February 2010 Archives

We were much excited to see Airbus's A350 XWB 3D cutaway model at last April's Aircraft Interiors show at Hamburg, but this model of an A380 competes on a very different level.

It's made out of Legos--and has a touch screen that can move the wheels and other parts.

Aircraft boneyards like Victorville and Marana are popular with aviation enthusiasts for the commercial aircraft stored there, but the boneyards for military aircraft--B-52s, F-14s--are much less accessible. Until now.

With a hat tip to the BBC, Google Maps now shows the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group boneyard at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tuscon, Arizona. At 2600 acres over four square miles containing over 4000 aircraft, it is reportedly the world's largest military aircraft boneyard.

Explore the site for yourself below. If you find anything interesting, leave a comment.


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Military aircraft not your cup of tea? Also check out commercial boneyards at Mojave:


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and Victorville:


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and Marana:


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You can add the pontiff to the list of people who have an opinion about full body scanners at airports.

The National Post reports about the Pope's speech at the Vatican to 1200 airport workers:

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out against airport body scanners, insisting that "human dignity must be preserved."

Although the pontiff did not use the words "body scanner" during the audience with airport workers, it was clear what he meant as he said: "It is above all essential to protect and value the human person in their integrity."

Acknowledging that airports were in the forefront of the terrorist threat and suffering economically, he added: "Even in this situation, one must never forget that respecting the primacy of the human person and attention to his or her needs does not make the service less efficient nor penalize economic management."

Iran is taking a break from denouncing Israel and homosexuals to pick on in-flight entertainment. Yes, that's right. IFE.

It's not the greatest photo ever taken* but this tail-camera shot does offer an unusual perspective of the A380, this one being Air France's F-HPJB taxiing through the mist of a firefighters' water arch for its first departure from Johannesburg on 18 February.

 

Flight AF995 for Paris Charles de Gaulle weighed in at 490t, including 137t of fuel, with three pilots and 23 cabin crew, and took off on runway 03L. Not that I was making notes, you understand.

 

 

*It's possible that it's not even the greatest Air France A380 tail-camera photo ever taken, because I'm reliably informed that during the delivery of F-HPJA all the passengers were treated to the sight of a magnified fly walking across the lens.

Now that we're clear you shouldn't Tweet and make bomb threats, let's move on to another topic: sneaking on board an aircraft and hiding in the wheel bay.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

About five times a year, somewhere in the world, someone sneaks into the landing gear of a parked jet and then attempts to survive an incredibly dangerous ride, frequently to the United States.

Usually, the stowaways die, as was the case on Thursday, when a man climbed into the wheel well of a Miami-bound cargo jet while it was on a ramp in the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo.

Shortly after takeoff from Las Americas International Airport, at 1:45 p.m., air traffic controllers saw a man fall out of the Boeing 767. The body was found by airport workers and the runway was shut down for 45 minutes.

The Tribune also found some interesting facts from the FAA on such incidents:

In the past 15 years, 81 people have tried to stow away in the wheel wells of 71 flights, and 59 of those died, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The vast majority of the stowaways got on planes in other countries and many of them attempted to fly to the United States.

A Briton arrested last month for Twittering a bomb threat to an airport will be charged "with sending by a public communications network a message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character contrary to Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003" the South Yorkshire police said.

The offending Tweet? The Star reports:

When heavy snow at Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster, northern England, threatened to ruin Paul Chambers's plans to fly to Ireland, he vented his frustration by tapping out a message on the social networking site.

"Robin Hood Airport is closed," he wrote. "You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!"

You can find our roving Flightglobal journos on Twitter, sans bomb threats, in a handy list here.

Have a look at this Flight article from 1957 on the development of the Fairey Rotodyne. Further on in the article you can marvel at the intricacies of the craft in our cutaway drawing.

There are some great illustrations of the World's (retro) Helicopters published in 1953.

Flight ponders what the future holds for civil helicopters. Journalist Ian Parker wrote in 1985: "It is a sad fact that, when recession strikes, research and development are often among the first activities to be cut."

Flight reports that research is under way at Eurocopter to develop "a new breed of helicopter that will offer passengers regional airliner levels of comfort, and pilots a higher degree of all-weather safety".

Lighthouses are, by force of nature, built in remote places, and ever since the first were erected they have posed difficulties in the transfer of men and equipment. Helicopters land on the helipad of the Eddystone automatic lighthouse, 13 miles off the shore of Plymouth, UK. "Landing on the 25ft-diameter grid platforms on top of the tower lighthouses calls for good focus of attention and no vertigo."

 

Flight published an article by a Dr E H Hankin who gives an account of his study of birds while in flight.

He observes that birds do not have a muscle that can bend the wing tip downwards by direct action. But he promises to explore this matter in another chapter. "In bats", he says, "there is such a muscle, which can bend the wing downwards at the carpal joint, and is used in flapping flight at the end of each downstroke.

"In birds, any appearance of bending downwards at the carpal joint can only be due to indirect causes, such as pressure of air on the upper surface of the wing. Slight rotation round the axis of the wing can occur at the carpal and metacarpal joint, and is so produced by the muscles that I am about to describe..." 

And watch out for the amusingly childlike bird drawings on the following page.

OK, you're still here. You need convincing.

Last August de Botton spent a week living at London Heathrow. No, he wasn't some wayward passenger: BAA offered him the gig and gave him full access and even permission to criticise the airport.

A Week at the Airport is his brilliant summation of an industry as it has never been told before. De Botton focuses on seemingly banal moments and in doing so brings a paradigmatic shift to viewing aviation.

To de Botton, a jet bridge about to dock with a British Airways B747-400 is actually a rubber mouth making a hesitant kiss. A sorrowful and teary good-bye between a couple is actually one of the high points in their lives: they have found in one another a person they cannot stand to be away from.

We bemoan the loss of aviation's glory days, but de Botton's lively descriptions restore the allure of flying machines that crisscross the globe. An aircraft's wheels on touchdown "prepared to greet rubber-stained English tarmac with a burst of smoke that made manifest their planes' speed and weight."

This illustrious work will not only help restore aviation's glamour to the public who cannot tell an Airbus from a Boeing, but also make the most die-hard aviation fan see aviation in a difference perspective.

I opened the cover after settling down in seat 23A on D7 2009 from London Stansted to Kuala Lumpur. Just a few minutes later the de-icing cherry picker outside was not a machine. With one light bulb at the top pointing straight ahead and one aiming down, it was a face winking. De Botton frequently surmises how Heathrow must appear as to passengers. I now saw that the de-icing cherry picker/face winking would offer the best view of my A340-300 if I was fortunate enough to be in the contraption, even with the bitter English winter outside.

I reached page 107, the last of this concise work, over the Gulf of Thailand. But it was some twenty pages earlier that de Botton made his most poignant statement. He talks with British Airways CEO Willie Walsh and realises they are not unlike. BA, losing £1.6 million a day in August, was representative of an industry de Botton claims has never collectively made a profit--just like writing.

That is not wrong, de Botton says. "It seemed as unfair to evaluate an airline according to its profit-and-loss statement as to judge a poet by her royalty statements." De Botton's proclamation may seem out of place on a site like ours where we report the financial situation of carriers.

Delve deep into our archive, however, and it is apparent that it is indeed not finances that capture the imagination. TWA and its Eero Saarinen terminal at JFK are beloved, but the carrier disappeared into American Airlines days before it would have had to declare bankruptcy. Pan Am with its Clippers and around-the-world flight is also revered despite a painful bankruptcy. And perhaps no aircraft is more famous than Concorde, which Walsh's BA found too costly to operate.

The way to judge the two, de Botton says, is that aviation and writing each needs "to justify itself in the eyes of humanity not so much by its bottom line as by its ability to stir the soul."

For thousands, there's no better day to marry than on Valentine's Day. And if you're into aviation, there's no better way to celebrate than in some of these fashions:

1. Have your wedding photos taken at the airport
In Kuala Lumpur, one couple had their wedding photos taken at AirAsia's low-cost terminal. They chose the airport because they met at AirAsia.

2. Marry at the airport
Amsterdam Schiphol offers four types of marriage services, including the "ready for take-off" and "ticket to paradise".

3. Marry on an aircraft. In zero gravity.
Last June weightless flight provider Zero G said it hosted the first ever weightless wedding.

One day after Continental Airlines named a 737 after Captain Marlon Gray, who became the first African-American pilot hired by a major US airline, American Airlines unveiled its "Black History in Aviation" online museum.

(If you're wondering about the influx of US airlines honoring African-Americans, February is African-American History month in the US.)

One of the profiled individuals is Captain David Harris, who AA says "was the first African American in the cockpit for a major passenger airline". That seems to contradict Continental's claim, but Continental was the first to hire an African-American pilot (the pilot, Marlon Green, eventually joined in 1966) while AA was the first to have an African-American pilot fly.

Here's a video of Captain Harris discussing his career and life now.

Head over to the Air Show Buzz TV channel to watch the first episode of their cute new kids show "Mike Da Mustang". It features cartoon aircraft, airport vehicles, and even a cartoon wind sock.

An e-mail goes like this:

During a private "fly-in" fishing excursion in the Alaskan wilderness, the chartered pilot and fishermen left a cooler-box and bait in the plane. And a bear smelled it. This is what he did to the plane. The pilot used his radio and had another pilot bring him 2 new tyres, 3 cases of duct tape, and a supply of sheet plastic. He patched the plane together, and FLEW IT HOME!

Before photos:

ShareCreateApture™

And voila!

ShareCreateApture™

If you know more or took the photos let me know.

In a ceremony in Houston yesterday Continental Airlines named one of its Boeing 737s in honour of its late Captain Marlon Green, who won a landmark legal battle to become the first African American pilot hired by a major US passenger airline.


The Smithsonian's Air & Space Magazine has a wonderful profile on "aviation's Jackie Robinson". An excerpt:

He filled out applications to United, Pan American, Eastern, Western, and others, and got nowhere. Then in June 1957, he was invited to interview with Continental, but only after leaving the box for "race" unchecked on his application. He made it to the final round of six applicants, all of whom were white except Green. He was one of two not hired, even though the successful candidates all had less than 1,000 hours in multi-engine aircraft, compared to Green's nearly 3,000.

A unanimous Supreme Court decision in 1963 meant that Green, a former B-26 pilot for the Air Force, could take to the skies in the right seat at Continental in January 1966.

The case, however, required enormous hardship on Green. His brother Jim remarked to the Houston Chronicle: "He lost his dignity, his honor, his self-esteem, all of his savings, and he was reduced to menial work like cleaning milk cans."

Green eventually captained Boeing 707s. He flew with Continental for 14 years until his retirement in 1978. He passed away last July at the age of 80.

The Chronicle says the honour is the first time Continental has publicly acknowledged Green's contribution. Jeff Smisek, Continental's chairman, president and CEO said: "The fact that we did this shows how regretful we are about our history, and we took the opportunity to honor Captain Green because it's important to us."

The idea to name an aircraft after Green originated from Continental Captain Ray-Sean Silvera. At the same ceremony Silvera was appointed assistant chief pilot for Continental. Silvera becomes the first African-American pilot to hold the post at Continental.

A reader of the Air & Space article commented:

I remember Green as a very talented pilot and a real gentleman. He was the only black flying officer in the squadron, but he was one of the best. I wished him the best when he decided to leave the Air Force a year later. I'm glad he was eventually successful in his pursuit of a commercial pilot job. He was a true ground-breaker.

When "Northwest Nap" entered the lexicon it wasn't exactly with the highest source: it was on Urban Dictionary.

Now "crash blossoms" has entered the lexicon, this time with a more reputable, or at least pedantic, group: copy editors. But what are "crash blossoms"? To the copy editors, the phrase now refers to headlines with double meanings. Here's the back story, courtesy of the NY Times:

Mike O'Connell, an American editor based in Sapporo, Japan, spotted the headline "Violinist Linked to JAL Crash Blossoms" and wondered, "What's a crash blossom?" (The article, from the newspaper Japan Today, described the successful musical career of Diana Yukawa, whose father died in a 1985 Japan Airlines plane crash.) Another participant in the forum, Dan Bloom, suggested that "crash blossoms" could be used as a label for such infelicitous headlines that encourage alternate readings, and news of the neologism quickly spread.

Head over to our Image of the Day blog to check out a very unique Kulula B737. Here's a teaser photo:

There's more here.

Attention Facebook users: based on the popularity of our 787 group on Facebook with over 1,700 members, we have created two new groups.

First is the Boeing 747-8 group for all things related to the newest member of the 747 family.

Second is the Airbus 350 XWB for all things related to the newest commercial jet at Airbus.

At both groups you can share photos, read the latest news, or start a discussion. Affirm your interest to these aircraft and join these groups today. And don't forget to become our fan on Facebook and get more news, photos, and videos delivered to you.

The Webbies 09 is all about celebrating the great and the brilliant in online and social media activities from established industry leaders and striving newcomers and everyone in between, in the aviation sector. We asked you to enter the Flightglobal Webbies or nominate your favourites in the eight aviation-related categories.

Our expert judging panel said they had to make some tough choices while sifting through the hundreds of quality entries to find the top three in each category based on the judging criteria. (follow the link and click on "categories")  

The Webbies 2009 - Flightglobal Aviation Web Awards, follows on from the success of the Webbies 2008.

See below for the winners from 2009 plus the Flightglobal story - Webbies 2009 and judges comments.... 

Best Airline: Judged by Airline Business Editor Mark Pilling and Sergio Mello, Founder and CEO at SATISFLY

1. Meridiana Eurofly
2. United Airlines 
3. Hawaiian Airlines 

Best Airport: Judged by aviation and aerospace editor and consultant at Independent and former Executive Editor, Flightglobal, Kieran Daly and Director of Business Relations at EAA, Jeff Kaufman

1. Amsterdam Schiphol
2. DFW International
3. Manchester Airport

 Best Blog: Judged by Reed Business Information's head of Blogging, Adam Tinworth and Vice President Cabin Design Office at Airbus, Jonathan Norris

1. Things In The Sky
2. SimpliFlying 
3. AirPigz

Best Use of Social Media: Judged by online strategist and publishing industry executive Jim Muttram and Senior Consultant at Aerospace eBusiness, Ludo van Vooren

1. Northrop Grumman Facebook fan page
2. Manchester Airport
3. NYCAviation

Best Online Innvoation: Judged by Jon Ostrower, Flightglobal's FlightBlogger and Kevin O'Toole, Flightglobal's Director of Strategy

1. AirlineSim
2. EmptyLegMarket
3. SeatExpert  

Best Aerospace Manufacturer: Judged by Flight  International's Deputy Editor, Max Kingsley-Jones and Aerocomm Ltd CEO and President of the British Association of Communicators in Business, Alan Peaford

1. Eurofighter Typhoon
2. Boeing
3. Sikorsky

Best New Website: Judged by Flightglobal Editor Michael Targett and Founder of IAG's AviationPodcasts.com, Addison Schonland

1. BoardingArea
2. F135 engine
3. Spacevidcast

Best Enthusiast Site: Judged by Flightglobal's Deputy Editor, Stuart Clarke and author of Cranky Flier blog, Brett Snyder

1. NYCAviation
2. Global Aviation Resource
3. FlyerTalk

• Flightglobal story - Webbies 2009 and judges comments.... 

Following up from John Travolta's flight on a 707 delivering aid to Haiti, LAN Cargo has announced it will help Haiti.

From the carrier:

Florida based LAN CARGO has committed resources to assist aid efforts in Haiti.  Today, a LAN CARGO Boeing 767-300 freighter departed Miami International Airport for Port-au-Prince carrying approximately 48 tons of relief cargo, including medical supplies, portable toilets and water from local and national organizations including the Americas Relief Team, The Pan American Development Foundation the University of Miami's Project Medishare, and The Coca-Cola Company.

LAN CARGO team members accompanied the flight to assist with the unloading of cargo on the ground.   Additional relief supplies including clothes, water and canned goods collected by LAN Airlines and LAN CARGO in Miami were also onboard.

"As a Company, our hearts go out to the people of Haiti during this time of need," said Cristian Ureta, CEO of LAN CARGO.  "LAN CARGO is honored to make available its resources to transport the aid that is needed and to partner with these respected non-profit organizations and businesses to help make a difference".

On the ground in Miami, the airline has partnered with Boston based Partners In Health (PIH), a non-profit organization that works to bring modern medical care to poor communities in nine countries around the world and has a 20-year history in Haiti.  PIH will be using the LAN CARGO export warehouse at Miami International Airport as a staging point and hub for all of their relief supplies that will be transported to Haiti.

"Partners In Health is very thankful for companies like LAN CARGO that are providing  services and expertise to help us continue to transport hope and relief to the people of Haiti," said Kathryn Kempton, Director of Procurement, Partners In Health.

On January 16^th, the PIH team was designated by the World Health Organization to serve alongside Haitian Ministry of Health as coordinators of the public University Hospital in Port-au-Prince, supporting the administration and staff in restoring services at the city's central hospital. 
 
Organizations interested in donating specific items in large quantities including orthopedic supplies, surgical consumables (sutures, bandages, non-powdered sterile gloves, syringes, etc.), blankets, tents, satellite phones with minutes, and large unopened boxes of medications should visit www.pih.org.