Tag Archives: engines

500 Five Hundred Episodes!

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We celebrate our 500th episode with messages from our listeners and contributors, some Airplane Geeks facts and trivia, an AusDesk report, and a big announcement. In the news, we look at an emergency airworthiness directive for certain CFM engines, and a proposed mandatory retirement age for charter pilots.

Aviation News

FAA orders ’emergency’ engine inspections after deadly explosion during Southwest flight

A Southwest Airlines B737 experienced an uncontained failure in one of its CFM56-7B engines that resulted in the death of one passenger. The engine manufacturer, CFM International, issued a service bulletin for ultrasonic testing of the fan blades. This can be performed on-engine in about four hours. The FAA said the “emergency” order was based on a service bulletin. CFMI estimates 352 engines in the U.S. are affected and 681 engines worldwide.

See also:

The FOX News Rundown Podcast for 4/20/2018.

The Pilot Who Saved That Southwest Flight Is A Badass

Video: Turbine engine blade fail test

AARP Opposes Age 65 Retirement Age for Charter Pilots

A manager’s amendment in the FAA reauthorization bill would require a mandatory retirement age of 65 for certain Part 135 charter and Part 91K fractional pilots. In a letter to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster and ranking member Pete DeFazio, the AARP says they have “long opposed mandatory retirement; using an arbitrary age as a proxy for competence is wrong in any occupation, and it is wrong for pilots.”

Well Wishes and Messages for 500 Episodes

Our sincere thanks to all our listeners, past guests, and especially:

Five Airplane Geeks “Tips”

  1. Our first 6 episodes.
  2. The Airplane Geeks archive.
  3. Subscribe by Email.
  4. The AvGeekFests aviation calendar.
  5. The Airplane Geeks Slack Team.

Credit

CREDIT

Outtro by Bruno Misonne from The Sound of Flaps.

448 Aerial Firefighting with the Global SuperTanker

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Aerial firefighting with a Boeing 747-400, airline policies for overbooking and bumping passengers, Mar-a-Lago air restrictions for presidential visits, and F-16 fighter service life.

The Global SuperTanker in Chile for aerial firefighting operations.

The Global SuperTanker in Chile for aerial firefighting operations. Courtesy Global SuperTanker Services, LLC, (c) Bill Gabbert.

Guests

Capt. Tom Parsons, Assistant Chief Supervisor/Pilot and Scott Olson, VP Maintenance for Global SuperTanker Services, LLC. The company was formed in 2015 and acquired a B747-400 to use for aerial firefighting and other operations.

We talk about the kinds of missions the Global SuperTanker can fly, and Tom and Scott explain the aircraft modifications, the loading and delivery system, and the recent activity in Chile fighting wildfires. We also learn about the coordination required for all the air and ground participants in this kind of operation.

Related resources:

Aviation News

The passenger who was violently removed from the United Express flight operated by Republic Airways intends to take legal action. The man’s lawyer claimed his client lost two teeth and his nose was broken. We discuss the resulting media storm, airline practice of overbooking flights, and the procedure for bumping passengers.

United is promising to make major customer service changes

JetBlue Founder Backs Overbooking After United Flight Fiasco

Here’s why overbooking flights is actually a good thing

Delta CEO: Overbooking Flights is a ‘Valid Business Process’

Passengers removed from overbooked flights on US airlines – in data

The 10 Worst Airlines for Overbooking

In other news:

FAA: 5 aircraft violated Mar-a-Lago air restrictions during Trump stay

U.S. Air Force extends F-16 fighter’s service life

US Air Force chief ambivalent on F-15 Eagle retirement

Mentioned

The Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP)

Jet engine thrust reverser examples:

Credit

Intro music courtesy Brother Love from his Album Of The Year CD. Outtro by Bruno Misonne from The Sound of Flaps.

AirplaneGeeks 292 – Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad

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PZL104 Wilga

David and Max talk about the FAA/EAA agreement for Airventure, a unique Delta perk, and nano particle technology applied to jet engines.

The Australia Desk covers increased air traffic activity due to the search for MH370, and a Tiger Moth AD. In the Across the Pond segment, we learn about aviation in Scandinavia.

As always, the listener mail adds great topics, including more on the Flarm system, learning to fly first in a glider, a call for the fanciest/prettiest airport compass rose, cockpit voice recorder run time, the future of the A-10, nose-wheel cameras as IFE, and aviation book recommendations.

The week’s aviation news:

The Aircraft of the Week: the PZL104 Wilga by Jamie Dodson. (Photo above.)

In this week’s Australia Desk:

Grant is away this week so Steve is joined by PCDU’s Western Australia correspondent Ben Jones from Perth, WA, which has seen an increase in air traffic recently as aircraft from several nations stage from RAAF Base Pearce in the search for missing flight MH370.  The RAAF AP-3C Orions are being joined by an RNZAF P3-K2 Orion, Chinese Il76s, and various civilian aircraft in the search, some 2,500 off the Western Australian coast.

Australian vintage Tiger Moth aircraft are now subject to an airworthiness directive from CASA concerning lateral tie rods, following recent crash where a wing was found to have failed during an aerobatic maneuver.

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.

In this week’s Across the Pond segment:

This week Pieter introduces a new guest contributor Marisa Garcia from Denmark to talk about aviation in Scandinavia. Working in the aerospace sector for over 20 years, Marisa now focuses her business on leading edge aviation journalism. In this inaugural segment, they discuss Marisa’s background in aircraft interior design and her website Flight Chic, along with the major Danish airlines, airports and their relative health in today’s marketplace.

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

Listen to the NBAA Flight Plan podcast from the National Business Aviation Association.

KDTA airport compass rose

KDTA airport compass rose

Patrick’s challange: Email us a photo of an airport compass rose, and we’ll pick the best ones.

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 170 – GE Aviation Looks to the Future

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GEnx-1B engine for B787 Dreamliner

Dale Carlson, Executive for Advanced Engine Systems at GE Aviation is our guest. Dale is responsible for all government funded technology initiatives, and also for aligning technology as it matures with future propulsion system offerings for GE Aviation.

We talk about why this is an exciting time to be in the commercial engine and airframe business. What’s left in Brayton cycle engines (not much) and what we can do about that. Why pulse detonation is not a good solution. Dale talks about adaptive (or variable) cycle engines, the fuel burn improvements needed for new engine offerings, and why we’ll see integrated airframe and propulsion systems in the future, the blended wing aircraft being an example.

Distributed propulsion with large numbers of engines on the aircraft is a future possibility, as is all-electric propulsion. Of course, we can’t talk about fan diameter without covering thermal efficiency and propulsion efficiency. We talk a little about the future of the F136. That’s the engine GE is developing as an alternative to the Pratt & Whitney F135 that powers the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Finally, Dale offers some sound advice for people considering a career in aerospace.

The week’s aviation news:

David provides another powerful history lesson in his This Week in Aviation segment.

In this week’s Australia Desk Report: Qantas politics goes on and on and on….. RAAF takes delivery of the last four Super Hornets, Omega Tanker takes three ex RAAF 707 tankers, Department of Defence looks seriously at C27J Spartan to replace Caribous, RAAF looks at a disposal date for C130H.

Find the boys down under at the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast, and follow the show on Twitter at @pcdu. Steve’s at @stevevisscher and Grant at @falcon124.

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/.

In memory of Anthony Kenneth Johnson RN PO TAG.

Episode 134 – Lots of Listener Mail

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Photo submitted by Errol Cavit

Pieter Johnson, our Geek in Europe and producer of our Across the Pond segment, joins us in this listener mail episode. That’s right, pretty much nothing but listener mail. Oh, and the Australia Desk Report by Steve and Grant from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast.

Photo submitted by Thomas Eklund

Some of the links mentioned:

Photo submitted by David Apkarian

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 94 – Jet Checking

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EADS KC-45

Our guest this episode is Jonathan Heckman, founder and writer of the JetCheck.net blog. Jonathan attends Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he’s working to a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Business Administration. He’s also a student pilot, logging hours in a Diamond Eclipse.

The news:

David provides his This Week in Aviation history segment, and we have a great report from the Airplane Geeks Australia Desk.

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

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