Historic mid-air over the Grand Canyon was 50 years ago today.
From
MIT Mode-S web site:
On June 30, 1956, a United Airlines DC-7 flying from LA to Chicago collided over the Grand Canyon with a TWA Constellation en route from LA to Chicago. The 58 passengers on the DC-7, and the 70 passengers on the Constellation were all killed. The aircraft were flying in uncontrolled airspace, i.e. under visual flight rules without the guidance of air traffic controllers, radar, or even official flight plans. Both pilots had requested permission to fly in undesignated airspace to afford their passengers a better view, and were thus responsible for their own safety and separation, The crash was attributed to the pilots not seeing each other until it was too late.
Image from planecrashinfo.com
Public policy is often dictated by solitary incidents, and is then locked in stone. The ATC methodology we live with was locked in place using 1956 technology now exactly 50 years old. It was the best we had, but it's time we moved on to something that will provide a more relaxed airspace system while enabling more traffic to use it.
Posted 14:57 GMT by Dennis Collins
Australians angry over cancellation of ADS-B project.
ADS-B is the enabling technology that could eventually leverage ground based ATC into irrelevance. No doubt there are people who won't like that kind of progress.
Posted 14:46 GMT by Dennis Collins
As of Thursday, only two days to Launch.
Under a bright sunny sky, the countdown sign at Kennedy Space Center signals only 2 days to go until the launch of Discovery on Mission STS-121 to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Debbie Odom
Posted 04:08 GMT by Dennis Collins
Dave from Phoenix comes out of Warp Speed and descends into Paradise.
Posted 03:49 GMT by Dennis Collins
Aviation got some positive publicity on the popular political blog site, Instapundit.com. Glenn Reynolds gave a positive mention to an article on "AeroTrekking", written up in Popular Mechanics.
"AeroTrekking" is practiced by small clubs such as the "Sky Gypsies", Canyonrunners, Yellowbirds AeroTrekking Club, and the South Park AeroTrekking Club. It looks a bit on the wild side. Fun too.
Posted 01:52 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 30, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 25
KC-135 tanker operations with the B-1.
U.S. Air Force Capt. Erick Turasz, 28th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron aircraft commander, taxis a KC-135 behind a U.S. Air Force B-1B before take off on a refueling mission, June 16, 2006. Turasz is deployed from MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Smith
A U.S. Air Force B-1B prepares to refuel from a KC-135 over the area of responsibility, June 16, 2006. Both aircraft are deployed to the 40th Air Expeditionary Group. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Smith
Posted 19:46 GMT by Dennis Collins
Jet carrying Prime Minister of India has communication failure.
Posted 19:33 GMT by Dennis Collins
USS Ronald Reagan enters Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor (June 28, 2006) – The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) navigates its way through the narrow strait that make up the inlet to Pearl Harbor for a port visit. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Kathleen Gorby
Posted 13:44 GMT by Dennis Collins
Shuttle Discovery will fly Saturday,.
Discovery will perform a "backflip", 600 feet below the ISS that will take 9 minutes to complete. This will allow ISS crew members to image the Shuttle belly for launch damage. (image below from similar manuver on STS-114)
A specific set of images are planned with 400mm and 800mm lenses of the top and bottom of Discovery during the backflip.
As part of the "return to flight" push, two NASA WB-57 aircraft will photograph STS-121 from above during launch. They will acquire Discovery within 60 seconds of launch, and track until at least 15 seconds following SRB separation. Although plans are to track Discovery until Main Engine Shutdown.
These are the last two operational WB-57s.
Takeoff picture of NASA WB-57 with the gear going in the well.
Ground tracks of the northern and southern NASA WB-57 photo aircraft.
Posted 03:03 GMT by Dennis Collins
Oshkosh will feature an enhanced Light-Sport Aircraft Mall.
The Flight Design CT Light Sport Aircraft.
Does 150mph on 4gph with two occupants in an amazingly large cockpit compared to the teeny airplane.Posted 02:04 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 29, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 26
A little help from our friends.
Aircrew from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force load and pre-flight one of their C-130s before a mission in Southwest Asia. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Ryan Hansen)
Posted 15:53 GMT by Dennis Collins
Brian Lockett at the Goleta Air and Space Museum shot some very beautiful images from last nights Delta IV launch from Vandenberg. He has more and larger images on his web site. His 2006 calendars are discounted, so I think I'll buy some just for the pictures.
Posted 15:40 GMT by Dennis Collins
Jim*N*Texas reports on zillionaire Jeff Bezos' plans for a "DCX" style rocket. Good find, Jim.
Posted 04:08 GMT by Dennis Collins
Live webcast of Delta IV launch from Vandenberg here. Now at T-25 minutes.
T-17 minutes - winds are too high. But count continues.
Launch will be at 8:14 PDT, if winds are within limits.
Launch will be delayed to 8:33 PDT, launch will procede if winds are within limits.
Go for launch T-60 seconds
Twenty minutes into the flight and everything appears OK. Typically the web video dumped right about launch time. Oh well.
Watch the flight track here:
Posted 02:32 GMT by Dennis Collins
Perusing the Oshkosh forums on Engines - a few interesting tidbits:
Radial Engines
Continental Motors Fuel Injection Systems
Dynamic Propeller Balancing
Aviation Fuel Safety And Future Fuels
Bolt On Horsepower For Your Airplane
Turbocharged Engine Systems
Superior's XP-360 Engine Technology
WWII Aircraft & Engines: P-51 & P-47 vs ME-109 & FW-190
Care And Feeding Of M14P Engines
Electronic Ignition & High Pressure Fuel Injection
There's about 50 more forums, just in the engine section. If you're interested in airplanes, then whatever you want to know you can find out here.
Posted 01:57 GMT by Dennis Collins
B-17 Rides at Oshkosh. Ford Tri-motor and Bell-47 helicopter rides too.
Posted 01:39 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 28, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 27
A piece of space debris left by the United States could pass within 240 metres 800 feet) of the International Space Station (ISS) but does not pose a serious threat, Russia's space flight control centre said Tuesday.
"The object, which could pass 240 metres above the station, is a piece of abandoned American cargo launched in 1963 and weighing 79 kilogrammes (175 pounds),” said a spokesman for the centre, Vsevolod Latychev.
Posted 15:56 GMT by Dennis Collins
U.S. Air Force Capt. Matthew Polus conducts preflight checks on a U.S. Navy EA-6B Prowler aircraft before taking off from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, June 15, 2006. Polus is an electronic countermeasures officer with the "Wizards" of Electronic Attack Squadron 133. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Brian Ferguson
An Air Force EWO in a Navy Prowler???? What will happen next, dogs sleeping with cats?
Posted 14:27 GMT by Dennis Collins
Four days till the launch of Discovery.
NASA Test Director Ted Mosteller (left) briefs the media about Firing Room 4, which has been undergoing renovations for two years. The new launch control center is now designated the primary firing room for all remaining shuttle launches. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
Posted 14:05 GMT by Dennis Collins
Will Rogers famously said, "All I know is what I read in the newspapers". If it's not a subject we deal with everyday, then what the media tells us is all we know about it.
General Aviation is declining. At least the number of active pilots are. The bottom line is because there aren't enough new pilots learning to fly. Why?
Maybe it's because most people only know about GA from the media. And what is the media telling them?
Scouring a list of aviation stories on the web today I spot 17 articles about GA crashes, most of them fatal. Some are about the same crash, but there's still 17 negative articles in the media about GA.
Then One Shining Exception:
Purdue Finishes Third in Air Race
"We really didn't get much sleep," she said. "It's midnight before you could even think about going to sleep." Katie Sparrow said that when they got close to a flyby, the excitement picked up and the tiredness would go away....
"It was really exciting. It was definitely a lot faster than I expected," she said about finishing quickly. "I think it exceeded all of my expectations."
Virtually every other sport that regular folks can participate in has a great many competitions. Think of skiing, tennis, golf, even boating has dozens of races. How many such newsworthy events does General Aviation do? Perhaps an occasional fly-in will issue a press release, but scanning the news for aviation related stories brought up 17 to 1, negative to positive.
And even that one lonely positive article was printed in the Perdue student newspaper. That's not a lot of balance in the GA media wars.
General Aviation will continue to decline until we figure out a way to generate positive media. Oshkosh can't provide enough good news to last a whole year. And to the media, it's just another crowd of people, just like last year. "Dog Bites Man", no news. But the results of a race are "Man Bites Dog", because the results weren't pre-ordained, it's "news".
Maybe it's time to hold a lot more handicapped air races that a lot of pilots can participate in as a substitute for going after $100 hamburgers.
Anyway, I think it would be fun.
Posted 01:58 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 27, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 28
There's a story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal about Guido Robert Deiro, a pilot who flew for Howard Hughes in the 60's. Deiro has stepped forward to lend credibility to the "Mormon Will" that surfaced after Hughes died in 1976. That's the will Hughes supposedly gave to Melvin Dummar, the 61-year-old frozen-meat delivery man from Utah who claims to have rescued Hughes on the side of the road in late December 1967.
Deiro claims that he regularly flew Hughes to remote Nevada brothels, and at a stop on one occasion he fell asleep and Hughes left on foot without him. When he woke up, Hughes was gone and Deiro flew back to Las Vegas without him. Deiro says he can't vouch for the validity of the will, but he can say that Melvin Dummar probably was the one who picked him up on the side of the road 6 miles south of the "Cottontail Ranch" that night. The story at least sounds plausible. Deiro has other insights into what Hughes was doing in Nevada in the late 60's.
Many people think Howard Hughes came to Las Vegas to buy up hotel-casinos, but Deiro said that wasn't it at all.
"The casinos were just a convenient place for him to deposit his money from the sale of TWA."
What Hughes really hoped to do was turn Las Vegas into an international gateway for a yet-to-be-developed supersonic passenger jet, Deiro said.
"He wanted the average citizen to be able to fly to the Far East or Europe in a matter of hours. That was his dream. That's what he was doing here."
Deiro said Hughes employed him to scout possible runway locations for supersonic airliners.
That makes sense. At the time, there was considerable resistance to supersonic airliners for, among other issues, the noise they made on takeoff and landing. Locating a remote private terminal away from any major city would make sense in Howard Hughes' world, because passengers could be brought from other cities in the US and change to the SST where it would bother no one. That sounds like exactly the kind of thing he would be planning in the late 60's.
Deiro claims he has nothing to gain by backing up the "Mormon Will". Since the 60's he's made a fortune in Las Vegas real estate, and says he just wants to "get the truth out". I assume that it can be well established that he did in fact fly for Hughes Tool Company at the time when Hughes lived in Vegas.
Even during Hughes' "reclusive times", I know he got out late at night on occasion. A relative of mine worked for Hughes Electronics, and had stories of Hughes wandering around the labs late at night, and had occasional encounters with people who had known him in his public days in the 30's. It will be interesting to see if this story pans out. And even more interesting if Deiro can shed some light of what Hughes was doing in Nevada back then.
Posted 15:56 GMT by Dennis Collins
Brian Webb at www.spacearchive.info sent out a press release from Vandenberg:
DELTA IV LAUNCH
Vandenberg AFB News Release
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. – Vandenberg AFB is set to conduct the inaugural West Coast launch of a Boeing Delta IV rocket June 27. The launch period will be 7 to 9 p.m. (PDT) The rocket will carry a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Readers in Southern California could get a view of the launch, if they're above the "June Gloom" marine layer. If the launch is at or just before Vandenberg sunset, viewers in Arizona and Nevada where local sunset is earlier could have a view of the launch. Readers outside viewing areas can see a webcast of the launch at www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/media.htm.
Justin Ray at SpaceFlightNow.com is maintaining a web site that will be updated regularly starting about an hour before launch.
Posted 15:45 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 26, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 29
Finally got a spot of rain high up above the Mogollon Rim at AZ82. Hopefully this is the first in a long line of summer monsoon showers.
Image from Bill's web cam at the official AZ82 homeowners web site.
Posted 21:08 GMT by Dennis Collins
Marine "Thunder Chicken" Squadron trains to take the V-22 Osprey to Iraq.
Posted 13:44 GMT by Dennis Collins
NASA is sponsoring private orbital spacecraft development with 500 million bucks.
Let me get this straight. It costs something like a cool billion dollars to launch the Shuttle one time. But they think a private company can design, build, and test an orbital system for 500 million?
That says a lot about either how wasteful government programs are, or how easy it really should be to do orbit.
Posted 13:36 GMT by Dennis Collins
Hubble Space Telescope goes belly up.
Posted 13:30 GMT by Dennis Collins
I hope people don't get tired of me linking Aviatrix Canada so much. It's just that her blog is very good. She updates it almost every day, and she's a very good writer living through a very interesting time flying left seat in the Canadian North. So far north that their scheduled airlines have no security whatever.
Her "Passenger Phone Calls" post is about the going's on during one day at "Victory Airways". (If Aviatrix had been a writer on the defunct TV show "Northern Exposure", it would still be on the air as a documentary of the truth).
Then the pilot flying the Elk Falls trip comes in from the ramp to tell us that he has hidden a woman in the airplane because she says another woman is trying to kill her. He asked her why she was trying to kill her.
"Oh ... I got really drunk last night ..."
This pilot specializes in direct. "Did you f*** her husband?"
"Yes," then after a pause, "No!"
"You did, didn't you. Bad idea."
Now the phone rings off the hook with people looking for this woman. we tell them all we can give no information on our passengers. We take turns vaguely misdirecting callers. At one point I try to take the heat off us by suggesting that she might be at another local business. Finally I hear the aircraft depart and I tell callers. "That flight has departed."
Read it all. There's more at the main page, it's all good.
Posted 03:10 GMT by Dennis Collins
A couple of days ago I linked a draggable sectional chart tool. Reader John Baute e-mails that www.RunwayFinder.com is better. Wow. I'll say it is.
RunwayFinder piggybacks on top of Google Maps, but delivers very usable pilot information in seconds.
Since it's getting a bit late to plan for Oshkosh (only 30 days now) let's check out the airports a few miles from OSH. Appleton WI looks pretty good and I pull the map over.
The little blue Google Maps tab means that Appleton is VFR. Move the cursor over it and it tells you that Appleton Airport is KATW. Click on it and it pulls up the latest weather report. Outstanding....
Since the object is to plan for Oshkosh, I click the "Hotels" link and get:
Now I've got a laundry list of hotels near the airport, their locations on the map, and phone numbers to call them. Time to whip out the cell phone.
HatTip to John Baute, who has a shameless plug for his flight plan tool that runs on top of RunwayFinder.
Ain't the Internet neat?
Posted 01:10 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 25, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 30
Doing a bit of Oshkosh planning in their Day-by-Say schedule.
Brian Binnie/ Flying SpaceShipOne on July 24 at 11AM local.Rutan will talk on several later occasions. What I want to know is when or if they'll be announcing details of SS2.
Mike Melvill, SpaceShipOne Astronaut/ Flying SpaceShipOne at 12AM local.
Monday night at 6PM - Free Beach Boys concert.No big deal, I guess. But when did the Beach Boys come to YOUR Fly-in?
Bob Hoover on flying the Spitfire - July 25 in the Warbirds area.They didn't include Hoover in the Movie "Right Stuff", because he was only Yeager's chase pilot during the Mach runs. But they should have. He deserves it. Hoover's tales of multiple flameouts per day while testing 50's vintage engines in fighters and deadsticking it through a cloud deck each time deserve "Right Stuff" classification.
Jim Bede, Designer/ New Materials for Homebuilders 3PM Tuesday. Interesting.I bet that's when we'll hear details.
Burt Rutan & Will Whitehorn/ Future of Space Travel 7:30PM Tuesday.
Free movie - Air Force One/ Intro by Harrison Ford 8:30PM Wed.Ok, he's just an actor. But when has Hahn Solo shown up at YOUR Fly-in?
That's a very quick overview of the Quick Overview. And I only got to Wednesday and the Fly-in doesn't really crank up till the weekend. Later I'll take a look at their Forums. A quick preview. Of their 30-40 forums just under the "Design" category, this might be interesting:
Jack Norris - The First, and Final Explanation Of Propellers Tue. 4PMI've met Jack before. I think he was the one who developed the method of testing airframe drag by a simple microswitch on the propeller hub that told you if the prop was "pulling" or "pushing" against the engine. By finding the neutral point and letting the airframe glide he could calculate drag so you can test small changes for their effect. Sharp guy.
Posted 14:49 GMT by Dennis Collins
A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) was fired from the USS Shiloh (CG-67) on Thursday, successfully intercepting a target outside the atmosphere. The target used a dummy warhead, which was separating from the booster at the time of intercept. See the May 26 post in the archives for details of a similar SM-2 test from the USS Lake Erie.
For added realism, the Shiloh was not told when to expect the target launch.
Details of altitudes, speeds, etc. were not given. But it is claimed that the system can intercept short and medium range targets during their mid course flight phase.
There are two Aegis cruisers reported to be on station off the coast of North Korea.
Posted 13:59 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 24, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 31 (ONE MONTH TO GO!)
Seaplane pilots were worried about maintenance before Grumman Mallard Seaplane broke up in flight last year.
"The roots of both wings on the seaplane suffered several fuel leaks in 2005 and pilots frequently described "elevator flutter" or vibration in the months before the crash," international reports said. "In November, only a few weeks before it went down, the vibrations were noted in writing nine times."
Obviously "elevator flutter" gets translated into repeated flexing of the wing. Enough flex to cause fuel leaks! Sounds like the old Grumman took quite a bit of abuse before it finally gave up.
Posted 15:58 GMT by Dennis Collins
Norman Mineta resigns as Transportation Secretary.
Posted 15:52 GMT by Dennis Collins
Marine Maj. David Montesano guides his CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter while taking on fuel from an HC-130 Hercules from the 79th Rescue Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. The major and the CH-53E are assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 769 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Veronica Pierce)
Posted 15:47 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 23, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 32
Los Angeles County Sheriffs office ignores an FAA warning and flies their UAV without FAA certification.
In my June 19th post, I linked an AOPA story that said:
The FAA made it clear to the LASD that as a public operator, it would need a certificate of authorization (COA) and an experimental airworthiness certificate before it could fly a UAV, regardless of size, in the National Airspace System. (National airspace includes Class G, uncontrolled airspace.)
The LA Sheriffs office has demonstrated it believes it is above the law. I think it might be time for the FAA to take a closer look at those 30 odd Sheriffs helicopters and determine for themselves whether they've viloated certification rules on those as well.
Posted 19:56 GMT by Dennis Collins
Retired Boeing test pilot, Co-Pilot for the famous 707 barrel roll, dies at 83
REDMOND, WASH. -- The man who was in the co-pilot's seat of a 707 jetliner that stunned onlookers in 1954 by doing two barrel rolls over Lake Washington has died. James R. Gannett, a retired Boeing test pilot, was 83 ...
Posted 19:35 GMT by Dennis Collins
Aviatrix Canada captians her first flight with inflight movies ... and icing.
We enjoy a real lunch in a real restaurant, and pick up a few groceries, including some fresh strawberries for the guys on the ramp who made this all possible. By the time we are done lunch the weather has improved so much we go home VFR, under the clouds.
The paramedic has brought a mini-DVD player, and on the trip home he lies back on the stretcher, with the head end tilted up, and watches a movie. Hey! I've just flown my first flight with an inflight movie. For the record, it was Lord of War and the paramedic recommends it.
Posted 19:14 GMT by Dennis Collins
Airbus Undergoes Rapid Depressurization.
Eruption in French parliament over Airbus' problems:
The session of the French assembly was ended prematurely yesterday, as Socialist parliamentarians stormed out of the parliament after Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin accused Socialist party leader Francoise Hollande of “cowardice”.Delays could kill big Airbus jet order:
Airbus may lose a $3 billion order for the A380 superjumbo jet as delays anger airlines and investors press for a management shakeup.France may intervene over Airbus:
France, which owns a 15% stake in EADS, threatened action after Airbus announced a fresh delay in deliveries of its A380 superjumbo passenger jet.
EADS shares fell 26% on the news, prompting fierce parliamentary debates.Paris vows to rescue Airbus, somehow:
The latest delay in deliveries of its flagship A380 superjumbo jet has produced a jumbo jet full of troubles: Billions of dollars in canceled orders; demands for penalty payments worth hundreds of millions; an investigation in insider trading just before the latest delivery delay was announced; a 26-percent drop in share price; political recriminations; and prospects of a management shakeup.
I could post more, but you get the point. Randy at Boeing hasn't mentioned The Troubles yet. I'll bet he has the class not to pile on quite as bad as I did.
Posted 03:43 GMT by Dennis Collins
Jim*N*Texas is spreading a rumor of a new Cessna airplane. No, not the Light Sport airplane that is supposed to be at Oshkosh, but a 5 seat 300hp screamer to compete with the Cirrus and Columbia fast-glass ships. It's supposed to be "Cardinal like", but apparently bigger and faster with fixed gear and cantilevered wing. I wonder if it's composite or aluminum? (here I am assuming the rumor is true - but it was way past time for Cessna to challenge Cirrus and Columbia, so I'm betting it is)
The vintage Cardinal C-177. I always thought it was a cool looking airplane.
Posted 03:20 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 22, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 33
Ever wonder where you could look at a sectional online? Well, here you go.
Aerowx.com has a dragable sectional map. Or you can look up airports by ID.
Here's the Hangarview.com home field, AZ82.
Posted 19:17 GMT by Dennis Collins
Time to change out the image in the screen saver. More and bigger originals are at the link.
A B-2 Spirit and 16 other aircraft from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps fly over the USS Kitty Hawk, USS Ronald Reagan and USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups in the western Pacific Ocean on Sunday, June 18, to kick off Exercise Valiant Shield 2006. The joint exercise consists of 28 naval vessels, more than 300 aircraft and approximately 20,000 servicemembers. (DOD photo/Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Jarod Hodge)
Posted 14:43 GMT by Dennis Collins
The Predator UAV will get an optical traffic see-and-avoid system by mid 2008.
As an imbedded software geek that knows a thing or two about optical recognition, I have some serious doubts that such a system is reliable. The technical problem is that an aircraft that you're going to hit does not appear to *move* against the background. It simply gets larger. That means that a workable system must be able to recognize the shape of an airplane against the background jumble. That's a very very hard thing to do with optical recognition, particularly a real-time UAV based intelligent system.
What you *could* do is contrast recognition in hazy sky situations. That would work in eastern airspace with 4-6 mile visibility. But the likely deployment of this system is for the border in the Southwestern US, where 100 mile visibility is not uncommon. I'm concerned. I think I'll nag the AOPA again. I hope they don't mind.
Update: Reader Gary Lynch mentions that they could be using infrared for recognition. That would improve the odds of detecting conflicts dramatically, I think.
Posted 02:39 GMT by Dennis Collins
Fly low, Go fast, Turn left.... Unlimited Air Racing is the World's Fastest Motorsport. And is undoubtedly the most exciting thing on two wings.
In conjunction with the production of the feature film, "Thunder Over Reno", a parade of racing aircraft will take place on Wednesday 21 June beginning at 7 PM at the intersection of Virginia and 4th Streets. This once-in-a-lifetime event will proceed towards the "Biggest Little City in the World" arches on Virginia Street.
Participating in the parade will be the ultra-rare F2G Corsair, the winner of the last Cleveland Air Races in 1949; the current Reno Air Races Unlimited Class champion F8F-2 Bearcat "Rare Bear", Griffon-powered P-51D Mustang "Precious Metal", and P-51D Mustangs "Cloud Dancer" and "Miss America", another past Unlimited Class champion featured on the Nevada State Reno Air Race License Plate. Most of these aircraft will be participating in the National Championship Air Races and Air Show at Reno Stead Field this September.
I'm not certian that this is going to be a world class movie. But they certianly have the most exciting sport on the planet to work with.
Posted 01:13 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 21, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 34
In response to the impending North Korean ICBM test, the US has "activated" it's ground based interceptor missile defense system. Although it's exact alert status is not being disclosed.
Two Navy Aegis warships are patrolling near North Korea as part of the global missile defense and would be among the first sensors that would trigger the use of interceptors, the officials said yesterday.
...
One senior Bush administration official told The Washington Times that an option being considered would be to shoot down the Taepodong missile with responding interceptors.
Test launch of modified SM-2 interceptor missile from Aegis cruiser in late May.
Posted 19:06 GMT by Dennis Collins
At the helm of the "Spruce Goose". "Helm" is a good word for it. The control wheel of a giant flying boat is not unlike the control wheel of the Queen Mary II.
I believe there was a proposal by the Navy when they took the Goose from Hughes' hangar to put on display in Long Beach back in the 80's to fly the Goose again and complete the test flight program, in order to gather data on large seagoing aircraft. The "Super Corsair" where I worked at "Fighter Rebuilders" in Chino Ca. had the same 4360 - 28 cylinder engine that the Goose had. Just not as many of them.
I figured that if we could get one 4360 airplane flying with just a bunch of volunteers, that a real government program could get the well maintained Goose back in the air, at least for a few flights.
Just think of a "ship" with the firepower of a modern Aegis destroyer that was able to fly to it's station non-stop from anywhere in the world in a few hours, then land and sit on station for weeks or months. It would be quite a machine, and the Goose could have given information on how such a creature would have operated.
Oh, well. It's getting late at night. Dumb ideas....
Posted 03:41 GMT by Dennis Collins
"Alliance" of "Spaceports" goes after pork from the feds.
I'm all for space flight. I really want to go to space before I'm ashes. But this is just an example of how a good idea becomes a method to suck tax money from our pockets. I'm convinced that pork is the problem with space flight. I don't think space flight is so difficult to do. But there are so many vested interests in keeping huge government pork projects running that they dare not allow an efficient method of space flight to be developed.
Posted 03:37 GMT by Dennis Collins
North Korea prepares to test the Taep'o-dong 2 missile that's been on the shelf since 1994.
Posted 02:38 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 20, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 35
Aviatrix Canada learns to drive the farm tractor/forklift/aircraft tug monster.
I'm driving a tractor! I'm towing an airplane! Nothing bad has happened yet! I feel like a sixteen year old driving a car. No, I feel like I did when I was five or six and I learned to ride a two-wheeled bicycle. "I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" I remember it well. I think at this point on the bicycle I fell off and permanently embedded gravel in my knee....
Whew! I want another endorsement on my licence!
Posted 19:47 GMT by Dennis Collins
The Earth has a second Moon. Well... Sort of. It's a "coorbital" asteroid that arrived in 1999.
These asteroids are called Earth Coorbital Asteroids or "coorbitals" for short. Essentially, they share Earth's orbit, going around the Sun in almost exactly one year. Occasionally a coorbital catches up to Earth from behind, or vice versa, and the dance begins: The asteroid, while still orbiting the sun, slowly corkscrews around our planet.
"These asteroids are not truly captured by Earth's gravity," notes Chodas. "But from our point of view, it looks like we have a new moon."
Astronomers know of at least four small asteroids that can do this trick: 2003 YN107, 2002 AA29, 2004 GU9 and 2001 GO2. "There may be more," says Chodas. He believes the list will grow as asteroid surveys improve in sky coverage and sensitivity.
Another instance of such an odd orbit occured in 2002, when the Saturn S-1VB third stage from Apollo 12 returned and orbited Earth for awhile.
Posted 15:56 GMT by Dennis Collins
Los Angeles Country Sherriff's Department is testing a portable UAV.
But it appears that AOPA quickly put some water on the issue. Because LA County wouldn't be operating these things for "recreational purposes", they are prohibited in the "National Airspace System", which includes uncontrolled class G airspace.
Cute UAV though. Looks very practical to carry in a police cruiser trunk. If someone wants to make a zillion bucks, they'll build an ADS-B transmitter to be attached to the ground station (which gets GPS downlink data). That puts these UAVs on aircraft traffic displays (and *many* aircraft will soon have ADS-B - the FAA has thus spoken).
Somebody send me a half million and I'll make this thing talk to ADS-B. They can keep the profit.
Posted 15:44 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 19, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 36
Well, another year, another AZ82 fly-in is history.
We served nearly 600 people for breakfast, with around 45 airplanes visiting. This is the only day of the year that our private airport is open to the public, so we get a bunch of planes we normally don't see. The weather was awesome. Almost no wind, unlike previous years, and temperatures between 75 and 80 with almost zero humidity. Anyone who wasn't here missed out.
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First there was setup - yesterday evening, organized by Bob Boyd (back to camera, with clipboard)
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Then the regular Friday pot-luck dinner for residents. Turnout was huge. Lots of people up-the-hill for the Pancake Breakfast tomorrow.
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Before there can be Pancakes, there must be a Kitchen Crew - the folks behind the scenes that do the real work.
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No money, no tickee. Pancake breakfast at dawn.
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Here's where the batter meets the griddle. The hardworking pancake flippers. It's hard work to feed almost 600 people.
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Pancakes!
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The "Native Air" evac helicopter pays a visit. Hang on to your hats guys. Check out the wind sock. Really nice weather today.
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They brought their own doughnuts! Something about "pancake fly-in" they must not understand. We appreciated it though.
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The Cirrus factory guys came by to sell airplanes. (they've got a neat "weeping wing" anti-ice system that I haven't seen before) Very nice airplane.
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Here's a teeny visitor. Check out the "T" paint on the ramp vs. the airplane to get an idea how small this is. And I thought the HangarView.com Lanciar was small.
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This guy did a great wheel landing on arrival. Beautiful homebuilt.
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The State of Arizona sent a mobile communications vehicle to visit. It's manned by volunteers that have HAM radio experience. In the top part of the rack is an Ethernet distribution panel. That can be connected via satellite connection, or local radio links in the boxes in the center. Nifty stuff.
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The local choir provided entertainment for breakfast. They were very good.
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The HangarView.com Co-Pilot handled shirt sales. Nice embroidered "Mogollon Airpark" polo shirts in either white or black, like she's wearing. If anyone still wants one, let me know. We have several sizes left, and we can accept special orders for a few days. Sales are through EAA chapter 1044.
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Mogollon Airpark Honda Jets, with optional sissy bars and ape-hangers. I want one!
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What would a HangarView.com blog be without a 310 picture? Nice liftoff from the top-of-the-hill, about mid-field.
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Lots of RVs showed up. These little airplanes will rule the world soon.
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Theo's dogs got more attention than his new Robinson R22 helicopter did.
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The featured airplanes this year were all Sport Pilot ready. Which makes Cliff's Cobra the fastest vehicle parked on the show ramp.
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Don't let it be said that Mongollon AirPark is not prepared! We even have a tower.
The stair case is a bit lacking though.
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These nice folks posed next to their almost new RV. I should have gotten their names.
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Plane spotters. That's a nice airport ramp truck. Shouldn't it be painted yellow?
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This years theme was "Sport Pilot", and show center had a variety of qualifying airplanes.
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Light Sport Ready.
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Pulling pitch, going home.
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That was a fun practice blog to get ready for Oshkosh coming in about 38 days. I've got the laptop ready. The teeny camera that fits in the shirt pocket. And even a Verizon cell phone with "National Access", I think they call it, so I can get on the net right from Show Center.
Tomorrow it's back to the shop to get the Lanciar ready.
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Sunset from above the Arizona Mogollon Rim.
Posted 04:11 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 18, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 37
This weekend is the pancake breakfast fly-in at AZ82. Lots of folks have shown up who don't come up the hill very often. Here's the last plane in before the airfield closed at dark.
We'll be up early tomorrow.
Posted 03:38 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 17, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 38
HORNET LAUNCH — An F/A-18C Hornet aircraft assigned to the Sidewinders of Strike Fighter Squadron 86 launches from the flight deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, June 13, 2006. The carrier is deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of the war on terror. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Navy Airman Marshall James
Posted 03:59 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 16, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 39
Details emerge on Rutan's SpaceShipTwo. A little higher and a little faster.
SpaceShipTwo (SS2) could have a different rocket fuel, a 140km (87 mile) apogee, increased down range, 7g re-entry loading and reclined passenger seats, SpaceShipOne (SS1) pilot Brian Binnie and Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn told last week’s Royal Aeronautical Society space tourism conference.
Hattip - Jim*N*Texas.
Posted 19:13 GMT by Dennis Collins
British Ministry of Defense report redacts report on two US spy plane programs, hinting that there are/were two Black USAF high performance aircraft in operation.
The article guesses that this might be the "Aurora" aircraft, rumored to exist for years. But more likely this could be the two different upper stages of the "BlackStar" project (XOV-1 and XOV-2) speculated about in Aviation Week back in March.
Image from Aviation Week & Space Technology
Hattip - Reader Gary Lynch.
Posted 19:01 GMT by Dennis Collins
I had a post on this a while back. But here's a good article on the X-48B wind tunnel testing and more pictures.
Posted 14:54 GMT by Dennis Collins
Dave at Flight Level 390 juggles a little Weight & Balance.
We cruised under the star dome for three hours, but now, the sun is in our face as we approach the east coast. We are following another airliner, below us, around a large thunderstorm. They are leaving a contrail in their wake that is undulating with the winds aloft. What a cool sight that only pilots are privileged to witness.Life on the line continues...
Posted 14:27 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 15, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 40
Oklahoma gets FAA approval for a "Spaceport". That 13.5 thousand foot runway out in the wheat fields has something to do with it.
Image courtesy of Google Earth.
They really have to come up with a better name than "Burns Flat" for this place. They've already got a "Tom Stafford" airport down the road in Weatherford OK, so they can't use that. But they'll name it after some person, for sure. Oklahoma is always renaming airports for some VIP or another. The other good names, Will Rogers and Wiley Post are already airports in Oklahoma City.
In the end, I suppose "Burns Flat" is better than John Doe Politician Spaceport.
Update:
No, I got it! Gordon Cooper Spaceport! (Who's the best pilot you ever saw?)
(You're looking at him)
Gordo was from Shawnee Oklahoma, where I worked as a lineboy in the 70's. I checked, and they haven't named the Shawnee Airport for him yet. He died in 2004.
Posted 19:21 GMT by Dennis Collins
Airbus A-380 hits a 6 month production delay.
Posted 15:51 GMT by Dennis Collins
Supersonic Business Jet under development.
They claim it would fly supersonic over Europe, because European rules say that your sonic boom must not be audible on the ground. At 51 thousand feet, this airplane supposedly will meet that spec. But in the US the rule is "no supersonic flight". And the FAA refuses to adopt the European "no audible boom" rule until there is an existing airplane to test. And how do you fund development of something that may not be able to fly in the US? Can you say, Catch-22? I knew you could.
Posted 15:40 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 14, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 41
HangarView WebCam of the day, Regina Saskatchewan, Canada.
This might be up in the country where Aviatrix Canada flies. Or maybe the "southern edge" of her range. She won't say exactly where she is, and I'm not asking.
Posted 13:44 GMT by Dennis Collins
Attention to detail at Anderson AFB Quam.
Airmen with the 36th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron sand off degraded paint coatings on a B-2 Spirit bomber at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The aircraft was restored once new paint coatings were applied. The plastic tent is used to contain the sanding dust created while removing the paint coatings. (U.S. Air Force photo/Maj. Kelly Scott)
Posted 12:56 GMT by Dennis Collins
USA Today Reports that NASA flight schedules are threatened by Congressional Pork earmarks.
Pork projects include:
- Construction or renovation of dozens of museums, planetariums, computers for schools and college science labs.
- A website and laboratory for a Maine aquarium.
- An extensive headquarters building for a non-profit research group created by U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, Democrat, West Virginia, who is currently under a broader congressional ethics probe.
Since 2001, Congress has directed NASA to spend $3 billion on "special projects".
Posted 12:33 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 13, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 42
Airbus 330 experiences double engine flameout on June 1.
This sentence got my attention:
since its introduction in 1985, the CF6-80 family has experienced eight dual-engine flame-outs at high altitude – above 17,500ft (5,340m) – in “extreme icing conditions during gradual aircraft descent. The flame-outs were caused by ice accretion and shedding into the engine.” GE stresses that, as in the case of the Qatar incident, “all the CF6 engines automatically restarted
Well, it's nice to know they restarted....
Posted 15:59 GMT by Dennis Collins
FAA approves ADS-B Deployment.
Posted 15:55 GMT by Dennis Collins
Boeing announces plans for an automatic "trailing edge chamber" system on the 787. It will automatically adjust the flaps for best cruise efficiency.
The HangarView Lancair has had the same thing for years. It's just not automatic. In normal cruise the flaps on a Lancair 235/320/360 can be adjusted 5 degrees or so above the normal trailing position for faster cruise.
Posted 15:49 GMT by Dennis Collins
HangarView WebCam of the day, Redmond Oregon - Roberts Field.
Posted 02:40 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 12, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 43
Flight From Speicher
U.S. Army Sgt. David Smith, with 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, sits in the gunner's position during a flight from Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, June 6, 2006, to Forward Operating Base Summerall. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Alfred Johnson
Posted 04:31 GMT by Dennis Collins
First 787 fuselage test article for certification withdrawn because of bubbles in the composite matrix.
Boeing is taking a huge gamble in building the first all-composite airliner. They're writing this problem off as no-big-deal. They'll just build another sample for testing. But if they can't get this right, the whole project is down the tubes. They've pre-sold lots of these things. If they fail here, this *is* a big deal.
Posted 03:45 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 11, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 44
AOPA is petitioning the FAA to eliminate the "Catch-22" in sport pilot regs. This is the catch where if lose your medical you can't fly under Sport Pilot rules, but if you never got a medical you can. AOPA data shows that there is no evidence demonstrating that medical certification prevents accidents. Less than 2% of accidents are caused by medical incapacitation, and those incidents have been shown to have been unpredictable via an FAA medical.
In my opinion, I think only pilots flying passengers for hire should have medicals. I know that will put a damper on the business of examiners, but this is a damper on the entire GA industry. Private flying is in a state of decline, and if any of us want to preserve the privilege we will have to maintain enough active pilots to be politically powerful. Individual pilots must help preserve and grow the entire industry, or all of us run the risk of being regulated out of existence.
Posted 16:18 GMT by Dennis Collins
HangarView Web Cam of the day, Arlington Washington Airport. Washington State has a very good network of these cameras. It's a great confidence builder when you can "check weather" by looking out the window of a building at the airport you're flying into. Now if you could only do that from the cockpit.
Posted 15:53 GMT by Dennis Collins
This article says that the Border Patrol will spend 6.5 million smackers this summer to buy a Predator UAV for use on the border.
UAVs are neat and all. BUT ISN'T THAT A LOT OF MONEY FOR A LITTLE AIRPLANE!
If it was regularly under fire, I can see that being unmanned would be necessary. But it won't be. It certainly can't cost that much just to put a gyro stabilized remotely controlled camera on a Cessna 172. I'll put a bid out right here to not only sell them the airplane, but operate it 24/7 for that money.
Let's see:
Cessna 172 cost - about $100k
Remotely controlled infrared camera and ground station - I guess $250K
Operational cost per hour with pilot - $250 (I plan on actually making money here)
Let's assume we've wasted a half million on fixed costs.
$6,000,000 divided by $250 = 24,000 hours of operation.
24,000 hours is 1,000 days of operation. About 2.7 years in the air.
Given that the border patrol crashed their last Predator after only a few months of operation, my bet is that their new UAV won't last as long as my manned 172. And it's replacement cost at the end of that time will be much less.
There's one little side benefit other than saving money. THEY WON'T HAVE TO CLOSE THE AIRSPACE ALONG THE BORDER TO OPERATE THE UAV! Manned airplanes can self-separate themselves in VFR, and operate in IFR conditions through ATC with no sweat.
Posted 14:34 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 10, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 45
UAVs for firefighting.
Posted 19:05 GMT by Dennis Collins
Piper Seminole out of Santa Barbara Ca. loses engine on a flight to Hawaii. Past the point-of-no-return, without enough fuel to make land, the pilot executes a flawless planned ditching 535 miles North East of Hilo Hawaii while coast guard aircraft orbit overhead. The two passengers were picked up by a China bound container ship. The aircraft sank in 4 minutes.
US Coast Guard photo.
Posted 15:55 GMT by Dennis Collins
I've personally seen Bob Hoover do his "Energy Management" demonstration several times since the 70's. That's where he cages up the engines on his Shrike Commander at the bottom of a dive, about 5 feet off the runway. Then proceeds to do a loop, a roll, then a 180 degree turn back to the runway for a landing and rollout all the way to the reviewing stand.
All with no power.
This is a lengendary video made many years ago that I had heard of, but never seen. It demonstrates his engine out abilities, plus shows video inside the cockpit as he pours tea into a glass during a roll. Check it out.
Posted 15:40 GMT by Dennis Collins
Webcam of the day, Bankstown Airport, Sydney Australia. (the sun is on the wrong side of the sky there, so the picture might be a bit dark now)
Posted 04:40 GMT by Dennis Collins
Aviatrix Canada is now a newly minted Weedwhacker Captain. She got lucky on her check pilot assignment:
Sure enough when I check in with company at dispatch, the lovely training captain and not the terror-inducing examiner is the one whose schedule is being adjusted to accommodate my line check. I could kiss him.
Congratulations AC! We've been rooting for you.
Posted 04:26 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 09, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 46
Two United States Air Force F-16s were the tip of the spear that ended the acts of terrorism of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
As the opposition politicians and political media wring their hands, obviously doing everything in their power to prevent this from helping George Bush, maybe it would be a good idea to list the deeds that Zarqawi claimed to have done (amid untold other terrorist acts in Iraq not claimed).
Courtesy of Fox News:
2005:
* Dec. 27: Volley of rockets fired from southern Lebanon into Israel.
* Nov. 9: Triple homicide bombing against hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60.
* Aug. 19: Rocket attack in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba, killing Jordanian
soldier. One Katyusha rocket lands in neighboring Israel — causing no casualties —
and another misses a U.S. Navy ship docked at Aqaba.
* May 7: Two explosives-laden cars plow into an American security company convoy
in Baghdad, killing at least 22 people — including two Americans.
* Feb. 28: Car bomber strikes crowd of police and Iraqi National Guard recruits
in the southern city of Hillah, killing 125 people.
2004:
* Dec. 19: Car bombs tear through funeral procession in Najaf and main bus station
in nearby Karbala, killing at least 60 in the Shiite holy cities.
* Oct. 30: Body of hostage Shosei Koda, 24, of Japan, is found decapitated in
Baghdad, his body wrapped in an American flag.
* Sept. 30: Bombings in Baghdad kill 35 children and seven adults as U.S. troops
hand out candy at the inauguration of a sewage treatment plant. Zarqawi's group
claims responsibility for attacks that day, but it is unclear if these include
the explosions that killed the children.
* Sept. 16: British engineer Kenneth Bigley, and U.S. engineers Jack Hensley and
Eugene "Jack" Armstrong kidnapped in Baghdad. By Oct. 10, 2004, all three men
have been confirmed beheaded.
* Sept. 14: Car bomb rips through a busy market near a Baghdad police headquarters
where Iraqis are waiting to apply for jobs, killing 47.
* Sept. 13: Video purportedly from Al Qaeda in Iraq shows Durmus Kumdereli,
a Turkish truck driver, being beheaded.
* Aug. 2: Video from followers of Zarqawi showing shooting death of hostage
Murat Yuce of Turkey.
* June 29: Bulgarian truck drivers Georgi Lazov, 30, and Ivaylo Kepov, 32, are
kidnapped. Zarqawi's followers suspected of decapitating both men.
* June 22: Kidnappers behead South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il; Al-Jazeera television
says the killing was carried out by Zarqawi's group.
* June 14: Car bomb attack on a vehicle convoy in Baghdad kills 13, including
three General Electric employees.
* May 18: Car bomb assassinates Iraqi Governing Council president Abdel-Zahraa Othman.
* May 11: Kidnapped American businessman Nicholas Berg is beheaded while being
videotaped, and the voice of the knife-wielder is identified as Zarqawi's.
* March 2: Coordinated blasts from homicide bombers, mortars and planted explosives
strike Shiite Muslim shrines in Karbala and Baghdad, killing at least 181. U.S.
and Iraqi officials link the attacks to Zarqawi.
2003:
* Aug. 29: Car bomb in Najaf kills more than 85 people, including Ayatollah
Mohammad Baqr al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution
in Iraq.
* Aug. 19: Truck bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad kills 23, including
top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
2002:
Oct. 28: Laurence Foley, a diplomat and administrator of U.S. aid programs in
Jordan, is gunned down outside his home in Amman.
And before all that, he was a cheap street thug who spent time in jail for rape. Those who wring their hands at his death would prefer what - that we surrender and elevate this cheap thug to a genuine power broker by "negotiating" with him? Doing the right thing is it's own reward. The Air Force and everyone involved with finding this guy did the right thing last night.
Posted 15:37 GMT by Dennis Collins
Airport Webcam of the day, Plymouth England. Follow the link to find out their landing fees and "Hangarage" charges.
Posted 03:28 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 08, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 47
NASA's Cloudsat comes back with first images.
This visible spectrum image taken about the same time where the line "A-B" corresponds to the Cloudsat image below.
Cloudsat image through the atmosphere, where "B" is on the left, and "A" is on the right, corresponding to the top image.
It images a slice of the atmosphere at a time. If it takes lots of images in succession, it will obviously generate a 3D image similar to a CAT scan. Would take some sophisticated software to be able to display it, but it would be cool to see.
Imagine being able to downlink data like this through the ADS-B system in real time so you could see where you were relative to 3D clouds around you.
Posted 19:16 GMT by Dennis Collins
Awesome video of indoor RC flying. From Germany, I think.
Posted 15:57 GMT by Dennis Collins
62 years ago, the Allied forces invaded occupied France on D-Day. Success could not have been achieved without total control of the air. On D-Day, the Allies had 13,000 operational aircraft, plus 3,500 combat gliders. 11,590 aircraft were assigned to protecting the invasion, including 3,700 fighter aircraft.
Just consider all the pilot training and sheet metal riveting that it took to make that happen.
Not the least of these brave people were the Combat Glider pilots, like those trained in Wickenburg Arizona. They didn't get any glory, and didn't even get to fly a Mustang or P-38 fighter. They got an airframe that would be lucky if it flew more than once. And after they landed it in Normandy, they had to pick up a gun and fight their way home.
Waco CG-4A "Hadrian" glider, like those flown into Normandy on D-Day.
Posted 04:17 GMT by Dennis Collins
Predator's Den
MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles sit on the parking ramp at Balad Air Base, Iraq. The Predator is a medium-altitude, long endurance, remotely piloted aircraft. Its primary mission is interdiction and conducting armed reconnaissance against critical, perishable targets. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Tony R. Tolley)
Posted 03:33 GMT by Dennis Collins
Cessna ponders jumping into the Light Sport arena.
Cessna plans to display a full-scale proof-of-concept aircraft next month at the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual convention in Oshkosh, Wis.
Only 48 more days!
Posted 03:08 GMT by Dennis Collins
Pilot makes emergency landing on Nevada Highway, but doesn't survive the heart attack:
Posted 03:04 GMT by Dennis Collins
Tree cutting halted at Lake Tahoe Airport.
In an April 19 letter to airport manager Smokey Rickerd, the state transportation department's aviation division said night operations at the airport would be suspended June 6 if certain safety conditions weren't met. Those measures included clearing trees near approaches and around wind socks, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported.
Posted 02:48 GMT by Dennis Collins
KMYL - Web Cam of the day, McCall Idaho.
Posted 01:34 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 07, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 48
Enterprise Strike Group begins operations in the Persian Gulf.
Suez Canal, Egypt (May 29, 2006) - The superstructure of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) passes under the Mubarak Peace Bridge along the ship's transit from the Mediterranean Sea to the 5th Fleet area of responsibility in the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. The Enterprise Carrier Strike group is on a scheduled six-month deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism. While in the 5th Fleet, Enterprise and its crew of more than 5,500 Sailors and Marines will conduct Maritime Security Operations (MSO), routine flight operations and training in support of the United States and coalition nations' commitment to regional stability and security cooperation. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Milosz Reterski.
Posted 18:59 GMT by Dennis Collins
HangarView of the Day - Easton Airport Web Cam
KESW is located near Seattle with several lakes in walking distance.
Posted 01:03 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 06, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 49
Heavy speculation that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could be named the "Lightning II", after the famed P-38 Lightning, at a July 7 "inauguration ceremony".
I like it.
The F-35 and P-38 Fighters. Images from af.mil.
Posted 15:43 GMT by Dennis Collins
Opa-locka Fla. tower on shaky ground.
Posted 15:39 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 05, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 50
Government often does nothing until a tragedy forces major changes. 50 years ago the mid air collision over the Grand Canyon changed how ATC operated. What we have today hasn't significantly changed, despite a great deal of new technology available from GPS, digital communications and imbedded computers in avionics.
Posted 15:52 GMT by Dennis Collins
Air Force Academy class of '06 graduated Wednesday.
Posted 15:45 GMT by Dennis Collins
Everyone has their favorite weather source on the net. The AOPA has a very good link, but you have to be a member to go there. NASA has raw satellite images here.
Posted 15:15 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 04, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 51
An Ontario Canada newspaper begins multi-part investigative report on aviation safety, otherwise known as a "scare story". Part 1 is called Dangerous Skies.
Editor Dana Robbins,
has his own thoughts on the issue in his column. He was nice enough to leave his
contact information:
You can contact The Spectator's editor-in-chief at drobbins@thespec.com or 905-526-3482.
I've blogged a few times here on the issue. The short version of my opinion is that we're potentially at the cusp of huge changes in how air traffic is managed because of a confluence in the technologies of GPS, Imbedded computers, and Internet style networking. The problem is that there is a huge amount of inertia that's resisting change. Namely the ATC unions and airlines, who each want to protect their virtual monopoly in air mass transit. These new technologies, I believe, have the potential to put orders of magnitude more aircraft in the sky. These would be almost completely automated, with very low flying skills required for all-weather operation. And when they're sold in quantities approaching SUVs, they won't cost any more to purchase.
The technology is in hand right now to do these things. All that's required is leadership to make it happen. It's too bad the Ontario paper is trying to scare people, which will only generate a political move to clamp down on flying. The paper is a pawn of the existing aviation Big Businesses and Unions, whether they know it or not.
If I were in the business of selling newspapers, I would print stories of optimism, of how we're going to build these fantastic and exciting new ways to travel long distances on our schedules, not the airline's schedules. But newspapers today don't much care if they sell at the newsstand. They'd rather play power politics, and that's what's going on here.
Posted 14:12 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 03, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 52
Canada running out of time to buy the C-17.
Posted 05:07 GMT by Dennis Collins
Congratulations to Tim at "Jets and Life"! He retired after 36 years as a teacher in Dallas. Now he can spend more time posting those great airplane images.
Posted 03:57 GMT by Dennis Collins
The Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship USNS Rainier, center, provides fuel for the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, bottom, and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell in the Persian Gulf May 20, 2006. All three ships are assigned to the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, which is conducting maritime security operations in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. US Navy Photo.
Posted 03:49 GMT by Dennis Collins
ADS-B, the next generation ATC technology.
Posted 02:35 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 02, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 53
First ever seaplane UAV autoland tested.
Posted 04:53 GMT by Dennis Collins
German Paratroopers will get "wings" to carry them up to 200 klicks from a drop location when jumping from 30,000 feet.
Still pictures of this thing don't do it justice. Here's a video of a civilian "BASE" jump from a cliff with a similar system. Normally "BASE" jumps are pretty stupid things, where the freefall time is measured in seconds you can count on your fingers. But this thing stretches the "freefly" to something that aproximates a normal aircraft jump from 10k feet. And allows landing a mile or more away from the cliff, instead of right at the foot among rocks or trees.
The thing looks like an F-16 you wear on your back.
I wish I were younger.
Posted 04:11 GMT by Dennis Collins
June 01, 2006
Days till Oshkosh: 54
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