Month: December 2007

Save the Red Barons

Today I’ve got an email from AirShowBuzz, asking for your help.
On December 3, The Schwan Food Company decommissioned the Red Baron Pizza Squadron after 28 years of amazing air show flying. The Red Barons are truly an American treasure and their abrupt retirement is a devastating loss to the national aviation heritage.

Save the Red Barons

Please click on the link below to go to AirShowBuzz.com and sign the petition.

Please pass this link around and encourage all your friends to do the same. Also, if you have an account with Digg.com be sure to vote for the submission below so they can bring this to the attention of as many people as possible. Together we might all be able to make a difference so future generations can enjoy the sights and sounds of the greatest civilian formation team of all time.

Sign the petition – Save the Red Barons
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Statement by The Schwan Food Company

“The Red Baron Squadron has been an incredible asset to our company and we are very proud of its long successful history,” said Bill McCormack, executive vice president. “The retail grocery industry has experienced considerable change over the past few years. And, as a result, we have decided to refocus our Red Baron marketing program and to discontinue the Red Baron Squadron.”
“We are very proud to have been a part of such a legendary program,” said Jayson Wilson, director of flight operations and left wing pilot – speaking on behalf of the Red Baron Squadron pilots, technicians and administrative staff. “We can all say we were a part of something really special. The air show community and our fans have been great. We’ll miss all of them.”

Facts about the Red Baron Squadron

  • More than 2,000 formation aerobatic air show performances
  • Flown more than 80,000 passengers
  • Traveled more than six million miles
  • Red Baron pilots fly in formation less than a wingspan apart while performing aerobatic maneuvers such as loops, clover leafs, hammerheads and barrel rolls.
  • The Red Baron Squadron® aircraft are fully-restored historic Boeing Stearman biplanes built between 1941 and 1943.
  • The Boeing Stearman was the primary training aircraft in the United States, Canada and Europe during World War II. More pilots have trained in a Stearman than any other plane.
  • 42 pilots have been members of the Red Baron Pizza Squadron’s 28 year history.
  • The Red Baron Pizza Squadron won the Art Scholl Award in 1995 and the Bill Barber Award in 1993.

AirAsia becomes largest A320 customer

Airbus recently announced, that AirAsia, the largest Asian low-cost carrier, has placed a firm order for an additional 25 A320s. The latest contract brings AirAsia Group’s (Malaysia AirAsia, Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia) total orders to 175 A320 aircraft and makes it the largest airline customer for the Airbus A320 in the world.

AirAsia placed its original order for 60 A320s in March 2005, with re-orders for an additional 40 aircraft announced at the Farnborough Airshow in July 2006 and another 50 aircraft in January 2007. The first aircraft was delivered to AirAsia in December 2005, with the airline currently operating 31 A320s on a rapidly expanding domestic and regional network.

AirAsia Airbus A320

AirAsia’s Kuala Lumpur hub is fully operated with A320s and the aircraft is expected to completely replace Thai AirAsia’s and Indonesia AirAsia’s old generation Boeing 737 fleets by 2008.

Photo Credit: Airbus
Source: Airbus

Airbus A318 approved for HUD

Airbus recently announced that the A318 and the A318 Elite fitted with Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engines were approved for the new Digital Head Up Display (HUD) System by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). This approval will be extended to the other members of the A320 Family as well. Certification activities are on-going for the A330/A340 and A380 Families.

The Head Up Display System, originally used in jet fighters only, presents flight information and guidance on a glass plate that is mounted behind the windshield in the pilot’s forward field of view and that can be easily stowed away. The HUD contributes significantly to increasing pilot situational awareness, particularly during the approach and landing phases by showing trajectory related symbols superimposed on the pilot’s actual external view. The HUD System also brings operational benefits such as allowing take-off visibility minima to be lowered from 125 to 75 meters and offering eligibility for reducing approach minima on suitably equipped runways.

This fully digital HUD System, approved first on Airbus’ single aisle family, uses light weight Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) technology that offers a large field of view and video capability. HUD is also designed to be ready for future technologies such as Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS), Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) and Surface Guidance Systems (SGS). The HUD equipment is the same across all Airbus aircraft, with the same part numbers, offering the benefits of Airbus’ cockpit commonality and bringing cost savings to operators in terms of maintenance and spares.

The installation consists of the HUD projector, a combiner that can be stowed – which is the glass plate mounted in front of the pilot’s head, the system controls and the HUD computer which is situated in the avionics bay. For Airbus A320 and A330/A340 Families, the HUD is offered in a single installation and for Airbus A380, it can be offered in either a single or a dual installation.

Source: Airbus

Lion Air orders 22 NG 737-900ER

Boeing recently confirmed a previously unidentified Lion Air order for 22 Next-Generation 737-900ER (Extended Range) airplanes. Indonesian Lion Air’s order was placed during the second quarter of 2007 and was listed in the unidentified category on Boeing’s Orders and Deliveries Web site. This order, valued at more than $1.7 billion at current list prices, brings Lion Air’s combined orders for the 737-900ER to 122. All of Lion Air’s airplanes will be equipped with performance-enhancing Blended Winglets, which improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions by up to 4 percent.

Lion Air Next-Generation 737-900ER (Extended Range)

Lion Air, world’s largest operator of the 737-900ER, received the first 737-900ER in April when the airplane was delivered in a special dual paint scheme that combined the Lion Air lion on the vertical stabilizer and the Boeing livery colors on the fuselage. The airline will receive a total of seven 737-900ERs in 2007. Lion Air operates an all-Boeing fleet and is the largest low-cost airline in Asia, with traffic approaching 1 million passengers per month since the airline began operations in June 2000.

Photo Credit: Boeing
Source: Boeing

Boeing Demonstrates Automated Aerial Refueling

Flight tests by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Boeing recently demonstrated, that it’s possible for an unmanned air vehicle to autonomously rendezvous with a tanker aircraft for refueling.
During the flight test, the Automated Aerial Refueling (AAR) system autonomously guided a Learjet, equipped to fly as a UAV, up to a Boeing KC-135R tanker and successfully maneuvered it among seven air refueling positions behind the tanker — contact, pre-contact, left and right inboard observation, left and right outboard observation, and break away. The system controlled the Learjet for more than 1 hour and 40 minutes and held the aircraft in the critical contact position for 20 minutes.

Automated Aerial Refueling - Learjet and Boeing KC-135R tanker

The goal of the AAR program is to develop and demonstrate systems that will enable UAVs to safely approach and maneuver around tanker aircraft so they can successfully perform boom and receptacle refueling operations. The systems including a flight control computer and control laws are developed by Boeing Phantom Works.

Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force
Source: Boeing

Aviation pioneer Elly Beinhorn died

Elly BeinhornGerman aviation pioneer Elly Beinhorn-Rosemeyer died last Wednesday, November 28, at age of 100 (!) in a senior citizen home near Munich, Germany.
The 1907 born record holder was the first woman to circle the earth, in the early 1930s.

At age of 21, against the wishes of her parents she moved to Spandau in Berlin to learn to fly at Berlin-Staaken airport. Soon she did aerobatic displays at weekends in a small Klemm KL-20 plane.
Long distance flying was her real passion. In 1931 she seized the opportunity to fly to Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) West Africa on a scientific expedition. On the return journey, engine failure resulted in a crash-landing in the Sahara. With the help of nomadic Tuareg tribesmen, she joined a camel caravan to Timbuktu.

Shortly later, on her flight around the world, her Klemm monoplane was developing mechanical problems near Bushire, Persia. There she met Moye Stephens, who helped her fix the problem. Stephens and travel-adventure writer Richard Halliburton were flying around the world in a Stearman C-3B biplane, The Flying Carpet. She accompanied them on part of their flight, including the trip to Mount Everest. She flew on to Bali and Australia. In the process, she became only the second woman to fly solo from Europe to Australia, after Amy Johnson. Having landed in Darwin, North Australia, she headed down to Sydney, arriving in March 1932. Her plane was dismantled and shipped to New Zealand, then Panama where it was reassembled. Elly resumed flying, following the western coast of South America. She was presented with a medal in Peru. An ill-advised trip across the Andes followed. The plane was dismantled once more in Brazil and shipped to Germany. Elly arrived in Berlin in June 1932. (Map of world flight)

Back in Germany she was awarded the Hindenburg Cup and several other monetary awards from the German aeronautical industry, which enabled her to continue her career.

Elly Beinhorn was married to Bernd Rosemeyer, a race driver who died 1938 in an attempt to break a car speed record with 430 km/h. She will be buried in an honorary grave in Berlin.

Famous solo flights:
1931: Guinea Bissau (before the world flight).
1932: Round the World flight.
1933: Second african flight on a Heinckel single seater: Cairo, Captown, Libreville, Saint Louis, Casablanca, Tunis.
1934/35: Central America and United States (the Klemm crossed the Atlantic on a ship): Panama, Mexico, Los Angeles, New York.
1935: Two continents in one day: Gleiwitz, Istanbul, Berlin.
1936: Three continents in one day: Istanbul, Damas, Cairo, Budapest, with the new Messerchmitt Me108 Taifun.
1939: She tries to fly to Japan with the Taifun, but Japan and China are at war and war rumors in Europe force her to turn back in Bangkok.
1952: Flight to Benghazi with a Piper Cub: Colombier, Mailand, Roma, Catania, Tunis, Gabes, Tripoli, Marble Arch, Benghazi.

More information: http://soloflights.org/elly_text_e.html

Source: soloflights.org, Wikipedia, n-tv

Boeing delivers Qatar 777-300ER and Okay Airways 737-800

Last week Boeing delivered the first Boeing airplane to join the Qatar Airways fleet. Qatar Airways’ new 777-300ER arrived in Doha after a nearly 15-hour direct flight from Paine Field in Everett, Wash.
Qatar has ordered a total of 27 777s with options for 5 additional airplanes. Qatar also has ordered 30 787 Dreamliners and holds 30 options.

Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER

Boeing also delivered the first Next Generation Boeing 737-800 to Tianjin-based Okay Airways Company Ltd., China’s first private airline. The new airplane, which is the 7th 737 in Okay Airways’ fleet, is under lease from AWAS (Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services).
This 737-800 is the first new-airplane delivery for Okay Airways and the first new-airplane delivery in four years for AWAS, an aircraft leasing company based in Dublin, Ireland.

Okay Airways Boeing 737-800

Photo Credit: Boeing
Source: Boeing