[R129 SL] R129LIST Digest, Vol 33, Issue 17

[Lowanover at aol.com]

Hi Jan,
 
of course it is hard to compare acceleration of an airliner to a car, as  the 
there is not a direct transfer of power to an axle on an aircraft. The  
Aircraft I fly is an A340 Airbus which at max take off weight is around 372  tonnes 
or 820,000lbs (A340-500) You loose about 7 seconds just getting the  engines 
to spool up (Rolls Royce Trent 556's , about 56,000 lbs of thrust  each.). 
Then the start of the take off roll is very slow as the power of the  engines 
overcomes the friction from the runway. 
 
Once we do get going it accelerates pretty quickly with lift off speed (VR)  
at about 160kts, (184mph or 296kph). But getting that thing off the ground is 
no  simple matter, regardless of how long you've been doing it for (in my case 
over  28 yrs) Nor is any other aspect of Airbus flight for that matter.. 
Never  ceases to be a challenge, which is why I love it. Of course we get tested  
constantly which also never gets easier, but a necessary evil and a  
reassurance to those who sit behind us!
 
But getting back to the SL's.....I'm amazed at lack of dealer knowledge out  
there. Another member on the list mentioned that the fluid used in the sealed  
transmissions was different than the earlier ones and was very expensive but  
necessary as using the earlier transmission fluid could be harmful.  Again I 
asked my dealer about this and was told that was the first they'd heard  of 
it. However I don't really trust those guys anyway. What do you know about  this?
Thanks,
 
Dave (FC)
 
 



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