• DaGeek247@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    9 months ago

    To my untrained eye, yeah that’s kinda sketch, the skin is peeling off. Definitely get mad at the mantanance people. But it also doesn’t look dangerous on its own; it’s just a covering for the actual wing.

    • PaupersSerenade
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      9 months ago

      What you’re seeing is the flap, used sometimes during lift-off, but most commonly to apply drag for a slower landing. It’s not ideal, but flap-less landings are done and trained for. This plane was delivered in 1994, and they’ve been slowly phasing them out.

      • FirstCircle@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        It’s not a flap (back of the wing), it’s a slat (front of the wing), says so right in TFA.

        • PaupersSerenade
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          9 months ago

          Ah my bad, the linked article didn’t specify and I wrongly assumed the angle the pic was taken at.

      • DaGeek247@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        Flying while missing a whole tail rudder is entirely doable. A hole in a wing just isn’t as serious.

            • SaintWacko@midwest.social
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              edit-2
              9 months ago

              Oh. Turns out, we were looking at different pictures! You’re right, that one with the flaps retracted does kinda just look like it’s the skin. I was looking at the one with the flaps deployed, where it’s much more obvious that the core of the flap is missing.

        • Paragone@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          9 months ago

          That depends on how it affects near-stall flight.

          The most efficient cruise that is legal, is 1.30x stall-speed.

          If that damage on the leading portion of the wing means your “1.30x” stall-speed cruise is now actually 1.00x, you’re gambling.

          There was a DC9 that killed everybody because of pebbled ice wrecking its actual-stall-speed, years ago.

          Landing also requires that you dance at the edge of stall, & if your idea of where stall-speed is, is wrong, …

          _ /\ _

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOPM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      9 months ago

      I imagine that could affect aerodynamics of the plane and ability of the pilots to control it when the outside of the wing peels off like that