Tag Archives: NBAA

AirplaneGeeks 322 Flying a KC-135 When the Ground is all Sparkly

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KC-135R Stratotanker refuels an F-22 Raptor. U.S. Air Force photo by Kevin Robertson.

Aerial refueling, airline profits boosted by lower fuel prices, the future of the U.S. Air Force, bad behavior at the airport, and the NBAA Convention.

Guest

Guest Matt Fritz is a KC-135 Instructor and Commander with over 2000 hours, including combat and combat support. He is also a certified acquisition professional, a certified Emotional Intelligence Trainer/Practitioner, and the Author of an instructional book entitled, “Leveraging Your LinkedIn Profile for Success.” Matt actively blogs with other military leaders at GeneralLeadership.com, as well as at his personal blog AdvancedVectors.com. He’s a civilian licensed commercial pilot with multi-engine and turbine ratings.

We talk about the role of the KC-135 tanker, an aircraft with a mix of old and new technology. Also, the future look of the Air Force, and the importance of open communication between military leaders and the public – connecting the warrior to the citizen.

Matt has some advice for young pilots who aspire to serve their country as a military aviator, and he tells us a story about a brand new boom operator flying over Afghanistan on a night mission.

News

Cheaper Fuel Leads to Record Profits at Airlines

Third Quarter airline results are in, with American Airlines, United Continental Holdings, and Southwest Airlines seeing record profits. A big part of the reason? Lower fuel prices.

America’s Enemies Beware: The U.S. Air Force Is Set to Soar (and Become Even Deadlier)

This article in The National Interest argues that between now and 2035, the U.S. Air Force will come to look very different than it has in the past.

Historically, they say, the Air Force has been defined by it’s platforms: fighters, bombers, airlifters, refuelers, surveillance and reconnaissance, and command and control.

The authors see a future where the Air Force will not focus on aircraft types, but on the Airmen, who will become “cyber-aided warriors with tremendous reach.”

Homophobic Man Taken Down at Airport After Inciting Brawl Over “Queers”

A man at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, who was described by some as drunk or on drugs, started a fight with another man wearing a pink shirt. When it got physical, passengers standing around jumped in, tackled the man, and held him down until police officers put him in handcuffs. All this was caught on video.

NBAA’s 2014 Convention Wraps Up as a Highly Successful Show

Rob gives us highlights from the NBAA Convention, which saw some 1,100 exhibitors, more than 100 aircraft, with over 26,000 people in attendance.

Aircraft of the Week

"SUEreabasteciendo1" by Martín Otero - Own work.

The MiG-28, the Exocet, and the Super Etendard.  David looks at one of the dumbest lines in Moviedom and TOPGUN.  “They are the MiG-28 and carry the Exocet anti-shipping missile.”  Flashback to when the movie was made and we explore why the Exocet was on everyone’s mind.

The Australia News Desk

Steve talks with Rod Rakic and brings us an update on Open Airplane, a service that assists pilots who want to rent an airplane. The network now has 72 locations in the U.S. with over 250 aircraft available, now including light twins, LSA, and tail draggers. 8000 pilots have signed up.

Across the Pond

Airline seats

Pieter talks to Marisa Garcia from www.flightchic.com about the latest trends in airline seating,  and her busy travel schedule. “If you want to cover aviation, you’ve got to fly…..”

Credit

U.S. Air Force KC-125 photo by Kevin Robertson.

“SUEreabasteciendo1” by Martín Otero – Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.

Opening and closing music courtesy Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at brotherloverocks.com.

AirplaneGeeks 272 – NBAA 2013 Report

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Learjet

Guests Jon Ostrower from the Wall Street Journal and Molly McMillin from The Wichita Eagle discuss the just concluded National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) 2013 Convention. This year the event saw 1100 exhibitors and over 25,000 attendees.

Jon and Molly give their observations of the event, including the demand for business jets and the outlook, new programs and money going into product development, the unveiling of Dassault 5X, Learjet’s 50th anniversary and the Learjet 85, Beechcraft making it through bankruptcy, lithium batteries, new Aviation Partner scimitar winglets, and consumer electronics in cabin interiors.

Molly was the recipient of the NBAA’s 2013 Journalism Award for her article, “Corporate Planes Give Business Owners an Edge.”

The Week’s Aviation News:

David Vanderhoof’s Aircraft of the Week: The Ryan NYP, the Spirit of St. Louis by Randy dePasquale.

In this week’s Australia Desk:

There’s no AusDesk Report this week, but David uncovers some spooky hidden messages from the boys down under, just in time for Halloween.

BAE 146

Banned by the EU Avia Air Traffic flies BAE 146’s amongst others. Jason Smart flew on this aircraft type on his travels.

In this week’s Across the Pond segment:

We ask Jason Smart back onto the show to talk about his travel writing career that has seen him travel to every former ex Soviet state in his book The Red Quest. We then follow Jason’s journeys through the airlines and aircraft he has flown around the world, his scariest flight ever and what the food served on some airlines tastes like. A different look at the aviation sector through the eyes of someone who has flown on banned airlines and broken airliners.

His books can be found at www.theredquest.com and cover an amusing look at his travels through Europe, Asia, the America’s and The Middle East. Certainly many of these could be added to your holiday shopping list.

Find Pieter on Twitter as @Nascothornet, on Facebook at XTPMedia, and at the Aviation Xtended podcast.

Mentioned:

From Errol Cavit on folding wings:

Opening and closing music courtesy Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at brotherloverocks.com.

Episode 222 – Sporty’s John Zimmerman

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Frontier

Guest John Zimmerman is a Vice President at Sporty’s, one of the world’s oldest and largest pilot shops. They also offer gifts, memorabilia, apparel, models and other items for aviation enthusiasts through their Wright Brothers catalog. Sporty’s Flight Center includes Sporty’s Academy a Part 61 flight school that also provides a degree program in conjunction with the University of Cincinnati, Clermont College Professional Pilot Training Program.

We talk with John about last week’s National Business Aviation Association Annual Meeting & Convention, iPad and tablet apps for aviators, flying the Robinson and R-44 helicopter, Air Facts journal, and more.

Follow Sporty’s on Twitter as @Sportys, the Air Facts journal as @airfacts, and John’s personal Twitter account, @JTZim.

The week’s aviation news:

In this week’s Australia Desk report:

Its QANTAS Annual General Meeting time again and its just the same news as the last three years…so we didn’t pay much attention to it! The big news of the week is that Virgin Australia have purchased 60% of Tiger Airways, giving them a low cost carrier of their own. This after Singapore Airlines bought 10% of Virgin Australia. The three way deal also sees Virgin looking to buy out regional carrier Sky West. In similar fashion, Air New Zealand have formed an alliance with Cathay Pacific which see the latter taking ANZ passenger to Europe beyond Hong Kong. This frees up ANZ aircraft to operate more flights into the USA instead.

Find more from Grant and Steve at the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast, and follow the show on Twitter at @pcdu Steve’s at @stevevisscher and Grant at @falcon124. Australia Desk archives can be found at www.australiadesk.net.

In this week’s Across the Pond segment:

Etienne Maillard calls from Geneva in Switzerland to give us an update on GA and his progress as an Air Traffic Controller. Etienne can be found on Twitter as @Flightlevel150.

Find Pieter on Twitter as @Nascothornet, on his blog Alpha Tango Papa, on Facebook at XTPMedia, and at the Aviation Xtended podcast.

The Matterhorn by Etienne Maillard on his cross country flight.

The Matterhorn by Etienne Maillard on his cross country flight.

Mentions:

Opening and closing music courtesy Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at www.brotherloverocks.com.

This episode is sponsored by: the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

Episode 132 – (The real one) Peter Sanders

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Virgin America

Our guest this episode is Peter Sanders. He’s a Staff Reporter in the Los Angeles bureau of The Wall Street Journal, covering the commercial aerospace industry. Peter earned his PPL at age 17 and has flown a number of airplanes, including Cessnas, Pipers, and a DeHavilland Beaver. He recently wrote a Page One story profiling FiFi, the last flying B-29 bomber, and is an avid ATC enthusiast. Find Peter on Twitter at @PeterSandersWSJ.

We talk about the week’s aviation news, “journalists” who race to be first to “print” without having the full facts, and even the color of the Financial Times. Steve and Grant from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast have their Australia Desk Report, and Pieter Johnson brings has an interview with Steve Cook from The Flying Podcast in his Across the Pond segment.

The week’s aviation news:

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter and on Facebook, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

Episode 120 – Molly McMillin

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Aerion Corporation supersonic business jet

Molly McMillin, the Senior Aerospace/Aviation reporter for the Wichita Eagle, joins as guest. Molly blogs at Air Capital Insider and tweets as @mmcmillin. We talk about the week’s aviation news, and discuss the recent NBAA Convention, which Molly attended.

The week’s aviation news:

Mentions:

Also see Steve and Grant’s Australia Desk archive and their Flight Time Radio segments.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter and on Facebook, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

Episode 119 – Rafael Loves Planes

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Blue_Angels_by_Gavin_Werbeloff

Guest Rafael Marquez blogs at I Love Planes and tweets as @rafaelmarquez. Rafael and Gavin Werbeloff discuss the weeks aviation news with Max, Rob, David, and Dan. We also have Dan’s interview with David Cush, the CEO of Virgin America, David’s This Week in Aviation, and the Australia Desk report by Steve and Grant from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast. Gavin reports on the recent San Francisco Fleet Week Air Show. (His photo above.)

The week’s aviation news:

Mentions:

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter and on Facebook, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

Episode 114 – Back with Benet

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Virgin America

Benet Wilson, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation for the Aviation Week Group, joins once again as our guest. We talk about the week’s aviation news, the upcoming NBAA Conference, and other aviation topics. Find Benet on Twitter as avweekbenet and avweektweets, and read her posts at Business Aviation Now and Things With Wings, the commercial aviation blog.

The week’s aviation news:

Mentions:

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter and on Facebook, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

Episode 78 – Rob’s Jelly Beans

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Boeing 787 First Flight

In this very special episode, we learn the source for the noises Rob makes on the podcast, Grant McHerron and Steve Visscher from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast come on for their Australia Desk Report and we don’t tell Rob it’s them live, and David Vanderhoof treats us to a little holiday cheer Airplane Geeks style. Dan rounds out a full cast and adds his own special charm.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. Visit his site at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

Episode 70 – A Trio of Pro Journalists

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PiperJet

This week we’re joined by a trio of aviation journalists to talk about the recent NBAA Convention: Jon Ostrower, the Flightblogger from Flight Global, Randy Padfield, the Editor-in-Chief at Aviation International News, and Benet Wilson, Online Managing Editor for Business Aviation at Aviation Week.

Also, Airplane Geeks Historian David Vanderhoof provides This Week in Aviation, Steve Visscher and Grant McHerron from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast have their Australia Desk report, and Court has another Wiskey Tango Foxtrot look at aviation.

Some NBAA news highlights:

Links from David’s This Week in Aviation:

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave us voice mail at (361) GEEKS01.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. Visit his site at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.