So Hot That We Have To Feed The Chickens Cracked Ice To Keep Them From Laying Hard Boiled Eggs
Lordy, Lordy, when it is too hot to land an airplane from Houston, it’s too damn hot.
A Phoenix-bound flight was forced to return to Houston Sunday evening because of weather conditions in the Valley of the Sun. Passengers who were on the plane said the flight crew told them the record-breaking heat is to blame.
United flight 6186 departed from Bush Intercontinental Airport at 2:30pm and was minutes away from landing at Sky Harbor Airport when the flight crew notified passengers it would be turning back around because of the weather.
And that weather was heat. It was too hot to land an airplane. From Houston. Houston, mind you, the totally air conditioned city because it’s so damn hot.
Thanks to Bryan for the heads up.
Get used to it– by 2050 this will probably be a normal summer day in the southwest. And we know who we can thank for that: everybody who’s been funding the deniers and taking their blood money since the 1970s.
1Gee… why does God hate Phoenix?
(Asking for a friend.)
2The Middle East will be uninhabitable in less that 25 years. So much for all that oil wealth, they killed their own countries.
3Unbelievable! Would the tires have ignited as soon as it touched down!
4Wow, I’d like to see the air density/DA calcs for that flight…
You think it’s hot ‘n humid in Houston, try it down the coast in the Coastal Bend to San Antonio the last month or so. Thirsty, just open the door and cut off a slice of air.
5Heat indexes have been running from ~100 degrees in the driest places, to 122+ degrees where the dewpoints are above 85, temps ~96 (here…).
Rhea,
6Not to worry. Boeing and Airbus will be offering special GW models and modifications with increased wing area for more lift.
Not to get into the aeronautics, but all those calcs and tradeoffs are part of designing an aircraft.
I LIKE hard boiled eggs (deviled eggs).
7When extreme heat conditions are expected, can’t they keep Sheriff Joe “Hot Air” Arpaio away from the airport? In an attempt to maintain a safety cushion under 120 degrees?
8I’m saving this post for when I’m dead and the devil comes calling.
9Rhea, by 2050 that may be a normal winter day.
10In the last day or so, a flight to Texas, from somewhere I can’t remember, was diverted from Phoenix to Oklahoma because Sky Haven airport was too hot. This was not a puddle-jumper, but a national carrier scheduled for one stop in Phoenix. Everyone got to Texas safely, which is the best outcome, but I’m sure plenty of connecting flights were missed.
But there’s no such thing as global warming.
11Not to brag, but we got out of 103 Las Cruces and spending about ten days in 87 Portland, Or. We timed it just right.
12OT-solstice full moon is rising at 9:11 central time tonight. Last one was in 1948. The next full moon will be on July 4th all because of Obama.
I am headed up the lane to watch the moonrise with an unobstructed view-I hope.
13I wonder if the tires would blow out?
Northwest South Damnkota is desert. I lived there for 6 years and liked it. I like desert so I guess there will be more and more of America for me to like. I Don’t Like That.
One day it was 121°, single digits humidity, but the sun hurt. I was out less than 10 minutes when my bare shoulders began feeling the burn. Ouch! I went back in. I don’t know how that kind of heat can be managed when it’s humid too.
14I was considering a trip to El Paso to visit my Godmother, but that heat combined with the awfulness of plane travel is making me think the Fall is a better bet–even though she is now 100 years old and time is of the essence.
15Debbo,
16“I don’t know how that kind of heat can be managed when it’s humid too.”
Think very sweaty “Mole People”, as from the old ’50’s flic which scared the beejabbers outta lil ‘ol me once:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mole_People_%28film%29
.
.
BarbinDC,
Do it ASAP, the odds are plodding along. El Paso heat is a dry heat, usually, very tolerable (actually nice IMO, compared to our usual humidity-drenched even hotter temps here).
You’ll be in A/C’ed spaces 95% of the time anyway…and airplane travel will only get worse.
We used to stop at a dude ranch east of ELP and ride horses all over the wild country up and down arroyos all day long (thousands of acres to roam freely, a hot heaven).
Debbo –
17Debbo
18Check out Amtrak. The trip takes several days but the scenery along the way is fantastic and the seats are great, plenty of elbow and leg room. Much like having a La-Z-Boy recliner. One caveat, it’s not cheap
There are some positives about living in Arizona’s climate. For one thing, Caribou Barbie (Sarah Palin) sold her house in Scottsdale. You know what they say, Sarah…..”If you can’t take the heat…”
19FYI:
Regarding certain flight locations classed as ‘Hot and high’ (I had forgot the term).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_and_high
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”
In aviation, hot and high is a condition of low air density due to high ambient temperature and high airport elevation. Air density decreases with increasing temperature and altitude. At any given true airspeed, lower air density reduces the amount of lift generated by the wings or the rotors of an aircraft, which may hamper an aircraft’s performance and hence its ability to operate safely. The reduced density also reduces the performance of the aircraft’s engine, compounding the effect. Aviators gauge air density by calculating the density altitude.
Phoenix, Arizona – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (altitude of 1,135 feet (346 m) is not extreme, but the area’s hot desert climate gives it “hot and high” characteristics for most of the year)”
Several manufacturers of early jet airliners offered variants optimized for hot and high operations. Such aircraft generally offered the largest wings and/or the most powerful engines in the model lineup coupled with a small fuselage to reduce weight. Some such aircraft include:
20The marketing failure of these airplanes demonstrated that airlines were generally unwilling to accept reduced efficiency at cruise and smaller ultimate load-carrying capacity in return for a slight performance gain at particular airports. Rather than accepting these drawbacks, it was easier for airlines to demand the construction of longer runways, operate with smaller loads as conditions dictated, or simply drop the unprofitable destinations.
Phoenix is only about 1,000 feet above sea level. In warmer conditions air can reduce lift, especially at higher altitudes. I was on a flight that stopped at Denver and we had to wait for cooler weather before taking off again. Maybe it was that hot in Phoenix even at 1,000 feet.
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