Lufthansa Crews To Strike In Frankfurt, Berlin Lufthansa passengers face further disruption after cabin crew representatives said late on Monday they would go on strike on Tuesday for 8 hours in Frankfurt and Berlin in a row over pay and conditions. Link
IAG May Take A Stake In American Airlines IAG, parent of British Airways and Iberia, said it had signed a non-disclosure agreement with American Airlines with a view to taking a stake in the US carrier, which is itself in talks over a potential merger with US Airways. Link
Etihad Raises Virgin Australia Stake Abu Dhabi's flag carrier Etihad Airways has raised its stake in Virgin Australia to 10 percent through open market purchases, the state airline said in a statement on Sunday. Link
Turkish Air Swings To Second-Quarter Profit Turkey's national carrier Turkish Airlines posted a net profit of TRY193.1 million lira (USD$105 million) up from a TRY170 million loss in the same period a year earlier. Link
PIA assesses ATR 42-500 damage after Lahore runway incident An investigation is underway into an incident at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport involving a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) ATR 42-500 that skidded off the runway while landing in heavy rain. The incident occurred on the morning of 1 September 2012, Saturday, and involved the aircraft bearing registration AP-BHJ, a PIA spokesman said. Link
Premature clearances behind serious Johannesburg incursion Early clearances mixed with complacency from tower controllers at Johannesburg helped create the circumstances that forced a Boeing 737 to abort take-off to avoid another 737 crossing the runway. Johannesburg operations were split between two control towers - West and East - handling operations on runways 21R and 21L respectively. Link
Precision Conversions now turning 757s with winglets into freighters Precision Conversions has received US FAA approval to perform 15 cargo modifications for Boeing 757-200s with winglets, marking the first time it has been allowed to carry out the work on winglet-equipped 757s. The Portland-based conversion specialist has completed the first 757 modification for owner Cargo Aircraft Management, a subsidiary of Air Transport Services Group. Air Transport International will operate the aircraft later this year. Precision Conversions says that it has a commitment for one further aircraft modification with CAM. Link
LAN cites widebody fleet flexibility with 787 Chile's LAN does not rule out deploying its new Boeing 787 to the fleet of Brazil's TAM, which it recently closed a merger with. The airline's chief executive Ignacio Cueto says that the carrier will make decisions in the coming months on where to operate the aircraft, besides the initial destinations it has named. Link
Lufthansa to add Chicago to 747-8I routes Lufthansa (LH) will make Chicago its third destination airport for the Boeing 747-8I, for which the carrier was the launch customer and which entered service in June. Helmuth Schabel, LH regional director operations and airport services, Washington Dulles, told reporters Friday that as the 747-8I approached its 100th day of service since its launch flight between Frankfurt (FRA) and Washington Dulles, its performance had been excellent. Link
Other News
Grupo Aeromexico (AM) and Delta Air Lines (DL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to build an aircraft MRO facility in Queretaro, Mexico. The companies said the new facility, to be jointly operated, will take over work now being done in Guadalajara and “expand MRO capabilities.” According to the carriers, the new facility’s heavy maintenance capacity will be seven aircraft simultaneously.
Azerbaijan's air navigation service provider, AZANS, has awarded Indra of Spain the contract for installing a new air traffic control center in the nation’s capital Baku. Indra will equip the center with its automated air traffic management system and its SDC-2100 digital voice communications system to support en route, approach and tower air controls.
RAK Airways (RT), based in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE, will launch domestic flights to the UAE capital Abu Dhabi (AUH) Oct. 3. It will initially operate four flights a week using Airbus A320 aircraft. RT claims to be the first UAE flag carrier to operate domestic flights into AUH, arguing that the round trip airfare of AED410 ($112) is far more competitive than the equivalent taxi fare of around AED700. In addition, RT offers business class passengers a free roundtrip limousine transfer from anywhere in the UAE to/from Ras Al Khaimah airport.
Russia’s Aeroflot (SU) will take delivery of its first Boeing 777 in 2013, part of an order for eight 777s in March 2011 and eight of the type at the Paris Air Show. The 777s will feature three-class cabin layout with the premium economy class, which is new for the airline. The aircraft will be equipped with Thales i5000 inflight entertainment system and with inflight Internet technology. SU operated two 777s from 1998 until 2002.
Etihad Airways (EY) and Alitalia (AZ) will step up their 2009 codeshare agreement with direct Abu Dhabi (AUH)-Rome Fiumicino (FCO) flights from Dec. 1. Subject to government approvals, AZ will operate the four weekly flights with an Airbus A330. EY operates a daily service to Milan and will also codeshare on AZ-operated flights beyond FCO to Venice and Zurich. The UAE flag carrier already codeshares on AZ flights from FCO to Milan, Frankfurt, Munich, Geneva and Athens.
Aviation Quote
So it was that the war in the air began. Men rode upon the whirlwind that night and slew and fell like archangels. The sky rained heroes upon the astonished earth. Surely the last fights of mankind were the best. What was the heavy pounding of your Homeric swordsmen, what was the creaking charge of chariots, besides this swift rush, this crash, this giddy triumph, this headlong sweep to death?
— H. G. Wells, 'The World Set Free,' 1914.
On This Date
---In 1888... Edward Hogan in Quebec makes the 1st parachute descents in Canada from a hot-air balloon.
--- In 1936... Louise Thaden becomes the 1st woman to win the prestigious coast-to-coast Bendix trophy race.
---In 1949…First flight of the Avro 707 VX784.
---In 1949…First flight of the Bristol Brabazon.
---In 1950…Captain Robert Wayne becomes the first pilot to be rescued from behind enemy lines by a helicopter.
---In 1992…A B-2 Spirit bomber drops a bomb for the first time.
---In 1998…First flight of the Boeing BBJ.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Humor
Kamikaze
A World War II commander of a Japanese kamikaze squadron briefly reviews the day's battle plan for his troops.
"Today," he exhorts, "you will take your kamikaze airplane high into the sky, over the Yankee aircraft carrier, then take the kamikaze plane down, crashing on the deck, killing yourself and all aboard. Before we have the ceremonial sake toast, are there any questions?"
A hand rises tentatively in the back of the crowd: "Honorable general-san: Are you out of your flipping mind?"
Trivia
General
1. Why is the action of moving an airplane on the ground under its own power called taxiing?
2. What US-built, twin engine airplane was or has been in continuous production longer than any other?
3. True or false, as a pilot proceeds north, circles of latitude become smaller.
4. During WW2, small black bombs were painted on the nose below the cockpit to denote how many bombing missions a particular bomber had completed. What was the significance of nose markings that were small black camels?
5. Whose personal airplanes were named Immelman I, Immelman II and Immelman III?
6. A pilot flying close to and above a stratified cloud layer sees the sharply defined shadow of his airplane encircled by rainbow-like rings. This phenomenon is called???
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
1. Why is the action of moving an airplane on the ground under its own power called taxiing?
No idea, I've often wondered why myself.
2. What US-built, twin engine airplane was or has been in continuous production longer than any other?
Boeing 737
3. True or false, as a pilot proceeds north, circles of latitude become smaller.
True if the pilot is flying North and is already level with/North of the equator, false if South of the equator.
4. During WW2, small black bombs were painted on the nose below the cockpit to denote how many bombing missions a particular bomber had completed. What was the significance of nose markings that were small black camels?
Desert sorties flown?
5. Whose personal airplanes were named Immelman I, Immelman II and Immelman III?
Von Ricthofen?
6. A pilot flying close to and above a stratified cloud layer sees the sharply defined shadow of his airplane encircled by rainbow-like rings. This phenomenon is called???
1. Why is the action of moving an airplane on the ground under its own power called taxiing? No idea about this one but really curious about the answer 2. What US-built, twin engine airplane was or has been in continuous production longer than any other? Boeing 737 ?
New airlines, new routes, new countries... back in the air
miamiair wrote:---In 1992…A B-2 Spirit bomber drops a bomb for the first time.
20 freakin' years ago. Unbelievable.
1. Why is the action of moving an airplane on the ground under its own power called taxiing?
Because it costs a lot of money compared to how far you're going, like a cab?
2. What US-built, twin engine airplane was or has been in continuous production longer than any other?
Beechcraft King Air?
3. True or false, as a pilot proceeds north, circles of latitude become smaller.
Overall, false. True for northern hemisphere, false for southern.
4. During WW2, small black bombs were painted on the nose below the cockpit to denote how many bombing missions a particular bomber had completed. What was the significance of nose markings that were small black camels?
Kills?
5. Whose personal airplanes were named Immelman I, Immelman II and Immelman III?
I feel like I should know this....
6. A pilot flying close to and above a stratified cloud layer sees the sharply defined shadow of his airplane encircled by rainbow-like rings. This phenomenon is called???
2. What US-built, twin engine airplane was or has been in continuous production longer than any other?
Beechcraft King Air?
4. During WW2, small black bombs were painted on the nose below the cockpit to denote how many bombing missions a particular bomber had completed. What was the significance of nose markings that were small black camels?
1. At the Deperdussin monoplane School in England in 1911, students practiced “driving” an airplane on the ground as the first step in their training. Such an airplane was not necessarily airworthy and was called the “school bus” or, more often, a “taxi.” Use of the verb “taxi” spread and quickly came to mean what it does today.
2. The Beech Baron has been in production for 51 years, from 1961 to 2012. Runner up is the Beech king Air, which has been in production since 1964.
3. False. This is true only in the northern hemisphere. Circles become larger when proceeding north from the southern hemisphere.
4. Each camel denoted a completed supply mission over the Hump (the Himalayan Mountains).
5. Adolf Hitler used these airplanes(two Ju-52s and an Fw-200) and apparently was the first politician to use air travel for campaigning.
6. Glory. Much rarer is a double glory, when a second rainbow-like ring concentrically surrounds the first.
Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.
