HangarView - DailyAviator

This will be the last post on this version of the blog. New posts are here www.DailyAviator.com/blog/. I'll move new new blog to this URL "some time real soon".

Posted 16:51 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

September 1, 2006

 

Posts at the New site, www.DailyAviator.com/blog and/or www.HangarView.com/blog about a new soaring record by Steve Fossett, a missile launch tomorrow from Vandenberg, and updates on the Super Typhoon bearing down on Wake Island.

Posted 22:41 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

I've been blogging a bit slow because I'm working on a new blog style using real software instead of this manually written HTML. It will go under the name "DailyAviator.com" full time, and you can see an early post there on the Cat 5 Super Typhoon Ioke that's about to hit Wake Island in the Pacific.

You can see it now at www.DailyAviator.com/blog and/or www.HangarView.com/blog. In the near future you won't need the "blog" part.

Posted 03:05 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 30, 2006

 

ANN is reporting that the BRS save of a Cirrus SR22 yesterday was because of pilot incapacitation. The pilot, Dr. Robert Edesess suffered from a sudden "stroke or aneurysm", and his son Jeremy deployed the BRS parachute system at very low altitude. Dr. Edesess did not survive, but his family did.

Images from WISH TV in Indianapolis, Indiana.

I think I want one of those parachute thingies.

Posted 16:04 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

NASA begins rollback procedures for Atlantis because of Tropical Storm Ernesto

Posted 05:19 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 29, 2006

 

It looks like the Cirrus emergency parachute system got another save this morning.

The cabin is no longer intact. No word if this was because of the parachute, or from hitting the water. The pilot is listed in critical condition from water ingestion, but was breathing on his own after revival. The other 3 passengers are in better condition.

Images from WISH TV in Indianapolis, Indiana. Video at the link. The helicopter pilot describing the scene recognizes the red thing as a parachute, but still goes on at length describing how great a job the Cirrus pilot did flying over the houses and ditching in the pond and never figures out that the parachute brought the plane down.

Posted 16:19 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 28, 2006

 

The Comair crash this morning may have been caused by taking off on the wrong (shorter) runway.

From Wikipedia:
* Runway 04/22: 7,003 x 150 ft. (2,135 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
* Runway 08/26: 3,500 x 75 ft. (1,067 x 23 m), Surface: Asphalt/Concrete

I have yet to find takeoff performance specs for the CRJ-100, but likely that would depend on weights and temps and would only exist in POH documents.

Posted 17:37 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

One of two "Airship Sheds" at Cardington in the UK, where the British R100 was based, is up for sale.

Posted 14:43 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Alaska lobbying to become UAV testing center. Unmentioned in the article is the fact that ADS-B is already well established in Alaska. The one detail I haven't heard yet is whether any domestic UAVs will be required to install ADS-B, or even a transponder.

Posted 14:30 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

FAA has given advance permission for the Air Force to use predator drones during the next Katrina like natural disaster. It wouldn't be such a problem if they'd hurry up with the ADS-B system. And it would help a lot if they'd relax some of the certification standards for ADS-B receivers and installation STC's so it wouldn't cost so much for us to install the equipment.

Posted 14:04 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

This is even older news, but I'm trying to find information about the first non-stop round the world flight made in 1949 by the Boeing B-50A, Lucky Lady II.

Lucky Lady II here being refueled by the ancient hose method first developed in the 1920's.

1949 was an important year in world history. It began as the Berlin Airlift was taking place. In late 1948, A B-50 and a B-36 flew from Texas with air refueling dropping dummy nukes into Pearl Harbor on Dec 7. The "Lady" made her flight in March 1949. In April, NATO was formed. And in May, the Berlin Airlift ended. Sometime in between there, the Air Force demonstrated an air refueling Mission over Greenland at 70 below zero, telegraphing in no uncertian terms that the Russians needed to protect themselves from every point on the compass, not merely protect themselves from an invasion from Germany that they were still paranoid about.

The premise is that the Lucky Lady II mission (after which Lemay said in the press that it demonstrated that the USAF could deliver a nuclear weapon anywhere on the globe that needed it) and those other demonstrations removed the justification in the Russian military for blockading Berlin, with it's airbases that were precariously close to Moscow. Their eastern european buffer zone was no longer good enough because we threatened them from Texas coming over the north pole, and/or from Texas coming from the south over Iran.

I've looked all over the net for information. If anyone has anything more, let me know. Particularly if anyone knows how I might go about finding any living members of the crew.

Posted 03:31 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

This is old news, but I didn't realize that when Boeing broke a distance record by flying 11,664 miles from Hong Kong to London Heathrow last November, they had flown half way around the earth. Two interesting facts about that flight. 1) the ability to fly half-way round the world means you can fly from anyplace to anyplace, and 2) the course you take when departing is irrelevant, as literally any direction will get you there by covering the same distance. Such things as political boundaries, navigation systems and weather notwithstanding.

Boeing 777-200LR landing at Heathrow after breaking the long distance record from Hong Kong.

Hat Tip - Barry Schiff's Test Pilot column in AOPA magazine.

Posted 01:37 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 27, 2006

 

Freaky Friday.

Posted 14:30 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 26, 2006

 

The fire TFR situation in the West is out of hand. The red outlined airspace are TFRs, all apparently for fires. I doubt the Forest Service has that many aircraft in the area, much less have so many at any one fire to require a TFR to "protect" them.

Map from RunwayFinder.com - click the map for current TFRs in that area.

This is airspace abuse. There are very few aircraft in that part of the country already, much less any significant hazard of midair for the handful of aircraft fighting fires. How bout this idea: If the Forest Service assigns some minimum number of aircraft to a single fire, say 10 aircraft, then they create a TFR. And close it as soon as the number on duty go below 10. Even with that number of aircraft, there couldn't be more than 2-3 on scene at any one time, with the rest in transit and tanking up.

If really necessary, then write an FAR against flying within a mile or two of the origin of a forest fire. If you did that, you could skip a TFR entirely. The tiny number of aircraft around most fires is far less of a collision hazard than traffic at most non-towered airports on a nice Saturday morning.

Posted 20:32 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Australian F-111 Ardvark makes a gear up landing after losing a wheel on takeoff. See the link for video.

Caught that barrier just right. Certianly couldn't go around like a Navy carrier trap.

Hat tip, Jim N' Texas - again.

Posted 15:26 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

The Black Bra.
Hat tip, Jim N' Texas.

Posted 15:20 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

C5 Galaxy cockpit... in a C5 Galaxy.

Airmen 1st Class Ryan Harrison and Jamie Abernathy and Staff Sgt. Stuard Smith tie down the salvaged crew compartment from a C-5 Galaxy onto another C-5 for transport to Robins Air Force Base, Ga., Aug. 22. The flight deck from the C-5 that crashed April 3 will be used as a simulator to help train and test aircrews. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class James Bolinger)

Posted 15:15 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

ADS-B coverage extended into Pennsylvania.

Image from AOPA web site, although I suspect it was generated by the FAA.

Posted 15:03 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Aviatrix Canada, gets fired.

Posted 04:26 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Shuttle Atlantis will launch 2 days, 16 hours, 39 minutes from now, carrying the "P3/P4 Truss" to the ISS.

Suspended by an overhead crane in the Space Station Processing Facility, the two truss elements are clearly visible. Joined in the middle by struts are the hexagon-shaped P3 truss (left) with the solar alpha rotary joint attached, and the P4 truss (right) with its solar blankets and masts stowed. Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder

Posted 03:51 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 25, 2006

 

Wreckage of Cessna 320 discovered in Canadian Rockies after 38 years.

Members of the Thurber family search through the wreckage at the site near Golden [Alberta] where a plane piloted by Reg Thurber crashed 38 years ago.
Image courtesy the Thurber family via the Victoria News

Posted 14:48 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Haggerstown air museum won their bid and now own the only flyable C-82 "Packet", or Flying Boxcar. The C-82 was the aircraft type in the Jimmy Stewart film "Flight of the Phoenix".

Image from Airliners.net

Posted 14:22 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Here's the intercept audio from Northwest flight 42 that returned to Schiphol/ Netherlands today.

Reports are that 12 people passed their cell phones to one person. This is apparently related to arrests in the US of people who bought large numbers of cell phones and removed their batteries for unknown nefarious purposes.

Meanwhile, the Russians announced within hours of this weeks TU-154 crash that it was caused by lightning. The first Mayday was declared above 30,000 feet.

From Wikipedia:

Boeing studies have shown that airliners are struck by lightning on average of twice per year. While the "flash and bang" can be dramatic and startling to the passengers and crew, aircraft are able to withstand normal lightning strikes.

Posted 02:45 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 24, 2006

 

Port Klang, Malaysia (Aug. 16, 2006) - Traditional Malaysian dancers perform for crew members of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) on the pier during a scheduled port visit in Malaysia. The Enterprise Carrier Strike Group and embarked Carrier Air Wing One (CVW-1) are currently on a six-month deployment in support of the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Milosz Reterski

Posted 03:49 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

More proof that B-52s don't really fly. They merely scare the ground away.

A B-52 Stratofortress takes off from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., Aug. 21. The bomber from the 5th Bomb Wing conducted a training mission in the skies over North Dakota. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Lance Cheung)

Why not, Minot???

Posted 03:49 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 23, 2006

 

St. George Utah airport gets approval for construction after 5 years of delays from environmental lawsuits. The estimated cost has increased between $25 to $55 million dollars in that time.

Posted 19:00 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Palo Alto California tiedown fees to be raised to $144.95.

Posted 18:54 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

2007 Dayton Air Show date changed to same weekend as Oshkosh.

Posted 18:49 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

An F-16 Fighting Falcon fires an AIM-9 missile off the coast of South Korea during a live-fire exercise Aug. 18. The F-16 is assigned to the 80th Fighter Squadron at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Allen)

Posted 18:27 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Aviatrix Canada's base has been evacuated because of fire, leaving behind all her stuff, including computer and logbook. Read her last several posts, beginning with "Ghost Town".

Posted 18:17 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Rocketplane Kistler will be launching from Woomera Australia to the ISS within two years. The Oklahoma City company received a $272 million contract from NASA for the launches.

Posted 17:56 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

On Jury duty today, waiting to be called right now. There's a zillion people here, so hopefully I can go home later.

Posted 17:45 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 22, 2006

 

Atlantic City will host the Battle of the Jet Teams as the USAF Thunderbirds take on the Navy Blue Angels.

Posted 22:49 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

ID chips with 64k of memory that can be read from 4 inches away will be designed into new US Passports.

Posted 22:40 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Eclipse installing aluminum tip tanks in place of original composite that cannot meet certification standards. Avionics suite will take up to a year to complete, although it's flyable now. Company blames Avidyne for avionics holdup.

Posted 22:25 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Shuttle Atlantis Ku band antenna will be replaced before launch next Sunday.

Posted 03:25 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

We launched for Durango at 7:30am local Saturday and made a quickie flypast Bob and Joanne Boyd in the "Green Hornet" Glastar. Pretty airplane.

Weather was classic CAVU over the painted desert, and not a ripple in the air. The colors are typically shades of red, purple, and white, but the monsoon has been very active this year, which added greens to the palette. This old volcano core added black as well.

The red rocks and spires north west of Window Rock are incredible from the air.

Durango is situated at the mouth of a lush valley carved by the Animas River.

We continued up the valley for a bit to see if we could find the Durango & Silverton narrow gauge train.

We found the train on one of the steep sections of the grade, going 5mph so no one will miss a thing. The picture doesn't do it justice.

We had lunch at The Palace Restaurant adjacent to the Rail Road Station. Here's the view from the table.

Reservations were at the Strater Hotel. Durango is filled with fine shops, restaurants, and entertainment, but we didn't leave the Hotel all night. From beer at the Diamond Belle Saloon with incredible ragtime piano playing by Molly Kaufman, dinner at the Mahogany Grille, to the "Melodrama" and back again to the Saloon that night, everything was excellent.

Next morning, we stopped for a few minutes to see the Durango trademark Narrow Gauge railroad. There's a reason this thing is black. Everything in sight of it is black from the coal soot.

There had been a Cirrus owners fly-in, and the La Plata airport ramp looked like this:

There was an interesting lesson in Arizona microclimates on the mountain range north of Window Rock Arizona. On the left are Ponderosa Pine forests at 7,000 to 9,000 feet with alpine lakes that we had flown over yesterday. On the right is one of the most barren deserts in the Southwest. It's obvious why.

With such a perfect trip, good weather, good beer, good people, and pretty sights, you just know there will be some fly in the ointment. We found out what it was when we got to the airport this morning. Note the airspeed. Note the mag switch. I'll have get a new key and/or mag switch next week.

Turning final,
Gas - fuel pump on
Undercarrage - Down
Mixture - set
Propellor - full forward
We're home.

Another Evening in Paradise.

Posted 02:29 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 21, 2006

 

What a day. Great morning flight to Durango. Lunch by the train station. Drive in the mountains. Beer in the Saloon with the best honky tonk piano I've ever heard. Dinner in the fine Strater Hotel restaurant, joined by more AZ82 folks and their friends from here in town. After dinner live Melodrama show and more beer in the Saloon. The ragtime piano was still pounding. I'm tired.

Many pictures when we get back tomorrow afternoon.

Posted 04:59 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 20, 2006

 

Happy birthday to Orville Wright, which makes it National Aviation Day. So I think we'll aviate to Durango Colorado. Flight Service has been called, the weather looks great, with almost no wind. Depart in about 45 minutes. We'll have two airplanes this morning and more folks driving up, so it should be fun.

Posted 04:02 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

A British historical group is working feverishly to restore a Vulcan Bomber in time to lead a flypast for Queen Elizabeth in 2007 for the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War. The Vulcan was retired in the mid-80's.

The Vulcan almost went it's entire career without ever flying a mission in anger. But the Falklands war saw some of the most daring bombing missions ever attempted when a single Vulcan bomber flew from Ascension island along with 11 Victor tankers to refuel the Vulcan, and each other, to extend the range for the 16 hour mission. A new book about the mission, Vulcan 607 is highly rated, and covers the rapid re-building of refueling capabilities including using parts from aircraft in museums, and re-training for skills not used by anyone in a decade.

Unfortunatly the Vulcan restoration project has run out of money and will soon be laying off workers. Go to the link and donate.

Posted 04:02 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 19, 2006

 

Boeing 747 LCF rollout.

Posted 15:56 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 18, 2006

 

A few members of EAA Chapter 1044 from AZ82 are flying up to Durango Co. this Saturday. The weather is looking good so far.

Update: New weather forcast as of Friday morning. Durango is still out of the predicted rain in eastern Co., but we'll have to call FS and see whether they'll have any cloud cover. I doubt they will.

The plan is to land at Animas Airport around 10AM. Anyone can come. Some of us will attend the Durango EAA chapter Pig Roast that afternoon, and we'll meet for dinner and breakfast, locations to be decided when we get there. I'll be renting a mini-van for transportation downtown, but make your own overnight reservations (I think everyone is staying at the Stater Hotel).

Posted 02:51 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

STS-115 Atlantis flight set for Aug 27 on an ISS construction flight.

Posted 02:46 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

The Theatrical tour of the movie One Six Right is in Dallas tonight. The 9:00PM showing still has seats.

I bought a DVD of this at Oshkosh. Excellent. I wish they were bringing the Theatrical version to Phoenix. I'd see it again.

Posted 15:19 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Alan Boyle has a good summay and lots of links for the X-Prize Cup to be held in Las Cruces NM in October.

Posted 01:51 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 17, 2006

 

LAX has no idea why their localizer keeps triping off. Funny this should start happening just days after they shut down a runway to "move" it 50 feet.

Posted 14:40 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

In Search Of: The original video data recordings from Apollo 11. The original video downlink that's now missing, was incompatible with other equipment, so what we've been watching all these years of Neal Armstrong's "one small step for (a) man", was re-shot from a video monitor on the ground.

Maybe they should look on eBay?

Here's the report on the search from the scientists at Parkes Austraila.

There was a very nice little movie called The Dish about receiving that video. You wouldn't think that such a thing would be exciting enough to make a movie about. But the quaint local goings on in 1960's Parkes Austraila combined with the mistakes and bad weather that nearly prevented that video from ever being seen make this movie a Thumbs Up.

Actors Sam Neill, Kevin Harrington and Tom Long on their "Cricket Field"

Sam Neill in the movie

The real deal: Chief of the CSIRO Radiophysics Division, Dr. Edward "Taffy" Bowen (right), with John Shimmins, deputy director of Parkes Observatory, in the control room watching the moonwalk (21 July 1969). Likley the tape being searched for is being written on the tape deck at the back of the room. Photo credit CSIRO.

Posted 13:44 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Aero-news.net has an article about NASA engineers getting ideas from museum artifacts. But if you want to see the original full length article written by Jay Reeves, you can read it at the Washington Post.

Posted 13:17 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 16, 2006

 

First customer built aircraft powered by an Innodyn Turbine flies.

Posted 02:13 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Europeans working on "hijack proof" airplanes with systems to take over in case of flight into incorrect places. There are folks that would say that Airbus pilots are already redundant, but I wouldn't be one of those.

Posted 01:55 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

LAX ILS kaput ... again.

Posted 01:47 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Bigelow Aerospace is flying their private Genesis I spacecraft.

Outside view posted today:

Some goodies floating around on the inside:

I don't think they've got a handle on a practical way to launch, but what they now do have is spacecraft flight experience.

Posted 01:32 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

Charter operations booming on additional airline security measures.

Posted 01:22 GMT by Dennis Collins

 

August 15, 2006

 

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