It's true that the A320 shoulder harness automatically locks with G-force, the same as a modern car. You can only cinch up the lap and crotch belts. Great video, loved it!
G'day Mike, thanks for the nice comment and ahh good to know about the shoulder harness in the A320! I would hope they lock up enough to stop the pilots flopping forward too much. I kind of forget you need a whole lot more manoeuvrability to reach switches in airliner cockpit compared to be squished into a gliding cockpit!
Indeed the Airbus seats can lock the shoulder harnesses with a small lever at the base of the backrest. That said, I’m pretty sure they were surprised to have survived the ditching at all.
Thanks Bill, thanks great to get that insight. And wow yeah, I imagine it would have have been a sudden switch to go from feeling great about surviving the landing intact to then re-focusing on evacuating the aircraft.
Thanks for the reviews! The movie "The Birdmen" was about escaping from a WW2 POW camp using a homemade glider. I have not seen it for decades, but as I recall it was pretty good and based on a real event. Of course, "Falling from the sky", was a docu-drama about the Gimley Glider, a 767 which glided to a safe landing. Finally, I can not remember the name of this comedy movie, bit it had a scene with a DC3 gliding and a non-pilot at the controls shouting "glider glider glider glider..." as they barely cleared a large mountaintop.
Hey Chris, thanks for the comment and good point, I've actually just finished another video where I reviewed that somewhat frustrating depiction of gliding, along with some better depictions in romance movies: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EqnDxpCeiF4.html
Astronaut Bill Anders describes involuntarily putting his hand on the console during staging of Apollo Eight. When the boosters kicked in, his now-protruding arm snapped back and struck his helmet, leaving a very noticeable mark. When the staging was complete, he glanced at his colleagues and noticed that all three men had the exact same blemish on their helmets.
Wow, thanks, that's a great fact! I guess it'd feel pretty unnatural to be getting launched and having no hands on the console if you're used to having tight control in key moments of other types of flight.
Awesome videos man! You can't cinch the shoulder straps, but you can lock them. They will lock with inertia on the inertial reel just like a car, though. But to be extra sure, you can lock the reel with a lever on the side.... Buuuut when you're hands and brain are full with a double engine out: you won't remember that feature is available. I'd go for the hand on the dash myself. Cool note: auto brakes low OR full reverse in a A320 NEO is sufficient to lock the shoulder harnesses.
Hey Bill, thanks for finally being able to clarify that. That's good to know. Haha I'm glad my scepticism about the scene was justified. Still a great movie though.
Hey Seal! Good point. I wondered the same thing about dramatic effect. I also think if I was about to ditch into water in any aircraft I'd put my hands forward as a natural reaction.
Aww yeah that is a good point Mark! It does look like HP-18! What are they like to fly? I'd love to try one. Haha my brain still can't quite compute how V-tails work.
@@GlidewithTom I'm actually upgrading my HP, so I can't tell you what they are like to fly. I can tell you that you fly in an almost 'lieing down position' which may have been cool in the 70s but I want to sit just a little more upright. They also have the control stick on the right (above your shoulder height). I have moved the control stick to my right waist level position -which makes it feel more like an F16 fighter jet (super cool). I have totally revamped my control panel to have only 2 instruments (the lxNav vario/flarm alert and the lxNav Speed indicator/altimeter). and a massive tablet PC screen The glider only has flaps (no spoilers) so that will take some getting used to. The V-tail feels just like a normal T-tail. I really can't figure out which is better and if there are any differences. I think it is all about 'outlandings'. The V-Tail and the T-Tail were invented to minimise damage to the elevator in an outlanding. The latest US army drones now use V-tails - so maybe there is some benefit. Look up the RU-vid video of a guy who converted his HP-18 into a jet powered aircraft. Cheers.
The origional Thomas Crown Affair has the most accurate glider flying scenes because none of it is fake. NB I alway rest my hands on the top of the instrument panel if I'm not the handling pilot.
Hey Stefan, thanks for The Sky Trap recommendation! I had never heard of it before. I'm watching it now. I've actually made another video about The Thomas Crown Affair and its many great glider scenes ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EqnDxpCeiF4.htmlsi=SVkh0VvNVrgVEvBq
World War II German pilots were some of the best fighter pilots because many had training in glider flight starting as youths. Energy management in relation to maneuver came naturally to glider trained German pilots.
Hey George, great point! I'd heard history too. I think thermalling near the edge of the stall and getting that occasional 'I'm about to spin' feeling certainly reminds you of the need to turn some potential energy into kinetic energy!
At Dunkerque it would be Spitfire Mk. II and it reached 570 km/h at 6.000 m and not more than 500 at low level and also it's glide ratio of 13 is quite a big stretch, so even worse for reality in the film.
Good point, I was trying to give the director the benefit of the doubt but I think I was too generous for a Mk. II's performance. How long do you reckon it would have actually stayed airborne before ending up on the ground?
@@GlidewithTom If he were flying at max speed he should have converted speed into altitude, in that case, maybe a minute There is also a bit wild option, nose down, level at 3-4 m above the ground and use the ground-effect. An older coleague of mine did it with his DG-101 in European Gliding Championship in Rieti, Italy at the beginning of 1980's. At the final glide he realised he would be about 1km short of finish line and in anger slammed it down to 2m above the ground, luckily, there were just flat fields and he made it to the finish. The glider which was about 20-30 m higher than him, didn't. What's your opinion on CGI of flying in movies? Personally, I haven't seen not even one that seemed really realistic to me. All planes follow a line or curve as the car. They don't account for inertia and sliding, at all. Movie air seems to be grippy as the best race tracks! I wish you no outlandings!
Check the movie again. It was indeed a real glider. When he sets that Spitfire alight, you'll notice there is no engine inside; just some rod holding the prop on! Poor editing.
My VJ-24w has a maximum glide ratio of 9:1 Pretty sad for a glider... consider a 747 is 15:1, and a Spitfire is 13:1 and my motor glider has 2 feet more wing than a Spitfire :-(
But I reckon you get more wind in your hair in the VJ-24w than a 747. That is a rough glide ratio. All those struts and parts adding drag. But I bet it's fun to fly?
