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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 2078.PDF
Straight & Level roger.bacon@flightinternational.com Russian operator cleans up Budgie News' man in Moscow, Boris Egpws-Tcasov wanted to clarify a few points over the 11-62 operator Vim Airlines. "Zer iz no truth in rumour zat Vim is planning to focuz on Russian domestos services, OK?" ...and while in that neck of the woods (From the BBC Monitoring Service) "NewTu-204 300 a 'revolution' in Russian aviation industry The new aircraft will be able to carry 160 passengers over a distance of 10,000km, and very soon it will start undergoing tests. It will have to carry out such virtuoso manoeuvres as, for example, the 'cobra', when the aircraft stands almost vertically in the air." (Can't wait for this flight test programme!) Insensitive ad for nervous passengers at Varna Airport, Bulgaria Intelligent machines General Atomic: "Whaddaya mean, the autonomous unmanned combat air vehicle has come back...it just left!" Capt Sensible: "Sir, the problem seems to be the intelligent software that we installed." Atomic: "Meaning...?" Sensible: "Meaning sir, it came back because it decided it didn't WANT to go into combat." Atomic: "Didn't want to!?" Sensible: "No sir, in fact it has requested a transfer." Atomic: "To where?" Sensible: "Coffee plantation monitoring in Hawaii, sir." Overheard at the UAV conference.... "Hey we need new flight control software, want the good news or the bad news? The bad news..it costs LOADS to develop. The good news...it doesn't weigh very much." NASA's JPL (Showing video of first flight of 1.5kg "biomorphic" mini-UAV) "And coming in to the attack from the right is a crow which we think mobbed it out of jealousy." It had to happen. It was only a matter of time before Harry Potter somehow entered the NASA lexicon. The agency's monicker for the Small System for Indoor/Confined Space On-Demand Surveillance micro-UAV? The SNITCH. What's the next bewitching UAV project? Er...how about the Nimbus 2000? To some people in the big plane business the very acroynm UAV is a dirty word....unclean air vehicle. Man bites plane YEARS AGO (From the UK CAA's occurrence report monthly, The Digest). The engineer was working on a spoiler actuator when the spoiler opened and hit him in the face. Note: the injury was not serious. But the headline really tells the story - "Injury to engineer; no damage to spoiler." AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FLIGHT 18.09.1961 Battle of Britain In Autumn haze, reminiscent of conditions during the actual battle thirteen years ago, 252 jet aircraft - led by a Hurricane and a Spitfire - flew over London at 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday September 15th. On Saturday last 70 R.A.F. Stations were "At Home" to the public. From the roof of Flights office, over T #\ which the Battle of Britain formation passed, the directing marker flares could be seen glowing on the roof of the London County Hall. The two veteran fight ers flew in line abreast as co-heroes of the battle and were followed by the jets in 11 formations. As would be expected the main body of the fly-past was made up of meteors -120 of them - followed by Sea Hawks, Sabres (from both the R.C.A.F. and U.S.A.F.) and two formations of Canberras. The standard of formation keeping was very high. A formation of 24 Canberras also flew over Leicester and other Midland cities. Fokker's Agreement Important developments in the Brazilian aircraft industry are foreshadowed by an announcement from the Fokker Aircraft Company that an initial contract has been signed between the Ministerio da Aeronautica and Fokker I.A. to build under licence in Brazil 100 S-11 Instructors; 50 of the S-12 tricycle version, and 50 S-14 jet Mach- Trainers. In this connection, a new company, Fokker Industria Aeronautica S.A., was estab lished in May this year, 50 per cent of the ownership being in the hands of the Dutch com pany and 50 in those of the Brazilian group. New Hunter Record Last Saturday S/L. Neville Duke gained for Britain another world speed record - that for the 100-km closed circuit-with a speed, subject to confirma tion - of 709.2 m.p.h. He was flying the same red Hunter powered by an Avon engine with re-heat in which he recently established a world speed record. The new record is 19.082 m.p.h. faster than the previous one - still to be confirmed - of 690.118 m.p.h., held by the Brigadier-General J.S. Holtoner. The official record is held by Miss Jacqueline Cochran, who, in a Sabre F-86E0, achieved a speed of 652.55 m.p.h. It is all the more remarkable since weather conditions at the same time were far from ideal, the temperature being lower than 60 deg F with some rain, low cloud and bad light. The previous record had been set up during the heat wave in America at the beginning of this month. 44 23-29 SEPTEMBER 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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