Hughesair (Inflection Point)

The story is not so much about an airline captain loosing it during a flight, but about the crew coordination -- and yes passenger coordination -- resulting in a successful outcome. Psychosis can happen to anybody given a sufficient cause -- medications, illness or stress? Heart attack is a more frequent cause of such in-flight incapacitation. Two pilots and practiced emergency procedures obviously saved the day.

Otherwise known as polar stratospheric clouds, PSCs, these striking images occur at FL 360 to 720 in extreme arctic cold, around 195K (-78deg Centigrade). These cloud pictures result from particles in the atmosphere. They also warn of extreme cold weather altimeter error and now possible ozone holes in the Arctic.[1] I wonder what implications for military or commercial pilots flying a polar rout at these altitudes. I would think the military helmet visor with complete peripheral protection against infra red would be sufficient, never mind the cosmic. Airline captains might consider goggles with peripheral protection in place of sun glasses and possibly closing the passenger window shades. Look out for the mountains below. "The mountains grow taller in the winter in Alaska and the arctic!" "Scientists recently discovered that polar stratospheric clouds, long known to play an important role in Antarctic ozone destruction, are occurring with increasing frequency in the...

The Light Barrier As a pilot experiencing the progress of aviation for my 66 years of flying, I am convinced that it is only a matter of time [SIC] until we break the Light Barrier. First of all, doing so is a matter of necessity if we are to robotically explore our Galaxy and beyond. Secondly, speed limits are made to be broken as was the speed of sound in aviation. The National Laboratory in L'Aquila, Italy measured the time for neutrinos to travel from CERN in  Switzerland through the earth to the Gran Sasso Laboratory in L'Aquila faster than the speed of light. The surprise finding was reported by OPRA, Oscillating Project with Emulsion-tracking Apparatus, 22 September. The neutrinos were generated by the, LHC, collider at CERN, traveling 730 Km, 60 nanoseconds faster than light would be clocked over the same distance in a vacuum. Thy will repeat the experiment, checking and rechecking. There are doubts. The announcement may be premature, If the claim...

Problems with the F22 keeps it grounded with much consternation. Was it carbon monoxide? However, the F22 arguably claims to be - and I agree - the most beautiful plane in the sky -- no more Darth Vader look. It may not be in combat yet, but it sure feels good to have it guarding Alaska -- no more intruders! The Alaska pilots who fly it, love it. I get a visceral feeling seeing it up close in the air or on the ground. Alaska flying fatalities continue at record levels. I would blame the lack of instrument training of all Alaska pilots especially lodge pilots and part 135 operations. Fifteen minutes of IFR to or from a location when caught by weather was once encouraged and legal providing the pilot was IFR current. The PI no longer checks IFR currency and in fact the FAA discourages it in single engine planes. Eliminating IFR in single engine operations, however, does not eliminate the instrument meteorological conditions frequently and  unavoidably encounte...

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/559547/201101111852/China-Spurns-Defense-Secretary-Gates.aspx Whether you like security, economics or aircraft, these two links reflect the didicult and interrelated choices that we have to deal with. http://www.pacaf.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123231357

Looks good for Alaska but why is A5 nose in on the beach? A good wind and the pilot will be swimming after it. Turn the T tail around and tie A5's tail hook rope properly to a tree. Nice package though Check out the link. Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites aparently builds the airframe. That is a good pedigree for a new entry. I would like to fly one up the coast to Alaska. I bet the non- amphybian S5 has more useful load, range and probably spead. The sea wing configuration, al la the China Clippers appear highly functional in several ways. Every body needs a diving board, or is it a stand up fishing boat?

Sky Spark in Italy test flys an Alpi Pioneer 300 with a 75 kw motor in place of the standard internal combustion engine. It flew 155 mph with an endurance of 30 minutes on lithium ion batteries . This was a test flight only, and they will replace the lithium batteries with hydrogen full cells. Sky Spark expects a performance of 186 mph, 2 hours and, hopefully, a 372 mi range.

Alaska Air Carriers Association: Home Page Convention: March 3rd -- 7th

You have to see this to believe it! When an aircraft is part of your brain --- this vidio speaks for itself. I do not know who it is, will research.

The airlines come under fire for the jet engine’s major contribution to carbon emissions, tagging passenger travel and shipment of goods and food products as contributing also to global warming. This sudden attention to environmental issues becomes a competitive concern to air carriers. Airline manufacturers, primarily Boeing and Airbus, traditional arch enemies and competitors, find it beneficial to pool their R&D, addressing the possibilities of non polluting energy sources and potentially greater economy of energy use. Furthermore, it goes without saying that completely abandoning petroleum as a source of energy eliminates the terrorist’s source of funding and deflates their will and their reason for conflict. --- Let them ride camels! Historically, man started burning wood, dung, coal and then at the turn of the century oil and natural gas. Abandoning coal for natural gas was the big environmental issue in the 30s. It was not the brown cloud, but the black clouds that darkene...

Un-solicited email tells more of a story than was published. Received as a joke displaying numerous air accidents in the making, this one speaks of a real pro in the left seat. With all 8 tires firmly planted on the runway, this heavy is just exactly where it needs to be, note the wing loading. Hopefully this is the emergency landing and not the initial take-off. Unfortunately as I look closer, it looks like take-off flap settings and not the full flaps one might expect in an emergency landing. I do not know the protocal for airline landing with an engine fire. High speed may be desirable, my son would know. On my first trip to Alaska on a United DC6b there was an engine fire that looked a bit like this for a few minutes until the pilot got it shut down. It is an awsom site. I like this picture, just at dusk, I think.