Scott Young: Aviation

Long Flight

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 05:16:49 GMT

Doc Searls posted on Boeing 777-200LR setting a distance record for a commercial jetliner by flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow over North America. The long range capabilities of these aircraft are truly amazing, however, whether the passengers are actually capable of that length of flight remains an open question.

Air Racing

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 19:24:56 GMT

Its a little known fact that air shows are incredibly popular and annually attract more visitors then any professional sport. Somebody out there appears to have figured this out and we are starting to see some very interesting airplane racing competitions around airshows.

If you have been to the Reno Air Races in the past few years, you have seen the L-39 Albatros jets race (400mph+). The tricky part is keeping them in view while they are blasting around a course that is miles and miles long. The unlimited class is still the most fun - watching the highly modified WWII fighter planes roar around the pylons.

Then there are the Red Bull Air Races - the final race of the season is taking place during Fleet Week in San Francisco this weekend where the contestants perform aerobatic maneuvers (knife edge through pylons, under bridges etc) while racing around a course near the city marked with 40ft tall inflated cloth pylons.

Now rocket planes. If you like things that fly, it doesn't get much better than this.

GoogleJet

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 20:12:49 GMT

A pilot friend sent me a great little snippet with the tongue-in-cheek question of how much to would cost to fuel this baby. The answer is that it takes about 24,000 gallons of JetA at roughly $5/gal. So when they pull up to the pump and say, "fill-er up" - the bill comes to about $120,000. (Of course that does not include the dry hourly operating rate.)

A sweet ride for two...

Every Silicon Valley tech giant has to have his jet. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have settled on a Boeing 767 as their personal jet, and it's currently down in Dallas getting interior work done, or at least that's according to Jeff Nolan, over at SAP Ventures, who told us that he'd bumped into a guy in the aviation industry who said as much. In April, we reported that Chief Executive Schmidt sold his ownership interest in his jet, which he had owned for several years and let the company use for business trips. In February, he purchased another jet, and the Google board agreed to reimburse him $7,000 an hour for its use.

Don't Try This in Our Atmosphere Kids

Wed, 03 Aug 2005 00:30:29 GMT

I am amazed what the astronauts are going to do to repair the shuttle in space prior to its return. Its the height of ingenuity when you can find, diagnose, test, and repair a problem on a vehicle that complex in flight.

Restoring the Warbirds

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:16:34 GMT

Excellent NY Times article on warbird restorations.

Boeing Blog

Fri, 03 Jun 2005 00:23:36 GMT

Another very cool aviation inspired blog - The Boeing Flight Test Journal

Nellis Airshow

Fri, 13 May 2005 00:06:59 GMT

Several fantastic pictures from the Nellis Airshow. Everything from first looks at the F-22 Raptor to a very cool Fairey Firefly all the way to "Precious Metal" - an aircraft that started life as a P-51 Mustang (the tail and radiator scoop still look familiar), but the fuselage and cockpit were substantially modified for air racing. Most notable it has two contra-rotating three-bladed propellers that were taken from a British Shackleton marine patrol aircraft. I saw this plane at the Reno Air Races a while back and its amazing. I have to put this airshow on my list for next year.

Getting from Here to There

Mon, 25 Apr 2005 22:52:53 GMT

Aerial Taxis really are getting closer. An announcement from Dayjet. Maybe they will let me fly the right seat...

Around the World in 67 Hours

Thu, 03 Mar 2005 20:07:20 GMT

Steve Fossett and Global Flyer flies around the world. He is back in Kansas after a non-stop, solo flight around the world. If he had gotten into trouble, all he really had to do was click those ruby red slippers... Amazing.

Tired of Narita Airport...

Thu, 17 Feb 2005 17:57:24 GMT

Japan's ultra-modern int'l airport opened today in Nagoya. Its the airport built on an artificial island and its Japan's third major international airport.

More on the Cirrus Icing Accident

Tue, 08 Feb 2005 17:38:33 GMT

A Placer County sheriff's search and rescue crew has found the body of a pilot and wreckage from the airplane he was flying Sunday night, a spokesman for the sheriff said today. The plane, which was headed to Oakland from Reno, was located on the back side of Mount Lincoln in the Sugar Bowl ski area, Placer County sheriff's Capt. Rick Armstrong said today. Armstrong said the sheriff's office has secured the scene of the wreckage and will wait until Tuesday, when officials from the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to arrive, to remove the man's body and to investigate the scene.

The plane, reportedly a four-seat Cirrus SR22, left Reno around 6 p.m. Sunday. About 15 minutes later, the pilot notified air traffic controllers that his wings were icing and that he was "going down,'' the sheriff's office reported. At that point, the plane was approximately 16,000 to 17,000 feet in the air, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Donn Walker. It was the last contact the FAA had with the pilot. Around 1:45 a.m., a snow-grooming worker at the Sugar Bowl ski area called 911 and said he found a parachute and parts of an aircraft, according to the sheriff's office. A search crew responded to the scene, found the parachute and parts of the plane. The pilot's body and the remainder of the plane were found around noon today, Armstrong said.

Cirrus Crash

Mon, 07 Feb 2005 23:15:33 GMT

A Cirrus apparently went down near the Sugar Bowl Ski Resort in Tahoe. Resort personnel found some wreckage and pieces of the plane's parachute (from the CAPS system). There does not seem to be much else to report.

Global Flyer

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 20:07:34 GMT

Global Flyer is ready and will attempt the first solo, nonstop, non-refueled around-the-world flight piloted by Steve Fossett. (Also noticed that the Wichita Business Journal has an RSS feed.)

Laser Man

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 00:13:29 GMT

Patriot Act used to quell laser pointer terror. Don't look now [The Register]

Obviously, the author of this article isn't a pilot. Who cares what law was being used to prosecute someone stupid enough to shine a powerful laser on a plane at night. If you are VFR or IFR and you lose your ability to see either the instruments or your ground reference, you can become disoriented very quickly. Spatial disorientation, close to the ground, usually has fatal results for everyone on board. If you are a passenger, you just have to hope the auto pilot is engaged.

Turbulence - No Kidding

Wed, 22 Dec 2004 21:16:14 GMT

Unfortunately, I didn't see this PIREPs until I was back on the ground after an abortive attempt to fly to Half Moon Bay (HAF) for lunch. Made it over the hills and then turned back. There were some big potholes in the air out there. My two favorite comments are in the PIREPs below:

Palo Alto CA (Palo Alto Arpt Of Santa Clara Co) [PAO]: pilot report
from Palo Alto CA (Palo Alto Arpt Of Santa Clara Co) [PAO] to 13 nautical miles on the 085[infinity] radial of San Jose [SJC VOR] at 12:29pm PST (2029Z), at 7,300 feet a Cessna Cessna 195(LC-126) reported moderate to severe turbulence surface - 073 ... " DEP Palo Alto CA (Palo Alto Arpt Of Santa Clara Co) [PAO] turbulence along Bay @ 015 . negative over Mt. HAMILTON . negative . ROUGHEST I had in 62YRS " "almost took a wing off"

Soaring Record

Mon, 13 Dec 2004 22:04:12 GMT

Global adventurer Steve Fossett has done something that seems almost unimaginable for airplane pilots used to relying on continuous engine power - not to mention staying out of turbulence. Along with Terry Delore, Fossett flew a two-seat Schleicher ASH-25M sailplane on a 1,358-mile flight. Last weekend's flight took the pilots over the Andes, soaring between the Argentine cities of El Calafate and San Juan, covering about two-thirds of the length of the country. The 15-hour-and-42-minute flight is an unofficial straight-line soaring record. These glider pilots rely on mountain waves and the ridge lift created by wind as opposed to heat-generated thermals.

Global Flyer

Wed, 01 Dec 2004 18:42:22 GMT

The flying gas tank is an unbelievable aircraft, the plane has 13 fuel tanks and one seat, but its the toilet they didn't have room for... Then again, it only took about 14 months to build.

Some Folks Around Here Thought They Heard the Sonic Booms

Wed, 17 Nov 2004 18:25:06 GMT

NASA's X-43A research vehicle screamed into the record books today, demonstrating an air-breathing engine can fly at nearly 10 times the speed of sound. Preliminary data from the scramjet-powered research vehicle show its revolutionary engine worked successfully at approximately Mach 10, nearly 7000 mph, as it flew at an altitude of approximately 110,000 feet.

The flight took place in restricted airspace over the Pacific Ocean northwest of Los Angeles. The flight was the last and fastest of three unpiloted tests in NASA's Hyper-X Program. The program's purpose was to explore an alternative to rocket power for space access vehicles.

"This flight is a key milestone and a major step toward the future possibilities for producing boosters for sending large and critical payloads into space in a reliable, safe, inexpensive manner," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. "These developments will also help us advance the Vision for Space Exploration, while helping to advance commercial aviation technology," Administrator O'Keefe said.

Supersonic combustion ramjets (scramjets) promise more airplane-like operations for increased affordability, flexibility and safety in ultra high-speed flights within the atmosphere and for the first stage to Earth orbit. The scramjet advantage is once it accelerates to approximately Mach 4 by a conventional jet engine or booster rocket, it can fly at supersonic speeds, possibly as fast as Mach 15, without carrying heavy oxygen tanks, as rockets must.

The design of the engine, which has no moving parts, compresses the air passing through it, so it can ignite the fuel. Another advantage is scramjets can be throttled back and flown more like an airplane, unlike rockets, which tend to produce nearly or full thrust all the time.

"The work of the Langley-Dryden team has been exceptional," said NASA's Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research J. Victor Lebacqz. "This shows how much we can accomplish when we manage the risk and work together toward a common goal. NASA has made a tremendous contribution to the body of knowledge in aeronautics with the Hyper-X program, as well as making history," he said.

Following launch of the Pegasus booster rocket from NASA's B-52B launch aircraft at 40,000 feet, the X-43A separated from the booster and accelerated on scramjet power to its intended speed. The mission originated from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

For more information about the Hyper-X program and the flights of the X-43A, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/x43-main.html

The Evolution of Piston Aircraft

Fri, 05 Nov 2004 04:00:27 GMT

I took the plunge last week - the introductory flight in the Cirrus SR20. What an amazing ride. From the glass cockpit, single power lever, to the sidesetick control, it was an incredible introduction to the future of piston aircraft. Nothing I have flown has ever been that easy and that smooth off the runway. Light and responsive controls made the basic maneuvers (steep turns, power-on and power-off stalls (little bit of drop-off)) second nature. Just remember to keep no more than 5 degrees of pitch attitude on takeoff and then fly it right onto the runway (stabilized approach is a must).

The primary flight display coupled to an autopilot that can actually teach you how to fly the plane smoothly was amazing. I was delighted with the uncanny accuracy of the traffic avoidance system and the huge MFD with everything: check lists, moving map, and engine analyzer etc.. (On run-up, the engine analyzer caught the slightly fouled left mag on the number 6 cylinder - unbelievable. We ran up the rpm's and cleared the problem by the time we were cleared for departure.) An hour and a half and five take-offs and landings later, I was totally hooked.

Hey Guys Look What I Found...

Thu, 30 Sep 2004 04:53:58 GMT

This Iraqi MiG-25 Foxbat was dug out of a massive sand dune near the Al Taqqadum airfield by U.S. Air Force recovery teams.

This particular Russian made MiG-25 Foxbat is an advanced reconnaissance version equipped with sophisticated electronic warfare devices found buried in the sand after an informant tipped off U.S. troops.

The plane is over 70 feet long and weighs nearly 25 tons and is capable of flying at speeds of over 2,000 miles an hour or roughly three times the speed of sound at altitudes of over 75,000 feet.

The aircraft buried at Al Taqqadum were covered in camouflage netting, sealed and, in many cases, had their wings removed before being buried more than 10 feet beneath the Iraqi desert.

ìInvestigativeî Reporting?

Fri, 10 Sep 2004 22:15:58 GMT

New York City's WNYW-TV (Fox 5) was doing a news piece regarding security at a specific GA airport in New Jersey. It was one of those ìinvestigativeî reporting exercises. Despite the investigative nature, the story apparently had an agenda ñ paint a dismal picture of the security at General Aviation airports. Seems like they had to work really hard to get the story dismal enough to even broadcast it.

You see, New Jersey's has a "two-lock" rule, requiring that any aircraft remaining at a New Jersey airport for more than 24 hours have two methods of locking the aircraft. The airport manager ensures that all aircraft comply with the rule. Keep in mind that Lakewood Airport is a relatively small GA airport with about 70 aircraft, almost all of them single-engine. The bigger 4 seat aircraft usually weigh less than 3,000 pounds and hold around 50 gallons of gas fully fueled. My guess is thatís less overall destructive power then your average Chevy Suburban at highway speeds.

Anyway, the investigative reporter decided to focus on the aerial advertising business based at the airport. It appears that the doors on the J-3 and J-4 Cubs used by the banner-towing operation have been removed and the reporter believes that violates the stateís rule, because these aircraft have no electrical ignition system and so there is no keyed ignition. Remember these are barely 2-seat tail draggers with fabric covered wings.

When contacted by WNYW, airport authorities told the reporter that two locks are in fact in place as required. There are only two of these aircraft and both of them use prop locks when parked, rendering the aircraft unflyable, There is a second locking mechanism that is not readily obvious for security reasons ñ you have to hand prop the airplane to start it. So if you see several one-armed terrorists lurking about, it was the ones who were unsuccessful with the starting procedure.

The Pucker Factor

Thu, 02 Sep 2004 00:15:08 GMT

Near Miss Reported at LAX in August (Los Angeles Times). Los Angeles Times - An arriving Asiana Airlines jumbo jet narrowly missed a departing Southwest Airlines flight at Los Angeles International Airport last month after a controller mix-up that apparently placed both planes on the same runway, federal authorities confirmed Tuesday. [Yahoo! News - Top Stories]

A Slightly More Detailed Account of Friday's Airport Incident

Sun, 15 Aug 2004 03:19:34 GMT

Aero-News Alert: Non-Aviation Media Trying To Discredit GA Fri, 13 Aug '04

American Association of Airport Executives issues alert, reports NBC trying to set up GA facilities and FBO's

Rebecca Morrison, Staff Vice President, Transportation Security Policy Department at the American Association of Airport Executives, has transmitted the following memo and requested widest possible distribution:

The following is a description of an incident that occurred today (11 Aug) at the St. Louis Downtown Airport, a large GA facility. We are sharing this story with you as there are indications that it might be repeated throughout the country. We would like to thank Bob McDaniel, the Director at the St. Louis Downtown Airport, for sharing the details of the Incident outlined below.

Earlier today two Middle Eastern men attempted to penetrate our security. They telephoned one of my helicopter FBOs and asked about a charter flight. After discussion of price and directions to the business, they arrived an hour later. When the office agent asked how they were going to pay for the flight they produced cash. When asked for ID, they produced driver's licenses from two different states and they were driving a car licensed in a third state.

Things didn't smell right so the mechanic took them into the hangar to see the aircraft while the office person called the FBI and local police. The helicopter they were going to fly was blocked in by other aircraft so the mechanic was able to stall them by having to slowly shuffle the blocking
planes. Meanwhile the two men got their backpacks and odd-shaped luggage out of their car. Soon the local police arrived and they were hauled off to jail in handcuffs.

After a little time behind bars, the FBI verified that the two men were employed by NBC New York and were on assignment to get a story of how easy it is to charter a helicopter for a terrorist attack. The men had stayed in a local hotel and purchased box cutters, leather-man knives, and other potential weapons at the local Wal-Mart using a credit card. The box cutters had been hidden in the lining at the bottom of the back packs and the other weapons were hidden throughout their baggage. They had audiotaped the telephone conversation with Arlene and were going to use it as part of a national news story about how easy it is to get information and directions to the location of the helicopter and then hijack it to commit a terrorist attack.

I doubt they will be back at our airport soon and this is a story that will never be seen since they were caught. A very "well-done" to my FBO and staff and the local FBI and police response forces. We have since learned that we were the first airport where this had been attempted and NBC planned to attempt similar penetration stories around the country. Please help me spread the word to other airports.

Growing Pains

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 04:35:57 GMT

Virgin delays superjumbo arrivals

Virgin Atlantic has pushed its plans to take delivery of the new Airbus superjumbo back by a year.

The airline says it will not now take delivery of the first six Airbus A380 planes until 2007.

Virgin had planned to have the 550-seat planes, which cost $250m (£150.3m) each, in service by the summer of 2006.

It blamed airports for being slow to make changes to prepare for the giant aircraft - which has a wingspan of 80 metres - particularly Los Angeles.

I think I could land a C-172 inside this beast

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 04:30:23 GMT

'Superjumbo' photos are released. The first pictures of a full-scale version of the world's largest aircraft, the A380, are released by Airbus. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]