Talk:Gimli Glider

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An event mentioned in this article is a July 23 selected anniversary

Ten nautical miles is actually 18.52 km, according to the current definition of "nautical mile," not 15 km. Cos111 22:28 25 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Another odd coincidence: I (the articles original author) was telling the story one day at a local skydiving club. When I finished one of the "long timers" said "yeah, I was there". They had just finished jumping for the day when the plane came in, and they were first to get to it when the slides came down.

I removed the following as it is an exact copy of http://www.wadenelson.com/gimli.html. If permission has been given to reproduce this, it can go back in. Angela 07:33, Oct 18, 2003 (UTC)

The "Amazing Coincidences" of Gimli:

Pilot had extensive glider experience, co-owned a Blanik L-13 sailplane

Co-Pilot had once been stationed at Gimli, was familiar with it.

Wpeg ATC had old style radar which allowed them to track the 767 once the transponder stopped working

Sports car club had fire extinguishers galore, Jaws of Life

ER Physician Colin Nesbit was in a Cessna performing a preflight at end of 32R

Air Canada mechanics driving a van to Gimli to begin repairs of #604 ran out of gas in the backroads of Manitoba.

One of the few people in Manitoba who owned a videocamera (rare in those days) was at Gimli that day. In a classic case of being in the right place at the wrong time, he left the airfield approximately 30 minutes before it landed because he needed to run into town to get some parts for his go-kart

Gimli Glider at Royal Canadian Air Force Base, Gimli Image:Gimlix.jpg

1 Gimli Glider Remembered
2 "The calculations were based on weight instead of volume"
3 fuel stat discrepency
4 How did he reach this speed decision?
5 Image
6 A picture of the landed aircraft
7 Gliding distance

[edit] Gimli Glider Remembered

I remember my mother Bev telling us and showing the picture of her in the local Gimli paper. She was in a bingo hall playing bingo when she saw a big shadow fly over. It was probably one of the scariest things that she'd ever saw, I know it was for me at age 11 just hearing about it. I haven't seen the picture since she last showed me quite a few years ago, in the 80's. It was a amazing story, one I will tell my children about. Thankx for an amazing memory from Michelle in Calgary.

The narrative in this article is outstanding. Tempshill 21:55, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] "The calculations were based on weight instead of volume"

a couple of questions: aren't all fuel calculations on all commercial airline flight made using weight instead of volume? why is that (aside for the obvious reason that it allows for the gross weight of the aircraft)? perhaps this is worth noting in the article. Streamless 17:08, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

The volume of fuel changes with temperature (and, I assume, air pressure), but the weight remains constant. David 02:56, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] fuel stat discrepency

-that there was 7682 Litres of fuel before the flight, NOT 11,525 as is stated in your article.

-They needed 22,300Kg, NOT 20,400 as is stated in your article

Please review facts to verify correct quantities

note: copyright remains unbreached as quotes are FULLY cited.

[edit] How did he reach this speed decision?

I wonder how did the pilot decide that the 220Kts speed is the right one?

As a glider pilot, I was tough that a good rule of thumb for speed for "Max L/D" (Maximum Lift over Drag" is to add about 1/3 to the stall speed. Could this be the reason he decided on 220kts?

(Just wondering, like any glider pilot, what would I do if I was on an airplane in such a situation...) Penedo 07:14, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image

There is a picture in the article that shows the "Gimli Glider Today".

I am not an expert by any means, but aircraft shown appears to be an Airbus 320, not a 767.

Neither am I... but if you look at the source of the image here, [1], which is higher-res, you can make out the "C-GAUN" on the rear of the fuselage under the last windows. Shimgray | talk | 21:28, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

It also says 604 on the tail and nose gear door.

~~ brandon_ha

No that's a 767, note that it's a wide body with the right proportions for a 767, and that it lacks wingtip fences that the A320 has. PPGMD 01:52, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A picture of the landed aircraft

There's a very good picture of the aftermath of the "crash" at this website: http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/gimli.html

I wonder if we could get permission to use that photo in this article? I, however, have no idea how to go about getting such permission. Drepamig 21:11, 4 November 2006 (UTC) Ian

Hi Ian (I assume that's your name). Some people have constructed examples of requests that can be e-mailed to people and organisations. Probably the one in the "Informal (images)" section is the most appropriate in requesting permission as it looks like that's a personal website. I think the person to ask is Darren Galpin. However, one word of warning: if Galpin does give permission, somehow we'll have to establish whether he is able to give permission. For example, is the image his own property, or is it owned by someone else?--A bit iffy 10:17, 5 November 2006 (UTC)