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NEWS

UK Harriers to make final operational flights today

Operations with the UK’s BAE Systems Harrier GR9/9A ground-attack aircraft will come to an end today, with the nation’s Joint Force Harrier organisation to perform a final series of sorties from the Royal Air Force’s Cottesmore base in Rutland.
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ANA Can Cover 787 Delay Of Up To One Year
All Nippon Airways has sufficient contingency plans to cope with further delivery delays in Boeing’s 787 program, but will face serious headaches if the first handover is pushed into 2012.
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Ryanair I: 199-seat aircraft would hit capacity 'sweet spot'
Ryanair chief financial officer and deputy CEO Howard Millar would snap up a 199-seater aircraft because it hits a "sweet spot" in terms of staffing levels.
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Ryanair II: More German flights cut due to ‘eco-tax’
Ryanair announced further cuts to its German operations next year, citing the new flight tax as reason for its decision. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the new tax in June as part of a €80 billion ($106 billion) package of austerity measures, although she justified it on environmental grounds. The tax will be €8 on all flights within the EU, beginning on Jan. 1. Medium-haul flights outside the EU and long-haul flights will be taxed €25 and €45 per passenger, respectively.
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Discussion

BA’s Unite cabin crew to vote on possible strike action
British Airways on Tuesday received notice from Unite, the trade union representing the majority of the airline’s cabin crew, of its intention to ballot members for strike action. The voting, on more than five outstanding issues, is due to begin on Dec. 21 and close one month later, on Jan. 21, Unite said, thus sparing BA from any industrial action during the busy Christmas and New Year holiday season if cabin crew members vote to strike.
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IATA unveils new passenger security concept to replace 'incredible mess'
IATA on Tuesday outlined a new, significantly different airport security checkpoint paradigm that calls for pre-screening passengers prior to issuing a boarding pass to divide them into three levels of risk classification, and aims to enable passengers to eventually "walk uninterrupted" through an airport.
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IATA raises 2010 profit forecast by 70% to $15.1 billion, 2011 by 72% to $9.1 billion
IATA said Tuesday that the world's airlines will earn a collective $15.1 billion net profit for the full-year 2010, a 69.7% increase over its September forecast of $8.9 billion and, in terms of sheer profitability, the most money ever earned by the international air transport industry in a single year. It also revised upwards by 71.7% its 2011 forecast for the global industry, projecting a $9.1 billion net profit.
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Discovery to roll back to shuttle garage
Space shuttle Discovery will move back into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida after tanking tests on 17 December, NASA says.
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Other News

Southwest Airlines stock clerks, represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, rejected a tentative agreement calling for a five-year contract through Aug. 16, 2013. Earlier this year, SWA and IBT, which represents the carrier's more than 170 stock clerks, agreed to seek assistance with the National Mediation Board. In a statement, SWA Executive VP and CEO Mike Van de Ven said, “Both sides put a lot of effort into getting to this point, and for this agreement to be rejected after assistance from a mediator is a disappointment for all involved.”

Alaska Airlines and the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Tuesday jointly announced a tentative agreement on a proposed three-year contract for the carrier's 2,600 clerical, office and passenger service employees. Among the provisions in the proposed contract are wage increases, job security protections, improved productivity measures, a $1,500 signing bonus and participation in Alaska Airlines' Performance-Based Pay annual incentive plan. In a statement, IAM said the agreement also holds the line on health care costs for employees and provides for a program allowing reservations employees to work from home. A ratification vote is expected before the end of February.

MTU Maintenance Hanover extended its existing contract with TAM by covering 57 additional V2500 engines for the carrier's A320-family fleet. The volume of the contract is expected earn an additional €500 million ($652.8 million) by 2019.

Lufthansa Technik AG and Wizz Air reached a five-year line maintenance services agreement including A-checks for eight Airbus A320s based in Bucharest, Timisoara and Cluj, as well as a further two A320s based in Prague, beginning in February.

Turkish Technic signed maintenance service agreements with Yakutia Airlines for one 737NG base maintenance C check and one 737NG base maintenance A check. Maintenance activities will be performed this month at Turkish Technic's facilities in Istanbul.

StandardAero signed 10-year maintenance agreement with Rex Regional Express subsidiary Pel-Air Aviation, covering Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42 engines on their fleet of King Air B200 aircraft. Agreement includes optional two-year extension.





AVIATION QUOTE

"Are you ever afraid when you fly?"
"That's a good question. Yeah. I'm always a little afraid when I fly. That's what makes me so damn good. I've seen pilots who weren't afraid of anything, who would forget about checking their instruments, who flew by instinct as though they were immortal. I've pissed on the graves of those poor bastards too. The pilot who isn't a little bit afraid always screws up and when you screw up bad in a jet, you get a corporal playing taps at the expense of the government."
— Lieutenant Colonel Bull Meecham, USMC, in Pat Conroy's book, 'The Great Santini.' I've also got Pat's eulogy to his dad, Colonel Don Conroy, online for all those that have read the book and want to know more.





ON THIS DATE

December 14-23, 1986

Dick Rutan, Jeana Yeager, and Voyager make first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world.

Rutan, Yeager, and Voyager took off from Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 8:01 a.m. on December 14, 1986. The plane needed almost the entire 15,000 feet of runway, which was already one of the world's longest airstrips, to become airborne; the aircraft did not lift off until it was approximately 14,200 feet down the runway, and then it did so only after sustaining a bit of damage. Due to the large amount of fuel contained in Voyager's wing tanks, the aircraft's wings bobbed up and down while accelerating down the runway, and in the process, about a foot of each wing tip chipped off. Concerned about the condition of their craft, Rutan and Yeager circled the airfield and checked their plane's handling conditions. Fortunately, the plane seemed sound enough to continue the journey.

Rutan and Yeager completed their journey when they touched down at Edwards Air Force Base at 8:06 a.m. on December 23, 1986. The entire 24,986-mile trip had taken 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds, or a little more than 216 hours. During their trip, they had averaged around 116 miles per hour, and when they landed, they only had a few gallons of fuel left.


December 15, 2006

The F-35 Lightning II makes its first flight.


December 15, 2009

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner makes its maiden flight from Seattle, Washington.




DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE





HUMOR

10 Ways you can tell your pilot is on drugs

10. All the in-flight meals are missing their dessert squares.
9. In between 'May I' and 'have your attention' there's a 45 minute pause.<
8. He's constantly yelling, 'Take that, Red Baron!'
7. Shuttle from New York to Boston includes stopover in Columbia.
6. His co-pilot: Robert Downey Jr.
5. For the last hour, he's been riding the beverage cart like a rodeo cowboy.
4. Keeps coming on the P.A. to point out clouds that look like his old high school teachers.
3. His wings are pinned to his bare chest.
2. When you fly over international dateline, he yells, 'Dude! We're, like, time traveling!'
1. When he exhales, the oxygen masks drop.





TRIVIA

Airplane Association

1. Avery “Tex” Johnson
2. Douglas Bader
3. Gregory Boyington
4. Robin Olds
5. Hans Rudel
6. Ed Heinemann
7. Al Haynes
8. Eddie Rickenbacker
9. John Boyd
10. Ben Rich


a. Boeing B-17
b. Lockheed F-117
c. Boeing 707
d. McDonnell Douglas DC-10
e. General Dynamics F-16
f. Chance-Vought F-4U
g. Supermarine Spitfire
h. McDonnell Douglas F-4C
i. Junkers Ju-87
j. McDonnell Douglas A-4

1. Avery “Tex” Johnson (C)
2. Douglas Bader
3. Gregory Boyington (F)
4. Robin Olds (H)
5. Hans Rudel
6. Ed Heinemann
7. Al Haynes (D)
8. Eddie Rickenbacker
9. John Boyd
10. Ben Rich (B)

5: i. That's the only one I know without looking something up.

Eddie Rickenbacker? I used US stamps with him and a plane on it.
http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/95/eddie.gif

ANSWERS

1. (C) Tex Johnson rolled the 707 at a Seattle hydroplane race.
2. (G) RAF Ace who flew with prosthetic legs.
3. (F) Pappy Boyington was the CO of VMF-214, the Black Sheep.
4. (H) Col. Robin Olds was attributed the title of world’s largest distributor of MiG parts by Bob Hope. He commanded the 555th Fighter Squadron in the Vietnam war.
5. (I) Hans Rudel flew over 2,500 missions in WW2 destroying many different types of targets. Only attack pilot to be awarded the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds.
6. (J) Ed Heinemann was the designer of the A-4; among its nicknames of Scooter, it was also known as Heinemann’s Hot Rod.
7. (D). Al Haynes was the captain of United Airlines flight 232 that crashed in Sioux City, IA.
8. (A) Eddie Rickenbacker was a WW1 ace who in WW2 flew B-17s, and ditched one. Later went on to be president of Eastern Airlines.
9. (E) John Boyd was a fighter pilot who’s revolutionary ideas about energy and maneuverability gave birth to what today is the F-16.
10. (B) Ben Rich took over the Skunk Works from Kelly Johnson. The F-117 was designed and built on his watch.