Tag Archives: Turkish Airlines

666 Airline Recovery

The North America Air Transport Reporter with Cirium talks about airline recovery, Boeing, Airbus, and electric aviation. In the news, duct tape on a plane, the preliminary NTSB report on Launchpad Marzari’s crash, options for an upgraded F35 engine, an A330 that tried to take off from a taxiway, and the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) jet. Also, a women in aviation quiz and how to refuel two B737s with one B747.

Guest

Tom Risen is the North America Air Transport Reporter for Cirium, a global aviation data company. He’s based in Washington, DC, and focuses his insights, analyses, and content on airlines and aerospace manufacturers. Of course, the topic of the moment is the airline recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to reporting on airline business, Tom’s expertise includes the development of supersonic passenger jets and electric aircraft.

We look at the airline recovery, including bookings, variant infection concerns, and vaccination rates for the general public and at the airlines. Also the impact of international travel restrictions, and leisure versus business travel recovery. Tom talks about the airframers and the different trajectories for narrow-body and wide-body jets. He also shares some of his insights into the emerging electric aircraft, eVTOL, and Urban Air Mobility market.

Tom is the co-author of a forthcoming book about government oversight. He was formerly technology and business reporter at U.S. News & World Report, and a staff reporter for Aerospace America. Tom has also written stories for The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Slate.

Aviation News

When passengers are out of control, flight attendants reach for a last resort: Duct tape

Recent examples of passengers subdued with the sticky tape include an unruly woman on an American Airlines flight and a man on a Frontier Airlines flight who allegedly groped and punched flight attendants. More recently, an American Airlines cabin crew member had duct tape during an incident with a young passenger, although restraint cuffs were used instead. In a statement, the  FAA said, “The flight crew is responsible for cabin safety and has latitude on how to handle individual situations.”

Launchpad, What Were You Thinking?

The NTSB preliminary report raises some questions about the fatal crash of Launchpad Marzari’s Focke-Wulf FWP-149D.

The Pentagon is exploring its options for a more efficient and powerful F-35 engine

The planned F-35 Block 4 upgrades include new weapons, computing technologies, and software. But a Pratt & Whitney F135 engine modernization proposal could be applied to all three variants of the F-35. Pratt described an enhanced engine would provide an 11 percent improvement in range, a 10 percent improvement in thrust, and a 50 percent increase in thermal management – important for stealth.

A330 Almost Took Off On a Taxiway at Newark

The crew was cleared for takeoff but they overshot their runway. As they proceeded down the taxiway at 90 knots, a controller noticed, and the takeoff was aborted.

NASA Timelapse Shows X-59 Supersonic Jet Being Built Over Two Years

The NASA video shows the construction of the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) jet. Lockheed Martin plans nine months of flight tests in 2022, with aircraft delivery to NASA in 2023. The video shows work being done on the aircraft at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works factory in Palmdale, California between May 2019 and June 2021.

Prerecorded

Our Main(e) Man Micah brings us two stories in this episode. “And Now Verlla” tells us about the loss of a long-time airplane geek. Then Micah tells a lighthearted story that could be called “The Covert Chocolate War” or “The Fight for the American Palate” or “Launchpad’s Last Chocolates.”

Mentioned

The Business Aviation Quiz: Women In Aviation – This quiz from AviationWeek lets you guess these women who made their place in aviation history.

Sky River™ Helicopters at the American Helicopter Museum & Education Center.

Photo by David Vanderhoof

QANTAS uses 747 to deliver extra fuel to Auckland

476 Synergy Aircraft

The founder and CEO of Synergy Aircraft describes the unique personal airplane he is developing. In the news, we look at airliner nose strikes, new security measures at airports worldwide, the credibility of United Airlines top management, the A330neo maiden flight, and the passing of aviation journalist Ben Sandilands.

Synergy Aircraft

Guest

John McGinnis is founder and CEO of Synergy Aircraft LLC, a seed-stage company developing a quiet, roomy, fuel-efficient aircraft using advanced aeronautical and manufacturing technologies.

John describes the process he employed in designing and developing the Synergy. Where some projects start with a favored design that then gets developed, John looked first at best practice principles that led to the design. These principles include biplane theory, laminar flow, and active drag reduction. They had been explored historically, and John assembled them in one design using advanced analytical tools.

The resulting  “Double Boxtail™” wing-becomes-tail configuration is aerodynamically efficient, fast and quiet, and features a spacious cabin. Synergy has been testing scale models and John reports good results.

John is the founder of MC Squared Design USA (a service bureau providing 3-D design, CNC machining, 3-D printing, and composite fabrication) and MV Aero, a provider of state-of-the-art Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. John is a Senior Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and an EAA contributor.

The Synergy Aircraft prototype.

The Synergy Aircraft prototype.

Synergy Aircraft CFD analysis of conventional airplane.

Synergy Aircraft CFD analysis of conventional airplane.

Synergy Aircraft CFD analysis of the double boxtail design.

Synergy Aircraft CFD analysis of the double boxtail design.

News

Mystery surrounds plane’s squashed nose

A Delta Airlines flight experienced some kind of event that significantly damaged the aircraft’s nose. In UPDATE: Delta addresses Thunder plane damage en route to Chicago, the airline said, “Delta flight 8935, operating from Minneapolis to Chicago-Midway as a charter flight for the Oklahoma City Thunder, likely encountered a bird while on descent into Chicago. The aircraft, a Boeing 757-200, landed safely without incident; customers have since deplaned and maintenance teams are evaluating.”

For some past nose strike events, see:

We talked with Marcy Heacker from the Smithsonian Institution, Feather Identification Lab in episodes 253 and 202.

If You Want to Fly to America, Get Ready to Be Interrogated

What You Need To Know About New Airport Security Rules

In March 2017 DHS banned personal electronic devices larger than phones on direct flights to the U.S. from 10 airports. That restriction is now loosened, but additional DHS security measures are in place that affects 235,000 passengers on 2,000 flights daily to the U.S. on 180 airlines from 280 airports in 105 countries.

Column: Can United Airlines brain trust survive another tough journey?

Some financial analysts question the ability of United’s top management to pilot the company through the challenges ahead.

Airbus jet designed to win back sales from Boeing takes maiden flight

The Airbus A330neo made its successful maiden flight with a new engine and improved aerodynamics. The 1,400-hour flying test program will proceed with 3 prototypes and the first production aircraft.

Aviation journalist Ben Sandilands dies after battle with cancer

Ben Sandilands covered aviation for decades and was the editor of the Plane Talking blog on Crikey. His last post was Malaysia will focus renewed MH370 search where Australia refused to look. RIP Ben.

Airline Story of the Week

Our Main(e) man Micah provides an editorial piece he calls “Rave On.”

Mentioned

Airline Weekly Lounge podcast.

#PaxEx Podcast 51: Safety first as allergic passengers endure challenges.

San Gabriel Valley Airport Air Fair and Open House.

Mitchell PBJ

Mitchell PBJ

Air Show: Paris 1989

Ultra High Bypass Jet Engine Propfan Technology | Aviation Videos | AeroSpaceNews.com

Credit

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

AirplaneGeeks 348 Flying Above and Beyond

Producer Nancy Spielberg and Harold Livingston

Flying for Israel in its War of Independence, a Rafale fighter jet sale to Qatar, female fighter pilots, the Turkish Airlines CEO opines on pilot marriage, and major sporting events bring out private jets.

Photo: Producer Nancy Spielberg and Harold Livingston

Guest

In 1948, a group of pilots smuggled surplus military airplanes out of the U.S., trained in Czechoslovakia, and flew for Israel in its War of Independence. Our guest Harold Livingston was one of those pilots. This story has been captured in the feature-length documentary film Above and Beyond, produced by Nancy Spielberg and directed by Roberta Grossman.

Harold Livingston enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force after graduating from high school in 1942. After three years with the Air Transport Command in the European theatre, he went on to work for Trans World Airlines.

In 1947, the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into two separate Arab and Jewish states. A former TWA colleague, Al Schwimmer, invited Harold to join an outfit being formed to fly munitions and aircraft to Jewish Palestine in support of the war that was to come. After returning from Israel in 1949, Harold served again in the U.S. Air Force as a civilian contractor in the Korean Air Lift.

Harold is also a writer. His first novel, “The Coasts of The Earth” (1954), received a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award. He has written nine novels and his credits include  “Star Trek, The Motion Picture,” several other major films, and some one hundred television episodes including such shows as “Mission Impossible,” and “Dynasty.”

Above and Beyond is available on iTunes and Amazon.com. You can also watch the documentary’s trailer.

Selected books by Harold Livingston

News

France and Qatar seal $7 billion Rafale fighter jet deal

Qatar is purchasing 24 Dassault Rafale fighter jets for 6.3-billion-euro ($7B US). This is the third sale this year of the fighter jets with 24 sold to Egypt and 36 to India.

Female Fighter Pilots Taking Off in the IAF

In 1995, pilot Alice Miller sought to take the Israeli Air Force pilot training exam, but was ejected on grounds of her gender. She petitioned the Israel High Court of Justice, which sided with her in 1996. Since then, 38 women completed the course and became pilots in the Israeli Air Force.

Turkish Airlines CEO to Pilots: Get Married to Avoid Crashes

Reportedly, the CEO of Turkish Airlines said that pilots should marry so that situations like what happened with the Germanwings crash in March can be avoided.

A crazy photo of private jets flooding the Las Vegas airport before the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight

Kentucky Derby Boosts Local FBOs

Recent sporting events bring out the private jets and other general aviation aircraft. Is the business slump over?

Listener Recording

Pilot Bill from Victoria provides his own “Aviation Minute” and talks about a recent event with the local airport authority, NavaCanada, and about a hundred aviators.

Mentioned

Innovations in Flight Family Day and Outdoor Aviation Display, Saturday, June 20, 2015 at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia.

Airplane Geeks on Instagram

Are we seeing the end of the era for the ‘super-jumbo’?

Should flight attendants eat First Class food onboard their flight? by Jamie Larounis in The Forward Cabin

The Aviators

1960 Air Show Edwards AFB

Credit

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

 

Episode 37 – Oversensationalism

winglets

Max and Court are joined by Joe Murray from the new StoriesThatFly site.  The topic of choice this week is aviation journalism and Joe lends his expertice with several stories of innaccurate reporting.

Max’s pick of the week is GreenAirOnline.

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.