Announcing an air-speed record from Savannah, Georgia, to Doha, Qatar, might sound trivial or even a little absurd. Until you consider the context: This was the world’s largest business jet flying 6,711 nautical miles nonstop at Mach 0.88, or 675 mph, for 13 hours and 16 minutes, on its first international flight. Then it becomes a corporate milestone.
Gulfstream’s new G700 then set another city-pair record from Doha to Paris, flying 2,953 nautical miles at an average speed of Mach 0.90 (690.5 mph) for 6 hours and 15 minutes, before returning to headquarters in Savannah.
“Sadly, the aircraft [A380] is handicapped by two engines too many, and also a generation of engine design, which is way behind the modern era engines that power today the likes of the 787 and A350 in particular. So we can compare and contrast how we put service onto our network through 787…We can almost operate two and a half, 787s for the cost of putting one A380 on and it simply doesn’t make economic sense anymore.” //
Etihad is moving to a 787 and A350-only fleet by 2022 for its widebody operations. //
Etihad operates both the -9 and -10 variants of the 787, which can seat 299 and 336 passengers in their highest capacity. This means flying 2.5 787s would offer Etihad far more capacity than a single A380 and improved efficiency gains. Even the first class-equipped 787-9s seat 235 passengers in the three-class layout.
It’s been nearly five decades since the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar entered service. Operators such as TWA praised the aircraft as one of the safest in the world, while powerhouses such as Delta Air Lines were also massive fans. Those flying on the plane following its introduction in the 1970s would have noticed that there was a curved row of lavatories at the back of the widebody trijet. //
The Lockheed L-1011 came with numerous cabin innovations. For example, it had full-sized hideaway closets for jackets, glare-resistant windows, and even a below-deck galley. Inflight meals made their way up to the main cabin via a pair of elevators. //
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The Lockheed L1011 had 6 lavatories in the rear in a circular configuration wrapped around the rear bulkhead. They were just under the intake to number 2 engine. The noise was sometimes deafening and the sucking sound of the intake was a little off putting.
WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Kabul airport is without air traffic control services now that the U.S. military has withdrawn from Afghanistan, and U.S. civil aircraft are barred from operating over the country unless given prior authorization, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Monday.
The FAA said in a statement that "due to both the lack of air traffic services and a functional civil aviation authority in Afghanistan, as well as ongoing security concerns, U.S. civil operators, pilots, and U.S.-registered civil aircraft are prohibited from operating at any altitude over much of Afghanistan." //
The FAA said U.S. civil operators "may continue to use one high-altitude jet route near the far eastern border for overflights. Any U.S. civil aircraft operator that wants to fly into/out of or over Afghanistan must receive prior authorization from the FAA."
With its iconic “brrrrrt” sound and painted-on teeth, it is easy to distinguish the A-10 Thunderbolt II (affectionately referred to as the Warthog)—the plane built around a gun. Despite the love from its fans and high accuracy for close air support (CAS), there is still continuous debate as to whether to retire the A-10.
For starters, the plane is quite old. Created in 1977, the A-10 has seen its share of upgrades. Just one year after being created, it was upgraded with the Pave Penny laser pod, which can “sense reflected laser radiation from a laser designator.”1 Other upgrades include Global Position System navigation systems, multifunction display, and precision engagement upgrades. Each of these keeps the A-10 up to date with current technology, so why are there plans to retire it?
It is because it is still considered outdated and is “the oldest and least-ready aircraft” to modernize.2 However, the benefits of keeping the A-10 around outweigh the negatives. //
There are alternatives to using the A-10, but the Warthog still prevails through its many planned retirements because of its training requirements, design, weaponry, and ability to fly low and slow. The opinion by and large is that the A-10 is outdated, but this plane constantly proves why it has been around this long. No other plane is built like the A-10 or can do everything the A-10 does, and the US Air Force does not have any plans to bring any other plane to that standard. That is why no other plane would be able to truly replace the A-10.
Ethiopian Airlines has been the fastest-growing airline in Africa over the past decade or so. It has succeeded where many other airlines have struggled, largely due to a strong plan set out in 2010. In December 2020, it won the best African airline award in the Decade of Airline Excellence Awards. How has it risen to this level?
As the pressure to evacuate people from Kabul airport grows, the US military has released updated figures for one of its flights. It reports that a C-17 Globemaster aircraft evacuated 823 Afghan citizens on August 15th. This is a new record for the type – by a long way – and gives some idea of the scale of the operation underway.
In a Twitter post on August 20th, US Air Mobility Command released confirmed and updated figures for one of its many evacuation flights from Kabul. We recently reported that a new record was set for a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft when it carried 640 Afghan citizens out of Hamid Karzai International Airport. This has now been increased to a massive 823.
Air Mobility Command
@AirMobilityCmd
CORRECTION: A @usairforce C-17 Globemaster III safely transported 823 Afghan citizens from Hamid Karzai International Airport Aug. 15, 2021. This is a record for this aircraft.
The initial count of 640 inadvertently included only adults. 183 children were also aboard. //
It is also not the first time this has happened. While it is a record for the C-17, it is not a record overall. In 1991, over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were evacuated from Ethiopia to Israel as part of Operation Solomon. This involved Boeing 707, Boeing 747, and Hercules C-130 aircraft. One El Al Boeing 747 aircraft is recorded as transporting 1,080 people (estimates vary, but even lower estimates are a record).
THE GRAND PORTUGUESE TRADITION OF azulejo, hand-painted, glazed ceramic tilework depicting scenes, dates back hundreds of years. Artwork made with these ornamental tiles can be found everywhere from churches and palaces to schools and train stations. These tiles have even become a part of the history of Pan-American World Airway (1927-1991) advertising. //
The Pan Am billboard is located in Reguengo do Fetal, Batalha, on a slope of the mountain by the EN356 road that connects Batalha to Fátima. It was created in the 1960s, Pan Am’s golden era, and it was made by the historic Fábrica Aleluia azulejo company. (The same company also made another Pan Am billboard located near Aveiro.)
The billboard is composed of around 4,000 azulejos that sit in a frame of 92 square meters. The background is Pan Am’s distinctive shade of blue, the company’s lettering is on the center in its traditional font. There is one logo on either side of the lettering, and a tagline at the bottom that reads, “TORNA A SUA VIAGEM MARAVILHOSA” (“Makes your journey wonderful”).
We spend too much time confined to a two-dimensional network of concrete and asphalt. The dream of futurists has always been a flying vehicle capable of efficiently moving passengers from A to B.
Opener is realizing this dream in a safe, easy-to-operate, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle: BlackFly.
Opener's BlackFly heralds a new era of aviation. Time and money spent traveling and maintaining infrastructure will be reduced. People will go places they never thought possible.
- Boeing's most iconic aircraft — the 747 — is celebrating 51 years of passenger service in January.
- Most of the world's airlines, however, are retiring their 747s in favor of new, fuel-efficient jets.
- The final models will be delivered to cargo giant Atlas Air in 2022, marking the end of the program. //
For cargo carriers, the all-important nose door was a key selling point for the aircraft as the 747 is the only Western-built, mass-produced aircraft to feature it. //
As the Queen of the Skies nears the end of its reign, its legacy will surely live on forever as the aircraft that revolutionized the aviation industry and made the world a smaller place for over 50 years.
Emirates’ latest ad features its cabin crew on the tip of the Burj Khalifa, joining an elite group of individuals
The SDF instrument approach is the rarest approach in the USA, with only one example remaining in Morristown, TN. Do you know how to fly it? //
A Simplified Directional Facility Approach (SDF) provides a final approach course similar to a localizer, but with a few distinct differences. //
In 2018, the SDF to RWY 34 at the Marshfield Municipal Airport, Marshfield, WI (KMFI) was decommissioned. This leaves just ONE SDF approach left in the USA, the SDF to Runway 05 at the Moore-Murrell Airport (KMOR), Morristown, Tennessee.
Fly solo in 1 hour! How about flight lessons for $5? Or maybe you want $1 Million of aircraft insurance for $50. Check out these awesome ads from the golden age of aviation...
The following ads were found in vintage copies of AOPA Pilot, The Curtis Wright Review, and Aero Digest.
Emirates posted a video of a flight attendant standing at the very top of the Burj Khalifa, and it’s real. A behind the scenes video has now been posted showing how this video was produced, and it’s pretty amazing. And here I was thinking that we were just getting Punk’d…
Designed by Howard Hughes himself, and ridiculed as the “Spruce Goose” for its size and the material it was built out of, the Hughes H-4 Hercules should have had a long and storied service life. Yet it never took off as it was expected…
As the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built (only the LZ 129 Hindenburg airship from the famed Hindenburg disaster is bigger), the H-4 was a behemoth for its time, and indeed in our own, being far larger than anything built before or after it. //
Despite being built in the 1940’s, the H-4 held the record for the longest wingspan of any aircraft for over 70 years, holding it from 1947 (when the prototype first flew) to 2019, when the Burt Rutan-designed Scaled Composites Stratolaunch first flew.
That’s 72 years!
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If you're ever in doubt about a clearance, ask ATC for clarification. Until you're cleared to a lower altitude, or cleared on an instrument approach, you cannot leave the last crossing restriction of a STAR following a descend via clearance.
How the FAA is Working to Reduce the Impact of Aircraft Noise
By Tom Hoffmann, FAA Safety Briefing Managing Editor
In a scathing response, Jack Pelton called the new interpretation a “solution to a nonexistent problem.” //
Pelton concluded by writing, “This entire episode is a scary example of how new interpretations of the regulations can upend the entire community. While this short-term fix allows operations to continue, it never should have come to this point. Creating more than 30,000 new LODAs and exemptions is a paperwork exercise that does nothing to advance safety.”