September 2009 Archives

Too early to say, of course, whether creation of Olympic Air will be the relaunch that ends all relaunches for the Greek flag-carrier (and they're running out of names if it isn't). But one improvement, surely, is the scrapping of the daft frequent-flyer brand 'Icarus'.

 

I mean, for Pete's sake.

 

This cool video visualisation uses Twitter to plot the journey of travellers over a certain period of time.

The video plots on a map tweets that contain the phrases 'just landed in...' or 'just arrived in...'. A location tool then locates where that Tweet was sent from and matches it to the location that the Tweeter has on his/her profile.

Just Landed - 61 Hours from blprnt on Vimeo.

Find out more about how such a video was created and see different time periods on blprnt on Vimeo.

 

This Gulf Air disclosure of five new Iraqi routes was followed by plenty of obliging coverage in the local (and not-so-local) press, much of which didn't really care that one of the destinations doesn't exist*.

 

Call it a best guess but we suspect that Gulf Air will actually be flying here.

 

 

 

* Role-playing aficionados insist Solamnia is eastern Ergoth and the largest nation on Ansalon, but good luck finding the embassy.

So many questions arise from this video. It can't be real. Can it? There's no dust. And anyway, which aircraft is it?

Some say it's a Mirage, others say a Harrier, and a Super Hornet is another suggestion.

Let us know your thoughts....

"Ignoring or refusing to print the letter 'Ë' would mean a violation of federal laws on Russian state language," says the operator of Novosibirsk's Tolmachevo Airport, with a gravity that suggests persistent spelling offenders can expect a few years' hard labour in a Siberian pit.

 

In a sort of penance for International Literacy Day, 8 September, the company has decided to amend the spelling of the airport's name which features above its terminal buildings - changing the seventh-place E-without-dots to an E-with-dots, all in the name of very literal political correctness.

 

"The letters 'E' and 'Ë' are totally different, and not only in sound," insists Russian linguistics specialist Marina Lappo, the former apparently being pronounced 'ye' and the latter more like 'yo'.

 

Tolmachevo's operator says that it "could not allow" the flagrant misuse of lettering in the airport sign to continue. Very commendable, gentlemen, I shall be recommending the Order of Lenin for the lot of you.

 

A Handley Page Victor bomber aptly nicknamed "Teasin' Tina" gave shocked onlookers more than they bargained for when it accidently took off during the Cold War Jets day at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome.

The Cold War bomber apparently took off as the co-pilot (who was an engineer and not a pilot, cue the "engineers can never be pilots" jokes) accidently hit the throttle when the aircraft was meant to just taxi down the runway for a photo shoot.

The saviour came in the form of a retired RAF Group Captain Bob Prothero (cue the "RAF are the best jokes") who grabbed the controls and steered the bomber back onto the ground, where it eventually came to a stop at the end of a runway.

So all ends that ends well, except i have a couple of questions:

1. Why wasn't there a certified pilot at the controls in the first place?
2. How can you accidently hit the throttle (and as a non-pilot that may seem like a really stupid question)?
   
3. Who would win out of 'Teasin' Tina' and 'Lusty Linda', the only other bomber that is in working conditions?

I'd like to introduce you to Stefan the Pilot. He loves everything to do with aviation and as you can see, he fancies himself as a bit of a lady's man.

 

He tells me that apart from the ladies, my other loves are travelling about the globe. So much so, he's currently on a whistlestop tour of 2009's Autumn/Winter aviation highlights with his buddies, the Flightglobal team.

While they are busy gathering all the latest news, he gets to do all the fun stuff. In the past he has been seen out with Sir Richard Branson on Virgin Atlantic's "around the world in 8 days" journey and he was also there at the launch of V Australia. He came with Flightglobal's web team to the Paris air show this year and he mingles with with airline CEO's at various conferences and cruises around the biggest aerospace shows.

Follow him on Twitter and watch out for his clues to guess which where he is.

He says: "Correctly guess where I am and you could win some great merchandise like a #wheresstefan t-shirt. This game I'm playing is a bit like "Where's Wally" but I don't wear a red and white stripey hat, and unlike Wally, I'll actually be there."

Don't forget to use #wheresstefan when guessing Stefan the Pilot's location on twitter. 

Stefan is always contactable:

T: www.twitter.com/stefanthepilot

E: stefanthepilot@flightglobal.com

W: www.stefanthepilot.com

PS Check out his own video channel to see him in action with more to come so stay tuned... 

Foreign fighter aircraft can be spotted flying over the Northumberland countryside over the next few weeks.

US Air Force F15E Eagles are joining UK forces for Exercise Flying Rhino which is a small-scale Close Air Support exercise for 1 (UK) Armoured Division. The exercises have an essential part to play in Forward Air Controller training and qualification.

So if you're in the area, (some were seen flying over Alnwick), why not take some pictures and upload them onto AirSpace. Your picture could appear in Flightglobal's Image of the Day Blog and Flight International.

For more information on the type of aircraft involved and where to see them see the Northumberland Gazette.

This is how Flight International reported on the F-15 being rolled out back in 1997... 

Although not in one of my all time must see races (number one at the moment would be Usain Bolt against a Cheetah vs a Sea Lion  in a 100 metre dash) this one was certainly entertaining.

Organised by the Changi Airport Group to celebrate the start of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix season, the event involved the Porsche 911 being positioned 200 metres behind the jetliner in a 1.7km race. You can probably guess who wins...

Have you ever wanted to spend New Year in Sydney and watch the spectacular firework display?

Etihad Airways is offering one winner the opportunity of a lifetime to experience Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations, a prize worth £10,000.

The overall prize includes:

Two return Diamond First Class flights with Etihad Airways.

Seven nights' accommodation in a one-bedroom apartment at the four-star superior Mantra 2 Bond Street Hotel,

Sydney in and around the city, including the Harbour Bridge Climb and cruise around Sydney Harbour

Enter the competition by visiting http://www.flightcentre.co.uk between now and13 October

Etihad competition is association with Tourism New South Wales and Flight Centre. 

There are several moments in Russian air transport I'd like personally to have witnessed, but right now I'd settle for the 30 seconds in the cockpit which immediately followed this conversation:

 

Kaliningrad air traffic control: "794...can you taxi independently to the apron?"

 

KD-Avia flight 794: "Yes, we can."

 

The transcript features on page 35 of this report into this Boeing 737 accident. There's an old pilots' joke about requiring full power to taxi to the gate if you land with the gear up, and if it didn't have a Russian equivalent before, I suspect it does now.

Israel Aerospace Industries has unveiled what it believes to be a unique combination using hand-launched unmanned air vehicles and autonomous surface-to-surface missiles to provide fire support for ground forces.

The company released details of its Mosquito UAV and Jumper vertically launched missile system on 2 September. Continue reading...

Check out this video of a Mosquito UAV being launched and see aerial footage it records.

 

70 years ago today Britain declared war on Germany. Flight recorded the event of course, by saying in its editorial on it's front page:

"The complete suppression of Czechoslovakia followed as a matter of course, and other examples of Nazi bullying have succeeded. The time had to come when Britain and France must make a stand, and that time has now arrived. Our only regret is that we could not have made our stand in time to save the gallant Czechs. We must hope that the result of this war will see their country set free again, If last year we were weak, now we and France are very strong, on the sea, on the land, and in the air."

Continue reading this article and flick through the archive pages to see the rest of the issue... including an account of Poland's air force... "although for obvious reasons it is impossible to discuss authoritatively the strength and detail organisation..."