BAX,
If you remember back in the mid 1980s a 747 was hijacked?
It was on the news and the crew was condemned by many because they escaped through the door built into the floor.?
That pilot is a personal friend of mine and he was the one that told me the 747 will not leave the ground if the leading edge flaps are down.
Today maybe with better engines I don't know but back then was what he told me.
As a 30 year pilot I assume he knew what he was speaking about.
He also flew the Concord and I know he had to take close to 6 months of training for that.
Vegas/
ORIGINAL: Bax
ORIGINAL: Whirley Bird
Hi Ed,
I friend who used to fly the big 747 called them leading edge flaps.
He also told me the plane even when no passengers were on can't roll back to lift off.
I have NO idea what you mean by this. Do you mean that a 747 cannot rotate for takeoff when it's very lightly-loaded? Not so, since they DO get ferried all over the place from time-to-time with no passengers aboard. What about training flights (the few that actually do occur)? The only real requirement is to make sure the airplane is within its weight and balance limits.