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August 2010 Archives

Image of the Week: P-51D Mustang G-HAEC

By
Will Horton
 on August 30, 2010 8:24 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
This week's Image of the Week (featured on page 3 of Flight International), is taken by AirSpace user flyer1 (Martin Dighton). His photo depicts "Big Beautiful Doll" P-51D Mustang G-HAEC [cn.1517] at the Shoreham 2010 air show.

Martin writes of the aircraft:
Rob Davies has owned the aircraft since 1997, he purchased her from Ray Hanna of the Old Flying Machine Company. She was repainted as "Big Beautiful Doll" as flown by Colonel John. D Landers, Commanding Officer of the 78th Fighter Group, based at Duxford. Built in1951 in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Company, the [P-51D] A68192 "Mustang" was mothballed and put into storage.


Start a gallery on AirSpace for your chance at having your photograph featured as our Image of the Week.

Q & A With Shaun Wildey, A340 Pilot for Etihad

By
Will Horton
 on August 29, 2010 8:46 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Shaun Wildey.jpgShaun Wildey flies Airbus A340s for Etihad Airways and is enjoying life with his family in Abu Dhabi, after a career with the Royal Air Force and Empire Test Pilots' School.

You recently joined Etihad Airways. What do you fly, and on which routes?

I fly the Airbus A340-600 and -500, but should also become qualified on the A330 within a few months. I have been to Beirut, Islamabad, Lahore and Paris, and our line-checks are sometimes short hops to Muscat. However, I would generally be rostered to Chicago, London, Melbourne, New York or Sydney.

Which aircraft have you most enjoyed flying?

I've flown 67 types. Highlights include fully stalling the Boeing 707 and taking it to 95° angle of bank, flying a Bombardier 415 from a lake, and seeing whether the g-envelope protection of the Dassault Mirage 2000 could be exceeded. My favourite was the Saab Gripen, on which I was an instructor at ETPS. It is beautifully easy to fly with fantastic performance.

(Photo: Etihad Airways)

Norhtrop Grumman's UAV Concepts

By
Will Horton
 on August 28, 2010 8:35 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Northrop Grumman UAV Concepts Aug 2010.jpgAt last week's AUVSI show, Northtrop Grumman unveiled two UAV concepts (above). The designs show that the manufacturer is planning an aggressive new push to expand deeper into the market for unmanned air vehicles. Read more...

(Graphic: Flightglobal; Source: Northrop Grumman)

Phantom Eye in Assembly

By
Will Horton
 on August 27, 2010 8:31 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Phantom Eye in assembly.jpg
Pictured above is the Phantom Eye in assembly. The Phantom Eye demonstrator, smaller by 40% compared with the planned full-scale version, should fly 96h, or four days. At full scale, the Phantom Eye is designed to remain airborne for seven to 10 days. Read more...

(Photo: Boeing)

Zala 421-20 UAV Performs First Flight

By
Will Horton
 on August 26, 2010 8:26 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Zala Aero UAV First flight.jpg
(Photo: Zala Aero)

Fuel tanks have been installed in the Zala 421-20 UAV's 6m-span wing.

Russia's Zala Aero first flew on 5 August its 421-20, a new medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicle.

Representing an upgrade to the manufacturer's earlier 421-09 design and developed over the last two years, the surveillance and reconnaissance asset has an improved endurance of 6-8h. This increase has been achieved by installing fuel tanks in the aircraft's 6m (19.7ft)-span wing, Zala says. Continue reading...

Boeing's Phantom Eye

By
Will Horton
 on August 25, 2010 8:20 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Phantom Eye Aug 2010 FINT.jpg (Photo: Boeing)

Boeing's Phantom Works offered a first glimpse of Phantom Eye, the hydrogen-powered unmanned demonstrator built to stay aloft at 65,000ft (19,800m) for up to four days at a time, on 12 July in St. Louis, Missouri.

In September, Phantom Eye will move to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, California, to begin a series of ground and taxi tests in preparation for its maiden flight in the first quarter of 2011. The debut flight is expected to last 4-8h. Continue reading...

Six UK Elbit Systems Hermes 450s

By
Will Horton
 on August 24, 2010 9:13 AM | | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)
Line of Heron UAVs.jpg
(Photo: Elbit Systems)

Six Elbit Systems Hermes 450s UAVs operated by the British Army under an urgent operational requirement deal with Thales UK are seen above. Meanwhile on the other side of the world Australia has recently signed a contract extending its use of Herons until at least December 2011.

Here is the Heron's manufacturing and performance specifics:
Wingspan 16.6/26m
Length 8.5/14m
Mass 1,150/4,650kg
Endurance 52/36h
Cruise speed 80kt/undisclosed
Altitude 30,000/45,000ft
Payload 250/1,000kg

Boeing/Insitu Integrator Soars

By
Will Horton
 on August 23, 2010 9:09 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Integrator UAV.jpg
On the UAV Integrator (above), its twin-booms are designed to carry miniature munitions.

Here are its manufacturing details:

Wingspan 4.8m
Length 2.1m
Mass 59kg
Endurance 24h
Cruise speed 60kt
Altitude 20,000ft
Payload 23kg

You can read more the Integrator and STUAS/Tier II contract here.

Bat/KillerBee UAV Launch

By
Will Horton
 on August 23, 2010 8:29 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Bat KillerBee.jpg
(Photo: Northrop Grumman)

The Bat/Killer Bee UAV, seen above having just launched, was acquired by Northrop Grumman from Swift Engineering, and licensed Raytheon to propose the KB-4 independently for STUAS.

Here are its manufacturing details:
Wingspan 3.1m
Length 1.92m
Mass 74.4kg
Endurance 15h
Cruise speed 55kt
Altitude 10,000ft
Payload 22.3kg

You can read more the Bat/KillerBee and STUAS/Tier II contract here.

Spitfire and Hurricane flypast on 70th anniversary

By
Barbara Cockburn
 on August 20, 2010 3:55 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BoB 20 Aug.jpg

A Spitfire and a Hurricane provided the soundtrack to actor Robert Hardy's reading of the famous speech by the then prime minister Winston Churchill on Friday 20 August.

War veterans gathered in Whitehall, Westminster for the event commemorating 70 years since the Battle of Britain.

To mark the anniversary, the speech will be replayed outside Churchill's war-time bunker in Whitehall, at 1552 BST - precisely 70 years since Churchill stood up to give the address in Parliament.

More on the Battle of Britain

Picture credit: Rex Features/Gavin Rodgers

Aires 737-700 crashes on landing in San Andres

By
Barbara Cockburn
 on August 16, 2010 3:05 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 

Aires pa.jpgAt least one person has died after a Boeing 737-700 operated by Colombian carrier Aires crashed on landing at the Caribbean island of San Andres after a flight from Bogota.

Colombian civil aviation authority Aerocivil confirms the accident, saying that the 737-700, registered HK-4682, with Aires flight number 8250 had departed from Bogota....

Continue reading....

 

Southest B737-3H4 Departs Midland Airport, TX

By
Will Horton
 on August 12, 2010 8:39 AM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
Today's image of the day is from AirSpace user Global Ranger. His photo depicts Southwest B737-3H4 N307SW departing from Midland Airport, TX, during CAF 2008.

In 737 news for Southwest, although the carrier has exercised 25 737-700 options for delivery from 2011 through to 2016, it intends to keep its fleet count flat by shedding more of its Boeing 737 Classics than previously planned. Southwest has also increased its purchase rights until 2021 to 98 versus a previous total of 54 through 2018. Flightglobal's ACAS database shows that Southwest operates 543 737s, a mix of Classics and Next Generation aircraft. Read more...

Southwest B737

Image of the Week: 787 at Farnborough

By
Will Horton
 on August 2, 2010 10:09 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
This week's Image of the Week (featured on page 5 of Flight International), is taken by AirSpace user Allan (Allan Huse). His photo depicts Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA003 readying for departure from the Farnborough Airshow.


Start a gallery on AirSpace for your chance at having your photograph featured as our Image of the Week.

Flying display at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

By
Will Horton
 on August 1, 2010 9:08 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Today's Image of the Day was taken by Billypix and posted to our AirSpace section. The photo depicts the flying display at EAA Air Venture Oshkosh, which is occurring all this week. Our special Oshkosh section has more photos as well as video, articles, Tweets, interactive daily magazines and more. Check it out here.

Oshkosh Display
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