Tailwind weekend

"Thomas Donohue" (tomonomics) 02/14/2020 at 17:10 • Filed to: None

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Looks like we may have a few more records broken this weekend.....forecast is for 150+ knots in all the right places. (edited - I had previously estimated ground speeds of planes)

WilliamsSW > Thomas Donohue 02/14/2020 at 17:22

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Looks like close to 200kts. I think the numbers on the chart are pressures in mb.

ttyymmnn > Thomas Donohue 02/14/2020 at 17:22

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That’s just crazy. And since you posted that BA 747, I have to post this photo I took of a BA 747 (G-BYGB)  at DFW a few years ago. It’s one my all-time favorites.

Thomas Donohue > WilliamsSW 02/14/2020 at 17:25

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Yes....thanks, I misi nterpreted that as total estimated aircraft speed. Corrected.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Thomas Donohue 02/14/2020 at 17:36

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So how screwed are the WESTBOUND flights? Is there a rash of “Stops For Fuel” in Gander this week?

I always thought that BA flight LondonCity to New York via Special Airbus was interesting....  they could generally do the Eastbound Leg fine, but with the narrow envelope they pretty much had to make a fuel stop on the way West.

WilliamsSW > Thomas Donohue 02/14/2020 at 17:42

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That’s quite a tailwind!

WilliamsSW > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 02/14/2020 at 17:43

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Westbound flights will take a more northerly route, I’m sure. I believe going over Greenland is a  shorter distance anyways.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 02/14/2020 at 17:46

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I flew n from London to seattle, it goes way north like over northern canada and greenland.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 02/14/2020 at 17:48

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If you’re flying to Heathrow, you’ll cross the ocean quicker, then spend all of that time in a hold waiting to land.

I once flew ORD-LHR, crossed a good hour early — and ended up 30 minutes *late* waiting for fog to lift.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 02/14/2020 at 20:34

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https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/north-atlantic-tracks/index.html

as willimasw said they route you on a more northern track track

facw > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 02/14/2020 at 20:49

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As others have said, I’m sure they’ll divert north (or maybe south for some routes) to avoid the worst of it. Still potentially not great for anyone flying 757s. And it be worse for BA 1 (London City > Shannon > JFK), since Shannon is more or less right in that path, and the A318 wasn’t really designed with transatlantic flights in mind, but I don’t know if BA flies it on the weekends.  

Thomas Donohue > facw 02/14/2020 at 22:01

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The United/Continental 757 SNN-EWR r/t is always tough, I’ve taken it many, many times. The single aisle doesn’t help. A year or two ago I came out of Dublin on a 777 and it was like I had won the lottery. Last year was a 787, even better.

Having said that, I’ve been on my share of 757/767  flights that had a tailwind and there’s nothing like arriving an hour early and smelling that sweet, sweet Irish countryside air.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > facw 02/14/2020 at 22:12

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Yeah, that’s the one— BA 1 on that specially configured 318. That is a weird duck (and even stranger approach into LCY) route and aircraft. I’d forgotten that Shannon was par-for-the-course going westbound.

Thanks!

facw > Thomas Donohue 02/14/2020 at 22:20

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I’ve flown a 757 LHR > EWR at least once, and didn’t have any issues, though I understand that those flights are really pushing what the 757 can do, so sometimes they do require an extra stop.

I’ve also flown Icelandair’s 757s between JFK and LHR , but obviously the stop in Keflavik means you don’t have any range issues (though I have seen an Icelandair 757 at Seatac, which even with the advantages of the great circle route, seems like a long way).

I don’t find single aisle any worse than twin-aisle though, aside from the range. Obviously a 2-3 -2 or 2-4-2 configuration is nicer if you are in the twos, but I don’t seem much advantage on airliners where you have 3-seat blocks on the side (and as a window seat guy, having a greater proportion of non-window seats doesn’t seem like a great deal).

facw > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 02/14/2020 at 22:23

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Yeah, it stops at Shannon to refuel since it doesn’t have enough leaving LCY (apparently they can’t even take off safely with a full tank, though I think that wouldn’t be enough anyway). While they refuel, passengers go through the customs preclearance facility at Shannon so they don’t need to go through customs upon arriving at JFK (feels like given that, it would be better to fly into LGA, but who knows).