Monthly Archives: September 2010

Steven Chu’s A-ha Moment

I’m unlikely to ever win a Nobel Prize, but today I have something in common with the 1997 winner of the prize for Physics, Energy Secretary Steven Chu . Like me, Dr. Chu believes Flying Lessons can and should be applied elsewhere, starting with the oil industry. “We have over the last half century developed procedures which are different from what I’ve seen in this industry,” Dr. Chu said on Wednesday while suggesting oil could learn a lot about safety from aviation. “One doesn’t have to reinvent a lot of things.” You’ve got that right Dr. Chu. I’m preparing to be interviewed for a Discovery Channel series on aviation disasters tomorrow, and as I review my notes on various airplane accidents, I’m reminded of just how much progress has been made in the design of the machinery and the practices that seek to optimize human performance. Why oh why haven’t these lessons been applied outside aviation? Well, I’ve speculated about that in previous blogs which you can read here and here . So let’s take a look at some of the weaknesses in offshore oil drilling cited by Secretary Chu, as reported in today’s Miami Herald . I promise, you don’t need to be a physicist to follow along. Absence of Government Oversight The buzz phrase “absence of government oversight”, has of course been tossed around since the April 20, 2010 explosion on the Deep Water Horizon drilling platform that killed 11 workers and began the spill of nearly 5 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. But Tom Anthony of the Viterbi School of Engineering at University of Southern California says that’s not a completely accurate characterization. (Read his paper on the subject here .) “I don’t think there was a absence of government oversight but there was inadequate oversight. The oversight was inadequate for the level of hazards being encountered in this environment.” Thomas Anthony

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Flights Last Minute Vegas – Tips On Making Savings On A Vegas Vacation

Las Vegas does remind one of lost wages. This infamy is because of the very steep prices of accommodation and living in Vegas. It is rightfully said that only the rich and the famous go to Vegas on a vacation. But a wise person will save money everywhere, and Las Vegas is no exception. One of the ways to save money here is to wait for some flights last minute Vegas.


It sounds funny, but with Las Vegas it often happens that you save more money as you keep on waiting. Let us look at it this way. Las Vegas is a very popular holiday location. So it is evident that people will book all the flights in advance.


Advance booking to Vegas is always more expensive compared to other holiday spots, and so you will not be saving money by reserving your tickets early on.


But if you hold out, there is every chance that someone on the already booked flights will have canceled their ticket. That is where you can make your move and offer to buy the canceled ticket. At the last minute, airlines will not want to hold out on a ticket. They will be willing to sell it to you, at lower prices even.


The savings will not be much, because after all it is Las Vegas, the casino paradise, where you are planning to go. But it would be the best way to save. In fact, if you are going to Vegas any time soon, call up a couple of airlines and ask them about tickets. Most chances are, there will be no available tickets.


Just let them know you will be interested if someone cancels their ticket and give them your number. As soon as someone cancels their trip, you will get the call, and your flights last minute Vegas will convert from probability to possibility.


There are very few chances, but you might try out the travel agents for some last minute packages to Vegas. If there are, you will get a good price combined on your accommodation and flights. However, travel agents will add their commissions too. But at least you can avail of some flights there at a moments notice.


Another way to save money is to wait for the off-season period, which begins after Halloween and goes up to the New Year. Quite surprisingly, Las Vegas is somewhat silent during the festive season. During this period, the availability of flights will also be high.


You must be quite wary of websites that claim they are providing the cheapest flights last minute Vegas. In most cases, these cheap prices are costlier than the normal rates. It would be wise to make a comparative study by visiting many airline websites and check out their rates.


Flights last minute Vegas are difficult to get, but they are not altogether impossibility. If you really are determined to go there, you must do some research. You will get what you are looking for, but it might not be as cheap as you want it to be. But then, Vegas is an expensive place to have a vacation in!

Are you looking for last minute flights information? If so, visit LastMinuteFlightsAdvice.com . Get all of the latest in cheap last minute flights insider secrets from one of the best last minute flight deals resources at last minute flights advice.com. For Vegas last minute flights advice, visit us now.

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Aircraft Carriers in FSX – Static Carriers


skylinedigitalmedia.com Carriers are also near -KNZY -KNGU -PGUM -KPAE -KPWT Carriers are near these airports. Aircraft Carriers in FSX – Static Carriers was created under Microsofts Game Content Usage Rules using assets from Flight Simulator X, © Microsoft Corporation.

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Give Me Ten Minutes and I Will Give you an Ultralight Helicopter

Well, it may take you slightly more than that to choose the right ultralight helicopter, to save the money, to buy it and to start flying with it. But it will take you exactly or less than ten minutes to read this article and to understand the most important that you need to know about owning an ultralight helicopter.

What is an Ultralight Helicopter?

It’s a helicopter like each other, but classified as ultralight, because… well because it is ultra light. The ultralight helicopters have much simpler and lighter construction than the regular ones, they often have no cockpit at all, can’t fly as high or as fast and can’t handle such load. The ultralight helicopters usually have one or two seats only.

Besides these differences, the ultralight helicopters are fully functional, have rotor wings and you need to know how to fly a helicopter if you want to fly on them.

Buying an Ultralight Helicopter

For some people the first time they hear about ultralight helicopter is when they talk to me. But don’t get miss leaded, it’s not because the helicopters are hard to find. Most people don’t know that there are literally hundreds of companies and small workshops producing ultralight helicopters or kits for them. Just search the Web and the aviation classified sites and you’ll see what I mean.

It’s still quite possible that you won’t find a company which is producing ultralight helicopters in your city. That’s why the best approach is to search the Web for sites with aviation classifieds or sites providing resource links about ultralight aircrafts. You’ll easy find all kind of used and new ultralight helicopters to be sold. The prices can start from as low as $10,000.

Building your Ultralight Helicopter

If you have some construction skills or just like to build things you can really build your helicopter on your own. This does not mean you have to be an aviation engineer and to construct it yourself. There are two options for you:

- To build your helicopter from a kit. Many companies sell ultralight aircrafts and helicopters in kit form (in fact the kit offers are more than the ready airplanes). The kits are documented and tested packages of parts ready for you to build. Usually it’s cheaper to build aircraft from a kit, but it takes significant amount of time and efforts. It’s a fun however.

- If you are a really big enthusiast, you can purchase only construction plans (usually the prices start from just $50). The plans contain information what materials and parts you need and how to build them. It’s harder than when using a kit, but can be a greater fun and can save you more money.

Flying your Ultralight Helicopter

Learning to fly your ultralight helicopter will certainly take you more than 10 minutes. In some countries you will be allowed to fly ultralight (in EU called “microlight”) without a pilot’s license. But it is strongly recommended that you attend an aircraft school and get real fly training from experienced instructors.

If you have not yet flown a helicopter, you should know it’s quite harder than flying a fixed wings airplane and the ultralight helicopters are not an exception. Get prepared for one of the greatest – and most rewarding – challenges in your life.

It’s impossible to cover all the aspects of owning an ultralight helicopter in one short article. However I have given you basic directions which are enough to start and to know what else you need to learn. If you are intrigued, visit my site about Ultralight Airplanes and Helicopters – http://ultralight-airplanes.info

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For the Soldiers on the Ground Pt. I – Kiowa


Spartan Heroes. This is Introduction and Part One of my Aviation short documentary series. This part talks about the Kiowa Warrior or the OH-58 and focusses on these short range, deadly, fast and versatile choppers. By Sgt. Robert Ham

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Flexible Trips – Buy Airline Tickets Early and Find Some Really Cheap Flights!

Check this out! Today there are many tools for acquiring some “awesome” airline tickets, but you should know that you won’t be flying first class. Aside from the online sites, there are many traditional ways of finding cheap flights.

1. Analyze all the prices from 3 airports that are located the nearest from you. For example, flights from or to Baltimore/Washington can often prove to be really cheap flights in comparison with Dulles or Reagan. All you have to do is, therefore, keep your area of choices wide open, analyze all the supply available on the airline tickets market and do this for both destination and home airport. A helping hand for you in this matter are some of the search engines available online that are specially designed to do this for you, if you don’t have the time or the necessary mood to do all these “investigations” all by yourself.

2. If your trip involves crossing the mid-Atlantic corridor, you should take the train. This is often a relatively luxurious alternative that helps you save money and that is always preferable to cattle-car flights. It is, as well, way faster than traveling by car or plane when congestion or bad weather conditions lead to never-ending traffic delays that can mess up all of your plans and ruin your day.

3. Overshoot. And that is more indicated especially if you have as a destination a hub city, such as Atlanta, Chicago, New York, etc. Search carefully for cheap flights to minor destinations on airlines that use your target city as a hub. And don’t check any bags!

4. Try to have an airline employee as a friend. It is a very clever and handy way – as well as the only one discovered by now – of flying on cheap flights. This is called a “buddy fare” and is exclusively on a space available basis.

5. As a final option, consider driving, or if you are a person that gets tired easily, you can always take the bus. After all, you are planning to go on vacation and why not make the most of your spare time if you are not in a hurry?

For international flights or between major US cities, you should check non-US airlines like Air France, Air New Zealand and others, whose quality may prove to be much better for the same price as a US flight and there are two great ways of doing this:

1. When you consider traveling internationally, you should search for an agency, a real live agency that is located in a neighborhood having a high percentage of citizens from the country that you are traveling to. These types of agencies buy out grand chunks of a flight, that giving you the opportunity of getting cheap flights.

2. Give a quick reading to the American Express website. It has not been proved yet what kind of mysterious factor determines what I am about to share with you, but their fares are almost always the cheapest around that you can find after scouring all the other places regarding airline tickets and cheap flights.

If you consider going on a trip either for business or for pleasure, the most important thing is to know to shop for airline tickets early Wednesday mornings because that is the time of the week when the airlines regularly release new airline tickets/fares. It is true: they chance prices constantly, but on Wednesday mornings there is some kind of special renewal of prices.

Scientists that collaborate with different airline websites have developed search engines for cheap flights, giving you the opportunity of sparing your time and energy on searching all by yourself the airline tickets that best suit your specific needs and financial possibilities.

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NASA’s Dryden Research Aircraft


The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. Dryden, a prominent aeronautical engineer who at the time of his death in 1965 was NASA’s deputy administrator. First known as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Muroc Flight Test Unit, the DFRC has also been known as the High-Speed Flight Research Station (1949) and the High-Speed Flight Station (1954). Dryden is NASA’s premier site for aeronautical research and operates some of the most advanced aircraft in the world. It is also the home of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified Boeing 747 designed to carry a Space Shuttle orbiter back to Kennedy Space Center if one lands at Edwards. Kevin Petersen is currently the Center’s Director. Until 2004, Dryden operated the oldest B-52 Stratofortress bomber, a B-52B model (tail number 008) which had been converted to drop test aircraft, dubbed ‘Balls 8.’ It dropped a large number of supersonic test vehicles, ranging from the X-15 to its last research program, the hypersonic X-43A, powered by a Pegasus rocket. It was also the last B-52B still flying, but had the fewest flight hours of any existing B-52 bomber. The aircraft was retired and will eventually find a permanent home at the North Gate of Edwards; a fitting location for an aircraft that was arguably the greatest contributor to aerospace and flight test development.

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Hondajet Comes Closer to Production

Honda Aircraft Company, Inc. (HACI), has taken the next major step in delivering HondaJet to its customers. The company has broken ground for its new 369,000 square foot headquarters and manufacturing facility at Piedmont Triad International (PTI) airport in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The move is another step closer to the production of the innovative HondaJet – the first of which Honda Aircraft is planning to deliver to customers in 2010.

The Greensboro complex includes 219,000 square feet of offices and an airplane hangar, set to be completed in the spring of 2008, as well as a 150,000-square-foot production facility.

All major assembly and testing of the prototype HondaJet has been conducted at the company’s existing Greensboro facility, which opened in 2001 as an extension of Honda’s global R&D operations. The HondaJet production facility, according to a company press release, will become the Japanese automaker’s seventeenth major manufacturing plant in North America, including two currently under construction in Indiana and Ontario, Canada. Honda already has a $188 million North Carolina manufacturing facility, near Swepsonville, that has been producing general purpose engines, lawn mowers and other power equipment products since 1984.

The HondaJet is the Honda’s first commercial aircraft, with seating for up to eight passengers. Honda has stated that about 90 percent of the components for the jet will be supplied by North American companies.

About Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Honda Aircraft Company, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Founded in Japan in 1948, Honda began operations in the U.S. in 1959 with the establishment of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Honda’s first overseas subsidiary. Honda began U.S. production of motorcycles in 1979 and automobiles in 1982. The company – which also produces top of the line auto parts like Honda brake caliper, has invested more than $9 billion in its North American operations, with employment of more than 33,000 associates and annual purchases of more than $16 billion in parts and materials from suppliers in North America. Nearly 80 percent of the Honda and Acura automobiles purchased by U.S. consumers in 2006 were manufactured by Honda plants in North America.

Ally Wahlberg is a Computer Information Systems specialist. Ally leads an active lifestyle and he is a fan of extreme sports. He is also a car enthusiast and writing about his interests is one of his passions.

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Piper Aerostar


Flying in bad weather, rain and wind.

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Pratt To Manage Air Memphis V2500 Engines | AVIATION WEEK

Pratt & Whitney has signed an exclusive management agreement with Air Memphis for the fleet of V2500 engines.

Read the original post:
Pratt To Manage Air Memphis V2500 Engines | AVIATION WEEK

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