Don't walk behind the jet

That would be aweasome. Id have to hang out there all day long.

 

Let me see, I spend an hour or two going through security at the airport when the real bad guys can just go to the beach and shoot at over passing planes that are litteraly 30 feet above your head. How does that make any sense?!

Cool video though.

 

Look at this photo of the Santos Dumont airport in Rio de Janeiro.

At the front of the photo right behind the rocks that line the shore you will see a road that runs across the entire landmass, from the lagoon on the right, to the hangars on the left.

A few months ago a taxi driver went across there when an Airbus A320 was running up it's engines prior to taking off and the resulting jetblast blew the taxi about 80 metres into the air and the driver was killed.

Apparently the last taxi driver forgot to close the gate by the lagoon.

And from the FWIW files....you can see the two aircraft carriers moored in the background.....the one at the back is the ex-Clemenceau class carrier now renamed "Sao Paulo"....it is the flagship of the Brasilian navy....the other carrier is the ex-British HMS Vengeance which has been decommissioned by the navy....it is the one that has been supposedly "offered for sale"....heh....on E-bay and other sites. This photo is from January 2004.
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I loved flying into Santos Dumont...one of the best approaches in the world as a passenger, not sure if the pilots dig it since they are flying around the local mountains and closed airspace. Going out is equally cool with Pao de Acucar to be looped around. I miss Rio...

- JMG
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On my flights to Rio I always buy my ticket into Sao Paulo for two reasons.....United has a fabulous "RCC" lounge there......and it allows me to take the bus to Congonhas and fly into Santos Dumont on the ponte aerea (air bridge shuttle).

I just love both those airports for one main reason.......besides the fantastic scenery you mentioned.....in both cases you have to walk out onto the tarmac some 200 metres past rows of jets...some running...others not...and climb up a set of stairs to get into the plane.

The scenery, smells and sounds are like an airport should be......I hate the sterilized jetways and modern airports that most cities have nowadays.

 

Fun anytime but in the winter..the rains can leave you soaked for even a 30 second walk up the stairs. (Nothing like the smell of 130 wet passengers to make you know you never would have made it on the Lewis & Clark expedition!)

- JMG

 

I haven't been so lucky yet........heh.........

 

Matt, the first link does not seem to be working.