Volcano erupts in Iceland

Marco B · Apr 18, 2010

Q.G. said:
It may, for instance, be confined to a layer, with layers below it completely free of it. And if you can't fly at 10K, but can at 5K, you just fly at 5K.

That may not be an option if your intercontinental flight is to make it over the ocean, and not end up down in the sea instead because it ran out of fuel...

As I always understood it, jet engine fuel consumption is highly depended on the altitude the plane flies, probably mainly due to air drag (less at high altitude of course in the thin air), and another factor the efficiency of the engine.

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=15483

Marco

Q.G. · Apr 18, 2010

Marco B said:
That may not be an option if your intercontinental flight is to make it over the ocean, and not end up down in the sea instead because it ran out of fuel... [...]

That's correct.

But you have to remember that the cloud hangs over continental Europe, so not the entire route to the northern bits that lie across the Big Pond are affected.
Though Iceland is on that route, yes.

Planes flying to the middle and south of what lies across the Big Pond can go up to their regular cruising altitude as soon as they leave the Bay of Biscaye behind them, i.e. most of the way.

Planes flying east and southeast are affected too, and similar things apply to them. As soon as they leave the Med behind them, they can continue their way at altitude again.

marco.taje · Apr 18, 2010

Latest notam reports show that the extimate base of the ash is level 200, 20000 feet. Flying for two hours below that is not an option for a longhaul flight, fuel wise. And that altitude is an extimate, so greater margins would be required. I'm not precisely informed, supposed anyone is at the moment, but that doesn't seem feasible.
The rest are economical speculations, good to have some discussion in this sunday afternoon, but with little grounds apart from that.
One thing is more close to certainty, though: what you see behind planes flying at high altitude is WATER droplets. I'm not saying that turbine engines do not exhaust co2 and other byproducts of combustion, but that's not visible. You can maybe spot a very faint blackish trail just after takeoff, when the engines are at their least efficient and with more thrust applied, but definitely not at cruising altitude!

Again, I don't want to sound like a be-all know-all nerd. It's just my job. I would never suggest that you don't know about hasselblads or what your job is about..

Q.G. · Apr 18, 2010

KLM is already flying (cargo) out to the far east again from Amsterdam (with permission).
Airlines are complaining about the overcautious decisions made by Eurocontrol. Eurocontrol is backing down, allowing for the possibility that they indeed overreacted a bit.

Marco,

Your theories sound good. But i can really advice you to get out sometimes, and just have a look. Beats any theory every single time anyone tries.
Not visible... if you have never seen it, it might be because of the tinted haze over your eyes your pic suggests you have.

Soeren · Apr 19, 2010

And they also have done testflights in different altitudes without any damage to the planes.
Best regards

marco.taje · Apr 19, 2010

it might be because of the tinted haze over your eyes your pic suggests you have

Nope, I see in black and white! ;-)

Ezzie · Apr 19, 2010

Well, here in Norway we've been smelling the sulphur for several days, and ash has indeed made some sporadic if rather timid landfalls in the west country, it does rather give credence to the claims that the air is contaminated....

Andy K · Apr 19, 2010

My car is covered in ash.

Shangheye · Apr 19, 2010

I have yet to see one of those spectacular red sunsets they have been promising...hmmm...feel like I have been had

Christopher Walrath · Apr 19, 2010

Posted wirelessly..

When St. Helens blew, we had skies for a month.

jonogmun · Apr 19, 2010

I believe that caution must be used. If you look at figures, the volcano has spewed out 750 tons (1.5 million pounds) per second of ash for 5 days. That is quite a lot. Much of it is deposited in Iceland but a significant quantity is so fine that it can remain airborn for considerable time.
But latest indications is that less ash is being released and the volcano is now vomiting lava. This is hopefully positive for the aviation industry and travellers.

Jon

JDP · Apr 19, 2010

Hello All,
Some of you are wondering where the red sunsets have got to. Well, it does not seem there are going to be any. We have been monitoring the ash plume with our lidars (I work for a European Met organisation). It seems the ash is scattering all visible light evenly at the moment creating a slightly 'whiteish' appeareance to the blue sky ( quite apparent on Saturday 17th April, over Southern UK). So no red at sunset! Also the plume is surprisingly thin which means it could only create an optical effect over a very narrow layer. It is also much lower than expected over the UK and at times only just above the boundary layer (~6-8000 feet).

I agree with one poster: we should make the most of contrail-free skies and get some pics...!

Thingy · Apr 19, 2010

Andrew

The following links may be of interest.

FAQ's: http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/articles/nr/1880

Useful links: http://www.almannavarnir.is/displayer.asp?cat_id=413&module_id=220&element_id=2215

For those of you who are having problems pronouncing Eyjafjallajökull, just remember that the word actually describes the glacier covering the area. The mountain itself is called Eyrafjöll (which is also a area in Iceland with beautiful waterfalls (foss) (Eyrafjöll means: Eyja's Mountain). Eyra is a female name in Iceland. Icelanders usually shorten the name to Eyrafjöll

benjiboy · Apr 19, 2010

It said on the BBC TV News today the ash cloud is heading for the U.S.A.

Thomas Bertilsson · Apr 19, 2010

More from BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8629392.stm

I don't think either the military or the government are very optimistic about this becoming solved any time soon.

Icelandic reports also indicate that they pretty much don't know what's going on, whether activity will slow down or increase. Yikes. Let's hope for the best, all.

Ian Grant · Apr 19, 2010

The BBC is also carrying reports (on their radio stations) on the flight tests which show that the ash is so dispersed that there's no risks to flights at all.

Some airspace is re-opening and more could follow . . . . .

Ian

macrorie · Apr 19, 2010

Many years ago I stayed at a farm in the Ejyafjallasveit - I wonder if it is surviving all of this. It was a lovely place.

The tectonic plates seem to be very active these days.

Shaggysk8 · Apr 19, 2010

I know there is more activity but it has moved north a little, although this means nothing in iceland...hahaha

They have lost some farmland in the floods so if it was in that path I am sure it has changed.

Paul

Shaggysk8 · Apr 20, 2010

http://www.visir.is/apps/pbcs.dll/g...417&Kategori=FRETTIR01&Lopenr=67492309&Ref=PH

paul_c5x4 · Apr 20, 2010

For our friends the other side of the Atlantic, the Met Office has an animated map showing the predicted coverage here.
I'm sorry to say, it isn't looking very promising that things will improve by the weekend.

Marco B · Apr 20, 2010

Thomas Bertilsson said:
More from BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8629392.stm

Hahaha, is Europe really that bad for British people, that they can't even survive a few extra days on the continent?

"The UK government's plan to rescue British travellers stranded by the volcanic ash cloud is developing."

What I really don't understand is that a few extra departures, possibly over night, of all the ferries can't solve this, and they would need an aircraft carrier to do the job. Surely, there must be some extra capacity, after tunnel and cheap flights cut back on passenger travel by slow ferry.

One of such big ferries can carry a huge number of passengers compared to a plane...

Shaggysk8 · Apr 20, 2010

Have you never been to Great Britain, europe is nothing compaired to us, also if we spend to long outside of Great Britain the Government blows up our heads.

perkeleellinen · Apr 20, 2010

Marco B said:
What I really don't understand is that a few extra departures, possibly over night, of all the ferries can't solve this, and they would need an aircraft carrier to do the job.

But we have an election very soon. All this 'rescuing' by the Navy is good publicity for the government - they need it too.

Marco B · Apr 20, 2010

Shaggysk8 said:
Have you never been to Great Britain, europe is nothing compaired to us, also if we spend to long outside of Great Britain the Government blows up our heads.

Well, back in 1993 I spent half a year studying in Bangor, North Wales, in the heartland of Welsh speaking country... Just like the Scottish, I doubt the Welsh would call themselves "British" in the first instance... so maybe I haven't been to Great Britain...

Shaggysk8 · Apr 20, 2010

hahaha...well the welsh and scottish are second class hehe

Volcano erupts in Iceland

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency