The TCAS blaring "traffic traffic" and the associated subtitle was pretty funny...then again, for all they got wrong they did a better job than most shows when it comes to aviation.

 

Just saw this tonight. It's an amazing project, however wonky the commentary was.

Have a soft spot for the 27 as that's what I learned to dispatch on. Solid product from Boeing.

RIP "Big Flo". Thank you for your service.

 

Recorded it and finally watched it last night. There were a few creative liberties, but given that the shows demographic was probably -for the most part- unfamiliar with aircraft, it was not too bad.

As thurberm suggested, not having spares was sloppy. They got lucky there.

 

Just getting to watch the whole thing tonight. I saw the last 30 minutes earlier in the week. They knew the speed it would be flying at... I can't fathom not having aircraft able to fly along side it.

However- it seems they thought the remote system would be able to have a much wider area of functionality than it did once they got to air testing. If you notice they started out where they thought they would be able to control it from and then moved in. Of course, that is something that ground experimentation should have covered....

 

I thought they found a SM 260 to fly chase, then it disappeared, and the mixmaster showed up again. What happened?

 

AOG, Fuel Pump, no Spares.

 

Looked like a bunch of amateurs.

 

I keep forgetting to set my DVR to record this. It looked really interesting in the commercials... worth watching or just hype worthy of skipping?

 

I agree. It was as simple as what is the min. Landing speed and what is the max airspeed of the othe plane. It seemed like it was an after thought lol

 

Record it and fast-forward to the last 5 minutes. For all the money they must have spent on it, it was a little pathetic, especially the chase/remote-control plane (Cessna 337), which had to keep asking the 727 to either slow down or turn so they could catch-up. They missed their target crash-point by 2000 ft short (I heard them say "Idle;" I guess they couldn't push the power back up....). It seemed to hit in a flat area, but I think it went over a small earthen-berm about 2 seconds after touchdown. I think that, and the nose wheel going under the forward fuselage, made it buckle and snap.

Post-crash, they seemed surprised that one or more engines was running near full-power....that might happen when the cockpit is ripped off, and the throttle-cables go with it....

They keep showing the same 4 or 5 five good shots, and try to add dramatic-effect by having the "safety experts" narrate with such gems as "We hope to publish these results some day," or "We have a treasure-trove of data we hope the manufacturers will use to build safer aircraft." Pardon my skepticism, but I don't see Boeing building the 797 "Crashliner" in the future.

I don't think they really learned anything earth-shattering (Pun intended). Un-surprisingly, when the front of the plane bounces 12 feet in the air before buckling, the seats forward of the wing absorbed the heaviest g-loads.

I wondered how they would work the "D B Cooper" airstair mod. Yeah, you could take the little wind-vane off, but who would put the rear stairs back UP before the landing? Ans: they just removed the aft stairs!!