In search of Roger
On 27/08/2010, in Just to let you know..., by steve
Looking for Roger...
When I opened my mail this morning, there was an item with the greeting “Aloha”… As a big fan of the islands and a subscriber to Aloha Joe’s newsletter, I do occasionally get mail from Hawai’i but reading this email touched my heart like no other has in a long time.
The sender is the co-founder of Wings Over Hawaii, a non-profit organization based in Honolulu, with the mission of promoting aviation education in their schools, grades 5-12. This is a wonderful mission by any measure but there is more.
Marissa, the sender of the email, is planning to launch a web site and blog dedicated to finding Roger. So who is Roger?
Well, if you are a pilot or an air traffic controller, you will have invoked his name thousands of times to acknowledge a transmission on the radio. But Marissa believes that there is another side to Roger which has never been described in the ICAO books but which is nevertheless equally real to those who love aviation.
Roger is the spirit of the sky and the essence of flight. Pilots touched by Roger have that special twinkle in their eyes and their hearts on their wings. We all encounter Roger somewhere, some time.
But how did the name Roger assume the meaning: correct receipt of the transmission is acknowledged?
Click here to read the full article
Summer schedule on Roger-Wilco
On 21/07/2010, in Just to let you know..., by steve
With the summer holiday period on us, we will use an adapted publication schedule until 31 August.
As you will have seen, normally we post at least one new item every week-day. However, with so many of our readers enjoying their well earned holidays we will now use an adapted schedule and publish only three new items per week. The normal schedule of one item per week-day will resume at the end of September. Why only then? Well, we will also be taking a break in early September…
Enjoy your holidays!
Christophe Hamel in new job with the FAA – Congratulations!
On 13/07/2010, in Just to let you know..., by steve
It is always with pride and great pleasure that we bring news of the successes and achievements of our contributors and experts featured in our articles. This time it is Christophe’s turn. We introduced him recently in the “Interesting People, Unusual Flight Plans” series and now we can bring you the happy news that Christophe has accepted a position with SAIC for the FAA that will be a continuation of his previous contribution to the CNS/ATM world in the EU and the US. He will be working at FAA Headquarters in Washington D.C.
The tasks of the Senior Regulatory Analyst (as his new post is called) include:
Click here to read the full article
In memoriam – Miklos Hamori
On 21/06/2010, in Just to let you know..., by steve
Miklos was just 59 when his life was cut short on 10 June 2010. We used to work together at Budapest Approach and later he returned to the tower where he carried Shift C as its supervisor for fifteen years or more. He was a real professional who knew not only the ATC side of the business but also the pilot side and in particular, light aircraft and general aviation. He was an icon for the young! You could never be bored when he was around, he was full of stories and anecdotes which he shared with everyone in his signature, good-natured manner. His wife, Susanne was also an aerodrome controller. I knew her from back when we were fighting to get the Hungarian authorities to allow women to become air traffic controllers.
A funeral is always a sad affair and it is not appropriate to say that a funeral was nice… But in Miklos’ case the funeral was truly unique, befitting someone who had lived for and with aviation.
Mourners coming to take their leave from Miklos were asked to bring flower seeds instead of flowers to the funeral. Light aircraft carrying Miklos’ ashes and the flower seeds took off from Dunakeszi and flew to Ferihegy International airport where the ashes and flower seeds were dispersed over the grassy area alongside runway 31L. As this was happening, the airport supervisors formed a cross on one of the taxiways using their vehicles.
An appropriate tribute to a man dedicated to flying and aviation in general.
Rest in peace my friend!
New series on Roger-Wilco
On 16/06/2010, in Just to let you know..., by steve
Over the past several months you could enjoy a series of articles about the life of Budapest-Ferihegy tower, as seen through the eyes and I may add, heart of an air traffic controller who has been working there from the very beginning. “The tower with a soul”, as the series was called, was huge hit with lots of readers for each installment.
Having traced the events of the past, Roger-Wilco will be bringing you stories from the present by the same author, our contributor Lajos, who has decided to chronicle the towers life in real time. His stories, well what did you expect, will once again go deeper than the practice of air traffic control, revealing the humans occupying the lofty heights of the tower with all their qualities and failings.
Stay tuned!
Watch the weather with pleasure – a must have weather gadget
On 24/02/2010, in Just to let you know..., by steve
Other than recommending interesting books, we do not usually call our readers’ attention to other merchandise. However, every now and then we do find things that are so interesting or innovative that they simply must be recommended. In the jungle of weather gadgets, YoWindow 2.0 is such a product.
I am sure you have seen weather gadgets before and they are usually very functional and are even nice with their carefully crafted graphics. However, YoWindow brings that bit of extra that sets it apart from the crowd.
You can download a free but slightly limited version or cough up $9.99 for an unlimited version (instant download) and enjoy 8 day forecasts, an unlimited number of favorite locations and also automatic update of the weather. There are no ads in the paid version. The free version might have ads in the future. There is even a widget version for inclusion in your web site and it is free!
So what is the big difference?
Click here to read the full article
Hudson River ditching 3D reconstruction
On 04/02/2010, in Just to let you know..., by steve
It is hard to believe that the historic ditching in the Hudson River of US Airways Flight 1549 was more than a year ago on 15 January 2009. Much has been written about the incident and the captain of the flight, Mr. Sully Sullenberger has given us an interesting book about how he experienced this event sharig also his thoughts about many other things related to the highest duty.
EXOSPHERE3D, a company specializing in technical animation and scientific visualization of complex data sets has recently brought us a very nice photorealistic animation depicting Flight 1549’s movements from take-off to ditching in the Hudson River. The animation is based on the latest, most complete information avaiable about the flight. With ATC radiotelephony and the words of the crew in the cockpit perfectly synched to the pictures, watching this video makes you think you are watching live TV.
Check out the video here.
Order Capt. Sullenberger’s book here.
2009 Airline IT Trends Survey now available
On 25/10/2009, in Just to let you know..., by steve
The 2009 edition of the Airline IT Trends Survey,
co-sponsored by Airline Business and SITA, is now available.
You can purchase the full results on CD by sending an email.
To download the very comprehensive Executive Summary, click here.
Questionable ads banished
On 28/09/2009, in Just to let you know..., by steve
It looked like a good idea… a banner that would bring context sensitive ads as visitors browsed Roger-Wilco. We tried it and it was a huge disappointment. Silly on-line games (albeit promoted with pretty girls) and dating-sites were the only stuff we got on the main blog level, clearly not the sort of thing we would want to have there.
So, the damn thing is gone, banished and will not be allowed to come back until its authors come up with something that does what it promises.
In case you were wondering…
On 21/09/2009, in Just to let you know..., by steve
The ad on the right hand side (the big one…) is experimental… its message is generated by the contents of the blog itself. Based on some of the first ads that came up, I started wondering what ATM is really about. Computers seem to have a very strange understanding of our profession!
Anyway, please bear with us… and click on the ads if you see something you like!
60 years of military transport flying
On 12/09/2009, in Just to let you know..., by steve
Those who looked skywards to-day in Hungary could glimpse a sight not previously seen anywhere. An Antonov An-26 of the Hungarian Air Force and the last airworthy Li-2 flew together to commemorate 60 years of military transport flying in the country.
The Lisunov Li-2, wearing the original Malev livery, is one of the several thousand examples license-built in the Soviet Union, actually the Soviet version of the Douglas C-47. The Russian designation was PS-84 and NATO reporting name Cab. It is rumored that the Russians have never paid a cent to Douglas in license fees. This particular example entered service with the Hungarian People’s Army in 1949 and was later turned into a civilian transport with the registration HA-LIX.
The Antonov An-26, NATO reporting name Curl, is a development of the An-24 and was first seen in 1969. It is easy to recognize by the modified rear fuselage housing a large cargo ramp.
Flying almost wingtip to wingtip to-day, the biggest problem for the An-26 skipper was flying slow enough not to overtake the Li-2…
Welcome
On 23/07/2009, in Just to let you know..., by steve
Until a few years ago, we had no idea what the word “blog” (the contraction of the term weblog) really meant. Then all of a sudden, it was all over us.
No self respecting prime minister, dictator or college student would consider not having a blog.
But what is this magic tool that seems to have such an irresistible force of attraction for such a wide swath of humanity?
Wikipedia tells us that a blog is a kind of website with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events and other material, such as graphics and video. While some blogs function as a personal online diary, many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject.
Roger-Wilco is a blog of this second category. RWB is dedicated to the world of air traffic management, as seen through the eyes of air traffic controllers, pilots, engineers, psychologists… and YOU, our readers who we trust will comment on the articles appearing on the pages of our blog.
Click here to read the full article
