News
Gulf Carriers Prepare For Boeing 777X
As they prepare to buy Boeing's new 777X jet, Gulf airline giants Emirates and Qatar Airways are warning that Boeing must avoid the mistakes of the 787 Dreamliner, which cost customers millions of dollars due to battery problems. These fast-growing Gulf carriers are expected to be among the first and possibly biggest customers for Boeing's latest offering, which was presented to customers last week. "For sure they have changed, I hope they have," Emirates' President Tim Clark said, when asked whether the 787 crisis has changed Boeing's approach and thinking.
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Alaska Volcano Spews Ash Near Air Route
A remote but long-restless Alaska volcano rumbled to life on Saturday with three explosions and started emitting a continuous plume of ash, steam and gas in an area important to air traffic, scientists said. The low-level explosions at Cleveland Volcano, which lies below a major air traffic route between North America and Asia, were not severe enough to cause a significant threat to planes, said experts. But the incident did prompt US federal aviation authorities to divert some traffic north of the volcano as a precaution, said Rick Wessels, a US Geological Survey geophysicist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
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Solar Impulse Lands Safely In Phoenix
The flight from San Francisco to Phoenix took 18 hours and 18 minutes on Saturday - and didn't use a drop of fuel. A solar-powered plane that developers hope eventually to pilot around the world landed safely in Phoenix on the first leg of an attempt to fly across the United States using only the sun's energy, project organizers said. The Solar Impulse took 18 hours and 18 minutes to reach Phoenix on the slow-speed flight, completing the first of five legs with planned stops in Dallas, St. Louis and Washington on the way to a final stop in New York. The spindly-looking plane barely hummed as it took off on Friday morning from Moffett Field, a joint civil-military airport near San Francisco.
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Booze And Bikinis Welcome In Egypt
Islamist-ruled Egypt is open to visitors who drink alcohol and wear bikinis as it sets out to boost numbers by at least a fifth this year, the tourism minister said on Sunday. Tourism is a pillar of the Egyptian economy but has suffered since a popular uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and set off two years of periodic rioting and instability. The minister, Hisham Zaazou, said the government had "optimistic goals" for the sector, and played down comments from radical Salafi Muslim groups who have called for a ban on alcohol and women wearing swimsuits. "Bikinis are welcome in Egypt and booze is still being served," Zaazou, speaking in English, told a news conference during a visit to the United Arab Emirates.
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Boeing Planning Longest Range Passenger Jet
Boeing has shown airlines a blueprint for the world's longest-range passenger jet, adding spice to a long-awaited revamp of its 777 wide-body jet, people familiar with the matter said. Boeing on Wednesday launched a race against Airbus for sales of the newest long-haul jets by announcing it had begun selling an upgraded aircraft family code-named 777X. First seen in the 1990s, the 777 cornered the market for large twin-engine aircraft able to fly routes previously only possible with four engines. Analysts say the 777 is Boeing's most profitable plane, thanks largely to the 777-300ER, a 365-seat version that began operations in 2004.
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NASA team considers supersonic airliner for next X-plane
A NASA official is preparing an internal proposal to launch a supersonic X-plane demonstrator aimed at proving to regulators that a package of new technologies and design techniques are able to muffle noise from a sonic boom enough to allow overland flights. The proposal, if funded, would allow NASA to partner with an aircraft manufacturer to build and fly a scaled version of 100-seat supersonic airliner, says Peter Coen, who manages NASA's fundamental aeronautics high-speed research project. Contracted studies are now underway that would rely on an existing supersonic fighter engine, such as the General Electric F404 or Pratt & Whitney F100, to replicate the noise signatures produced by a full-scale aircraft as it crosses the sound barrier. Such an aircraft could answer a number of vital questions for researchers of "quiet boom" supersonic technology.
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Delta reports April passenger unit revenue results
Delta Air Lines reported that passenger revenue in April dipped 2% on a year-over-year basis due in part to weak domestic demand and sequester cuts, but the carrier expects an improvement in May and June.
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Lockheed receives long-lead funding for first Israeli F-35s
Lockheed Martin has received $20.1 million in long-lead funding to start building the first two Israeli F-35A Joint Strike Fighters. "This is for long-lead funding for the two Israeli planes in LRIP [low rate initial production] 8," Lockheed says. "We received long-lead funding for the first 35 jets at the end of February, then Japan happened at the end of March."
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Hypersonic X-51 program ends in success
The Boeing X-51A Waverider test bed has successfully completed its fourth and final flight, breaking the record for longest air-breathing hypersonic flight. The 1 May flight was the first to achieve full success. The vehicle launched from its B-52 mothership and was powered to M4.8 by a booster rocket. The X-51 separated cleanly from the booster and ignited its own engine, accelerating until it hit M5.1. The flight continued for 240s, until X-51 ran out of fuel. Researchers received 370s of telemetry data.
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USMC presidential helicopter squadron starts flying MV-22
The US Marine Corps's HMX-1 presidential helicopter squadron has started flying the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey, the service says. The unit received its first tiltrotor aircraft on 5 April at MCB Quantico, Virginia, and started flying on 26 April. "The Ospreys will conduct presidential support missions, which means these aircraft will carry presidential support staff and news media representatives travelling with the president," the USMC says. "The Osprey mission at HMX-1 does not include carrying the President of the United States." Although flight operations have started, the unit will not start ferrying around presidential staff or journalists until later this year. Ultimately, HMX-1 will receive 12 MV-22s.
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Aviation Quote
Luck will do for skill, but not consistently.
Anonymous
On This Date
---In 1896... After four years of work and failed flights, Samuel P. Langley succeeds in obtaining good results with his steam-powered, model-size, tandem-wing airplane. His model No.5 makes a flight of 3,300 feet (c. 1 km).
---In 1908... The Wright brothers fly for the first time since 1905, at Kitty Hawk. Wilbur pilots the 1905 Flyer III, modified so that the pilot and a passenger can sit erect, on a flight of just over 1,000 feet.
---In 1919... The first commercial flight, from Canada to United States, occurs as a Canadian Curtiss aircraft flies 150 pounds of raw furs from Toronto to Elizabeth, New Jersey. It is not a non-stop flight.
---In 1929…The Boeing F4-B1 fighter makes its first flight. It would serve as the US military’s primary fighter until the 1940s.
---In 1930…Boeing’s first commercial monoplane, the Monomail, makes its first flight.
---In 1937…The Hindenburg explodes at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey, ending the era of the airship
---In 1940…Trans World Airlines receives their first Boeing 307 Stratoliner, one month after Pan Am becomes the launch airline.
---In 1941... Igor Sikorsky pilots the Sikorsky VS-300 helicopter in Stratford, Connecticut, on a flight of 1 hour, 32 minutes, 26 seconds, a world endurance record for a helicopter.
---In 1941…The first flight of the P-47 Thunderbolt. In its 25 years of service, more than 15, 600 were built by Republic Aviation in Farmingdale, NY.
---In 1949…Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) operates its first flight with a leased Douglas DC-3 with weekly service between San Diego and Oakland with a stop in Burbank, California. They would later be absorbed by USAir in May of 1987.
---In 1955…United Airlines begins the first nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco.
---In 1988…Wideroe Flight 710, a de Havilland Dash-7, crashes while on approach in Norway after descending four miles too soon and striking a hill in low visibility, leading to the deaths of all 36 aboard. This stands as the worst disaster for the aircraft type, as the aircraft was fully packed with passengers, even in the cockpit jumpseat.
---In 2001… The Russian Soyuz capsule, returning from the International Space Station (ISS), touched down right on time, carrying Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist.
---In 2004…An Air Cush Let 410UVP (9XR-EF) stalls on takeoff in Jiech, Sudan, due to an imbalance after a shift in its cargo load. The plane is sent crashing into the ground, killing 6 of the 10 occupants.
---In 2006…SkyValue USA and their fleet of one Boeing 737 (leased from Xtra Airways) ceases operations, citing poor demand and even blaming hot weather forcing them to fuel-stop on flights from Las Vegas to Mesa and Phoenix, AZ (Hot weather in the desert? Surely you jest!)
---In 2006…The U.S. Air Force retired the last Lockheed Martin C-141 Starlifter The Hanoi Taxi landed for the last time and was received in a formal retirement ceremony at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, located at WPAFB in Riverside, Ohio near Dayton.
---In 2012…An American unmanned aerial vehicle strike in eastern Yemen kills Fahd al-Quso, the al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, wanted in connection with the 12 October 2000 bomb attack on the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67).
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Humor
Special Forces V. Seals
Two Seals boarded a quick shuttle flight out of Dallas, headed for Houston. One sat in the window seat, the other sat in the middle seat.
Just before take-off, A Green Beret got on and took the aisle seat next to the two Seals. The Green Beret kicked off his boots, wiggled his toes and was settling in when the Seal in the window seat said, "I think I'll get up and get a coke."
"No problem," said the Green Beret, "I'll get it for you." While he was gone, the Seal picked up the Green Beret's boot and spit in it.
When the Green Beret returned with the coke, the other Seal said, "That looks good, I think I'll have one too."
Again, the Green Beret obligingly went to fetch it and while he was gone, the Seal picked up the other boot and spit in it.
The Green Beret returned and they all sat back and enjoyed the short flight to Houston.
As the plane was landing, the Green Beret slipped his feet into his boots and knew immediately what had happened.
"How long must this go on?" the Green Beret asked. "This fighting between our groups? This hatred? This animosity? This spitting in boots and pissing in cokes?"
Trivia
General Trivia
1. The classic de Havilland DHC–2 Beaver is a large, single-engine, high-wing bush plane made in Canada. Why are its three fuel tanks (forward, center, and aft) in the fuselage below the cabin floor instead of in the wings?
2. A piano is optional equipment on both the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380. What was the first passenger aircraft to have a piano for in-flight entertainment?
3. What is wrong with the following transmission from NorCal Approach Control? “November One-Four-Seven-Mike-Oscar is cleared for the Sacramento ILS approach to Runway One-Six-Right. Report passing Jarnu to Capitol Tower on One-Two-Five-Point-Seven.” (Knowledge of this airport or its approach is not needed to answer the question.)
4. A pilot is flying a typical light twin-engine, piston-powered airplane that is equipped for flight into known icing conditions. What aircraft item represents the greatest drain on electrical power in such an aircraft?
5. Each of the 50 states has an official bird, an official flower, and so forth, but only two have official aircraft. What are those states, and what are their official aircraft?
6. Of what aeronautical significance was the New York socialite, Mrs. Waldo Polk?
7. What is meant by the term hot refueling?
8. There is an airport that has a single runway designated as Runway 02G in one direction and Runway 20G in the other. What is the significance of the letter G in each of these runway numbers?
halls120 wrote:The fact that HMX-1 will use the MV-22 for missions other than carrying the President speaks volumes.
Click Click D'oh wrote:halls120 wrote:The fact that HMX-1 will use the MV-22 for missions other than carrying the President speaks volumes.
Only if you forget that POTUS has already taken rides in the V-22. I suspect the real reason the V-22 won't be taking POTUS for a ride is because they don't want to melt the grass at the White House.
JLAmber wrote:2. A piano is optional equipment on both the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380. What was the first passenger aircraft to have a piano for in-flight entertainment?
Absolute guess, Boeing Clipper?
FlyingAce wrote:We should ask Pep, I bet he was there
FlyingAce wrote:JLAmber wrote:2. A piano is optional equipment on both the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380. What was the first passenger aircraft to have a piano for in-flight entertainment?
Absolute guess, Boeing Clipper?
We should ask Pep, I bet he was there
