First ever US flight from Knock takes off

PCros

The first scheduled flight from Knock Airport to New York has taken off.

It's being operated by the Scottish low-cost carrier Flyglobespan.

Three flights a week will be run from Ireland's West Airport Knock to JFK International Airport in New York.

A twice-weekly service to Boston will also begin next Wednesday.

Source:Breakingnews.ie

Steyr

About time! It amazes me how slow things are to kick off in Ireland!:mad: Galway should get their act together and do it too!

RoundyMooney

Any idea what aircraft they're using, guys?

Also, do they stop over en-route?

jmayo

Steyr wrote:

About time! It amazes me how slow things are to kick off in Ireland!:mad: Galway should get their act together and do it too!

Well you better add a few feet to the runway first.
BTW Knock has already received trans Atlantic traffic and does receive flights during the summer. It is just not scheduled service.

PCros

RoundyMooney wrote:

Any idea what aircraft they're using, guys?

Also, do they stop over en-route?

They are flying 757-200s out of Knock, not sure about the stopover.

Steyr

jmayo wrote:

Well you better add a few feet to the runway first.

Obviously thats why i said they should get their act together. In fairness to Knock its a good spotters airport especailly at both Runway Ends!! Not much fencing, EINN is getting very bad for Spotting thanks to the crusties!:mad:

jmayo

Not sure Galway will ever be allowed extend.
You are pretty near some houses etc and planning maybe difficult, correct me if I am wrong?

AFAIK Knock (which actually is nowhere near Knock) had 747 at one stage.
757 shouold not be problem.
Also there is no truth Knock was built to take USAF bombers, but McEvaddy was trying to get US refueling in there I believe.
So watch out for the crusties...

pclancy

Wasnt it built to take John Pauls 747 back in the 70s?

Great news about the service, the west needs more services like this, great news for the local economy!

jmayo

pclancy wrote:

Wasnt it built to take John Pauls 747 back in the 70s?

Great news about the service, the west needs more services like this, great news for the local economy!

JP II visited Ireland in 1979, airport wasn't built at that stage.
Can't remember when it was finished but remember lots of people learnt to drive on it.

pclancy

Oh I always thought it was built for his visit after some priest over there campaigned for it to be built to attract pilgrims to Knock.

Steyr

jmayo wrote:

Not sure Galway will ever be allowed extend.
You are pretty near some houses etc and planning maybe difficult, correct me if I am wrong?

AFAIK Knock (which actually is nowhere near Knock) had 747 at one stage.
757 shouold not be problem.
Also there is no truth Knock was built to take USAF bombers, but McEvaddy was trying to get US refueling in there I believe.
So watch out for the crusties...

Your correct about housing, Knock regularily takes 747's, It was built to take USAF Aircraft of most sizes/descriptions ( so ive heard off lots of people )

jmayo

pclancy wrote:

Oh I always thought it was built for his visit after some priest over there campaigned for it to be built to attract pilgrims to Knock.

Monseignor James Horan was the guy that thought it up and actually got it through. And yes CJ helped, spotted some votes in it.
It was build with purpose of getting pilgrims to Knock but also more importantly providing outside link for West of Ireland, rather than have travellers have to goto Shannon or Dublin.
Galway or Sligo didn't really exist at the time. Ok they may have been small airfield but that was it.

Actually pity there weren't more people like Horan around because what he achieved was miraculous and was done through very smart maneouvering and sheer bloody mindiness.

Steyr wrote:

Your correct about housing, Knock regularily takes 747's, It was built to take USAF Aircraft of most sizes/descriptions ( so ive heard off lots of people )

There is no proof it was built to take US bombers (including B52s I think) in case of war with Soviet Union, even though built at height of cold war and with lots of American donations.

Besides you can't prove anything.
BTW have you ever been involved in protesting against the USA, have you ever been a member of a communist organisation?

pclancy

Why would they bother building it suitable for US bombers though? Ireland neutral (Supposedly) and loads of UK and NATO airbases just another half an hours flying from Ireland...?

jmayo

pclancy wrote:

Why would they bother building it suitable for US bombers though? Ireland neutral (Supposedly) and loads of UK and NATO airbases just another half an hours flying from Ireland...?

Because US airbases in UK and Europe would have been taken out in first wave of attacks maybe?

Look it is only rumour, probably started by two blokes in pub in Claremorris one night before they headed to Beaten Path disco to try and get lucky.

But it is damm long, longer than Cork AFAIK.

Steyr

jmayo wrote:

Because US airbases in UK and Europe would have been taken out in first wave of attacks maybe?

You beat me to it! Was that not the most obvious answer!!

eoinok

Ah old on a sec now lads. "built to take B52's" etc etc.
Do you actually realise how long a runway is needed for a B52?
No, I dont think so, and neither do I but I couldn't be bothered to look it up

Point being is I know it takes a massively long runway and I dont think there is any airport in Ireland that could actually accomadate them. Maybe shannon considering that the AN225 can get in there for maintenace etc.
Also I think there is an issue for runway width too?

Davidth88

Lads,

I think the B52 requires about 8.5k ft of runway fully loaded , and with fuel for a real sortie. ( RAF Fairford has 10k of runway ) just guessing after doing a few googles ( yes it's a slow day )

That would mean it would be running over bog land for about 1k ft , man that would leave a lot of bit ruts in the mud ! If you ever watched these guys

On thread.... glad to see new flights into the west .. where are the photo's ? can't tell me there were no spotters there

Steyr

Davidth88 wrote:

On thread.... where are the photo's ? can't tell me there were no spotters there

Il be going up probably next week, The Air Corps PC9M's use Knock alot so im told.

RoundyMooney

There was a pic in today's Indo of one of the 757(s?) disembarking.

Nothing too exciting, I fear.

jmayo

eoinok wrote:

Ah old on a sec now lads. "built to take B52's" etc etc.
Do you actually realise how long a runway is needed for a B52?
No, I dont think so, and neither do I but I couldn't be bothered to look it up

Point being is I know it takes a massively long runway and I dont think there is any airport in Ireland that could actually accomadate them. Maybe shannon considering that the AN225 can get in there for maintenace etc.
Also I think there is an issue for runway width too?

Jeeze it was only rumours imortalised in song by Christy Moore.
B52s might have got over the bog if they used big enough rocket boosters. Then again they could have ended up embedded in some poor devils house in Barnacogue.
Actually lot of B52 missions are very long range with lots of refueling en-route, so they would be based states side with smaller aircraft based at Knock.
Anyway it is all conjecture.

Anyway if nit picking, then the Antonovs using Shannon are probably AN-124 Condors rather than AN-225 Cossacks. There are only few Cossacks in existence and not sure if they doing the cargo routes as much as the AN-124s. Antonov built new one few years ahgo to try and get people interested in buying it.
Huge planes to watch lumber along the taxiway and then lovely to watch charge into the sky.
And they do operate of reasonably short rough strips, not sure on length here.

Steyr

jmayo wrote:

Anyway if nit picking, then the Antonovs using Shannon are probably AN-124 Condors rather than AN-225 Cossacks. There are only few Cossacks in existence and not sure if they doing the cargo routes as much as the AN-124s. Antonov built new one few years ahgo to try and get people interested in buying it.
Huge planes to watch lumber along the taxiway and then lovely to watch charge into the sky.
And they do operate of reasonably short rough strips, not sure on length here.

Those AN124's are Shannon based its one of their Hubs, also there is only one AN225 Mriya left and it is not flying anymore it suffered structural damage in Africa a few weeks ago so it is no more il see if i can find the post about it.

Steyr

Ficus wrote:

The nose gear collapsed, but it was repaired on site and took about two weeks, and is back in Ukraine undergoing a full inspection.

Thank you, what a shame it would have been to have her grounded for life!:eek:

oscarBravo

jmayo wrote:

But it is damm long, longer than Cork AFAIK.

2340m TORA. My record is three landings/takeoffs along that length.

When I was doing my aerobatic training, the instructor looked along the taxiway as we were flying downwind and said: "some day I swear I'm going to land on that, just for the hell of it...!"

[For those who don't know NOC - the taxiway is just a short tarmac strip at right angles to the runway connecting it to the apron.]

Steyr

And the Apron is also known as the Ramp where Aircraft park.:D

pclancy

oscarBravo wrote:

2340m TORA. My record is three landings/takeoffs along that length.

When I was doing my aerobatic training, the instructor looked along the taxiway as we were flying downwind and said: "some day I swear I'm going to land on that, just for the hell of it...!"

[For those who don't know NOC - the taxiway is just a short tarmac strip at right angles to the runway connecting it to the apron.]

You've done aerobatic training? :eek: Tell us more....

oscarBravo

Part of the standard PPL training: unusual attitude recovery. In other words, how to recover from stalls and spins. The lesson started off with a few aileron rolls and loops to get used to being upside-down and feeling G-forces, then went on to stall recovery with no loss of altitude, then finally recovering from a fully-established spin.

There's something very, very hairy about deliberately getting a plane into a situation where it's plummeting towards the ground and spinning rapidly at the same time - beats the hell out of any rollercoaster I've ever been on.

Capt'n Midnight

Steyr wrote:

Your correct about housing, Knock regularily takes 747's, It was built to take USAF Aircraft of most sizes/descriptions ( so ive heard off lots of people )

and it's aligned so they can land straight away after a transatlantic crossing , which has nothing to do with the prevaling wind :rolleyes:

I've heard the same story about the Naas road. But lets face it most fighter aircraft could use a mile of 2 lane + hard shoulder as a runway (now you know why we have lots more hard shoulders than anyone else

It's the worlds third smallest international airport (or was)

Then again the US invaded Grenada over the same FUD over a civil airport.

Capt'n Midnight

Davidth88 wrote:

I think the B52 requires about 8.5k ft of runway fully loaded , and with fuel for a real sortie. ( RAF Fairford has 10k of runway ) just guessing after doing a few googles ( yes it's a slow day )

they don't take off fully loaded. Instead they take off with a light fuel load - it puts less stress on the airframe and thus they last way longer. then its mid air refueling from what is more or less a civilian aircraft.

Love the fuss over Knock being a tourist destination. The first plane was a pilgramage from Knock to lourdes ? or fatima ?

Capt'n Midnight

jmayo wrote:

Anyway if nit picking, then the Antonovs using Shannon are probably AN-124 Condors
...
And they do operate of reasonably short rough strips, not sure on length here.

IIRC the 124's can take off in about ten times their length

Jakey

oscarBravo wrote:

Part of the standard PPL training: unusual attitude recovery. In other words, how to recover from stalls and spins. The lesson started off with a few aileron rolls and loops to get used to being upside-down and feeling G-forces, then went on to stall recovery with no loss of altitude, then finally recovering from a fully-established spin.

There's something very, very hairy about deliberately getting a plane into a situation where it's plummeting towards the ground and spinning rapidly at the same time - beats the hell out of any rollercoaster I've ever been on.

What aircraft were you 'upside-down' in ? There was no upside-down in my ppl?

oscarBravo

Cessna 152 aerobat. Maybe it's just not a "standard" part of the training, but it seems to have been the norm where I did it. It's certainly a valuable skillset to have.

jmayo

oscarBravo wrote:

Part of the standard PPL training: unusual attitude recovery. In other words, how to recover from stalls and spins. The lesson started off with a few aileron rolls and loops to get used to being upside-down and feeling G-forces, then went on to stall recovery with no loss of altitude, then finally recovering from a fully-established spin.

There's something very, very hairy about deliberately getting a plane into a situation where it's plummeting towards the ground and spinning rapidly at the same time - beats the hell out of any rollercoaster I've ever been on.

Well I never seem to recall any FI (Irish, British, US or Canadian) doing loops and rolls to get any of their students used to unusual attitudes. You don't have to get used to being upside down since it is not part of PPL training. AFAIK you don't need to be able to recover from fully established spin just an incipient spin.
Where did you do your training ?

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

they don't take off fully loaded. Instead they take off with a light fuel load - it puts less stress on the airframe and thus they last way longer. then its mid air refueling from what is more or less a civilian aircraft.

Love the fuss over Knock being a tourist destination. The first plane was a pilgramage from Knock to lourdes ? or fatima ?

Actually after the wonderful weather of the last few days we could market Mayo as damm good tourist destination.

And some of those refueling tankers may be 707s owned by Omega Air, that happens to have been founded/owned by the McEvaddys, who happen to hail from less than 3 miles from Knock Airport where they have an interest.
Small world is it not.
There were rumours doing the rounds that McEvaddy was trying to get the USAF to use Knock as refuelling depot rather than Shannon. Could come to pass if they were pushed out of Shannon?
Would be very interesting since the Greens only objected to Shannon's use, they never said anything about Knock airport's use.

Steyr

jmayo wrote:

There were rumours doing the rounds that McEvaddy was trying to get the USAF to use Knock as refuelling depot rather than Shannon. Could come to pass if they were pushed out of Shannon?

I think we all know thats not going to happen!