.

Thank you,

Price Jessup
Blackamoor Labradors

Tell them all Hi from me. They could not have a better host and hostess. Wish we were there. It should be lots of fun. Good luck with the septic!

JanisG

The volcano is awesome. Your plea is PRICEless!!!

hello blackamoor camp from finland and thank you for caring for the potomac labrador show international visitors in your fantastic way, i´m there a fly in the air as i told sherry.

it has been hard to understand what a volcano can do and below is long story of a finnair pilot on the issue.

i also googled flight BA009 youtube videos, 3 of them telling the horrendous story of the BA flight in volcanic ashes, ending safely due to pilots skills and good nerves.

best wishes, thanks and wish for all to be able to return home as soon as possible and safe.
ritva


How do volcanic ash clouds affect flying?
Posted on April 16, 2010 by Jussi Ekman | ShareThis
The volcanic eruption in Iceland is currently causing huge disruption in
Europe. I explain in my blog why flying is impossible in such conditions.

Volcanic ash clouds are extremely dangerous to aircraft. That’s why every means is employed to avoid flying into an ash cloud. Ash clouds spread far and wide and can easily result in flight activity being restricted over a large area encompassing many countries.

The biggest danger from the ash is to aircraft engines. The ash cloud contains glass-like material such as silicate in sold particles 1-5 mm in size. Their melting point is typically around 600–800°C (1100-1500°F). The internal temperature of a jet engine, on the other hand, is higher than this, up to 1000°C (1800°F). Thus silicate particles melt in the high pressure compressor and turbine of the jet engine and then solidify again in the cooler parts of the turbine, adhering at the same time to the blades of the engine. The solidified silicate disrupts the air flow in the engine and might cause the engine to stall or even stop completely. For example, in 1982 all four engines of a British Airways Boeing 747 (flight BA9) stopped at nearly the same time in an ash cloud over Indonesia close to Jakarta.

Particles also adhere to the leading edge of the aircraft and can therefore cause erroneous readings on the air speed indicator, disrupt air flow around the wings and adversely affect visibility from the flight deck. The particles are also very sharp-edged. As they strike an aircraft flying at high speed, they erode structures and cause microfractures and delamination. The leading edge of an aircraft that has flown through an ash cloud can appear roughened as if by sandpaper. In addition, the air in the cabin, which is produced from external air, may contain minute particles that are dangerous to health.

How do pilots become aware of volcanic eruptions?

During flight preparations, pilots have access to information on active volcanoes via the Significant Weather Chart (SWC). After a large eruption, ash clouds are monitored more actively than normal. The progress of an ash cloud can be monitored on the UK Met Office website:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/aviation/vaac/

No flying takes place in the area of an ash cloud. This is a big, but easy, decision to make. Much more difficult is to consider whether an individual flight can avoid the ash cloud by a circuitous route. This generally means great deviations from flight routes and altitudes. There are direct consequential impacts on refuelling, payload, flight permits etc.

Pilots are also trained to cope with unforeseen volcanic eruptions. During daytime, in clear weather, it’s easy to spot a grey ash cloud that’s perhaps invisible on radar. In cloud and at night the first indications may be an odour in the cabin area, so-called St. Elmo’s fire, or sparks on the cabin windows. From the cabin it might be possible to see a glow emanating from the engines and/or sparks in the jet stream, as burning particles fly out of the engines.

The flight will be directed immediately away from the cloud in the direction from which it has just come. In addition, continuous ignition is turned on for the engines and bleed air is led from them, for example, to ice prevention systems in order to obtain a better air flow to the engines. If necessary, oxygen masks are used in the cabin and on the flight deck. Power supply in the event of total engine failure is ensured by turning on the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU). And, of course, it is also important to warn other air traffic.

If an engine stops completely, restarting it is a realistic possibility. An engine that has stopped even for a short time has had time to cool, and when it begins to rotate once again when restarted the solidified silicate material might be detached and the engine may function, at least on reduced power. For example, the British Airways flight I mentioned earlier was flown extremely skilfully and the pilot managed to restart all of the engines, although one of the four engines again failed a moment later. The flight, however, ended happily with a landing at Jakarta.

Jussi Ekman

Filed under: Safety | Tagged: ash, Safety, vulcano | No Comments »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxhiJnhI-p4

the youtube 3 videos of BA009 flight.