Iranians claim UAV shadowed USS Ronald Reagan for 25 minutes in the Persian Gulf.
If it got close, there's nothing a little Phalanx wouldn't cure.
R2D2 with fangs.
Posted 04:22 GMT by Dennis Collins
And so it goes in the life of a night pilot. Two heavenly torches are rising in the east, Venus and the Moon, ahead of the sun. Eight miles below, still asleep, is Louisville, Kentucky, where the local time is 4:30 A.M.
Dave from Phoenix with another great view from the cockpit.
Posted 03:44 GMT by Dennis Collins
WestJet admits to "spying" on Air Canada.
WestJet also said the decision to glean data about its rival by using a former Air Canada employee's password to gain access to an Air Canada Web site hundreds of thousands of times "was undertaken with the knowledge and direction of the highest management levels of WestJet"
Posted 03:34 GMT by Dennis Collins
Eclipse Aviation expects certification by the end of the quarter, with six customer aircraft in the production line.
Looks like a generic biz-jet, except it costs only $1.5 mil.
It looks so simple.... It takes lots of complexity to make things simple.
Posted 02:31 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 31, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 55
ISS crew observes eruption of the "Cleveland" volcano from space. High Res Image here.
Cleveland Volcano erupts on the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Credit: NASA
Posted 16:47 GMT by Dennis Collins
Creditors sieze Boeing 777 in New York.
Posted 16:04 GMT by Dennis Collins
What beautiful Memorial Day at AZ82. We've been blown out for the last two days, with winds up to 42 knots on my gauge. I missed the AZ82 fly-out breakfast this morning because I haven't finished installing the new electronic ignition system.
We had up to six, count 'em, six, airplanes waiting for takeoff this morning. That's a positive traffic jam for around here. Normal "busy" weekends can sometimes only have a half dozen flights all day.
A nice RV arrival this morning.
"From out of the clear blue of the western sky comes ...." no, wait. Just one of the neighbors enjoying a nice day in the Arizona High Country.
Posted 15:24 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 29, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 57
Roger e-mails a question that I don't know the answer to:
Why is a B-nut on a tubing called a "B" nut?
Looking in the Aircraft Spruce catalog , what I seem to remember calling a "B" nut is listed as an AN818 Nut for aluminum tubing. You use it along with a sleeve on aluminum flare tubing.
Other places call it a "Straight Female AN Swivel Nut". (there's got to be a good joke there somewhere). But I did find a couple of odd references to a "B" nut associated with an AN818 and AN924 nuts on the internet, so I must have remembered correctly what these are called. If anyone knows why this is called a "B" nut, let me know.
Aircraft Spruce does have what they call a Cable End "B" Nut, but it's not the same thing at all. It's a stainless steel fitting to connect throttle cables to throttle arms on carburetors.
Roger also asked about why they call Cockpit Recorder boxes "Black" boxes, even though they're usually florescent orange. I guess it's because all electronic boxes (the AF calls them "PFM" Boxes) used to be black. Avionics are usually things in the cockpit with some kind of user interface like a knob or display, and "Black Boxes" are any remote electronics boxes hidden somewhere in the airplane with wire bundles connected to them. In the software business, we sometimes refer to off-the-shelf software called by second party software as "Black Boxes". Particularly if we keep their method of operation a proprietary secret.
Posted 23:02 GMT by Dennis Collins
Dan on the Yahoo Luscombe-Silvaire users group found a neat new Ramp Ride at the Watsonville Ca. Fly-In. Motorized Beer Coolers.
To the suggestion that they need chopper front ends, Dan says:
The chopper front end will have to wait for the upcoming cable TV series, "Orange County Cooler-Choppers". Grumpy tattooed guys swilling beer from under their butts. Can there be any better form of entertainment...?
Posted 19:07 GMT by Dennis Collins
Boeing announces their new GBU-39 "Small Diameter Bomb". The new 250 lb bomb is a smart weapon that can be carried by all Air Force combat aircraft. Aproximatly 4 times as many SDBs can be carried as previous smart weapons. The bomb has folding wings that extend it's glide range, allowing safer ingress/egress, and a larger attack footprint.
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho -- A load crew Airman here uses a jammer to attach a pair of GBU-39 bombs to an F-15E Strike Eagle. An evaluation team trained and tested the crew on the new small diameter bomb. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Posted 15:58 GMT by Dennis Collins
Update on a story from April 10:
The F-22 canopy that jammed shut, traping the pilot inside for 5 hours has been
blamed on mouting screws that backed out. The fix will be to install longer screws
and inspect the fleet.
Firemen cut the F-22 canopy open to remove the trapped pilot.
Posted 15:14 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 28, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 58
Image from B-1B gear up landing on Diego Garcia earlier this month:
Posted 17:24 GMT by Dennis Collins
Airbus will deploy automatic autopilot traffic avoidance in emergency situations.
Posted 16:49 GMT by Dennis Collins
747 Air Tanker tested in Tallahassee. Pix included.
Posted 03:19 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 27, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 59
Alan in Mojave outdoes himself today with Northrop-Grumman Anti-MANPADS Testing on a 747, QF-4 flybys, and DC-3 fun. (Hat tip Jim N'Texas)
Image by Alan (there's a lot more at the link)
Posted 04:57 GMT by Dennis Collins
Aviatrix Canada lives life on the edge.
"Hey!" I finally cry with wounded aggrievance. "This schedule is impossible!"
"Welcome to Victory Airways," says my unsurprised captain....Sigh. I guess this is the sort of post I shouldn't be making. I'll replace it in a week with one about the scenic majesty of the mountains around Wolf River.
Ellen at Queen of the Sky Blog can speak about what one should put in an airline blog.
Posted 04:35 GMT by Dennis Collins
Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) successfully demonstrated ballistic missle defense yesterday, using a modified Standard Missile - 2 (SM-2) Block IV. It was the first sea-based intercept of a ballistic missile in its terminal phase.
Image 1: Ballistic missle target drone, launched in 2005 from the Pacific Missle Range in Kauai
Hawaii.
Image 2: Modified SM-2 missle launched yesterday from the USS Lake Erie.
Images from Missle Defense Agency
Posted 03:55 GMT by Dennis Collins
Fleet Week begins in NYC.
New York Harbor (May 24, 2006) - Sailors spell out the message "I Love New York," on the flight deck aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), as the ship enters the New York Harbor during the parade of ships, Fleet New York Week 2006. Fleet Week has been sponsored by New York City since 1984 in celebration of the United States sea service. The annual event also provides an opportunity for citizens of New York City and the surrounding Tri-State area to meet Sailors, and Marines, as well as witness first hand the latest capabilities of today's Navy and Marine Corps team. Fleet week includes dozens of military demonstrations and displays, including public tours of many of the participating ships. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Aaron Glover
Posted 03:38 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 26, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 60
The last Boeing DC-9/MD-80/717 departed Long Beach today. Aircraft production in the Los Angeles basin, once home to the DC-3, B-17, P-38 and many other aircraft types has now ended. Plants from Douglas, North American, and Lockheed once existed there.
Last month, Boeing employees gathered for this remarkable photo in front of the last 717. This final Douglas-heritage airplane was the 15,599th airplane built in the Long Beach Factory.
Image and caption from Randy at Boeing.
Posted 24:58 GMT by Dennis Collins
Massive jet fuel fire at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport. Follow the link to Fox News to see air tanker drops on the building.
Posted 15:48 GMT by Dennis Collins
GOES-N spacecraft scheduled for launch today on Boeing Delta IV. Launch window is from 6:11 to 7:11 p.m. EDT. NASA TV coverage here.
Posted 05:30 GMT by Dennis Collins
Controversy over a 1960 F9F Cougar crash into a Montana lake.
Posted 05:30 GMT by Dennis Collins
From the NYTimes:
Greek and Turkish F-16 fighter planes collided in midair today in disputed airspace over the Aegean Sea.
Posted 04:42 GMT by Dennis Collins
Concerns that dress code and standardized procedures may expose Federal Air Marshals.
Posted 04:42 GMT by Dennis Collins
After a 5.5 hour non-stop trip from Salina Kansas, Steve Fosset taxis up to the hangar door at the Smithsonian's Dulles museum on the Global Flyer's last flight.
"Global Flyer has been flown to its full capability and set some of the most important records in aviation," Fossett said. "The mission is complete."The plane will become the sixth aircraft built by legendary designer Burt Rutan to hang in the Smithsonian. Rutan's Mojave, Calif.-based company, Scaled Composites, built the world's first privately developed manned spaceship, which in 2004 won a $10-million prize for a pair of suborbital flights.
The vehicle, known as SpaceShipOne, hangs in the Smithsonian's main building in Washington, D.C.
You know, that's really got to tick off the folks at NASA headquarters in Washington to have SS1 in the Smithsonian. Not just hidden out at Dulles, but right in the main Smithsonian building beside the Wright Flyer and Apollo 11, within walking distance of the Capitol Building.
Posted 04:19 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 24, 2006
Sunday is the 10th annual Open Cockpit Day at the Castle museum in Atwater Ca. where they offer cockpit access to 15 of it's rare planes including it's B-36 and B-52. I haven't heard of Air Museums doing such things, but it's a great idea. Castle also has a rare B-45A Tornado and British Avro Vulcan bomber among it's 47 aircraft on display.
Posted 12:57 GMT by Dennis Collins
C-17 over the Atlantic, off Charleston SC - Air Force Pictures.
A C-17 Globemaster III from the 14th Airlift Squadron, Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., releases flares over the Atlantic Ocean near Charleston, S.C., during a training mission on Tuesday, May 16, 2006. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Russell E. Cooley IV)
Two F-15 Eagles from the 60th Fighter Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., escort a C-17 Globemaster III from the 14th Airlift Squadron, Charleston AFB, S.C., as they fly over the USS Yorktown and the Arthur J. Ravenel Jr. Bridge in the Charleston, S.C., area during a local training mission on Tuesday, May 16, 2006. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Russell E. Cooley IV)
Posted 01:52 GMT by Dennis Collins
Shuttle Discovery rolled out to pad 39B on Friday.
Posted 01:36 GMT by Dennis Collins
NASA picks the Rocketdyne RS-68 engine from the Delta IV for it's new Heavy Lift Cargo rocket. This Liquid Hydrogen/Liquid Oxygen engine replaces the Shuttle main engine that was expected to be used on this vehicle.
Posted 01:20 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 23, 2006
On Tuesday in Dallas, the Committee to Protect Our Children held a news conference allegedly protesting the noise at Dallas' Love Field. By all appearances this was a normal Nimby event, organized by one "Ricardo Medrano".
The story as written up by the media was that Southwest diverted 3 arrivals to another runway, so there wouldn't be any example of supposed horrible conditions for them to document.
But read down a bit and you'll see one sentence that changes the whole picture.
Medrano is also a board member for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, which is home to Southwest rival American Airlines.
The real story should have been a group that has sunk so low they'll use the "Committee to Protect Our Children" to hype their obvious financial agenda of closing Love Field (Southwest's home) in favor of DFW (American's home). The school where they held the event had been soundproofed, so of course they held the news conference outdoors. An interesting story would be to investigate who is funding this group that's using children to justify what they want. Is it real estate interests, seeking to close Love Field for redevelopment? Is it American Airlines, Southwest's rival at DFW? And depending on who's pushing this, how did they get their guy, Ricardo Medrano, on the board of DFW? I smell corruption. That's the story, and the media has to see it, but is ignoring it.
My Nose For News tells me that if the media wanted to sell newspapers, they'd be talking about the conflict of interest here between the "Children's" group and whomever backed Medrano on the DFW board. Instead, they're merely playing in the power game themselves.
Posted 15:40 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 21, 2006
Believe it or not, there's not any real aviation news out there. The most interesting item are the two new uniform designs by the Air Force from several days ago. One of them is a takeoff of Billy Mitchell's uniform. I think it looks pretty cool. Some hate it.
I could talk about working all day drilling holes for new tiedown anchors at AZ82. But ... nah. I won't. Too tired.
Posted 23:49 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 20, 2006
I had never heard of VATSIM before. I knew the MS Flight Simulator folks were pretty serious about their hobby. But I never dreamed they were *that* serious.
At this instant there are 272 pilots using MS Flight Sim to fly through virtual airspace controlled by 62 controllers using 10 internet servers. They communicate with audio headsets, and file VFR and IFR flight plans, the works. These guys even have official job applications. For example "Miami ARTCC" is looking for a Deputy Air Traffic Manager right now.
They've got 7 regions worldwide, with 15 divisions, and a total of 109 thousand registered users. Wanna go fly around Europe without paying fuel costs? This would be the way to do it.
Unbelievable.
Posted 15:32 GMT by Dennis Collins
United flight 364 departing Portland, Oregon on Wednesday had an external emergency slide deploy in flight, which slapped and vibrated the aircraft in flight. Pictures at radio 1190 KEX website.
Posted 02:23 GMT by Dennis Collins
The 535th trains for air drops.
An extraction chute opens over the drop zone during an airdrop training mission May 16, 2006. The C-17 Globemaster IIIs are from the 535th Airlift Squadron, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii and are conducting the training to provide multi-element training for the pilots and maintain aircrew proficiency. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo)
Posted 01:47 GMT by Dennis Collins
What a waste of good airplane engines. And radial engines at that (if it ain't round it ain't sound).
These are Rotec aircraft engines for experimental airplanes, made in Austrailia. I really want to put one of these on a Luscombe.
Posted 01:13 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 18, 2006
OK people, listen up... I know there is a small, but loyal group of folks out there who peruse this website daily. Great. That's what it's for. But it's a lot of work to keep it going, and I need a bit of help.
I'm not going to ask for money, like some sites do. What I need you to do is fire up your e-mail lists, and tell your airplane friends that you've found this web site and perhaps they'd like it too. This is the first time I've asked this, but I'll do it again regularly in the future. You just need to do it once, and you will have paid me for my work to make this happen. If everyone who likes this site tells a few friends about it, then readership will grow and I can keep doing this.
That is all...
Posted 15:09 GMT by Dennis Collins
So what will the F-35 be called? The Pentagon will officially name it by the end of June. Some of the ideas are "Kestrel", "Razorback", "Diamondback", "Ranger", "Phoenix", "Owl" and more. I don't like any of them. Where are the good old names like "Thunderbolt", or "Mustang"? Ok, they've been done, but can't we come up with something as good? The Brits come up with great names. They gave us the names "Lightning" for the P-38 and "Spitfire" for their Supermarine fighter. Maybe they should name it.
Tell them what you think at this poll.
Posted 14:59 GMT by Dennis Collins
More opportunity to make money in the aviation business while not really flying.
The Navy Wednesday gave a large audience of defense contractors details on what might be a multibillion dollar contract for an unmanned air reconnaissance system that would require scores of sophisticated flying drones, an array of high-technology sensors and communications systems and the associated ground control and data-receiving stations.
Posted 14:51 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 17, 2006
(Former) USS Oriskany sunk today off Pensacola. More here.
Scuttling charges go off, and she rides low in the water. Note the 50 foot boat on deck, aft of the island, that held the explosive generator.
Sinking by the stern.
The last bit of flight deck in the sun for the last time, and all that's left
is foam and the floating explosive generator boat.
All photos by the US Navy.
Posted 20:05 GMT by Dennis Collins
Marine Lt. Col. Harry G. Constant hits 5000 hours in the F-18.
Posted 19:41 GMT by Dennis Collins
This weekend is the annual "Take'em Out and Fly'em" weekend and Chino California. The Planes of Fame rolls out the majority of their museum this time every year and flies them. The large formations of warbirds is something that every airplane nut should see.
Posted 14:13 GMT by Dennis Collins
Motion in the British Parliament to bring Concorde back into service as the Royal Air Force One.
Posted 13:49 GMT by Dennis Collins
Oriskany is now scheduled to be sunk at 9:30 local time.
Update: 11:00am CDT. Oriskany has sunk. No pictures yet that I can find.
Posted 13:15 GMT by Dennis Collins
NASA's DART spacecraft (Demonstration Autonomous Rendezvous Technology) ended it's mission last month by unintentionally colliding with it's target. They're not really saying why. Classified.
Posted 02:58 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 17, 2006
The Southwest Blog site is beginning to collect a good set of blogs. Check it out.
Posted 15:32 GMT by Dennis Collins
Dave is Back in the (electric) Saddle, Again.
Yep, back in the electric saddle and climbing through 23,000 feet for 29,000 feet. Seattle Center promised higher altitude after we clear traffic ahead. The second hand is ticking...
Posted 15:25 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 16, 2006
The USS Oriskany departed Pensacola today, under tow for it's scheduled scuttling Wednesday.
Video from Pensacola News Journal here:
Posted 20:21 GMT by Dennis Collins
FAA is foot dragging on the Alaskan ADS/B system. They've got a fully operational system with users in place, but they're arguing over whether to use radar standards for ADS/B data. Since ADS/B is theoretically superior to radar, what's wrong with using radar standards? It should take about a 10 second meeting to decide this.
This is FAA/ATC/union politics at work, not safety. In fact, they're standing in the way of safer flying.
Posted 20:21 GMT by Dennis Collins
Nimbys in Rhode Island vs. Westerly State Airport.
Posted 20:15 GMT by Dennis Collins
Posted 20:10 GMT by Dennis Collins
Some awesome images from this weekends Barksdale AFB airshow, courtesy of the US Air Force. DO go to their web site and download the large images.
A B-17G Flying Fortress nicknamed "Thunderchief" participates in a heritage flight with a B-52H Stratofortress from the 2nd Bomb Wing. The 2006 Defenders of Liberty Airshow at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., kicked off May 12 with a twilight show. The B-17G is owned by the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Michael A. Kaplan)
This was the first ever B-17 - B-52 formation flight. If they would have flown B-29 "FIFI", it would have been all the Boeing Forts in one flight. The Flying Fortress, Super Fortress and StratoFortress.
An F-4 Phantom, P-47 Thunderbolt, F-16 Fighting Falcon and P-51 Mustang fly in a heritage flight formation during the 2006 Defenders of Liberty Airshow at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Saturday, May 13, 2006. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Michael A. Kaplan)
Posted 19:58 GMT by Dennis Collins
I missed a good F-4 Phantom post last month at Alan's Mojave Weblog.
Better late than never (Alan has some great pix over there).
Posted 01:25 GMT by Dennis Collins
ABC News says there are around 2000 airliners baking in the southwestern desert sun that will likely never be flown again.
Alan at Mojave took this great image in their boneyard of a DC-9/MD-80
Posted 00:39 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 15, 2006
Posts will be a little thin this weekend because I've been on the road to Oklahoma for Daughter #2's wedding.
The blushing bride, right after I gave her away. I told her I was going to take a picture right here and she said "do it - I dare you, it will make me laugh and I'll calm down". She did great. A wonderful wedding, thanks to help from everyone in the family, least of which me. All I did was dress in a monkey suit and walk her down the isle.
Ok, it's not a post about airplanes. Deal with it.
Posted 05:45 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 14, 2006
Here's the Vega, Texas runway lights. No, there wasn't an airplane in the pattern. And no, Vega isn't some kind of big airport. In fact, there's only one airplane tied down outside (a nice Cessna 195), and a half dozen hangars, mostly Ag planes I think.
Instead of the cheesy 5 clicks on the mic button to turn on the lights, Vega, Shamrock, and another personal strip along I-40 in Texas all have beautiful runway lights, lit all night.
It's a pride thing.
People driving past on the highway, thousands of them an hour, see a town that's alive instead of dead and black. Check down below to the May 6 post about Expressway Junction airport in Oklahoma City. When I was a line boy there in the early 70's, it got down to only 3 runway lights lit. I took it upon myself to replace the lights in the rest of them so we had a whole airport at night. I also painted numbers on the "T" hangars, but I ran out of paint for the last three and never got back to it before I left. When I visited 20 years later, they still had never numbered the last three hangars.
Neglect like that is what kills airports. The thrill and excitement that parted depression era farmers with the huge sum of 5 dollars for an airplane ride has slowly wound down till many small airports are dying. Keeping the aircraft business alive isn't hard. It takes promotion, ingenuity and hard work like any other business, where all it used to take was merely the effort to be FAA legal and the crowd would come.
The Texas Panhandle airports are doing their part by keeping up appearances. And so far, they're staying in business, in places with far less population than Oklahoma City and it's two sad examples of airport neglect, Expressway Junction, and Downtown Airpark, that are both closed and all but dead.
Posted 05:45 GMT by Dennis Collins
060510-N-4772B-019 South China Sea (May 10, 2006) - Flight deck personnel rush to tie down an SH-60B Seahawk helicopter assigned to the Saberhawks of Anti Submarine Squadron Light Four Seven (HSL-47) on the flight deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49). Harpers Ferry is en route to participate in the 25th anniversary of the annual U.S./Thai exercise Cobra Gold 2006 promoting regional stability and security. Cobra Gold is a combined annual joint training exercise aimed at developing interoperability, strengthening relationships between services and developing cross-cultural understanding among participating nations. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 2nd Class Brian P. Biller
Posted 05:30 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 13, 2006
FAA is implementing a new IFR approach system called RNP - "Required Navigation Performance".
Posted 20:14 GMT by Dennis Collins
Two T-38 Talons, H. Ross Perot Jr. and Lawyers.
Posted 20:08 GMT by Dennis Collins
Sam at FL250 explains all that V1-V2 stuff. If I ever learned all that, I forgot it.
Posted 15:12 GMT by Dennis Collins
Aviatrix Canada and Captian's idiosyncrasies.
Years ago when I was an FO at another company I realized too late that I should keep notes on the captains I flew with. Yes, there are company standard operating procedures, but you have to cater to the idiosyncrasies of each captain. Every one has his own individual SOPs, too, and woe betide the first officer who doesn't follow them.
Posted 15:01 GMT by Dennis Collins
Many of the actors in the movie "United 93" are real airline professionals. The first officer is played by UPS pilot and Louisville resident Gary Commock in the role of United 93 FO LeRoy W. Homer Jr. The Courier Journal has an article about him.
Why did you want to be in the movie?
I did this mainly because LeRoy was a member of the Organization of Black Airline Pilots, which serve as mentors and aviation advocates to young people. … And since LeRoy passed away, there is a LeRoy W. Homer Foundation (headed by his widow, Melodie Homer), a nonprofit organization that sponsors a kid or two each year to get aviation training.
Gary Commock, center, with the cast of "United 93".
Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.
Normally I don't like racial organizations irregardless of which side they're on. The issue of discrimination today is way overblown, particularly in aviation. But there is a lack of role models for black kids to pull them into aviation so I salute pilot/actor Commock and the real United 93 FO LeRoy Homer for their work.
Posted 14:24 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 12, 2006
Burt Rutan's Proteus departs Mojave, testing a pod that will contain the prototype MP-RTIP radar to be used on the Global Hawk UAV. (what'd I tell you, the way to make money in aviation is UAVs).
Posted 15:52 GMT by Dennis Collins
FAA attempted to charge user fees for a temporary tower at a Grand Rapids fly-in. They've quickly withdrawn the charge.
If the feds would get off their butts and certify the avionics, we have the technology to eliminate ATC altogether. If the system Singapore is developing (below) works, we may not even need a guy in the tower to tell us if there's a lost dog on the runway.
Posted 15:35 GMT by Dennis Collins
Singapore is developing system to detect debris on the runway in real time. This would have prevented the Concord crash, and maybe they'd still be flying.
Posted 15:22 GMT by Dennis Collins
US Air Force Research Laboratory’s Micro-X space plane design will undergo full flight aerodynamic testing later this year. Hypersonic and aeroheating trials will be conducted over the next two years. (I wish they'd hurry this up. I'd like to live long enough to fly in space).
Posted 05:21 GMT by Dennis Collins
Alan in Mojave spies some weird truck cargo.
Alan thinks this is a mockup for a missile air launch test.
This dropping a rocket from a jet idea was done back in the day. On Oct 24, 1974 a Minuteman I was extracted from a C-5A Galaxy, and after stablizing on drogue chutes the first stage was ignited for 10 seconds. Siloworld has the pics.
Posted 04:14 GMT by Dennis Collins
F-14 tail washes up on Irish beach.
Update: From the Hampton Roads Pilot: (with pictures)
Initially, it was feared that the tail fin had fallen off during a flight, until the Navy confirmed that markings on the section – including squadron insignia and a serial number – pointed to the jet that crashed off Florida on Oct. 3, 2002.
Posted 03:51 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 11, 2006
UAV manufacturer Insitu Group gets $23 million venture capital money.
But the interesting line is:
According to Frost & Sullivan, the global UAV market is projected to be $50B by 2015.
The old joke is: How do you make a small fortune in aviation? Answer: Start with a large fortune.
There might be a small opportunity break that rule and make money in the aviation business as long as you don't want to ride in the thing.
Posted 13:27 GMT by Dennis Collins
Airbus A350 gets major redesign, including widened fuselage and composite wing.
Posted 13:20 GMT by Dennis Collins
ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. wants to spin off Air Canada.
Posted 12:44 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 10, 2006
Peau Vava'u Airways will resume DC-3 service May 11.
Photo courtesy of a visitor.
Posted 18:59 GMT by Dennis Collins
China plans to spend 17.5 billion in the next five years to open 48 new airports. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City has an empty airport for sale (see below). And a second (Downtown Airpark) thats closed.
China will also double their airplane fleet in the next five years. No wonder China Rocks.
Posted 18:53 GMT by Dennis Collins
I was going to post this media scare story tonight. But Instapundit just linked it (in the "with the robots" line) , and it will be big news within 48 hours. So I'll get it up now.
The technology for remote-controlled light aircraft is now highly advanced, widely available -- and, experts say, virtually unstoppable.Models with a wingspan of five metres (16 feet), capable of carrying up to 50 kilograms (110 pounds), remain undetectable by radar.
And thanks to satellite positioning systems, they can now be programmed to hit targets some distance away with just a few metres (yards) short of pinpoint accuracy.
Those of us in the GPS business knew this was dead easy years ago. But thanks big media for handing the idea to AQ. It's not like those guys haven't thought of this before. Saddam was supposedly building UAVs that could spread chemical weapons. But AQ poses for the media, and if they see that the media is terrified of something, they will then do it, just to get on the front page of the NYTimes.
Posted 18:45 GMT by Dennis Collins
Woo Hooo! Queen of the Sky will be on the CBS Morning Show, 7:30am EDT May 10. Good luck Ellen!
Posted 00:58 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 9, 2006
Dave puts away the A320 for a week as a real live Working Cowboy on his sister's ranch.
I pre-flighted my wife's horse and saddle, helped her get on board, as she is very small, then reviewed a couple of things about horses with her. [Dave can't stop giving passenger briefings, even on a horse!] We only ride a few times a year, so I want to be sure to review the most important items. I was raised horseback; she was not. As the cowboys, er, I mean cowpersons, rode away, I began my assigned chore of preparing the corrals. Overhead, a few contrails of high flying airliners winging across the deep blue New Mexico sky. I might know the crews... So amazingly cool!
Posted 22:57 GMT by Dennis Collins
This is an old web story, but it deserves recycling as the Hangar Tale of the Day
In his book, "Sled Driver", SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul writes: "I'll always remember a certain radio exchange that occurred one day as Walt (my back-seater) and I were screaming across Southern California 13 miles high. We were monitoring various radio transmissions from other aircraft as we entered Los Angeles airspace. Though they didn't really control us, they did monitor our movement across their scope. I heard a Cessna ask for a readout of its ground speed."90 knots" Center replied. Moments later, a Twin Beech required the same. "120 knot s," Center answered. We weren't the only ones proud of our ground speed that day as almost instantly an F-18 smugly transmitted, "Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests ground speed read out." There was a slight pause, then the response, "525 knots on the ground, Dusty." Another silent pause. As I was thinking to myself how ripe a situation this was, I heard a familiar click of a radio transmission coming from my back-seater. It was at that precise moment I realized Walt and I had become a real crew, for we were both thinking in unison. "Center, Aspen 20, you got a ground speed readout for us?" There was a longer than normal pause.... "Aspen , I show 1,742 knots" (That's about 2004.658 mph for those who don't know) No further inquiries were heard on that frequency.
Posted 15:01 GMT by Dennis Collins
Cpl. John Hanlon from the US Army Air Corps will be buried with full honors at Arlington Cemetery tomorrow, May 8. He was killed in a C-46 crash in Tibet in 1944.
The recovery team spent Eight Weeks in Tibet in 2002, and it was a classic adventure worthy of being recorded. The team trained in Hawaii and Alaska, hiking in high altitudes and cold weather.
Recovery work at 15,000+ feet in Tibet in 2002 by Staff Sgt. Brian Flanders, Sgt.
Thomas Kowalevicz and Staff Sgt. Robert Kamaka
US Army photos by Cpl. Ricardo Morales
Army mortuary affairs specialist Sgt. Michael Harris said "The training we did was enough to get started, but it wasn't enough for five days of hiking at 15,000 feet."
Sgt. Michael Harris pulled across river in Tibet - Team members crossing meadow on their way to Langko village in southeastern Tibet.
Posted 15:01 GMT by Dennis Collins
Randy at Boeing does the math on why the Airbus A380 freighter is 74 tonnes overweight.
Posted 14:00 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 8, 2006
AP reports that SecDef Donald Rumsfeld pressed the Communist Chinese during a visit last October about a fellow Naval Aviator, LTjg. James B. Deane Jr. Rumsfeld and Deane were friends and stationed together in 1954-1955.
Deane was shot down by the Chinese Aug. 23, 1956 while flying a Martin P4M-1Q Mercator. A report declassified in 1993 contained information on an American believed to be Deane as a prisoner in China.
Official Navy phot of Lt. Deane and a family picture taken the night before the shoot down.
Martin P4M-1Q Mercator from Aero-web.org.
Update: A recent Washington Post Article:
On her way to the gym one afternoon in 1992, my mother stopped by a Phoenix bookstore to check out a new book titled Soldiers of Misfortune: Washington's Secret Betrayal of American POWs in the Soviet Union. Perched in an aisle, she scanned the index under "China" and, upon flipping to page 185, read two paragraphs that almost brought her to her knees...
Posted 22:12 GMT by Dennis Collins
No blogging tonight. I'm on the road and way too tired. I should be back at AZ82 tomorrow evening and I'll have some images to post that are in the camera now.
Posted 04:59 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 7, 2006
Boeing's "Blended Wing Body" aircraft has been on-again off-again for years. But on April 7, testing begain on a cooperative development between Boeing's Phantom Works, NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The plane is designated the "X-48B".
"We believe the BWB concept has the potential to cost effectively fill many roles required by the Air Force, such as tanking, weapons carriage, and command and control," said Capt. Scott Bjorge, AFRL X-48B program manager.
The X-48B in the Langley Full-Scale Tunnel at NASA's Langley Research Center, April 7.
Posted 03:00 GMT by Dennis Collins
On this date 47 years ago, May 5 1961, Alan B. Shepard became America's first Astronaut, riding a Redstone Rocket for 15 minutes in space in his Mercury capsule named Freedom Seven.
What a ride!
Posted 02:41 GMT by Dennis Collins
It's said that pilots always remember the 'N' number of the airplane they first solo. When I worked for Steve Hinton at Fighter Rebuilders in Chino Ca., he asked around the shop one day, and sure enough every pilot remembered.
You also remember where you soloed. I was flying out of this little airport in Oklahoma City. Expressway Junction - 2EJ. I didn't actually solo here, but this is where they hung my shirt tail.
Today it had a "For Sale" out front.
It's been closed for years. Someone bought up the T-hangars and turned them into a religious school, and no one could make a go of the rest of the place. It's only 3000 feet of runway, with a hill on one side and an ice cream factory on the other end. I flew all the rest of my solos out of here as a student pilot, so it can't be all that bad.
Expressway is near a fast growing and affluent suburb (Edmond) that doesn't have its own airport, despite a large number of resident pilots. Since the airport is in an industrial area, there's little chance of cranky neighbors. AOPA has been working hard to keep airports from closing. Maybe they should work a bit and find a buyer willing to re-open 2EJ.
Posted 01:06 GMT by Dennis Collins
Every good airport needs an airport restaurant. The Vinita Oklahoma airport shares it's restaurant with the Will Rogers Turnpike. It's the famous golden arch built right over the highway.
I remember going to this place as a kid. It was a Howard Johnson's restaurant back then. The state had contracted with them to run all the services on the turnpikes. When you're inside, it's weird to see the tops of trucks going underneath one side and coming out the other.
With those arches holding the place up, it was a natural to be taken over by McDonald's, who quickly painted them gold.
Posted 00:56 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 6, 2006
The last Lockheed C-141 StarLifter will soon fly for the last time. The StarLifter "Hanoi Taxi", will participate in ceremonies on Friday, flying 100 former Vietnam POW's around Dayton Ohio, before it's last fly-by, and landing at the Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB Ohio, on Saturday.
Posted 04:37 GMT by Dennis Collins
Space.com says that Rutan likens NASA's Apollo 2.0 "Crew Exploration Vehicle" to archeology. "They are forcing the program to be done with technology that we already know works. They are not creating an environment where it is possible to have a breakthrough,"
Posted 03:57 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 5, 2006
AGE85 - Aviation Grade Ethanol
We may skip no-lead Avgas and go straight to Ethanol if these folks have their way.
Posted 02:36 GMT by Dennis Collins
A B-2 Spirit lands at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, on Sunday, April 30, 2006. B-2s are replacing the B-1B Lancers at Andersen as part of the continuous bomber rotation. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Michael S. Dorus)
Posted 02:07 GMT by Dennis Collins
FAA plans to replace the WWII era technology of VHF radios and Radar ATC system with a "Satellite Based" system using ADS/B. They estimate it will take 20 years.
I first saw ADS/B work 10 years ago. It's just now slowly working it's way through the clogged veins of the federal monster. I'll believe this when I see it.
Posted 01:26 GMT by Dennis Collins
Southwest B737 and American Airlines MD80 in close call at LAX.
Posted 01:01 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 4, 2006
I took a break and stopped at the Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal Kansas. They've got quite a nice collection of airplanes. None of them fly, unlike the Planes of Fame in Chino Ca. But their collection of odd and rare GA airplanes is impressive.
One of their hundred odd planes is the Pereira X-28A Sea Skimmer (the museum labels it the "Perzira X-28 Osprey") The Stars and Bars are not the imagination of some EAA homebuilder. This was a real military prototype intended for police duty in Vietnam. Of the three built, this is the only one remaining, the others were destroyed in-country.
The museum has some heavy iron too. You can walk right out on the ramp and touch these dinosaurs.
Posted 04:58 GMT by Dennis Collins
I know it doesn't have anything to do with airplanes, but just in case you were wondering where the hot and cold water came from, now you know.
Posted 04:43 GMT by Dennis Collins
Wow, what a night. I've been trying to get on the net for 6 hours now. Finally, here I am.
I'm on a road trip, and I booked the hotel verifying that it has internet access. But when I got here, it didn't work. The wireless came up OK, but the local router apparently wouldn't come up and run it's legal mumbojumbo page where you accept the terms, so that's where it quit. Sheesh.
As a backup (and in prep for Oshkosh where I hope to be able to live-blog right from the airport) I brought my brand new Verizon Phone with their National Access internet service. But it came up and griped about ID's and passwords being incorrect. After an hour on the phone with the Verizon guy, we finally figured out this place isn't in their plan. Sheesh.
One last try on the hotel system, and up it comes. Who knows what their problem was earlier.
Posted 04:25 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 3, 2006
The National Aeronautic Association is honoring the
Most Memorable records of last
year. Included was XCOR Aerospace's EZ-Rocket, that set the record for the longest
rocket powered flight of a winged vehicle. The distance? Wait for it....
9.94 miles.
And that's with only one pilot. The LongEZ it's based on has extremely long legs with
a Lycoming O-235, even
with two passengers. But rocket powered runway-to-runway, it can't even do 10 miles.
The efficiency of pure rockets is just horrible. It's too bad there isn't more interest in developing Scramjets for the "first stage" of space launches up to mach 10. But maybe those Aussies and their HyShot will embarrass us into doing something about it.
We spent millions and flew the X43A (above) to mach 10. How come we quit there? I can only imagine how high it would zoom if you pulled the stick back on it at that speed and altitude. And at the top, it should be a no brainer to expel an orbital second stage. OK, it would cost a lot to develop. But it would cost more for a Boeing 777 if they only got one flight each and you had to amortize the development costs over just one or two flights per year.
Let's build a *real* orbital aircraft, and fly it every day. Contract it to Southwest Airlines. They would fly it more than that. Maybe "Hoot" Gibson is still flying for Southwest and can set something up.
Posted 05:52 GMT by Dennis Collins
Aviatrix Canada packs for the Great White North.
I'm finally confirmed on a scheduled flight to my first northern base. I've been told to provision myself for three weeks. It's sort of like going to summer camp, except that my mom isn't here to tell me what to bring. ...
I buy a big load of groceries and after I go through the checkout I put all my meat in one bag and ask the grocer to put it in the freezer. I will come back just before my trip and put it in my Coleman cooler. I also risk buying a dozen eggs. What kind of crazy optimist packs eggs in checked baggage on a multi-stop airline flight? ...
I bought a big black 'magic marker' felt pen and used it to write my name on all my stuff. I know I've gone overboard when I feel a twinge of regret that I have only one marker pen, and therefore cannot write my name on my marker pen.
Read it all .....
Posted 05:22 GMT by Dennis Collins
If you're interested in Space Exploration and you happen to be in Los Angeles later this week, you might attend some of the International Space Development Conference. It costs money, but they're featuring Burt Rutan, Buzz Aldrin, Rusty Schweickart, several NASA folks and assorted Congressmen etc.
Posted 05:01 GMT by Dennis Collins
I'm on the road this week, and I dropped into Dalhart, Texas around sunset. So many towns in the West are drying up. Boarded up stores, empty houses, but Dalhart and it's airport are tapping right along. The Cafe was closed in the evening, but I stopped in there a couple of years ago on a Sunday afternoon. It was a timewarp. Ladies with beehive hairdos, just like it was 1968 or something. Nice people. They haven't changed a bit in 35 years.
They had a neat idea I hadn't seen before. Painted the airport layout on the ramp so you could figure out where to taxi across all the flat ramp space.
Posted 04:46 GMT by Dennis Collins
China's People's Daily reports that US/Chinese discussions may be underway soon for cooperative space flights to the moon.
US National Security Council expert Dennis Wilder revealed on April 21 that the US has also proposed to the Chinese side that the United States and China should immediately launch the negotiation on the joint exploration of the Moon! Although NASA was unwilling to disclose the details of this project, US space experts believe that China will launch spacecraft to the Moon in 2017 and collect samples before it flies back to the Earth. The United States will send astronauts to the Moon in 2018. The two countries have a "coincident" landing time.
Posted 04:22 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 2, 2006
Starting today, I'll try out a new posting style. The post itself will be first with the timestamp and a name tag at the end.
Posted 04:02 GMT by Dennis Collins
Sam at FL250 reviews "United 93".
Dawn and I saw United 93 last night, and I've been thinking about it ever since. More than merely depicting the events of September 11, the film superbly conjured up the feel of the day - the confusion, the disbelief...... The aviation matter in this film is astonishingly accurate. It may be the most accurate mainstream aviation movie ever. The airline culture and flight crew interaction felt dead-on, which makes sense since most of the actors are real life pilots and flight attendants...
Posted 03:33 GMT by Dennis Collins
May 1, 2006
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