Tag Archives: F-22

414 F/A-18, F-16, PBY, and P8 from Farnborough International Airshow 2016

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:40:23 — 46.0MB)

More interviews from the Farnborough 2016 Airshow. We also discuss the future of widebody airliners, the U.S. Air Force pilot shortage, jetBlue air turbulence, an F-22 grounded by bees, an evacuation at a JFK terminal, a ride with the Geico Skytypers, and does the U.S. needs an airshow like Paris?

Farnborough International Airshow 2016

We bring you more interviews from the Farnborough 2016 Airshow. You’ll hear about the F/A-18, the F-16, the PBY, and the P8.

F/A-18 at Farnborough 2016

Carlos Stebbings (holding mic) of the Plane Talking UK Podcast along with Micah and Brian interviewing US Navy Aviator Lieutenant Jeff “Hoagy” Hanley about flying his F/A-18 Super Hornet. (Photo courtesy of Dan Harrington.)

F-16 at Farnborough 2016

Micah talking with Matt Smith of the Plane Talking UK Podcast about the F-16 Fighting Falcon and why it’s called a Viper. (Photo courtesy of Dan Harrington.)

Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina

PBY-5A Catalina Miss Pickup posing with (from left to right) Pilot Pip from the Plane Safety Podcast, Captain Al Evans from Flightfear Solutions, Carlos Stebbings and Matt Smith from the Plane Talking UK Podcast, Micah, Brian and Captain Rod, Miss Pickup’s pilot. (Photo courtesy of Dan Harrington.)

P-8A

Lithograph of P-8A Poseidon 168754, autographed and presented to Brian and Micah in Farnborough by Patrol Squadron 30 ‘VP-30’ based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida.

News

Atlas backs the B747 freighter as Boeing considers its future

Boeing has announced a cut in the 747 production rate, and in a regulatory filing stated the possibility that production of the 747 could end. At the same time, Airbus plans to cut the production rate of the A380. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings chief executive Bill Flynn said there are three options for large widebody intercontinental cargo aircraft: the B747-800, the B747-400 and the B777. The 747 has load and loading advantages and Atlas Air looks forward to a long useful life.

Air Force sweetens bonus in facing pilot shortage

The U.S. Air Force needs 700 more fighter pilots by the end of 2016, and the shortage could reach 1000 within a few years.. Airlines offering higher salaries, better benefits, and long term career opportunities entice pilots to leave the service.

JetBlue turbulence puts 24 in hospital

A JetBlue A320 flying from Boston to Sacramento encountered rough turbulence, and was diverted to Rapid City, South Dakota. At least 22 passengers and two crew members were taken to a hospital for evaluation. Passengers reported flying out of their seats and even hitting the ceiling.

In a February 2016 article titled What Causes Turbulence? 10 Things You Need to Know, Conde Nast Traveler reports that the FAA says approximately 58 fliers are injured by turbulence each year. And PetaPixel tells us about a Military Plane Plunged 4,400ft when Pilot’s Nikon Got Stuck in the Controls.

F-22 Raptor grounded by swarm of almost 20,000 bees

192nd Fighter Wing Aircraft Maintainers at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia discovered a swarm of honey bees attached to the exhaust nozzle of an F-22 Raptor engine.

Airplane of the Week

Skytyper David

Skytyper David!

 

David went flying for the first time in 2 years.  He had the privilege of flying with the Geico Skytypers in a three ship formation over the Atlantic City, New Jersey coastline. Thanks to Jim Record for being an awesome pilot, and to Brenda Little for the opportunity.

 

 

Geico Skytypers

Geico Skytypers SNJ-2, the Navy’s version of the Texan T-6, a WWII training plane.

Geico Landing over KACY 08-15-2016 (Raw video of the flight.)

Mentioned

UK fraud probe casts shadow over Airbus jet sales

Credit

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

 

AirplaneGeeks 300 – Military Aviation with Bill Sweetman

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:57 — 46.7MB)

F-35 Lightning II

We celebrate our 300th episode with Bill Sweetman, Senior International Defense Editor at Aviation Week & Space Technology.

We talk about black programs, the Aurora, and the mysterious aircraft photographed in the skies over Texas. Also, F-35 program strategy and how adversaries respond to the long program length and a strategy that relies on one aircraft. We discuss developing programs in the black compared to in the white, and harvesting existing technology versus developing new technology.

We consider the F-22 program and if the line should have been kept open, and the cost to maintain stealth coatings. Bill describes his original recommendation on what to do with the A-10 fleet, and answers the question, “Is there a role for manned reconnaissance aircraft?”

The week’s aviation news:

ICAO makes global flight tracking a priority in MH370 aftermath
and
ICAO Delivers Agreement Between States, Industry Groups on Global Airline Flight Tracking Capability

The International Civil Aviation Organization is a UN-sponsored organization created in 1944 under the Chicago Convention. Working with industry, ICAO develops Standards and Recommended Practices which are used by the member States as they develop their own national civil aviation regulations. Recently, ICAO held a Special Meeting on Global Flight Tracking of Aircraft and the member states agreed to make the tracking of airline flights a near-term priority.

Brooksville to be hub for new saucer-shaped aircraft

Corporate Jet Solutions entered into a joint-venture agreement with Aerobat Aviation, with hopes of launching the Geobat FS-7, kind of a flying saucer. They hope to have saucers ready for the 2014 Airventure Oshkosh.

SoCal sonic boom: Calling card of the top-secret Aurora spy plane?

Southern California residents were shaken lately by what some thought was an earthquake. But the US Navy confirms it was a sonic boom by an aircraft 50 miles off the coast. But one witness says he knows sonic booms and this was no sonic boom. Is it the Aurora?

Mystery Aircraft Over Texas

Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works is developing the SR-72 spy plane. Is this what has been spotted in the sky?

Become a Pilot, Family Day and Aviation Display

Join Max, Rob, David, and a whole community of Avgeeks June 14, 2014, at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, located in Chantilly, Virginia. The annual Become a Pilot day features aircraft and activities for the whole family.

In this week’s Australia Desk:

In amongst all the congratulations for episode 300, the boys take us back to Qantas as, after all, it’s been a couple of months since they last talked about them!

From lay-offs to “weekend departure charges,” there’s much to say as Qantas celebrates 60 years of flying across the Pacific.

Then, for a change of pace, it seems the Australian Government are considering buying the F35B as well as the 72 F35As they’ve already committed to?

Finally, we round out by chatting about Hobart’s runway being upgraded to handle A330’s & 777’s.

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:

With Pieter recently crossing a major milestone in life, his reminiscing seems to be overwhelming. And with the recent passing of the VC10, L1011 and DC10 into living memory it is a little further back that he looks for solace and he finds it in the project  “Ode to Concorde” which aims to be a visual celebration of the aircraft that’s imprinted in our minds for its exquisite aesthetics and iconic status in aviation history. Pieter talks to Director Chris Purcell about the project and how the aviation industry and you can step in to help create this film.

Find Ode to Concorde on Twitter and Facebook, and support them on Indiegogo. Find Pieter on Twitter as @Nascothornet, on Facebook at XTPMedia, and at the Aviation Xtended podcast.

Mentioned:

  • AvTunes – Sky High Songs That Fly

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 262 – Mow and Flow with the F-22 Raptor

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Red Flag 2010 49th Operational Group Command Aircraft by Paul Filmer

F-22 pilot Rob Burgon talks to us about fighter performance, engines, thrust vectoring nozzles, and more. Also, his Red Flag experience and how he earned the call sign “Shotz,” and the move from Holloman AFB to Tyndall AFB as the 7th Fighter Squadron shuts down. Tally One is Rob’s new blog, a place to share the fighter jet experience, and for others to share their stories too. He’s even created the Tally One Store with aviation apparel.

Returning guest Henry Harteveldt talks to us about the Justice Department civil lawsuit blocking the proposed merger between American Airlines and US Airways.

The week’s aviation news:

David Vanderhoof’s Aircraft of the Week: the C-130 Hercules.

In this week’s Australia Desk:

Grant spent the week vacationing in Bali, Indonesia, and while this is enough to make the rest of us jealous, he did take the time to compile some notes on the flights he took to get there, flying on Virgin Australia in business class.

In other news, Jetstar & Qantas announce that Melbourne will be the base for their 787 Dreamliner fleets, no doubt taking up residence in the former maintenance centre that Qantas closed down recently.

United Airlines announced this week that their regular 747 services from the US to Sydney & Melbourne will be replaced from April next year with 777’s.   This represents a slight decrease in seat capacity on these very competitive routes, but somewhat balanced by the anticipated improvement to comfort and service, and no doubt operating costs to the airline.

Steve & Grant will be in Brisbane this weekend thanks to Aviation Australia for the annual Careers Expo.  If you’re in the Brisbane area, drop by and say hello!

In this week’s Across the Pond segment:

Taking time out from his vacation Frenchez Pietersz from AviationPlatform joins us to update us on developments in Holland and France with Air France and KLM looking to make significant savings across the group. One of the areas of focus is maintenance and changes are being made to the use of facilities for heavy maintenance and C-checks across the world. LinkedIn, Facebook.

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

Mentioned:

David's F-22 Photo

David’s F-22 Photo

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 233 – USAF Test Pilots School

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Major Brandon “Cain’n” Abel

We talk with Major Brandon “Cain’n” Abel, and Major John “Manson” Appelt, Experimental Test Instructor Pilots from the USAF Test Pilot School. Greg Morris from Gauntlet Warbirds joins in.

The USAF Test Pilot School is a 48 week program for classes of 20-24 students. Graduates go on to test and evaluate weapons systems as test pilots or test engineers. We talk with Cain’n and Manson about the selection process for admission into the School, the variety of aircraft flown at the School, and what a flight test mission involves.

The week’s aviation news:

David gives us a debrief on the Airpigz.com meetup at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. and at the Udvar-Hazy Center next to Dulles.

F-22 by David Vanderhoof

In this week’s Australia Desk report:

Qantas experiences teething problems with its new alliance partner as their booking system allocates premium economy seats on Emirates aircraft – a class not available with that carrier.

Tiger Airways profits slip as they await a ruling by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission on their proposed takeover by Virgin Australia.

Jetstar Japan takes delivery of two new A320s.

The first former RAAF C-130H to be gifted to Indonesia (formerly A97-006) takes to the skies following deep maintenance in preparation for the transfer.

The USAF confirm they are sending two F-22 Raptors to this year’s Australian International Air Show (Avalon), and unlike their last visit in 2011, this time they’ll be putting on an aerial display.

Grant is heading to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this week as a guest of Malaysia Airlines to cover their launch into the One World Alliance.

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.

Fairey Barracuda

In this week’s Across the Pond segment:

Naval Air Historian Matt Willis joins us to discuss his new book on the Fairey Barracuda a mono wing fleet air arm torpedo bomber from the second world war. Designed to be a mulit functional aircraft, the ‘Barra’ suffered reputational challenges from its perceived weaknesses. However, it proved itself many times and flew well into the ‘50’s.

Not a single complete airframe is left of the 2,600 Barracuda’s built but there is a project being delivered by the Bluebird team and supported by the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton to recreate a lasting memory to this both beloved and sometimes sneered upon aircraft. To Pieter, it is of course the chariot on which his father flew the majority of his fleet air arm missions and activities and therefore remembered with a little more fondness than others.

Matt can be found at www.navalairhistory.com and on Twitter @NavalAirHistory.

Matt’s published books include: Blackburn Skua and Roc and Junkers Ju 87 Stuka.

Naval History Links:

In Memorium:

Mentions:

USAF Test Pilots School

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 196 – A Military Fly Mom

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Guest Linda L. (Heid) Maloney had a 20 year military career as a naval flight officer flying the A-7, EA-6A, and the EA-6B Prowler. She was one of the first women to join a combat military flying squadron. Since then, she’s provided engineering and technical support to the Navy’s aviation acquisition programs and has just authored the book, Military Fly Moms ~ Sharing Memories, Building Legacies, Inspiring Hope.

We talk with Linda about being a female military aviator, and the time she had to eject from her plane. In her book, a collection of women military pilots tell their stories, the decisions they have had to make, the legacy they want pass down to their children, and the encouragement they give to other women. A portion of the proceeds from the book go to Girls With Wings.

Find Linda (and her book) at www.LindaHeidMaloney.com or on Twitter as @militaryflymoms. Also see the Military Fly Moms ~ Sharing Memories, Building Legacies, Inspiring Hope Facebook page.

The week’s aviation news:

David’s Aircraft of the Week: The EA-6A Electric Intruder.

In this week’s Australia Desk report:

In addition to the airshow noise, Grant and Steve talk about CASA grounding another animal themed airline, Qantas considering laying off 400 maintenance workers in Melbourne, Qantas delaying two A380s but increasing domestic capacity to fight off Virgin Australia and the recent Australian decision to delay making a decision on when to purchase the F35.

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 again talks with UK airline consultant Tim Gresty from Cognitio. Tim shares more of his views on the way the industry is developing and where he thinks things will develop for some of the carriers.

Find Pieter Johnson on Twitter as @Nascothornet, on his blog Alpha Tango Papa, and also on Facebook at XTPMedia.

Mentions:

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/.

Voices From The DC-3

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DC-3 by Paul Filmer

Guest Julie Filucci manages the Cessna Pilot Centers program for Cessna, but she’s also written the book, Together We Fly: Voices From The DC-3. Published by Aviation Supplies & Academics, the book tells the story of the Douglas DC-3 through the voices of the people involved with it, from its design and production to the present day. Julie had completed her type rating in the airplane several years ago, and did an article for AOPA Pilot on the airplane for its 70th anniversary in 2005. “The feedback from that article was the most I’d ever received for a piece during my time at AOPA. And not just pilots wrote to tell their stories, but also engineers, mechanics, stewardesses, soldiers, and regular folks who had taken their first airline trip in the airplane. Capturing their voices became a quest for me, as so many of the people from the airplane’s early days have passed on.”

Learn more at the book’s Facebook Fan Page, and at Julie’s blog. Follow her on Twitter as @julieinthesky.

The week’s aviation news:

Steve and Grant discuss a variety of aviation topics in the Australia Desk Report. Find them on 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 Johnson talks to Phil Wallis, Chief Engineer for the Anglo American Lightning Organisation who has the task of getting English Electric Lightning XS422 back into the air. Its a rivetting insight into how to get a 1300 mph interceptor aircraft capable of 20,000 fpm climb airworthy after sitting around in a container for many years. The AALO Team can be found at www.XS422.com, on Twitter Twitter as @EELightning, and on Facebook. You can find Pieter Johnson on Twitter at
@Nascothornet.

 

XS442 in flight during her RAF service with the ETPS in the 1980's. Photo credit: AALO / Crown

XS442 in flight during her RAF service with the ETPS in the 1980’s. Photo credit: AALO / Crown.

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 93 – Rottler Returns

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Guest Martin Rottler makes a return appearance. Martin is an airline junkie, a licensed commercial pilot for single and multi-engine aircraft with an Instrument Rating, and a CFI. He’s also a graduate student at the University of North Dakota. This summer Martin will be participating in a project to bring aviation to tribal school students in North Dakota. Download the program overview here.  Find Martin’s blog at http://martinrottler.com/.

The news:

We also have the This Week in Aviation history segment from David, and the Airplane Geeks Australia Desk report.

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

F-15 Strike Eagle courtesy Photography by Hank Plumley.

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 47 – Michael Maya Charles

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artful-flying

Max and Court are joined by Michael Maya Charles, author of “Artful Flying.”  Michael gives us his take on the week’s news, as well as a great look into his book.

Max’s pick of the week is Proceed on Course.

Don’t forget to send us your ideas for Airplane Geeks T-Shirts!

The Airplane Geeks are now on Twitter! You can follow us @AirplaneGeeks.

Make sure to sign up for our new newsletter, “Airplane Geeks Week in Aviation.”
We’ll be bringing you these show notes, as well as some of the week’s news we didn’t have time to cover.
You can sign up at AirplaneGeeks.com.

Brother Love is responsible for this episode’s opening and closing
music, and you can visit his site at brotherloverocks.com.

If you have a question or a comment for the Airplane Geeks, you
can send it to thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com.

You can also leave us voice mail at (812) 757-4252. If you have
a question or comment you’d like mentioned on the podcast, this is the best
way to go about it.

Episode 43 – Richard Aboulafia – “Funniest Man in Aviation”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (46.7MB)

f-22

During Episode 41, Jon Ostrower named Richard Aboulafia as the “funniest man in aviation.”  So we decided to put that to the test once more as we welcome Richard back from his blog at RichardAboulafia.com.

Jon was right.

Max’s pick of the week is Manchester Airport’s Guide to Traveling with Autism.

The Airplane Geeks are now on Twitter! You can follow us @AirplaneGeeks.

Make sure to sign up for our new newsletter, “Airplane Geeks Week in Aviation.”
We’ll be bringing you these show notes, as well as some of the week’s news we didn’t have time to cover.
You can sign up at AirplaneGeeks.com.

Brother Love is responsible for this episode’s opening and closing
music, and you can visit his site at brotherloverocks.com.

If you have a question or a comment for the Airplane Geeks, you
can send it to thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com.

You can also leave us voice mail at (812) 757-4252. If you have
a question or comment you’d like mentioned on the podcast, this is the best
way to go about it.