Volcano grounds all UK air traffic

[gouldy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8621407.stm

Man, I'm glad I'm not flying anywhere today!

A volcano has been errupting in Iceland and fudging up everything i nthe air above northern European countries. Aircraft can't fly in ash, so all planes, helicopters and air ambulances are stuck on the ground. Crazy

I think my flatmate is still stuck in Poland. Im going to be lonely tomorrow... lol. Damn volcanoes. They're saying air space could be closed for even a few more days. It'll be mental if that happens. I too am certainly glad im not flying anywhere either, particularly because noone will get any sort of refund as it is an "act of god" after all.

[Oscar]

ha, that sucks for you. Like can you go outside and breathe in some ash? Is it really that bad?

no its only high atmosphere, down here its fine but just no flying things can operate

[Oscar]

fail, it should be all over you guys!

[Coasterkidmwm]

Originally posted by Oscar

ha, that sucks for you. Like can you go outside and breathe in some ash? Is it really that bad?

Jet engines melt it and then it recrystallizes into silica (think glass). Basically they're bad to fly through because you fill the engines with glass and that causes all kinds of engineering bad to happen.

And breathing ash isn't recommended because I think it makes like a slurry in your lungs when it combines with water (aqueous not chemcially).

Well...not *all* air traffic was grounded - it seems to be mainly up north right now. I was down on a south coast beach today and saw at least 2 helicopters and several private planes flying above me. Just as long as they avoid that ash...

[gouldy]

Well, I live in the Midlands and all of our airports have been closed, I don't know how far south it has supposedly spread.

Oscar + Gaz: There has been ash in the lower atmospheres in the Shetland Islands and the very north of Scotland. People have been warned to stay inside as the air has a "bitter" taste, evidence enough of ash being present in the breathable air, it seems.

this is still moving south and all uk flights are grounded now, everything even private planes.

i was going to take my RC plane out tomorrow but its will do the same to that engine by the looks of it.

Im pretty sure even the south will have everything grounded tonight, as i believe Paris airport is said to be closing now as the ash is moving south. The grounding of all flights up here in Manchester has been extended to 1pm tomorrow at least.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Is the ash low enough to ruin an RC plane?

since my plane can fly up to 7000ft yes it is

[Coasterkidmwm]

That's quite a beefy RC plane. It can't be good to fly an RC plane in ash due to the clogging issue, but do you think the engines get hot enough to melt the silica?

[gouldy]

Some of the restrictions have been partially lifted this morning meaning that some flights have been able to leave. The first planes that have been travelling out are emtpy planes that have been sent out to Europe to help relieve the effort the Navy are having to put in, picking up stranded English people. So, I don't think any scheduled flights will be taking off for a few days yet, so the backlog of passengers is going to exist for a pretty long time yet!

Like I said before, glad I'm not flying anywhere soon!