Current Flight Buzz: 01/28/2006

* The world's biggest armaments companies are making a beeline for a defence exhibition that begins in New Delhi next week, drawn by India's emergence as one of the largest buyers of hi-tech weaponry.

* A 'dream come true' as JetBlue flights get set for spring takeoff.

* United is set to emerge from Chapter 11 next week as a leaner, more competitive company armed with $3 billion in financing - defying gloom-and-doom predictions issued by numerous critics along the way.

Challenger Disaster 15th Anniversary

This site provides a compilation of links to material about the Challenger space shuttle mission, which exploded during takeoff on January 28, 1986. Includes links to biographies of crewmembers, the Arlington National Cemetery memorial, a mission chronology, and more. Last updated in 2003. From the Daniel J. Evans Library, Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington.

Milestones of Flight: 1/28

2002 - An Ecuadoran TAME Airlines Boeing 727-100 crashed along the Colombia bor-der with 92 people aboard. The wreckage was found on a glacier of the Nevado de Cumbal vol-cano and there were no survivors.


1998 - Andy Nelson and navigator Bertrand Piccard, in the Breitling Orbiter II set the world record for endurance at nine days and 17 hours - or, to be exact, 233 hours and 55 minutes. But the journey was stopped when they were not allowed to over-fly China. The preparation took more than four years with a team of 13 people. Bertrand is the grandson of the balloon flight pioneer, Auguste Piccard. With Brian Jones, Bertrand accomplished the first complete non-stop round-the-world flight on March 21, 1999 in the Breitling Orbiter III.


1986 - Christa Corrigan McAuliffe, American teacher who was chosen by NASA to be the first private citizen in space, died this date aboard the space shuttle Challenger. She was one of the seven astronauts killed when the rocket exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. The death of McAuliffe and her fellow crew members in the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster was deeply felt by the nation and had a strong effect on the U.S. space program. Space shuttle flights were suspended until 1988. An independent U.S. commission blamed the disaster on unusually cold temperatures that morning and the failure of the O-rings, a set of gaskets in the rocket boosters.
Ronald E. McNair

1986 - Ronald E(rwin) McNair was an American physicist and astronaut who was the second African American to fly in space, died this date. He had been fascinated by space since childhood, when as early as in elementary school he talked about the Sputnik satellite. McNair was nationally recognized for his work in the field of laser physics, including chemical and high-pressure lasers. In 1978, he was one of 35 applicants selected from a pool of 10,000 for NASA's space shuttle program. He was assigned as a mission specialist on the February, 1984 flight of the shuttle Challenger, during which he orbited the earth 122 times. Sadly, on his second trip, on the morning of January 28, 1986, McNair with six other crew members died in an explosion shortly after launching aboard the Challenger.

1884 - Auguste Piccard, Swiss-born Belgian physicist, is born. He was notable for his exploration of both the upper stratosphere and the depths of the sea in ships of his own design. In 1930 he built a balloon to study cosmic rays. In 1932 he developed a new cabin design for balloons and in the same year ascended to 16,916 m (55,000 feet).

1884 - Jean-Felix Piccard, Swiss-born American chemical engineer and balloonist, is born, (He died this date in 1963).

He conducted stratospheric flights for the purpose of cosmic-ray research. His first balloon ascent (1913) was with his twin brother, Auguste Piccard. With his wife, on October 23, 1934, he made the first successful stratosphere flight through clouds, ascending to a height of 11 miles (18 km). In 1936, Piccard flew the first successful plastic film balloon, which he invented and developed, the precursor of the plastic film balloon for high altitude experiments still used for scientific purposes. In 1937, he made an ascent of 11,000 feet (3,350 m) to test a metal gondola attached to a cluster of 98 balloons. He also developed a frost-resistant window for balloon gondolas and an electronic system for emptying ballast bags.

1871 - The 66th and final flight of the siege of Paris took off, the same day that an armistice ending the Franco-Prussian War was signed at Versailles. It carried orders for the French fleet to bring food and supplies to replenish the French capital. The flight of the General Cambronne ends a period of almost exactly 5 months during which the advantages of balloons were put to efficient and dramatic use.

The idea of using balloons as a life line for the besieged was as old as ballooning itself, but the French tested the idea on a scale never before imagined. Before this extraordinary effort ended, the country would build a fleet of balloons and train the men to fly them; the essential business of a nation at war would be transacted through messages carried by balloons; divided families would remain in touch, and a flock of carrier pigeons would be assembled to bring word from the outside back to the city. In the end a total of 66 balloons carrying 102 passengers and two and half million letters left Paris in this way, and all but eight of the balloons landed safely and among friends.

Current Flight Buzz: 01/27/2006

* (China Post Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)The Ministry of National Defense (MND) reportedly held military exercises last week and Chinese media reports yesterday suggested that they used the cross-strait charter flights as targets.


* USAF Orders Five Predator UAVs from General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems for $41,403,571.

* SAS Scandinavian Airlines and Alitalia each began returning to normal operations yesterday following several days of strikes.

* World Airways and its pilots, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, are continuing to negotiate in advance of the Jan. 28 conclusion of the 30-day cooling-off period imposed by the National Mediation Board. At that time, the 430 pilots may go on strike while the airline can impose a new contract. Pilots are barred from interrupting flights carried out on behalf of the US military, World Airways' largest customer.

* President Kufuor of Ghana to continue travels on commercial flights.


* United Airlines rolls out new jets: the 66-seat Bombardier/Canadair Regional Jet 700 (or the CRJ-700 for short).

* FAA accuses New York controllers of overtime abuse.

* Democrats introduce bill to force FAA contract arbitration.

* Air Traffic Controllers Make Alliance With Senators in Dispute With FAA.

* No more cheap tickets in India?

* An attempt to make the longest aircraft flight in history could begin as early as the middle of next week.

Milestones of Flight: 1/27

2002 - Boeing’s 737, the world’s most widely used twin jet, becomes the first jetliner in history to amass more than 100 million flying hours. The 737 was launched onto the market in 1965.

2002 - A Russian Mi-8 military helicopter crashed¹ in Chechnya and all 14 aboard were killed.

"¹Helicopter crashes in Chechnya:
Feb 2002 - Eight killed
Jan 2002 - 14 senior Russian officials killed
Sept 2001 - 10 passengers and three crew killed
Aug 2001 - two killed
July 2001 - nine troops killed
Feb 2000 - 15 killed

1989 - British aircraft designer Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith died this date.

1967 - APOLLO 1 SPACECRAFT FIRE: ANNIVERSARY.

1967 - Edward H. White, II, Lieutenant Colonel, NASA Astronaut, the first U.S. astronaut to walk in space, died this date. Along with James A. McDivitt he manned the four-day orbital flight of Gemini 4, launched on June 3, 1965. During the third orbit White emerged from the spacecraft, floated in space for about 20 minutes, and became the first person to propel himself in space with a maneuvering unit. Two years later, White was one of the three-man crew of Apollo 1 who were the first casualties of the U.S. space program, killed during a flight simulation.

1967 - Roger B. Chaffee, Lieutenant Commander, USN, NASA Astronaut, died this date at NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in the Apollo spacecraft fire.

1967 - Virgil Ivan (Gus) Grissom Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, NASA Astronaut, died this date, killed in Apollo 1¹ fire on launch pad. NASA management wanted one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts to be the first man to eventually walk on the moon. Had Grissom lived, he would very likely have been that man.

¹ The designation AS-204 was used by NASA for the flight at the time;the designation Apollo 1 was applied retroactively at the request of Grissom's widow.

1943 - Eighth Air Force B-17s and B-242 stage first American missions against German soil during attack on Wilhelmshaven Naval Base.

1939 - First flight of the Lockheed XP-38 Lightning.

1931 - Start of first flight of a light airplane in Siberia. F.B. Fabrikh and V.B. Tsyganov in a Polikarpov U-2 fly from Krasnoyarsk to Dudinka and back. By 11 March the U-2 had covered 4,392 km in 35 hours of airborne time.

1894 - Captain B. F. S. Baden-Powel (the brother of the first Chief Boy Scout) makes a kite ascent from Pirbright Army Camp, England in what appears to be the first use of man-carrying kites outside China.

Current Flight Buzz: 01/26/2006

* Las Vegas Airport says "no thanks" to the A380, saying the required modifications to accommodate the huge airliner would be too expensive

Milestones of Flight: 1/26

1951 - First flight of Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket supersonic research aircraft is made. It is launched from underneath its B-29 mother-ship and exceeds Mach 1 (the speed of sound) in a dive.


1945 - First flight of McDonnell XFD-1. Late named Phantom, the manufacturer's second design and first jet.

1914 - First flight of Igor I. Sikorsky’s multi-engined Il’ya Muromets (Sikorsky S-22) bomber.

1910 - The first practical seaplane is flown. Built and flown by American Glenn Curtiss, it lands and takes off in the waters off San Diego, California.

Current Flight Buzz: 01/24/2006

* Just in time for Mardi Gras, American Airlines will resume nonstop service between New Orleans and New York's LaGuardia Airport on Feb. 3, with one round trip flight each day. American will be the only carrier flying nonstop between New Orleans and close-in LaGuardia Airport.

* Man Jumps From Moving Jetliner Onto Tarmac in Ft. Lauderale FL after biting another passenger. He was later subdued with a stun gun.


* Boeing Missile Defense Systems (MDS) has taken delivery of the aircraft for the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) program, achieving the first of several key milestones in the laser gunship effort.

* JetBlue will begin serving 10-ounce cups of Dunkin' Donuts coffee on all its flights by the end of the month. The deal is the airline's latest attempt to bring brand names on board its planes. JetBlue currently offers satellite television and radio with DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) and, for a $5 fee, Fox movies.


* Alitalia expects strike to affect 250 flights today.

* SAS cancels flights today due to Danish pilots strike.

* Man sues over mistaken-ID airport arrest.

Current Flight Buzz: 01/23/2006

* Cathay Pacific Airways is celebrating its 60-year fleet history - from Betsy to Boeing - with the release of 12 limited edition scale models of aircraft that carried the airline from one man's dream to a major network carrier.

* AER LINGUS is to sign a $400m (€330m) deal for the delivery of four Airbus A330 aircraft — the first stage of chief executive Dermot Mannion’s eagerly awaited long-haul expansion. The deal also represents a significant coup for the European plane maker in its tussle with Boeing.

* Korean Air has become the first Asian carrier to be authorized by Connexion by Boeing (CBB) to modify and install in-flight Internet services.

* Homeland Security unit to consolidate aviation, marine assets.

Moldy oldie

Unusual Aviation Pictures is an older site (apparently not actively kept up anymore -- most of the links don't work) with a gallery of just what you might think: odd pictures of airplanes.

Current Flight Buzz: 01/2/2006

* AshcroftLobbies Against Boeing. An Israeli aerospace company is competing with U.S.-based Boeing for a contract to build an early-warning radar system for South Korea, and former Attorney General John Ashcroft is working to help the Israeli side win the $1 billion deal.

* Eos Airlines Circles High-End Customers.

* Airport reassures on baggage bungles.

* Passengers put health on board. Fliers pack devices to avoid illnesses.

Trivia

1997 - American Lottie Williams was reportedly the first human to be struck by a remnant of a space vehicle after re-entering the earth's atmosphere. At 3 a.m., while walking in a park in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she saw a light pass over her head. "It looked like a meteor," she said. Minutes later, she was hit on the shoulder by a six-inch piece of blackened metallic material. The debris that struck Ms Williams has not been examined to confirm its origin, but a used Delta II rocket, launched nine months earlier, had crashed into the Earth's atmosphere half an hour earlier. NASA scientists believe that Williams was hit by a part of it, making her the only person in the world known to have been hit by man-made space debris.

Milestones of Flight: 1/22

1971 - A US Navy P-3C Orion lands in Patuxent River, Maryland, after a flight of 15 hours and 21 minutes from Atsugi, Japan, setting a nonstop distance record for a turboprop-powered aircraft of 7,010 miles.

1970 - The newly-constructed Boeing 747, Pan Am Flight Two, touched down at Heathrow at 1414GMT today - seven hours late due to technical problems. This is the first jumbo jet carrying fare-paying passengers.

1950 - First flight of the Tu-75 paratroop transport aircraft.

1945 - First flight of the Yak-3RD, An adaptation of series aircraft which incorporated the Glushko RD-1 rocket unit, fueled by nitric acid and kerosene, with 2,9 kN (650 lbf) of thrust in the modified tail, armed with a single 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannon with 60 rounds of ammunition. On May 11, 1945, the aircraft reached 782 km/h (485 mph) at 7,800 m (25,585 ft). During its third flight, on August 16, 1945, the aircraft crashed for unknown reasons, killing the test pilot V.L. Rastorguev. Like all mixed powerplant aircraft of the time, the project was abandoned in favor of turbojet engines.