Tag Archives: Airlines

AirplaneGeeks 330 The Rogue Aviator

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Ace Abbott

Memoirs of a pilot, AirAsia Flight QZ8501, flying drones safely, falling oil prices and the cost of airline tickets, the Gulfstream G650ER, a look back at 2014 and a look ahead to 2015.

Guest

Ace Abbott was an F-4 Phantom pilot in the USAF, based in the Far East, and he flew the Learjet as a corporate and charter pilot. During the last 22 years of his career, Ace flew the Boeing 727 for several airlines, accumulating 11,000 hours in the captain’s chair.

Ace is retired now, he blogs, and he authored his memoir, The Rogue Aviator In the Back Alleys of Aviation. and Dead Tired: Aviation’s Insidious Killer which looks at pilot fatigue.

Ace was featured by two young aviation bloggers: Share Your Story: Ace Abbott, Author, F-4 Phantom and 727 Pilot by Swayne Martin and Ace Abbott – His Story by Jake Lewis.

Find Ace’s books, blog and more at The Rogue Aviator. Follow Ace on Twitter: @aceabbott.

News

Update on AirAsia 8501 Accident

AirAsia Flight 8501 was flying from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore with 162 souls onboard: 155 passengers, 2 pilots, and 5 crew. State-owned AirNav Indonesia provides air-navigation services and said the AirAsia plane took off at 5:32 a.m. local time. While cruising at 32,000 feet at 6:12 a.m., it contacted traffic control at Jakarta’s airport to say it was moving left from the flight path and rising to 38,000 feet to avoid a cloud. At 6:18 a.m. QZ8501 disappeared from radar.

UK Body Warns Drone Owners: Fly Safely, or You’ll Be Fined

The UK civil aviation authority reminds people that if you fly recklessly you can be fined as much as 5,000 pounds.

Know Before You Fly

An education campaign founded by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), and the Small UAV Coalition in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to educate prospective users about the safe and responsible operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

Why Only Some Airline Tickets Are Falling With Lower Oil Prices

Oil prices have plummeted, and fuel is the big cost element for airlines. So does that mean that ticket prices will fall as well? Not necessarily. Different airline fuel hedging strategies play a role.

See also: Major US Airlines That Took Risky Bets On Oil Are Hurting From Falling Prices and Airfare Should Get Cheaper In 2015 Due To Plummeting Oil Prices, Experts Say.

Airlines We Lost in 2014

The Cranky Flier looks at the airlines that in 2014 went out of business, were bought, or retired.

The Newest Version Of The $66.5 Million G650 Can Fly Nonstop From New York To Hong Kong

The Gulfstream G650ER can carry an extra 4,000 pounds of fuel which increases range to 8,600 miles, enough to fly nonstop from New York to Hong Kong or Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia.

David Vanderhoof’s History Segment

This week Jamie Dodson tells us about the Convair B-36 “Peacemaker.”

B-36J AF Serial Number 52-2217 on display at the Strategic Air and Space Museum.

B-36J AF Serial Number 52-2217 on display at the Strategic Air and Space Museum.

B-36J AF Serial Number 52-2220 on display in the Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force

B-36J AF Serial Number 52-2220 on display in the Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force

B-36J AF Serial Number 52-2827 on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum.

B-36J AF Serial Number 52-2827 on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum.

Airplane Geeks on Ice

LC-130s and a Turbine DC-3 on skis at Williams Field (NZWD) McMurdo Antarctica

LC-130s and a Turbine DC-3 on skis at Williams Field (NZWD) McMurdo Antarctica

Juan Carlos Fernandez Diaz is part of a scientific crew flying in Antarctica. He created the website Listener Reports from an Airplane Geek from McMurdo Station Antarctica and sends us his first report on aviation from that continent.

Mentioned

Credit

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

 

AirplaneGeeks 309 – Airways News

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B25 Mitchell of the Royal Netherlands Dutch Historic Flight lining up at RNAS Yeovilton

Airchive.com and Airways Magazine working together, airline citations over passenger rights, airline safety, and announcements from AirVenture Oshkosh.

Guest

Guest Chris Sloan is the founder of Airchive.com and president and founder of 2C Media, a television production and promotion company. Previously, Chris held senior level executive positions with NBC, TLC, and USA Networks.

Chris produced “International Airport 24/7: Miami” on the Travel Channel, and oversaw the TLC documentary on the building of the Airbus A-380 featuring John Travolta.

We talk about changes at Airchive.com and their cross-promotion with Airways magazine, which is becoming more feature driven.  Airchive.com will become AirwaysNews.com and deliver the digital product.

Also, Chris tells us about the challenges producing Airport 24/7 and other aviation programs he has in the works. We talk about  aviation shows on TV, thoughts on an all-aviation television channel, and how different markets demand different aviation programming.

News

Passenger rights rules lead to jump in U.S. airline citations

The LA Times looked at U.S. Department of Transportation records for citations issued against airlines and travel agencies from 2010 to 2013. 521 citations were issued in that time period, almost twice the annual rate for the previous four years. Airlines were cited airlines 181 times for violating rules of unfair and deceptive practices, like advertising fares that were not available. Mistreating disabled passengers resulted in the largest fines.

Elsewhere:

Netherlands and Germany fine foreign airlines over ETS

Swiss Regulator Fines Airlines $11M For Price-Fixing

Despite All the Recent Accidents, Flying is Still Very Safe

It’s been a bad time recently for commercial aviation: MH70 still missing, MH17 shot down by a missile over Ukraine, TransAsia ATR-72 crashed a Taiwanese in heavy rains killing 40, aAn Air Algerie MD-83 with 116 on board crashed in Mali.

Flight Bans Show Skittishness Over Trouble Spots

Airlines are acting ahead of their regulatory agencies.

How Israel persuaded the Airlines that Ben Gurion is Safe

Israel’s Civil Aviation authorities sent a memo to international airline regulators and airlines, describing that Ben-Gurion is safe. In part, the memo says, “The Iron dome launch batteries covering Ben-Gurion Airport operate under a specific set of procedures which I cannot go into in detail due to security reasons. I would like to note, however, that out of over 2,250 rockets fired from Gaza into Israeli territory… not a single one has landed in Ben-Gurion Airport.”

News from AirVenture Oshkosh 2014

AeroVue Cockpit Retrofit Launched By BendixKing

There’s A New Light Sport Amphib Coming To The Block

Cessna Introduces Turbo Skyhawk JT-A

Brown Aviation Lease and Redhawk Aero Partner to Address High Cost Flight Training Combining Hardware, Software and Services

Premier Launches Diesel Cessna 172 Upgrade Program

David Vanderhoof’s Aircraft of the Week

Lockheed M21and D21

The Tagboard Senior Trend 30, and the M/D-21 – the MACH 3.5 drone that had a serious disaster in July 1966. See a video of the accident: SR71 Sistership, The MD21 Blackbird Accident and JC-130 Recovery.

The Australia News Desk

The first two RAAF F-35s are unveiled in Texas, and Qantas are once again considering splitting their International and Domestic arms, as the proposed changes to the Qantas Sale Act just aren’t enough in their eyes.

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.

Across the Pond

This week Pieter is at the home of the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy Air Station Yeovilton in Somerset in the UK, for their annual Air Show. There are no flying Swordfish this year but the Royal Navy Historic Flight Sea Fury certainly starts off the display with a growl in the hands of Lt Commander Chris Gotke. Visitors from the Army and RAF, as well as Germany, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Jordan and Belgium made it a truly international show. This years theme follows the naming of HMS Queen Elizabeth and is all about operating at sea.

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

Mentioned

Carl Valeri’s Aviation Careers Podcast.

Credit

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

AirplaneGeeks 307 – Aviation Weather

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Aviation Weather Center

Aviation weather training, airline fare disclosure, angle of attack indicators, Boeing market forecast, the pilot shortage, aviation scholarships, aero clubs, and funny cartoons.

Guest

Scott Dennstaedt specializes in aviation weather training for pilots. He’s a flight instructor, trained in meteorology, and he owns Chesapeake Aviation Training, headquartered in South Carolina. In addition to flight instruction, he operates the subscription-based website Aviation Weather Workshops, where you’ll find many aviation weather resources. Scott also delivers live workshops all over the country,

We discuss how weather is a challenge for many pilots, yet it affects all pilots, regardless of the aircraft type. Also, where the data used in aviation weather forecasts comes from, and if the current curriculum provides training that considers the new technologies that are available.

We discuss the questions, “Are pilots capable of properly interpreting the information that newer technology provide?” and “What data should meteorologists  be interpreting, and what data can pilots interpret on their own?”

Scott describes how satellite-delivered weather products, along with the coming ADS-B, represent a great leap forward for information in the cockpit and aviation safety.

Besides AvWxWorkshops.com, some other aviation weather resources were mentioned:

News

Airline passenger group calls on airlines to lose the asterisk

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ordered the Full Fare Advertising Rule requiring airlines to advertise the full cost of a ticket, including all taxes and fees. Now the Transparent Airfares Act of 2014, if enacted, would let the airlines publish a base fare with an “asterisk,” and disclose the rest of the fare somewhere else.

FAA Angle of Attack Indicator Policy

Long used by the military to avoid stall/spin accidents, these safety devices are at long last inexpensive enough to install in GA aircraft. The FAA has clarified that they can be installed under the “minor alteration” rules, which reduces the paperwork and cost associated with installation.

Boeing predicts $5.2tn airplane market by 2044

Boeing’s annual 20-year forecast for new airplanes is out. The Current Market Outlook predicts a 4.2% increase over last year, to 36,770 planes. 70% are single-aisle.

Airport Directors Blame Pilot Shortage for Grounded Flights

Rule changes have impacted the availability of pilots at the regional level. What does this mean for the “pilot shortage”?

David Vanderhoof’s Airplane of the Week

Mirage F1JA in flight over Ecuador 1986

The Mirage F1. With the final flight over Paris for Bastille Day, France retired the F1CT. It seems fitting for that plane to be the topic of this week’s history segment.

The Australia News Desk

The boys are back and they’re trying to remember how to make an AusDesk. Fortunately they remember how to do it and can tell us about Air New Zealand’s new 787-9 arriving in Auckland. They also talk about Australia’s Defence Science Technology Organisation being commissioned to produce the F35 “Iron Bird” test unit.

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.

Mentioned

National Aeronautic Association Regional Aero Clubs. There are six of these around the United States. In the role of the nation’s aero club, NAA serves as a clearinghouse for regional or local aero clubs that are affiliated with NAA. Co-host Max Trescott is President of the Aero Club Of Northern California.

Chris Manno’s new book, “Flight Crew Like You: Airline Cartoons from the Insider View.”  Chris is an airline captain and his cartoons have been popular worldwide in aviation trade publications as well as in crew training materials for United, American, British Airways and Lufthansa flight crews.

Aviation scholarship resources:

Others:

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

Episode 193 – Just the Geeks

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This week our scheduled guest was called away at the last minute, so the Geeks go it alone to talk about some of the recent aviation news and discuss a lot of interesting listener mail. Of course, we also have David’s This Week in Aviation history segment, Steve and Grant’s Australia News Desk, and Pieter’s Across the Pond Segment.

The week’s aviation news:

David’s aircraft of the Week: the Rockwell Space Transportation Systems OV-103, otherwise known as the Space Shuttle Discovery.

In this week’s Australia Desk report: Steve has a new get rich quick idea as Qantas operates an A330 from Sydney to Adelaide on April 13th partially powered by biofuel, Qantas A380 VH-OQA takes to the skies after 18 months of repairs following its infamous incident above Indonesia in 2010.

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.

This week on Across the Pond, Pieter talks to Frenchez Pietersz from Aviation Platform about airline news from the Benelux countries of Europe, that’s Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. With so much to cover we focused this week’s talk on Belgium and Holland, how the KLM Air France merger is developing, and how Lufthansa is challenging them with flights from Brussels.

You can dind Aviation Platform on Twitter as @AviPlatform, on Facebook, and on LinkedIn. Find Pieter Johnson on Twitter as @Nascothornet, on his blog Alpha Tango Papa, and also on Facebook at XTPMedia.

Links from Listener Email:

Permission to use the post photograph has been obtained from the photographer.

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/.