Browsing articles in "Skymates Blog"
The U.S. Navy's participation in a 22-nation exercise this summer will include a two-day demonstration of the "Great Green Fleet" carrier strike group, operating in part on alternative non-fossil fuels. The demonstration group will operate aircraft and non-carrier ships on 50/50 blends of biofuel and conventional fuels. The Navy has set a goal of 2020 to meet half of its energy needs with non-fossil fuels. The Great Green Fleet's two-day demonstration during the Rim of Pacific exercise is meant to precipitate a larger months-long deployment of a similarly fueled group set to deploy in 2016. Increases in fuel costs have pushed Defense Department spending $3 billion over budget in 2012 due to rising fuel costs.
A judge has dismissed drunk-driving charges against former FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, ruling the Fairfax, Va., police didn't have a good enough reason to pull him over. Although a police statement after his arrest said Babbitt had been observed driving on the wrong side of the road the night of Dec. 3, 2011, WJLA reported that dashboard video from the police cruiser showed what Judge Ian O'Flaherty described as a "normal" left turn, even though it does not appear Babbitt used his turn signal. Nevertheless, the judge called the traffic stop "a hunch" and ended the proceedings there without hearing evidence that Babbitt wasn't legally impaired when he was pulled over.
Denny Fitch, the off-duty United Airlines DC-10 instructor who worked the throttles in the crash landing of Flight 232 at Sioux City, Iowa, on July 19, 1989, died of brain cancer on May 7. Fitch, along with 184 others, survived in a legendary feat of airmanship credited with initiating the now-standard concept of crew resource management. "Nobody had a right to walk away from that," Fitch told the Sioux City Herald just after the accident, in which 111 people died. Fitch was deadheading from United's training center in Denver to his home near Chicago when he heard the bang that signaled shards of turbine blades on the tail-mounted No. 2 engine slicing through lines supplying all three hydraulic systems on the aircraft. As the engine shook itself to a final smoking death, the only controls left were the power settings for the wing-mounted engines. After reassuring a flight attendant that everything would be all right, Fitch headed for the cockpit.
A judge has dismissed drunk-driving charges against former FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, ruling the Fairfax, Va., police didn't have a good enough reason to pull him over. Although a police statement after his arrest said Babbitt had been observed driving on the wrong side of the road the night of Dec. 3, 2011, WJLA reported that dashboard video from the police cruiser showed what Judge Ian O'Flaherty described as a "normal" left turn, even though it does not appear Babbitt used his turn signal. Nevertheless, the judge called the traffic stop "a hunch" and ended the proceedings there without hearing evidence that Babbitt wasn't legally impaired when he was pulled over.
The first three months of 2012 saw total billings for aircraft fall 8 percent, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), but piston-powered airplane shipments dropped by a smaller margin. Piston aircraft shipments totaled 184 units for the first three months of 2012, versus 188 shipments over the same period last year. The figures account for a 2.1 percent decrease that matched the decrease in total worldwide general aviation shipments. GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce offered a theory and some legislative advice.
The U.S. Navy's participation in a 22-nation exercise this summer will include a two-day demonstration of the "Great Green Fleet" carrier strike group, operating in part on alternative non-fossil fuels. The demonstration group will operate aircraft and non-carrier ships on 50/50 blends of biofuel and conventional fuels. The Navy has set a goal of 2020 to meet half of its energy needs with non-fossil fuels. The Great Green Fleet's two-day demonstration during the Rim of Pacific exercise is meant to precipitate a larger months-long deployment of a similarly fueled group set to deploy in 2016. Increases in fuel costs have pushed Defense Department spending $3 billion over budget in 2012 due to rising fuel costs.
We're not sure, but this might be the first "last flight" of an aircraft type that helped usher in the modern jet age of airliners. The last flying Boeing 720 took off from Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada for its presumably long-term stay at the National Air Force Museum of Canada at Royal Canadian Air Force Base Trenton, Ontario, on Wednesday. The airplane spent more than two decades as a test bed for Pratt & Whitney Canada, which mounted turboprops on the elongated nose, making it effectively the only five-engine four-engine aircraft flying. Pratt & Whitney moved to more modern Boeing 747SPs as test aircraft last year. They're primarily engaged in testing the company's new PurePower ultra-efficient turbofan engines.
AirVenture Cup race organizers are seeking to clarify a communication they received Thursday from EAA that they say could put the future of the race in question. An email sent Thursday from Chad Jensen, EAA homebuilt community manager, to Eric Whyte, chairman of the race's contest committee, reads in part, "EAA will no longer be associated with air racing in any form going forward." However,Kandi Spangler, who handles public relations for race organizers, told >i>AVweb Friday that "EAA wants us to have the race and we want to have the race." She added, "If EAA is pulling out and not giving us the support we need, the race will likely be cancelled. But as it sits now, I feel good about the direction we're heading and the possible outcome."As of late Friday, the official public position from all parties was that the 2012 race had not yet been cancelled, as EAA officials and race organizers sought to clarify the nature of their relationship.
An early model RAF Curtis P-40 Kittyhawk (Warhawk) wearing markings from the 260 Squadron and likely lost in 1942 was found last month largely intact in western Egypt's Al Wadi al Jadid desert, and researchers may now have identified its last pilot. The aircraft has been photographed sitting on its belly with the canopy nearly closed. It is suspected to be that of Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping, who went missing while ferrying a damaged Kittyhawk with markings "HS-B." If so, it could be associated also with Canadian ace James Francis "Stocky" Edwards. The aircraft's resting place is 200 miles from the nearest town and no evidence of the pilot's remains have been found. A museum may now attempt to recover the aircraft, but there are complications. Video after the jump.
There are few details available from initial reports but Canadian officials are investigating how a Lake Buccaneer and a Piper Cherokee came together near the tiny town of St. Brieux, Saskatchewan (population 492) on Saturday, killing both occupants of the Buc and all three on the Cherokee. St. Brieux is a small rural community about 125 miles northeast of the nearest large town, Saskatoon. St. Brieux has an airport, however, and that's where the Cherokee was headed. Initial reports said the collision occurred near the airport.
