Aviation

Truth in Aerial Advertising

After today’s most ridiculous performance by Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame at the National Press Club, there can only be one thing to say about their message:

For more on this story visit BlackfiveOne Last Photo OP . . .

Update: Captain’s Quarters posts about the judge assigned the case in “Talk about a bad draw.”

Update 7/25/2006: GOP Bloggers
: Once Again, Joe Wilson Lied. Christopher Hitchens presents a case for Wilson lying about the yellowcake uranium issue brought by British intelligence. The unmitigated gall of the Wilsons is totally unbelieveable yet alone their lies!

Vintage Aircraft on Memorial Day

Taking to the skies to help celebrate Memorial Day, these beautiful vintage airplanes were just returning to home base at Zamperini Field in Torrance, CA (named for Louis Zamperini, living legend and WWII veteran — but that’s another blog post).

My aviator husband tells me that the aircraft were a mix of Stearman and Waco bi-planes — six alltogether — doing a pass over a local celebration, where they flew the “missing man” formation in honor of fallen military aviators. Even though we did not attend the celebration, we saw a parachute team circling down with a giant American Flag to open the ceremonies earlier in the day.

LAX Hijacking Airport Revenue?

Already with a reputation of having the worst airport security, the worst airport management and named by the Airline Pilots Association‘s as one of the worst operational airports in America, LAX Management now reaches a new low — they are planning to divert an estimated 3.3 million dollars of annual airport revenues to unauthorized social programs — programs that are likely to be managed as poorly as the airport itself.

From the South Bay Daily Breeze:

FAA questions LAX use of airport funds to pay for job training

Federal authorities raise concerns about a pledge by Los Angeles International Airport to spend millions of dollars on job training and recruitment programs in nearby neighborhoods.

Those programs were supposed to help low-income people living with the noise and hassle of the airport find jobs there. They were an important element of recent deals that eased community opposition to the airport’s modernization plan.

But the regional office of the Federal Aviation Administration warned in a letter this week that the airport does not have authority to spend money that way. The job programs, it wrote, are not directly related to airport operations or air transportation and therefore cannot be funded with airport revenue.

[more]

The giveaway at LAX to the surrounding area amounts to a “bribe” for allowing airport expansion and improvements. I think the whole thing stinks and ought to be investigated by federal authorities.

Michael Yon – Why We Write

New post at Michael Yon : Online Magazine – Why We Write.

Michael tells about helicopters, the pilots and why he can’t publish his best photos of them.

As a former helicopter pilot, reading this article got the old juices flowing, almost wishing I could be back in it. Almost. However, I’m OK with my job of contributing to the technology that helps these great men and women win wars. That, in itself, is my satisfaction.

Scott Crossfield 1921-2006

Aviation pioneer test pilot SCOTT CROSSFIELD died April 19 in a plane crash in Georgia.

Albert Scott Crossfield – Wikipedia

Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006) Born in Berkeley, California, normally referred to as Scott Crossfield, grew up in California and Washington. He served with the U.S. Navy as a flight instructor and fighter pilot during World War II. From 1946-1950, he worked in the University of Washington’s Kirsten Wind Tunnel while earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical engineering. In 1950, he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ High-Speed Flight Station (now the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as an aeronautical research pilot.

Over the next five years, he flew nearly all of the experimental aircraft under test at Edwards, including the X-1, XF-92, X-4, X-5, Douglas D-558-I Skystreak and the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket.

On November 20, 1953, he became the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound as he piloted the Skyrocket to a speed of 1,291 mph (2078 km/h i.e. Mach 2.005. With 99 flights in the rocket-powered X-1 and D-558-II, he had — by a wide margin — more experience with rocketplanes than any other pilot in the world by the time he left Edwards to join North American Aviation in 1955.

I’m almost certain that is Chuck Yeager in the picture with Scott Crossfield.

Name the Blimp

The following is from the Goodyear Website:

Aerial Ambassadors

For 80 years, Goodyear blimps have adorned the skies as very visible corporate symbols of the tire and rubber company that began operations in 1898.

Today, these graceful giants travel more than 100,000 miles across the United States per year as Goodyear’s “Aerial Ambassadors.”

The blimp tradition began in 1925 when Goodyear built its first helium-filled public relations airship, the Pilgrim. The tire company painted its name on the side and began barnstorming the United States. Humble beginnings to an illustrious history.

Over the years, Goodyear built more than 300 airships, more than any other company in the world. Akron, Ohio, the company’s world headquarters, was the center of blimp manufacturing for several decades.

During World War II many of the Goodyear-built airships provided the U.S. Navy with a unique aerial surveillance capability. Often used as convoy escorts, the blimps were able to look down on the ocean surface and spot a rising submarine and radio its position to the convoy’s surface ships. . . in essence acting as an early warning system. Modern surveillance technology eventually eclipsed the advantages of the airship fleet, and in 1962 the Navy discontinued the program.

Today, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company no longer mass-produces airships. In the United States it operates three well-recognized blimps: the Spirit of Goodyear, based in Akron, Ohio; the Spirit of America, based in Carson, California; and the Stars & Stripes, in Pompano Beach, Florida.


Now is your chance to name the newest Blimp to be stationed in Florida. Go to Goodyear – Name The Blimp Contest and sign up.

Stealth Air Force One?

Completely unedited, the photo below seems to make the vertical fin on Air Force One look almost invisible! What’s going on?

Right: View of the vertical stabilizer from the first level.

I took this photo from behind the famous aircraft on the 3rd mezzanine level of the Air Force One Pavilion in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library when I noticed the unusual reflection pattern on the glossy surface of the rudder and vertical stabilizer. I knew immediately that I had a great shot! The lighting angles and the highly-polished surface of the airfoil rendered this intriguing optical illusion of near-invisibility.

Photo © 19 MAR 2006 by Damsel. Canon Digital Rebel EOS camera. Permission to publish is given provided credit and a link is given to Cap’n Bob and the Damsel

Update: Fix4RSO linked with “The Great Disappearing Air Force One Trick!