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This Episode: F-117A designer Alan Brown, Duxford Flying Legends Airshow, Landing Aircraft in a Whiteout, Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center, the C-5 Galaxy, aviation safety, and a Labor Day message.

This is a Bits & Pieces episode. If you’ve been with us for a while, you know what that means. If you are new to the show, this is something we do occasionally instead of our usual format.

You see, we record Airplane Geeks Monday evenings, but sometimes Monday is a national holiday and we want to spend the day with our families and friends. Since we don’t want to leave you without a show to listen to, we put together something we call Bits & Pieces.

The Bits & Pieces idea is simple: We ask the co-hosts and contributors to provide pre-recorded segments for the episode, then we just stitch them together and it’s Bits & Pieces. This time we really encouraged you to send us recordings, and we were pleased to have received a number of them.

This week’s segments:

Interview with F-117A designer Alan Brown

Max Trescott interviews, Alan Brown, an aeronautical engineer by training, who was program manager and chief engineer for the F-117A Stealth Fighter from initial concept until the first production aircraft was built.

Duxford Flying Legends Airshow

Listener Ray Williams sends his report from the Duxford Flying Legends Airshow held July 11-12, 2015.

Landing Aircraft in a Whiteout

Geeks on Ice reporter Juan Fernandez, who brought us the Reports from an Airplane Geek from McMurdo Station Antarctica series, shares a short story about the special procedures to land an airplane under the zero visibility conditions of a whiteout.

 

Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center

Brian Coleman stops in the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center while he was on vacation in Idaho.

The C-5 Galaxy

Listener JD gives us some interesting facts and experiences from the perspective of a C-5A instructor pilot with over 5200 hours in the airplane, including 192 combat sorties before retiring in 2013.

Across the Pond

Pieter Johnson discovers a “new” source of information on aviation safety whilst photo editing: the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB). It’s a gentle and sobering reminder of safety in the air (and on the ground).

• Tomahawk Accident Report [PDF]
• AAIB monthly report
• Deadly SpaceShipTwo Crash Caused by Co-Pilot Error: NTSB
• Heathrow BA Plane had covers unlatched

Rob Mark on Labor Day

As the grandson of a Chicago Labor Leader and a former ALPA pilot himself, Rob adds his own unique two cents about the meaning of Labor Day.

David Vanderhoof Gives Thanks

David makes Max blush, but more importantly he gives you a sense of what this podcast means to us. We are truly blessed to know each other, our guests, and many of you. It’s all quite remarkable.

Credit

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