Northrop will not bid for US Air Force tanker contract
On 09/03/2010, in The aircraft we fly, by steve
It has just been announced that Northrop/Airbus will not bid for the multi-million dollar Air Force new tanker contract quoting the USAF’s latest selection criteria which clearly favours Boeing’s smaller offering.
Originally, Northrop/Airbus were offering a tanker based on the Airbus 330 and Boeing on the 767. The new tanker is to replace the current crop of tankers based on the Boeing 707.
The A330-based Airbus offering
The first competition was won by Northrop but Boeing successfully appealed the decision, triggering a second round of bidding. Airbus had grand plans of penetrating the US defense market on the back of an eventual tanker contract. The folks in Mobile, Alabama stand to lose also as the $600 million plant that was to be built there to assemble the tanker will now not materialize.
Boeing has reason to celebrate. It has a lock on one of the biggest defense deals in US history and the precedent they have created will no doubt influence the outcome of future procurements also. They may or may not go to Boeing of course but a more pronounced preference for US sourcing of strategic war materiel cannot be excluded.
The Boeing KC-767...the winner in a race of one
A kid in the tower, a pilot without license and other things
On 08/03/2010, in Viewpoint, by steve
The unprecedented success of the air transport industry is due mainly to the spectacular improvements in safety booked overt the years. True, the convenience of being able to travel to the other end of Europe for a meeting and back the same day count for a lot, but without the safety factor, few passengers would accept the hassle of endless security queues and legroom appropriate for the shortest 10 % of the population only.
The exemplary safety record is the result of constant vigilance, safety management systems and the responsible attitudes of those working with or around aircraft.
Any disturbance that could negatively affect safety or even the perception of safety would be a disaster to the industry on a scale that would dwarf the effects of the recent financial meltdown in the world.
In a well running system complacency is one of the biggest dangers while it is also one of the most basic treats of the human character. Fighting complacency must be one of the most important items in any safety manager’s kit.
Recently however we seem to be seeing signs of a disturbing trend.
8.33 kHz Channel spacing – what is this?
On 04/03/2010, in Buzzwords explained, by steve
The radio spectrum, a scarce resort
One of the most basic activities in a cockpit is tuning the radio to the assigned frequency of whoever we want to talk to. Contacting ground control, the tower or one’s own company is done by turning a few knobs until the right numbers show in the radio control panel display and we can talk.
Air traffic controllers see the same thing slightly differently. They do not normally have to tune their radios. The proper frequencies for their sector or other working position are pre-set and need no further attention.
With the matter being so pedestrian and the actions so routine, few of us realize that the ability of pilots and controllers to talk to each other is in fact dependent on one of the scarcest resources in aviation, namely the radio spectrum allocated to aviation use.
Many other disciplines have their own radio spectrum and we all guard jealously what we have been given and for good reason. With so many users wanting to use the radio waves, the incumbents better watch or the use it or lose it principle kicks in. Luckily, the frequencies most widely used by aviation (118 – 137 MHz) are not coveted so strongly by others. Our problem is different but not in the least less serious.
KLM and Aeroflot take-off from taxi-ways
On 02/03/2010, in View from the left seat, by phil
Strange as it may seem one of the more difficult things that pilots have to deal with is finding their way around airports. Despite ICAO standardisation many obvious things like airport signage are not always the same at every airport, and even if they were, airport layouts will always differ. Surprisingly, navigating the aircraft down through the descent and arrival routes, then flying the approach and landing can often be easier than trying to navigate around the taxiways after vacating the runway. Equally, after all the hassle of getting the passengers on board, completing the checklists, pushing back on time, starting engines and leaving the ramp, finding ones’ way to the runway is not always as easy as it may seem. It really is extraordinary how difficult a seemingly simple task can be!
On the aircraft I used to fly, we had no map displays – only the basic fight instruments and paper charts. We followed our progress around the taxiways as carefully as we could following the charts. But even in good conditions it was surprisingly easy to become confused or to make a mistake. Usually this was resolved very quickly by reference to the marker boards and by checking compass headings, or by asking the tower for help. But sometimes one made a wrong turning, especially in poor visibility, or when everything was covered with snow, or at an unfamiliar airport.
Flying the Boeing 747
On 26/02/2010, in View from the left seat, by phil
I came relatively late to the Boeing 747, first flying it in 1981 long after all the early teething problems with the PW JT9D-3 engines had been solved. We had two versions of the aircraft in British Airways, the 747-100 series with the more powerful PW JT9D-7 engines and the 747-200 with RR RB211-524 engines. The -200 version had the longer range but both variants were a delight to fly.
The first 747 delivery
Previously the two jet types I had flown were the Vickers VC10 and the Boeing 707, both excellent in their way but not as magnificent as the 747. It was not just its size that made it so. In contrast to the various earlier types of jet transports, which all had some handling vices, the 747 had none. And, again, in contrast to the earlier types it had more system redundancy than any of them. The only handling vice that I could find (if it was a vice at all) was that the nose wheel could skate along the surface if one tried to turn when taxiing at too fast a speed.
747
On 25/02/2010, in Bookshelf, by steve
By Joe Sutter with Jay Spenser
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-088241-9
For some time now we could read a lot about the development problems afflicting the latest big aircraft types. Just think of the Airbus A380, the 787 or the A400M military transport. Proud projects yet they started life with what appears to be more than their share of setbacks. Perhaps it is now the time to read something about the 747, the “Queen of the Skies”, the aircraft on which at one time Boeing had bet the future of the whole company… Was her birth any smoother?
There is no better guide to lead you through those exciting years than Joe Sutter, one of the most celebrated engineers of the twentieth century and the person who had spearheaded the design and construction of the 747.
747 size aircraft are commonplace today but when Boeing started building the first 747, it was bigger than anything ever built before and needed the world’s largest workshop just to be put together. Everything about the 747 was big including the larger than life personalities who were involved in or influenced this magnificent project.
It was far from smooth sailing and tensions between people as well as technological challenges all added up to make the project leader’s life difficult.
But Joe Sutter and his brilliant team of engineers carried on, never faltering, never doubting, pushing and pulling and even performing the odd miracle when that was called for.
If you think the 380 or the 787 had problems, what about reading that the third 747 in the flight test program actually crashed in Renton two weeks before the FAA was scheduled to certify the 747? Ok, it was pilot error and there was little damage but still… As it turned out, the FAA was actually very impressed by the crashworthiness of the aircraft and the incident had no adverse effect on certification.
With so much in Seattle hanging on Boeing’s future, the Sutters’ friends kept bugging Nancy Sutter, Joe’s wife, whether she believed her husband knew what he was doing… When the 747 first flew on February 9, 1969 Nancy was standing near the runway’s edge at the calculated unstick point, rewarded for all her patience with the best view of this historic event.
After reading this book, you will see big aircraft in a totally different light. Highly recommended.
Order your copy here.
Is there a lesson for SESAR in the A400M?
On 24/02/2010, in SESAR's Palace, by pbn
In case you do not know, the A400M is the military transport Europe has been trying to put together for a few years now and which has recently managed to get airborne. In body anyway because the future of its spirit is far from assured. Why the military needed a new propeller driven heavy transport when they had Boeing’s C-17 already up and running is something of a puzzle… I guess someone somewhere must have thought a big collaborative project like this would be good for European industry.
The Airbus Military A400M
Well, they were absolutely right. The A400M project, beset by delays, incredible cost overruns and government meddling on an unprecedented scale, has shown all the weaknesses current European co-operation can master when States set their minds to it. True, this time the scenery was provided by the military but many of the parties involved have a civilian “face” also, so the outcome is of general interest.
British Airways Boeing 777 Heathrow accident final report issued
On 23/02/2010, in View from the left seat, by steve
G-YMMM was executing British Airways Flight 38 Beijing-London Heathrow on 17 January 2008 when it crash landed just short of the runway at its destination airport. Several people were injured but there were no fatalities.
The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) has now released its final report on the accident.
The 777 was 720 feet above ground level (AGL) on final approach to Heathrow runway 27L when an un-commanded power reduction occurred first in the right then 7 seconds later in the left Trent 800 engine. The resulting loss of airspeed caused the aircraft to touch down prematurely and skidding on the grassy surface, it came to a stop near the threshold of the runway.
The cause was identified as ice in the fuel system which impeded fuel flow to both engines.
Station calling – Visiting Jeppesen
On 15/01/2010, in Station calling, by steve
Introduction
Elroy B. Jeppesen
In the aviation business, like in any other business, certain names rise to the top to be there for decades serving as beacons of progress and hope. Then some of them disappear, never to be heard of again. New generations grow up and for them names like Curtiss or Douglas or McDonnell do not mean anything any more. It is the sign of the times that in recent history we had to witness what was probably the biggest mass extinction in aviation history taking the likes of Pan Am and TWA with it…
Fortunately, others endure and continue to prove that by adapting to the changing environment, survival is possible. Jeppesen is such a company.
Perhaps best known by their aeronautical charts, often referred to by pilots as “jepps”, few people actually realize just how broad an offering Jeppesen has to support all kinds of aviation activities and probably even fewer people know where it all started or where it is all going for that matter. Visiting Jeppesen is like a voyage into the past and future of the aviation support industry.
Interesting people, unusual flight plans…
On 09/01/2010, in Interesting people, by steve
Kathleen O’Brien – Houston we have a problem…
Kathleen O’Brien is an Associate Technical Fellow with Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle.
What were you dreaming of becoming when you were a kid?
I loved to read and becoming a librarian looked like a good choice. You know how it is, little girls did not have that many options to choose from.
What moved you to become part of the aviation family?
I went to Houston with my husband at the time and graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. Unfortunately I found Houston a horrible place and wanted to get out at any cost. I was really desperate and would have taken just about any job that helped me to escape. As it happened, Boeing had an opening and they hired me.
What were the most significant sideways jumps in your professional life?
I have been with Boeing all my working life but inside the company I had a few moves right and left that qualify.
I started as a design engineer on the 777 and when the plane was ready things were a bit slow for a while until I moved into CNS/ATM. This was more avionics related and I was able to get the bigger picture… On the 777 I was dealing with the landing gear, brakes, tire pressures… it was just a piece of the overall product. In CNS/ATM a whole new world opened up for me.
Air France 447 – Second Interim Report published. Cause still unknown.
On 18/12/2009, in SKYbrary News, by steve
News from EUROCONTROL’s aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary
The loss of AF447 over the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009 is proving to be every bit the nightmare of accident investigators and safety experts alike. The French accident investigation bureau BEA has now published their second Interim Report which includes new findings and makes a number of safety recommendations but the cause of the accident remains undetermined.
Further investigation will be needed to figure out what exactly has happened on that fateful night. Accidents with their cause undetermined hang like a Damocles’ sword over the industry… We can try to initiate mitigating actions in a general sense but only focused action has a guarantee of hitting its target. It is exactly this target that is missing in cases with the cause undetermined and hence there is not much to focus on.
Luckily, not many accidents remain unsolved even if in some cases a repeat of the problem cannot be avoided before the cause is found. A famous case concerned the Boeing 737, two of which were lost to the same cause before the third one managed to land safely and the culprit (a part worth a few bucks but prone to freezing) was found.
Let’s hope AF447 will reveal its secrets soon…
You can read the AF447 Second Interim Report here.
Same time, same place, same level…19
On 18/12/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
EmergencyLight – Phantom Menace
Winter flying in real, cold continental climate is hard on pilots, aeroplanes and controllers alike. The somewhat lower traffic volume is frequently offset by the delays resulting from snow and ice on the runway, or the occasional broken-down snow-sweeper…
As you will see, cold winter air has a number of its own tricks up its sleeve. Darkness had been with us for some hours when the last departure of the day, a cargo 707 roared into the air, leaving a flurry of snow swirling above the frozen runway long after the plane was gone. Alone in the air, they climbed swiftly in the thick, cold air and it looked like another routine end to the day. In no time at all, however, departure control was shaken out of its peaceful reverie when the pilot of the Boeing announced in a shaken voice that he was taking avoiding action due to another large aircraft sighted immediately below their own. A quick look at the flight progress board confirmed what we knew already, namely that there was no other aircraft within a hundred miles. Radar seemed to bear out the same, with only the cargo machine’s blip inching along on the screen, albeit on a heading almost 90 degrees away from its original course. They were making an avoiding action, all right.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes to the air
On 16/12/2009, in The aircraft we fly, by steve
Late by 28 months but finally in the air! 15 December 2009 will no doubt be a memorable day for Boeing and the whole industry for that matter: the 787 has finally taken to the air, its maiden flight hopefully bringing an end to the series of problems the program had to contend with over the past two and half years.
Of course when you set out to follow a revolutionary path, problems are expected. The point is: how far are you able to foresee the problems and how quickly you can react to them, foreseen or not.
The 787 is nothing if not revolutionary and in more ways than one too. Its composite structures built as complete fuselage barrels (as opposed to the more traditional approach of the Airbus A350XWB which uses ribs and composite panels) is a huge challenge, something that has never been tried on this scale. Then the degree of outsourcing Boeing has elected to use is also unique (and asking for trouble if you listen to union leaders in Seattle).
Same time, same place, same level…18
On 16/12/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
EmergencyLight – Uninvited guests
There is no doubt about it, flying to-day is the safest means of transportation. The numbers are well known and to most of us people whose bread comes from one or the other area of civil aviation, driving to and from the airport appears far more dangerous than being up in the air.
This is not to say that statistics do not occasionally catch up with us. If you work the airways long enough, there are bound to be aircraft which will never again come home, having met their fateful end at some remote (or not so remote) corner of the world. Some of us have even experienced the horror of seeing a blip disappear from our own radar screen. It is no fun having to write a report on an accident in which friends, even if only known over the radio, had perished. At times like that we mourn our dead, but we also learn to live with it, our training telling us to work even harder to beat the numbers.
Click here to read the full article
Anniversary – Boeing 747 first revenue flight
On 09/12/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
40 year anniversary on 22 January 2010
N736PA
Pan American World Airways is long gone but the 747, into its fifth generation, still strives. Forty years ago on 22 January 1970 it was a Pan Am clipper that introduced this undisputed king of large aircraft to revenue service. N736PA, a 747-100 flew from New York to London and became famous on account of the originally scheduled 747 having had to turn back from the runway due to engine trouble. This rather ominous start of revenue services was quickly forgotten, helped in no small degree by the now legendary reliability of all 747 variants.
Same time, same place, same level…17
On 04/12/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
Navigation, the art of getting lost – Part 2
A taxiway will do…
A few years later, however, we got our share of uninvited visitors, too. This time it was a Sunday and the observation terrace was crowded by people, some of them waiting for flights due in later, others just there to watch for the fun of it. Well, they were in for more fun than they had bargained for.
Quite unknown to us, high above in the skies a fully armed fighter on routine patrol duty was in trouble. Not in big trouble mind you, just enough to loose all his navigation capability and his communication with the ground. As his fuel state deteriorated rapidly, the poor guy started descending, no doubt searching for one of the “secret” military fields the location of which only he was supposed to know. As he popped out from the solid cloud cover, he saw a field, which happened to be us. He took us to be the military field, no doubt because he wanted to see a military field so much…
Legend & Legacy – The Story of Boeing and Its People
On 02/12/2009, in Bookshelf, by steve
By Robert J. Serling
Publisher: St. Martin’s Pres, New York
ISBN-0-312-05890-X
When we read about Boeing these days, it is more often than not something negative. The new version of the 747 and the Dreamliner delayed, repeatedly it seems and for reasons that make one wonder what is going on in Seattle and Chicago. It is easy to forget that with the Dreamliner they are working in uncharted territory where surprises are not that unusual, even with the best of planning.
It is about time you dropped the daily paper and read a book about Boeing the company and Boeing, the people who have built this icon of aviation. Robert J. Serling created a masterpiece, taking you behind the scenes with humor, objectivity and abundant anecdotes. Published in 1991, the book talks about a Boeing that is yet to endure the effects of 9/11 and the latest economic crisis but when we read that the company once went seventeen months without selling a single plane on the domestic market and almost went bankrupt, one cannot but wonder. Has anything really changed?
Industrial history books can be dry and a bore. Not Legend & Legacy which reads like a novel except that it feels real from the first page to the very last and even when you read about incredible characters and incredible deeds that helped win WWII and conquered the commercial skies.
What about the salesman who almost traded a used 727 for 12 million bucks worth of underwear or the test pilot who barrel-rolled a prototype jetliner representing one-quarter of the company’s net worth… He felt the stunt would help sell the plane!
You will read about the conception, gestation and birth of the legendary 747 which will forever wear the crown of very big
airplanes even if it was overtaken by new types like the Airbus A380.
This is a compelling, fascinating journey from William Boeing’s Red Barn to the 777 shown through the hearts and eyes of the people on all levels who are and will always be the essence of the Boeing Company.
Pick up a copy and expect to miss even your favorite football game!
Same time, same place, same level…16
On 30/11/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
Navigation, the art of getting lost – Part 1
Faultless navigation plays an all important role in the safe operation of aircraft. There are scores of instruments both in the cockpit and on the ground, the purpose of which is to make sure that pilots and controllers are constantly aware of where their airplanes are flying. Of course, not all the available systems are of equal sophistication, while some provide direct readout of position, others require quite a bit of interpretation. Different aircraft may have different equipment installed and under certain conditions controllers on the ground are the only ones who can really tell at a glance the position of a particular plane.
Constant positional awareness of the flight crew is helped by specialized charts quite unreadable to the layman. What you see is a maze of lines, circles, symbols, figures and arrows, but to a pilot they tell all he needs to know. Controllers mainly rely on their radar to keep track of what is happening but they can read a navigation chart as well as any pilot can. Still, navigational errors do occur, almost always leading to hot situations in the cockpit and on the ground. Here are a few of the more notable ones from our experience.
Shitbombers and the mountains
If you loose your way in the sky while flying over flat ground on a bright summer day, though awkward, things are not likely to take a nasty turn in a hurry. You can always try to read the name of a nearby railway station or if this fails, call in to ATC for some friendly advice. However, if there are mountains around, you are flying in clouds and radar has difficulties tracking your flight, it is better to watch your every step.
Remember the old Chinese saying “Luck never comes in pairs or disaster alone”? Well, this seems to be especially true for flying. The five shitbombers (we called the agricultural sprayers shitbombers) were plodding along in a tight formation, heavily loaded with fuel, on a ferry flight bound for the Middle East.
When blue means green
On 27/11/2009, in Environment - Without hot air, by steve
The KLM 747 shown below circled The Netherlands for an hour on 23 November with one of its four engines running on a 50 % mix of biokerosene. The new fuel aptly tagged “sustainable kerosene” was manufactured from the camelina plant by a biotechnology company in Seattle, USA.
KLM said that this was the first ever flight in Europe powered partly by sustainable kerosene.
Some 40 people, including politicians, airline officials and journalists, were on board.
KLM stressed that its interest in sustainable kerosene is conditional on the availability of solutions that do not jeopardize the food supply, forests or water resources.
This flight was definitely an important first step towards cleaner and sustainable air transport. The general availability of sustainable kerosene is one aspect that will determine how quickly companies adopt the new fuel.
I have only one nagging question… what color will the contrail be behind a fully bio aero engine? (SMILE)
Same time, same place, samel level…13
On 31/10/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
VIP – the Very I??? Person
Ever wondered what that little red luggage-tag, with “VIP” printed prominently on it, was supposed to signify? Very Idiotic, oh sorry, Important Passenger. There are various ways to earn such distinction and these include flying the same line very, very often or making it to Head of State. The former may expect to have his luggage treated with extra care or extra carelessness, depending on the disposition and political convictions of the luggage-handlers, will certainly draw extra smiles and booze from the airline staff and just as certainly he or she will have no influence whatsoever on the workings of air traffic control. They are the little VIP’s, you see. Now the big VIP’s, that is an altogether different kettle of fish. Air Force One (the US president’s flight), or Rainbow (the flight of British Royalty) will certainly not go unnoticed by ATC. Though exactly how much notice they receive is likely to change from place to place. That you cannot be a prophet in your own backyard seems especially true here. Air Force One flying over the continental USA is a very different flight from the Air Force One going to Moscow, for instance.
“Big VIP’s” are treated as something really special in some parts of the world, Eastern Europe in the distant past having been a prime example. They closed whole routes and aerodromes to speed the VIP on its way and for lesser VIP’s, as a minimum, double separation from other traffic was provided. Leaders of the truly democratic nations would have probably been acutely embarrassed had they been aware of how much inconvenience the general traveling public was put to on their account in the communist countries. Leaders of these latter didn’t seem to mind, though… When THEY flew, everything else had to stop. That this could lead to utterly crazy situations, well, read on for proof.
Delta 767 lands on taxiway in Atlanta
On 28/10/2009, in Viewpoint, by cleo
OK, so those Northwest pilots were having a heated argument about company policies (at least that was reported) and they overshot their destination Minneapolis by a cool 150 miles… But what was the crew of the Delta Airlines 767 coming from Rio doing in the early morning of 19 October when they landed on taxiway M at Atlanta Hartsfield? Were they also discussing company policies? Ah this marriage between Northwest and Delta!
Taxiway M is parallel with Runway 27R and the weather conditions were good. 10 miles visibility in night conditions, no wind… The taxiway lights were on as were the runway lights. Apparently the approach lights were not switched on, who knows why? No vehicles or other aircraft were on the taxiway, so nobody was hurt. This time…
Atlanta is Delta’s home and one can assume that it was not the first time the flight crew landed on 27R there. Are statistics catching up with us (the very unlikely will also happen some time…) or are we seeing the results of a systemic problem many like to pretend does not exist?
In memoriam Northwest Airlines
On 25/10/2009, in Airline corner, by steve
A330s of NWA
A few years back my business required a lot of travel to and all over the United States. I was a Northwest WorldPerks member and it was of course only natural that I flew via Amsterdam and than on the NWA system in the US.
Northwest was the fourth largest airline in America and for some reason they did not enjoy a stellar reputation… They flew old planes and customer service was supposed to be below par. Some people called them NorthWorst. May be I was lucky but in all the hundreds of thousands of miles I flew with them, I never had a single reason to complain.
A short (unofficial) history of air/ground digital link – 3
On 24/10/2009, in Buzzwords explained, by steve
Pioneers to the rescue
In spite of the positive business case, airspace users were not exactly rushing to equip with air/ground digital link. Because of the slow down of traffic growth in the wake of 9/11, the expected ACARS problems did not materialize and the ATC frequency congestion was also pushed far into the future. In other industries, such a period of respite might have been used to prepare for the times when business recovery would once again make air//ground digital link essential. But that is not how aviation works. With the immediate threat receding and even some of the big carriers fighting for survival, enthusiasm for investing in things that would generate benefits only many years down the road cooled.
Of course for the planners of the ATM system this was a situation that spelled trouble for later. The frequency congestion problems were not a mirage even if for the time being those problems slipped into the future. The need to put together a comprehensive kit of capacity enablers had not become less important, only the urgency had changed somewhat. For LINK2000+ the big question was: how to jump start equipage? The question was not self serving at all. If Maastricht UAC controllers did not get digital link equipped aircraft to work with, it would be impossible to build and maintain proficiency and to shake down the system in real operational circumstances.
What is nanotechnology’s equivalent in air traffic management?
On 17/10/2009, in Viewpoint, by steve
It has been all over the trade press recently. 10 billion extra euros to go into French aeronautics research, the money coming from a planned public bond issue. Some of the fruits of this dough will come in the form of ground and flight demonstrations in the 2011-2014 time-frame and the primary aim of the effort is to meet the threat to Europe’s lead in the narrow-body aircraft area. Those new Chinese and Russian (not to mention Canadian) designs are being taken seriously and for good reason. Replacements for the A320 family and of course the 737 will be needed and probably sooner than later if Europe and the US wants to remain big players.
The line-up of planned demos is impressive. Replacing hydraulics with electrics, 15 % improvement in the performance of existing turbofan technologies, improved rotorcraft, and blended winglets… Airframes with nanostructure enhanced materials and intelligent skin and even new cockpits to mate up with SESAR and NextGen are also on the Agenda. All very good and timely.
A short (unofficial) history of air/ground digital link – 1
On 12/10/2009, in Buzzwords explained, by steve
Introduction
Talking to a group of young controllers the other day I suddenly realized that Controller Pilot Digital Link Communications (CPDLC) and its enabler, air/ground digital link were a kind of given for them… Their centre has either already implemented it or had plans for it and while their opinion diverged on the usefulness of the thing, they certainly did not consider it as anything exciting. In a way this is good. The more everyday air/ground digital link becomes, the more we can consider having cleared a major hurdle in implementing an important capacity enabler.
But not being familiar with the history of a particular development reduces our ability to understand its shortcomings and its future potential.
With this article I would like to put on the table a few, sometimes amusing, sometimes incredible, details from the last 15 years of so about air/ground digital link development in the hope that it will be provide some insight into what is after all a very exciting development in air traffic management.
The story will not be comprehensive; it is only a summary and is based mainly on my recollections. I was pretty close to the fire but possibly for that very reason I may have seen things in a light that was colored differently from the actual reality. If you have better information, do comment on my version of the tale.
Visiting an office with a view
On 06/10/2009, in The lighter side, by heading370
Familiarization flight with Transavia
One of the countless drawbacks of 9/11, a few of you may have realized, is that even for air traffic controllers it has become increasingly difficult to visit a cockpit of an airliner, indeed most of the airlines adopted a closed cockpit door policy. I used to take every opportunity to at least say hello to the crew and was always happy to take the jumpseat for an interesting landing. But those times are over I’m afraid, probably forever and I don’t even ask the cabin crew anymore as I know the answer will be a polite: Sorry it’s not possible…
A happy crew
In the past Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) had agreements with various airlines which offered us ATCO-s the chance for fam. flights to see the place where all that actions happen. One of my most memorable experiences goes back to 1996 when I flew in the cockpit of a Swissair MD-11 between Zurich and Montreal Mirabel. So I was particularly happy when we learned about the great new initiative: Transavia Airlines (commercially rebranded as transavia.com after the basiqair period) was willing to renew the nice tradition of familiarization flights for air traffic controllers, offering us Maastricht controllers a quota of 50 flights a year.
Needless to say I was amongst the first ones to apply and received a confirmation email the previous day that I will fly on the 8th of March with TRA5143 from Amsterdam to Alicante and back on the same day.
Interesting people, unusual flight plans…
On 04/10/2009, in Interesting people, by steve
Rob Mead – Long-way turn from Yellowstone to Seattle
I put passion into
everything I did...
What were you dreaming of becoming when you were a kid?
Actually… I did not dream of anything in particular. I put passion into everything I did, wanted to be good in what I did… I always felt that life was going in a good direction and I just went with it.
What made you become part of the aviation family?
The blame for that goes to the US Air Force. By pure chance I ended up flying in the back of RC135s and never looked back since. I knew right from the start that flying was the pladce to be for me. Still feel the same way.
Click here to read the full article
Bio is in…
On 17/09/2009, in Environment - Without hot air, by steve
One of the, perhaps not unexpected, results of the current world economic crisis is the explosive growth of corporate social responsibility. Part of this is in response to the growing demand of the general population to move from unchecked consumerism and predatory capitalism to a more sustainable and socially more equitable form of market economy. Protecting the environment while working on this change is a natural.
Corporations are responding because they have discovered that a more socially responsible attitude brings not only new sources of investment but also increased customer loyalty. Of course this is nothing new. Benjamin Franklin was on the same track when he was popularizing the idea of doing well by doing good… and that was quite some years before Lehman Brothers et al.
For some reason, air transportation has been a popular target of environmentalists and politicians alike who tend to attack the industry for being environmental morons who are also socially irresponsible. Since it is not really realistic (even for environmentalists and politicians) to suggest that airlines offer bicycles to their customers instead of aircraft seats, the elegant and simple solution of capping air traffic growth is being put forward instead by some.
A short left turn
On 01/09/2009, in Flashback, by steve
The arrival of Lufthansa’s shiny new Boeing 727 in Budapest was an event in itself. The flight from Frankfurt was almost always on time, the 727 looking like it had come from Boeing’s delivery centre the day before… We learnt early that she could climb and descend like no other jet serving Budapest and as such she was every controller’s best friend.
Photo Rafael Klöpper
Although one did not play favorites with any airline, it was hard to refuse when an LH skipper asked for a particular runway or other small “favor” pilots sometimes requested. After several months of uneventful operation one morning we noticed that the return flight plan was filed to Belgrade rather than Frankfurt. So what gives?
C-17s on peace mission
On 28/07/2009, in Flashback, by steve
For those of us who worked at Ferihegy Airport in the 60s and 70s, military service was a simplified affair. Just one month of ground-pounder training (as opposed to the two years meted out on the less fortunate) where after we went back to our civilian jobs of, in our case, controlling aircraft. The assumption was that if NATO came invading Lake Balaton and the Great Hungarian Plain, we would be doing the same job, albeit in uniform…
Training for the worst
As controllers, we were of course aware of the location of each military airport in Hungary, those used by the Russians as well as the few nominally under Hungarian control.
The airport of Papa in the South-West was one of the biggest of the military fields and when the flyboys of that place took to the air, civilian air traffic suffered mightily. Those Migs needed a big chunk of real estate to exercise their skills.
For us recurrent training took the form of a one day briefing given by a bored colonel. He did his best trying to explain why and how the Warsaw Pact armies might need to take Austria (he never used the name though, “enemy” countries were given colours) and what foolproof tactics we would be using but he was no fool. Facing that bunch of pilots and air traffic controllers, he could see the general sentiment that said: the Warsaw Pact armies would probably get bogged down at Shopping City Sud just outside Vienna…
Remembering Papa
A news item on TV last night brought back these memories with a vengeance.
Luckily, we never had to test whether the theory about conquering Shopping City Sud was true, even if Hungarian is the second most spoken language after Austria’s native German at SCS to-day.
The airport of Papa still exists and has just embarked on a new renaissance. The Migs are long gone of course… But yesterday, three Boeing C-17s with Hungarian registration, have taken up residence there to support NATO’s peace missions. The Mayor of Papa was very pleased when he was interviewed on television and his smiles went out to the several hundred flying and support personnel of diverse nationalities who are taking up residence in the area.
I do not know whether our bored colonel is still alive… I hope he is. May be he will also stop at Papa to watch a few C-17s take off and land… then drive on to Shopping City Sud for a beer.
