A Cessna Citation makes a Winter landing on runway 36 at the Fond Du Lac County Airport (FLD) in Wisconsin. With snow covering the ground it’s hard to pick out the runway till getting fairly close to the airport. The large flat area to the northeast of the field is frozen lake Winnebago. This airport is just 14 miles south of the Oshkosh airport and acts as a reliever during the yearly fly in. During the EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh Fond du lac is a popular stopping spot for aviators who want camp next to their airplanes and avoid the more crowded traffic pattern at the Oshkosh airport.
Monthly Archives: June 2013
Cessna Citation, Thunder Storm at Washington Dulles Airport and Landing Chicago O’hare
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| Citation Encore Master Warning Panel |
A Cessna Citation Encore (CE-560) waits out a severe thunder storm next to a United Airlines Airbus 319 on the holding pad at Washington Dulles Airport. Both aircraft are turned into the gust front and the rain can be seen moving across the ramp. The wind registered 46 kts or plus 50 mph on the standby attitude indicator, “the little one” but it was probably higher sense it only registers the portion of wind that goes straight into the pitot tube. The primary airspeed indicator on the flight display doesn’t register airspeed till it reaches a minimum of 60 kts. The inflight portion of the video shows the cabin, cockpit, and instrument panel with the master warning test activated so that the warning lights are illuminated. The landing is at Chicago O’Hare airport.
FedEx Boeing 727-2D4 Stuck in the Mud at Cahokia
Boeing 727 landing Gear in Mud
N288FE a FedEx Boeing 727-200 cargo jet named Michelle, is stuck in the mud at Cahokia Airport. This retired three engine cargo jet, built in 1979 was first operated by Ozark Airlines, then Pan Am, and eventually was converted to a freight hauler and operated by Federal Express. When fedEx retired it from service in May of 2013 they donated it to the St Louis Downtown Cahokia Airport for Fire Fighter training. Its final flight was to CPS where it was left by its three man crew. Later, as it was being towed to the northwest corner of the airport, it sank into a muddy field. At an empty weight of 98,400 lbs the soft ground it was being moved on to could not support the aircraft weight. It came to rest with the main landing gear sunk in the field and the nose gear resting on a city street. In the video A hawk is perched on one of the main wheels seemingly assessing the fate of this poor old bird. A week later and after some digging, the wheels of this airplane were pushed on to sheets of plywood and it was pushed further into the field to clear the road. Boeing built 1,831 of these aircraft which served as both passenger and cargo jets.
FedEx 727 landing Gear in Mud
N288FE Boeing 727-2D4
Power Plant 3 Pratt and Whitney JT8D-15 engines
15,500 lbs Thrust each
Maximum Takeoff Weight 184,800 lbs
Empty Weight 98,400 lbs
Maximum Fuel Capacity 8,090 gal
Maximum range 1,700 nm
Maximum Cruise speed 0.9 Mach
Service ceiling 42,000 feet
Length 153 ft 2 in
Wing Span 108 feet