C&A Marketing purchases SkyMall at bankruptcy auction A New Jersey-based company with a history of trying to revive struggling businesses has acquired the SkyMall catalog out of bankruptcy. C&A Marketing, which makes and distributes photographic and electronic equipment, purchased SkyMall at a bankruptcy auction in Phoenix on Wednesday for $1.9 million. Link
Airlines
Alaska Air Group reports higher traffic for March Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, reported an 11.2% growth in revenue passenger miles for March on a year-over-year basis. Alaska Air Group also boosted capacity by 12.4% in March. Link
Allegiant Strike Highlights Travel Insurance Benefit Earlier this week, pilots at Allegiant Air announced their plan to strike, threatening the trips of as many as 186,000 travelers. Unfortunately for Allegiant customers, it is too late to purchase a travel insurance policy to cover the pending strike. Squaremouth, America's fastest growing travel insurance comparison site, answers two major questions about insurance coverage for airline strikes. Link
American Airlines to use Boeing 787 for Dallas-Shanghai flight American Airlines plans to deploy the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on flights from Dallas to Shanghai in June. American currently relies on a Boeing 777-200 for the nonstop flight. Link
Delta posts Q1 revenue Delta Air Lines Inc said Thursday that first-quarter unit revenue dropped as a stronger dollar hurt international demand and domestic bookings fell short of its expectations. The Atlanta-based carrier said unit revenue in the quarter declined 1.5 percent year-over-year. It also said it expects lower unit costs and a quarterly operating margin of 11.5 percent, excluding $300 million of early fuel hedge settlements, in line with guidance from a month earlier. Link
Delta wants to fly from LAX to Mexico Delta Air Lines has asked U.S. regulators to prevent American Airlines from starting flights between Los Angeles and Mexico City, the latest shot in recent friction between the two carriers. American has sought clearance to take over the route from Alaska Airlines, which has agreed to turn it over before June. The Department of Transportation should deny American’s request and have an open competition for the route instead, Delta said in a filing. Under a U.S.-Mexico treaty, Alaska and United Airlines are the only U.S. carriers that are allowed to fly between the two cities. Link
Germanwings co-pilot increased speed during descent The flight data recorder from the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps on 24 March shows that the co-pilot on several occasions increased the speed of the aircraft during descent, according to French accident investigation agency BEA. The agency, which is now reviewing the FDR, adds that the co-pilot also set the autopilot to descend the aircraft to an altitude of 100ft. Link
Thai Airways To Cut 2,000 Jobs This Year Thai Airways aims to cut 2,000 jobs through a voluntary retirement scheme in 2015 - part of its plan to reduce headcount by 5,000 in the coming years. The state-controlled flag carrier announced in January a major restructuring after posting operating losses for seven consecutive quarters. It is also looking at selling non-core assets. The voluntary retirement scheme will exclude pilots and cabin crew, and applicants must be 50 years old or over, a senior company official told Reuters. He declined to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to media. Link
Airports
Orlando, Fla., airport to undergo $1.1 billion renovation Updates at Florida's Orlando International Airport will lead to a smoother passenger experience, says Brian Engle, the facility's customer service director. The airport's $1.1 billion renovation will be complete in 2017. Planned improvements include an automated people mover, improved signage, updated baggage handling, expanded Customs and Border Protection facilities, data beacon technology and international gates that can accommodate larger aircraft. Link
Corporate
Second Falcon 8X Joins Flight Test Campaign The second aircraft has joined the Falcon 8X flight test campaign as the ultra long range trijet continues to pass key development milestones. Falcon 8X s/n 02 took to the skies from Dassault Aviation's Bordeaux-Mérignac facility on Monday, March 30 at 3:24 PM local time with test pilots Hervé Laverne and Etienne Faurdessus at the controls. The flight plan was similar to that of the maiden flight on February 6. Link
Aviation Quote
How many more years I shall be able to work on the problem I do not know; I hope, as long as I live. There can be no thought of finishing, for 'aiming at the stars' both literally and figuratively, is a problem to occupy generations, so that no matter how much progress one makes, there is always the thrill of just beginning.
— Robert H. Goddard, in a 1932 letter to H. G. Wells.
On This Date
---In 1890... Anthony Herman Gerald Fokker, Dutch pioneer airman and aircraft manufacturer, is born in Kediri, Java. His Fokker D.VIII was one of the finest all-around fighters of the WWI. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen and his Fokker T-2 made the first non-stop flight across the U.S. In 1926, the North Pole was over flown in a Fokker trimotor airplane.
---In 1909... The first machine wholly designed by Anglo-French air pioneer Henry Farman takes to the air at Bouy, France. Called either the Henry Farman III or, because it represents a new departure, the HF1, the biplane is the first aircraft to incorporate practical ailerons attached to the trailing edges of the wings.
---In 1924... The first successful flight around the world starts as four Douglas World Cruisers leave from Seattle, Washington. Of the four, only two complete the circumnavigation as they each fly 27,553 miles (44,340 km) in 175 days, and return to Seattle on September 28. The actual flying time is 371 hours, 11 minutes, and the successful pilots are Lt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. Erik Nelson.
---In 1949... A Sikorsky S-51 completes a record helicopter flight of 3,750 miles from Elizabeth, New Jersey to Port Angeles, Washington.
---In 1957…Olympic Airways is created by the shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis from the ashes of bankrupt Greek state airline T.A.E.
---In 1967... Trans World Airlines (TWA) becomes the first American airline to have a fleet composed entirely of jet aircraft.
---In 1973… Pioneer 11 - USA Jupiter/Saturn Flyby (April 6, 1973 - November 1995) launched. Pioneer 11 flew by Jupiter on December 1, 1974 passing 42,900 kilometers from Jupiter's cloud tops. It took better pictures than Pioneer 10, and measured Jupiter's intense charged-particle and magnet field environment. As it flew by Jupiter it was given a gravity assist which swung it onto a course for Saturn. On September 1, 1979, Pioneer 11 flew past the outer edge of Saturn's A ring at a range of 3,500 kilometers. It traveled underneath the ring system and passed 20,930 kilometers from Saturn's cloud tops. It has now left the solar system.
---In 1982… Columbia returns to Kennedy Space Center from White Sands.
---In 1984… 11th Space Shuttle Mission (41-C)-Challenger 5 is launched.
---In 1984… 1st time 11 people in space.
---In 1994…A surface-to-air missile shoots down the presidential jet of Rwanda, a Dassault Falcon 50, as it prepares to land at Kigali International Airport at Kigali, Rwanda, killing all 12 aboard, including President of Rwanda Juvénal Habyarimana and President of Burundi Cyprien Ntaryamira. Their assassination will spark the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
---In 1997… Progress M-34 Launch (Russia).
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Trivia
Commercial Pilot – Airplane Exam Questions
5440 Hatching on a Constant Pressure Analysis Chart indicates A) hurricane eye. B) windspeed 70 knots to 110 knots. C) windspeed 110 knots to 150 knots.
5430 Which provides a graphic display of both VFR and IFR weather? A) Radar Summary Chart. B) Weather Depiction Chart. C) Surface Weather Map.
5417 What type of Inflight Weather Advisories provides an en route pilot with information regarding the possibility of moderate icing, moderate turbulence, winds of 30 knots or more at the surface and extensive mountain obscurement? A) AIRMETs and Center Weather Advisories (CWA). B) Convective SIGMETs and SIGMETs. C) Severe Weather Forecast Alerts (AWW) and SIGMETs.
5470 If an airplane is consuming 95 pounds of fuel per hour at a cruising altitude of 6,500 feet and the groundspeed is 173 knots, how much fuel is required to travel 450 NM? A) 248 pounds. B) 265 pounds. C) 284 pounds.
5504 To use VHF/DF facilities for assistance in locating your position, you must have an operative VHF A) transmitter and receiver, and an operative VOR receiver. B) transmitter and receiver. C) transmitter and receiver, and an operative ADF receiver.
5360 Which situation would most likely result in freezing precipitation? Rain falling from air which has a temperature of A) more than 32 °F into air having a temperature of 32 °F or less. B) 32 °F or less into air having a temperature of more than 32 °F. C) 0 °C or less into air having a temperature of 0 °C or more.
5043 Excluding Hawaii, the vertical limits of the Federal Low Altitude airways extend from A) 1,200 feet AGL up to, but not including, 18,000 feet MSL. B) 700 feet AGL up to, but not including, 14,500 feet MSL. C) 1,200 feet AGL up to, but not including, 14,500 feet MSL.
5212 An airplane will stall at the same A) angle of attack regardless of the attitude with relation to the horizon. B) angle of attack and attitude with relation to the horizon. C) airspeed regardless of the attitude with relation to the horizon.
5076 A pilot flying a single-engine airplane observes a multiengine airplane approaching from the left. Which pilot should give way? A) Each pilot should alter course to the right. B) The pilot of the single-engine airplane should give way; the other airplane is to the left. C) The pilot of the multiengine airplane should give way; the single-engine airplane is to its right.
5085 What is the minimum flight visibility and proximity to cloud requirements for VFR flight, at 6,500 feet MSL, in Class C, D, and E airspace? A) 5 miles visibility; 1,000 feet above and 1,000 feet below. B) 1 mile visibility; clear of clouds. C) 3 miles visibility; 1,000 feet above and 500 feet below.
5608 What will occur if no leaning is made with the mixture control as the flight altitude increases? A) The volume of air entering the carburetor decreases and the amount of fuel decreases. B) The density of air entering the carburetor decreases and the amount of fuel increases. C) The density of air entering the carburetor decreases and the amount of fuel remains constant.
5761 Hypoxia is the result of which of these conditions? A) Insufficient oxygen reaching the brain. B) Excessive oxygen in the bloodstream. C) Excessive carbon dioxide in the bloodstream.
5163 If the airspeed is increased from 90 knots to 135 knots during a level 60° banked turn, the load factor will A) remain the same but the radius of turn will increase. B) decrease and the stall speed will increase. C) increase as well as the stall speed.
5961 Which of the following is the final step of the Decide Model for effective risk management and Aeronautical Decision Making? A) Estimate. B) Eliminate. C) Evaluate.
5002 NTSB Part 830 requires an immediate notification as a result of which incident? A) Damage to the landing gear as a result of a hard landing. B) Engine failure for any reason during flight. C) Any required flight crewmember being unable to perform flight duties because of illness.
And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
5360 Which situation would most likely result in freezing precipitation? Rain falling from air which has a temperature of A) more than 32 °F into air having a temperature of 32 °F or less.
An airplane will stall at the same A) angle of attack regardless of the attitude with relation to the horizon.
Hypoxia is the result of which of these conditions? A) Insufficient oxygen reaching the brain.
If the airspeed is increased from 90 knots to 135 knots during a level 60° banked turn, the load factor will A) remain the same but the radius of turn will increase.
5961 Which of the following is the final step of the Decide Model for effective risk management and Aeronautical Decision Making? C) Evaluate. (that's a guess)
