|
|
|
Flying is a bit nerve racking. Tonight, at the Detroit airport, it was cold and wet. Ever present in my mind was the thought of ice. When the air passes over the wing, it accelerates in speed. This speed increases causes a loss in air pressure, which in turn, caused the air temperature to also go down. The air pressure loss on the top of the wing is what makes airplanes capable of flight.
The lower air temperature, however, means that ice will form on the wing, even though the surrounding temperature is not at freezing.
As the plane taxied to the runway, we paused just short of the runway. Then we started taxiing again. As we did, I observed that we passed, what appeared to be de-icing trucks. I would have felt better if they had hosed down our plane. But we passed on unsprayed.
Then we were at the end of the runway. The pilot locked the brakes while he brought the engines up to full power. Time stood still while I pondered: was the air cold enough to freeze the water on the wings or would this takeoff be like any other?
He released the brakes and we started to roll. Did I have seconds to live or years? All I could do was watch the wing as the aircraft gained speed. It was dark so I could not see if the moisture on the wing was turning to ice.
Shortly the nose came up and the DC-9 flew off the runway just as it had done thousands of times before. I briefly surveyed my fellow passengers. They all appeared oblivious to how close we all came to dying.
Life went on.
Posted by Ted at November 29, 2004 10:54 PM