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WAAAAAAH!!!!! On This JetBlue Flight, Passengers Cheered Crying Babies

Wendell Barnhouse
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WAAAAAAH!!!!! On This JetBlue Flight, Passengers Cheered Crying Babies

 Baby

Wailing babies on a long flight are enough to make grown-ups cry but this JetBlue promotion turned tears into tickets.

Anyone who flies commercially understands that it’s best to expect the unexpected. Weather delays, mechanical issues, flight crews arriving late because their flight was late are among the curve balls that can make for a miserable travel experience.

And if you’re a parent who is traveling with young children – babies especially – you brace for the challenges of making sure the young ones don’t scream/cry for a three-hour trip. If your child decides being at 35,000 feet is going to make his/her inner ears hurt, you’re in for the longest flight of your life.

Credit JetBlue with another great promotion (this one from a few months ago was chronicled on Avgeekery.com). On April 15, the airline offered a “FlyBabies” promotion on a flight from New York City’s JFK to Long Beach, Calif.

Flight attendants announced that on that flight “crying babies” would be a good thing. For each crying baby, JetBlue would offer all the passengers on the flight a 25 percent discount. Four criers equaled a free flight for each passenger.

After the first wail, the passengers started cheering and clapping each time a baby started to cry. By the time the plane landed after the seven-hour flight, all 140 passengers had earned a free roundtrip ticket on JetBlue.

“We weren’t necessarily sure what to expect from folks on board, it was interesting to watch,” JetBlue spokesperson Morgan Johnston said. “We started seeing people really want to entertain the kids and make it a comfortable environment on board.

“We’ve had this ongoing mission to inspire some humanity, and we thought this was something we could weigh in on.”

http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/03/pf/jetblue-free-flight-flybabies/

The airline and its advertising agency has turned the video from the flight into a Mother’s Day commercial that it hopes brings awareness to the stress parents feel when they’re traveling with toddlers.

“People smile at babies everywhere, except on planes,” said Elizabeth Windram, JetBlue’s director brand management and advertising (and a mother of a toddler). “For Mother’s Day, we wanted to acknowledge how moms (indeed all parents and caregivers) often feel stressed while traveling with children.”

Two thumbs up for JetBlue for the clever promotion of their airline and for making people aware that cute babies cry sometimes when stuck on a seven-hour flight.

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This Massive C-17 Doesn’t Mind Getting Dirty To Deliver A Payload

Wendell Barnhouse
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This Massive C-17 Doesn’t Mind Getting Dirty To Deliver A Payload

Rugged and versatile, the C-17 Globemaster doesn’t need a paved runway to make deliveries.

The C-17 Globemaster can be considered a master of its domain. The four-engine transport is the perfect component for the modern U.S. military and its ability to rapidly deploy troops and equipment anywhere in the world.

The Globemaster can also be described as the four-wheel off-road vehicle of the U.S. air fleet. It’s rugged enough that it doesn’t need a paved runway. The C-17 doesn’t mind getting dirty.

C-17Globe

This video is a prime example of the C-17 delivering cargo to an area that is near the front lines. A hard-packed dirt runway is sufficient for both landing and takeoff.

The C-17 has the cargo space to deliver a 69-ton M-1 Abrams battle tank. But on this mission, the cargo is a Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The Globemaster’s cargo bay can be converted to handle either pallet cargo or rolling stock like the Apache.

The AH-64 is versatile in that there’s some assembly required after delivery. Being able to stow and transporter a helicopter requires attaching the four blades after landing. The ground crew also must work as a team to de-plane the copter as even with the large accommodation of the C-17’s interior, it’s a tight fit.

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Flashback Friday: Get To Know The Rocket Girls

Wendell Barnhouse
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Flashback Friday: Get To Know The Rocket Girls

RocketGirls

In the early days of that helped launch our space program, “Rocket Girls” served as human computers.

If you’re searching for a last-minute Mother’s Day gift (if so, shame on you) and the lady in your life likes to read about trail blazing women, there’s a great book available.

Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars tells the story that few people know about. While the machines that have helped the United States lead the way in exploration are called “man-made” there was a group of women who in the early days were human computers.

During World War II, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., was ground zero for research into the rocket power that would eventually help the American space program break the bonds of earth. What eventually became NASA was staffed by a number of women whose “beautiful minds” could crunch numbers. In those days, making calculations of speed, direction and power had to be done by hand.

In the words of Macie Roberts, one of the women working the problems with bulky calculators, pencils and graph paper, the criteria was: “look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man and work like a dog.”

Author Nathalia Holt spent hours trying to track down the women who worked at JPL in the early days. While Holt says that “something magical happened there” it wasn’t without familiar challenges.

“There (are stories of) sexual harassment in the book—aeronautical engineering is a very male-dominated field, even today— but this was a strong group of women with a woman supervisor,” Holt said. “I think they did a remarkable job looking out for each other. And the men at the lab came to accept them as colleagues. Some male engineers even brought them onto studies and included them as co-authors on publications. At the time that was not common at all, and it really changed their career options.

“Most of the women I talked to felt very strongly about the role of mentoring the next generation.”

Even when the computers became more sophisticated to help with the calculations, women continued to have a tremendous behind-the-scenes impact on the space program. This book helps shed some light on their contributions.

“In a time before the digital devices that we’re used to today, it was humans that were doing the calculations,” Holt said. “And so you needed these teams of people — many of whom were women, especially during World War II — and they were responsible for the math.

“There is hardly a mission that you can find in NASA that these women haven’t touched.”

 

The Spirit Of John Muir: A 747 Converted Into The World’s Largest Fire Fighting Aircraft

Wendell Barnhouse
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The Spirit Of John Muir: A 747 Converted Into The World’s Largest Fire Fighting Aircraft

Photo credit: Bill Gabbert, Fire Aviation
Photo credit: Bill Gabbert, Fire Aviation

It’s a bird … it’s a plane … no, it’s Super Tanker, a 747 converted to the world’s largest fire-fighting aircraft.

With most 747s being retired as commercial airliners, the history-making four-engine jet still has several valuables uses. A few months ago, Avgeekery.com wrote about seven ways that the 747 is being re-purposed. One of those involved its possible use to fight forest fires.

Here’s what we wrote then:

Evergreen International Aviation, a company based in Oregon, converted four 747 cargo planes into aircraft that could deliver nearly 20,000 gallons of water and/or fire retardant chemicals. The company hoped to use its big plans to drop big loads to help fight fires.

Alas, the business model never worked out as government agencies preferred to continue using smaller planes. Evergreen filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Last year, Global SuperTanker Services, LLC stepped in and took over Evergreen’s planes and plans. The use and effectiveness of 747 super tankers has yet to be determined.

That determination has now happened.

The Spirit of John Muir will officially make its debut Thursday at its home base in Colorado Springs, Colo. (John Muir, also known as “John of the Moutains,” was a Scottish-American naturalist who in the second half of the 19th century was an advocate for preserving the United States’ wilderness.)

Global SuperTanker Services, LLC converted the B747-400 freighter into the world’s newest Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT). It has almost twice the capacity of the next biggest aerial tanker. It can carry 20,000 gallons of water or fire retardant which can be released in single or multiple drops at variable rates. That allows the plane to deliver its payload in a tailored response to the firefighting needs.

Last year more than 10 million acres burned in the worst wildfire season in American history. The fire season is about to start again and there are warnings that 2016 could be worse.

The John Muir will stand at the ready and from its base in Colorado Springs will be able to quickly reach fires in the western United States.

“The Spirit of John Muir differs from other firefighting planes not just because it is capable of variable rate drops,” said Jim Wheeler, President and CEO of Global SuperTanker, “as the world’s largest aerial firefighting asset, the John Muir can fly 600 miles per hour for long ranges at efficient altitudes, reaching and combatting any fire in the Western U.S. in less than three hours.”

Wheeler points out that destructive wildfires are becoming a global problem. The John Muir can fly anywhere in the world in under 20 hours.

Want to watch the video?  Input password: GlobalSuperTanker

https://vimeo.com/165346505

Watch WestJet Buzz the Tower Before Retiring Their 737-200 Fleet

Avgeekery
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Watch WestJet Buzz the Tower Before Retiring Their 737-200 Fleet

What’s it like to fly a low pass in the old Boeing 737-200?  This WestJet pilot shares his exhilarating story.

Back in 2006, WestJet was a much smaller airline that was in a full-fledged transition process to the airline it has become today.  While most major North American Airlines had retired their 737-200 in the first half of last decade, they held on to them a little longer while they waited for 737-600 and 737-700s to arrive.

When the time finally came to retire the -200 fleet, WestJet authorized a crew to do a final flyby for a photo opportunity.  After coordination with tower, they did two flybys followed by an impressive unrestricted climb before entering a pattern for a final approach.

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Bombs Away! Skydivers Jump From A Perfectly Good B-17

Wendell Barnhouse
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Bombs Away! Skydivers Jump From A Perfectly Good B-17

b17bomberskydive

Members of a Chicago skydiving club experienced a unique thrill by exiting through the bomb bay of a B-17 Flying Fortress.

The B-17 Flying Fortress was one of the crucial components to the Allies’ victory in World War II. The B-17 was rugged enough to survive punishment as the flight groups flew bombing missions over Europe.

In the early days of daylight bombing, the Fortresses flew over Germany without fighter escorts and had to survive the onslaught of flack and enemy fighters on the inbound and outbound portions of the missions.

Groups like the Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom have restored WWII-era aircraft. In this video, a B-17 was used to provide members of the Chicagoland Skydiving Center a unique parachute experience.

This “bombing run” allowed the sky divers to exit the B-17 through the bomb bay. Plus, the parachutists were able to experience what it was like for the airmen who flew the Flying Fortress. We would call that a double dip.

By the way, the background song for this video is “Blood Upon The Risers,” a marching song used by American paratroopers during training. Based on the song “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” the refrain is “Gory, Gory, What A Helluva Way To Die.”

We assume the song was added in post-production for this video. These aren’t the sort of lyrics a sky diver wants to hear as he hurtles himself out of a perfectly good airplane. (But if somehow this song WAS played on the B-17 mission, it’s highly doubtful anyone would have heard it over the roar of the four engines.

And by the way, part two: The second half of the video features the song “We’ll Meet Again.” It was one of the favorite songs of WWII because of its optimistic message.

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The ‘G’ Stands For Glider Pilot… And For Guts

Jeff Gilmore
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The ‘G’ Stands For Glider Pilot… And For Guts

Glider pilots are unknown heroes of World War II.  Their bravery is captured in the documentary “Silent Wings”.

Back in the summer of 2000, I was a brand new sophomore (or three degree) at the Air Force Academy.  As a cadet, you get a three week summer break followed by 6 weeks of air force training before you go back to school. I had just completed a miserable three week period of survival training in the woods.  I looked forward to my final air force training class for the summer–flying gliders.

gliderjeff
I’m in the back of the mighty TG-4, smiling after having just completed my instructor upgrade check ride.

Just three summers earlier, I was working at K-Mart–earning $4.75 an hour to pay for flying.  Working there wasn’t much fun. I’m pretty sure I’d rather do survival training repeatedly–even without food–versus getting yelled at by a high school-educated manager to clean out a filthy restroom as the Eagles song “Take it Easy” blared over the K-Mart Radio Network speakers for the 100th time.  That job paid for my flight lessons though and helped me get into the Air Force Academy.

I didn’t mind the 4:40am wakeup to board the bus to the airfield by 5:00am.  For the first time in my life, I was finally getting paid to fly.  In my mind, I had arrived.  I learned the basics of unpowered flight that summer and quickly soloed the mighty TG-4.  During my sophomore year, I would learn how to instruct in the TG-4 (Schweizer SGS 2-33) and earned my glider wings.

C 47As of 88th TCS tow gliders over Normandy in June 1944
Troop carrier Douglas C-47s tow Waco CG-4A gliders during the invasion of France in June 1944. (U.S. Air Force photo)

It was after I earned my wings that I began to realize the gravity of the long-storied history of “G”-wings.  Our speaker that day at the dining out was Lt Col Floyd Sweet (his obituary can be read here) who spoke with eloquence as he recalled his time training hundreds of combat glider pilots during World War II.

gliderwings

I realized at that dining out that I was wearing the same wings as heroes like LtCol Sweet and his trainees wore.  Sixty years earlier, men with more guts in their pinky finger than my entire body on my best day flew unpowered airplanes over Nazi-controlled territory with amazing bravery.  They guided a canvas plane that was difficult to fly, with no armor, and tried their best to land it in enemy territory on a field that was often defended with telephone poles that could rip a glider in half.  My wings meant that as one of the few glider pilots in the Air Force, I was now part of that same legacy.  Sure their wartime mission was a far cry from our ‘mission’ of training young cadets over the relatively safe skies of Colorado Springs.  But we took immense pride as being part of that long blue line of glider pilots.

Waco CG 4A USAF
DAYTON, Ohio – Waco CG-4A at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (U.S. Air Force photo)

After I graduated from USAFA, I went on to fly Learjets and then C-17s. I still had a special place in my heart for the WWII glider pilots. From time to time, I would spend a Saturday afternoon searching the web for an interesting story or book about them. I recently came across a documentary online that shares glider pilots’ stories of heroism better than I ever could.

“Silent Wings” documentary tells the often ignored story of the role gliders and their pilots played during World War II.

Even if you consider yourself an expert and well-versed on World War II, this documentary is worth your time.

waco glider

“Silent Wings: The American Glider Pilots of World War II” tells the story of the brave men who piloted gliders. The Waco CG-4A combat glider was constructed of wood, metal and a canvas covering. It had a pilot and a co-pilot and could carry 13 troops or could also carry a Jeep, a 75 mm howitzer or a ¼-ton trailer.

Approximately 5,000 pilots were in the glider program, which saw action in Sicily, Burma, Normandy (D-Day), Southern France, Holland (Operation Market Garden) and Bastogne (Battle of the Bulge) and Germany.

On D-Day, gliders played a key role and many of the Waco gliders lived up to their nickname – the Flying Coffin. But those who were able to successfully land were able to bring troops and equipment behind enemy lines to support the invasion of the Normandy beaches. Gutsy glider pilots are part of the reason that we are free today.

This documentary is narrated by Hal Holbrook and two great CBS newsmen are interviewed.

As Andy Rooney explained, “Gliders were a completely expendable piece of equipment … landing was a planned accident and you hoped you survived the accident.”  And Walter Cronkite described the deafening noise of riding inside a glider because of the canvas covering. “It was like being inside a drum at a Grateful Dead concert.”

We owe much to these brave men.  Without much fanfare, they did their job and kept America free through their strength and sheer guts.

[youtube id=”ohroxm30GoM” width=”800″ height=”454″ position=”left”]

Pilot Report: Flying the Short, Stubby, Beautiful 737-200

Rob Graves
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Pilot Report: Flying the Short, Stubby, Beautiful 737-200

Avgeekery guest blogger Robert Graves writes another excellent post on his experiences flying the small but mighty Boeing 737-200.

The Boeing Model 737 is considered one of the most successful airliners ever built. Boeing has built nearly 9000 of these aircraft since its introduction in 1968 with thousands of more orders on the books. Currently Boeing’s only narrow body aircraft in production, the 737 has been produced in seven variants over the years, the -100 through -700, including the 737-200. The next iteration, the Max-8, is currently undergoing flight testing and is scheduled for delivery to launch customer Southwest Airlines next year.

427al Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 200 N823AL@ITO03.10.2006 4708855811 AIa
image via aero icarus

I flew the 737-200 in both the left and right seat from the time I was hired until my airline retired the aircraft from the fleet in the early 2000s. I have many thousands of hours of time in this aircraft and really enjoyed flying her. The 737-200 was a pilot’s airplane, meaning that she was responsive and easy to fly. It was easy to put the airplane where you wanted her and once you learned the tricks to make a smooth landing such as the “roll-on”, she was a real cream puff.

11cr Delta Express Boeing 737 232 N317DL@FLL30.01.1998 5066141079 Aero Icarusa
image via aero icarus

The 200 had her drawbacks as well. Being underpowered was one of the greatest frustrations. When Boeing introduced this aircraft as the -100 model, it came equipped with Pratt and Whitney JT8D-7 engines producing about 14,000 lbs of thrust. This aircraft was so underpowered that it was not even allowed to use full flaps to land as there was too much drag. The 100 model was quickly replaced by the 737-200 model, which offered the upgraded JT8D-9 engines producing 15,500 lbs of thrust. I only flew the aircraft with the -9 engines. Still, she was kind of a pig.

95583204 3252064988139691 8760653692270542848 o Nick Young
image via nick young

Don’t Shut Off the APU!

Taking off of short runways was always kind of exciting. One procedure with which all 737-200 pilots had to become intimately familiar was the “bleeds off” takeoff. During normal operations, hot, compressed or “bleed” air is drawn out of the engine to run the air conditioning and to provide pressurization. When taking off from a short runway on a hot day, drawing that bleed air means that it isn’t available to produce thrust. So one method to increase thrust from the engines was to turn the bleeds off and to use air from the auxiliary power unit (APU) for air conditioning until getting airborne.

35526762 10204909751941577 1328977934966325248 o Jens Polster
image via Jens Polster

Without the extra thrust from the bleed air being available, there often wasn’t enough thrust for a safe takeoff. It was during taxi-out and after takeoff that problems arose. There are six switches controlling the bleed air plumbing on a 737 and they must be positioned correctly. One particular mistake could cause damage if both the engine and APU bleed valves were open at the same time as the engine would overpower the APU. Otherwise, one of the more common mistakes was to forget that the APU was needed and to accidentally shut it off. This usually happened right after being cleared for takeoff meaning an embarrassing call to the tower that you had to delay to start it up again.

36609433 10204976871259518 4396153701836783616 o Jens Polster
image via jens polster

Once airborne, forgetting to reconfigure the bleeds back to normal could be a big problem. If you climbed high enough like this, you might get the altitude warning horn as the cabin wouldn’t pressurize. Go higher still and you’d get the “rubber jungle” as the masks fell. Besides causing a severe panic in the back, it was a guaranteed trip to see the chief pilot followed by an unpaid vacation as you’d probably get some time off.

American Airlines Boeing 737 293 N463GB@SFO July 1988 BFO 6350276891 Aero Icarusa
image via aero icarus

Other aspects of the low thrust of the aircraft meant that turning on the engine anti-ice would slow your climb rate and turning on the wing anti-ice meant almost no climb capability as it used quite a bit of bleed air. That said, the cooling capability was always great on the 200. It wasn’t until the introduction of the -300 that Boeing changed the air conditioning to include a “low flow” setting which made that airplane hot in the summer.

Continental Airlines B737 200 N7381F Philip Capper
image via philip capper

For More -200 Pilot Talk Bang NEXT PAGE Below

Flashback Friday: Reviewing The Stories And Videos Of The Past Week

Wendell Barnhouse
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Flashback Friday: Reviewing The Stories And Videos Of The Past Week

Antonov_AN-225_UR-82060_(9144582918)Flashback Friday: Our one-stop, one-click recap of the past week on Avgeekery.com.

If your week blurred by so fast you couldn’t spend time at Avgeekery.com (we forgive you) here’s a quick way to catch up. We’ve compiled all of our stories and videos from the past week. They’re all just a click away. Enjoy.

One of a kind: The Antonov An-225 is the world’s largest aircraft.

The FAA is requiring repairs to some models of engines on the Boeing 787s.

An analysis of Southwest Airlines as it continues to negotiate with its pilots in the midst of phasing out its 737-300 models.

Russian pilots like to get buzzed … and we’re not talking about downing shots of vodka.

The A-10 Warthog was basically designed as a flying platform for one of the most bad-ass guns in the U.S. military.

Those who help maintain the C-5 Galaxy have nicknamed the huge transport FRED. Click and read to find out why.

It’s indeed a liberating experience to watch and listen to a B-24 Liberator fire up its four radial engines.

Giving credit where credit is due – the Russians developed an effective VTOL aircraft – the Yak-141 –  but its development was thwarted by the breakup of the Soviet Union.

American Airlines continues to phase out of the MD-80, the aircraft which was the company’s workhorse in the 1980s.

A great idea that we hope survives and thrives: JetSuiteX offers the sweet promise of private jet services for the price of commercial flying.

JetSuiteX Offers The Sweet Promise Of Private Jet Service At Prices Most People Can Afford. Will it Last?

Wendell Barnhouse
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JetSuiteX Offers The Sweet Promise Of Private Jet Service At Prices Most People Can Afford. Will it Last?

JetSuite

A private jet service experience for the cost of a domestic airline ticket? Here’s our credit card, sign us up.

If you’ve ever had the good fortune to be able to fly on private jet, you understand the feeling of freedom and convenience. And if you do or have flown privately, you’re either rich or have rich friends. Flying privately means either owning a business jet, leasing one or chartering one and those options require stacks and stacks of Benjamins.

Earlier this month, a company launched a limited start-up service that offers its customers the chance to experience private jet travel.

JetSuite calls its service JetSuiteX and describes it as “making luxury travel more affordable.” It’s also described as a “private for public service.” You can check out the company’s web site here.

It currently offers regular, daily flights between Concord and Burbank in California. Expanding to weekend service to Las Vegas is expected soon and on June 30 will start flying to Bozeman, Mont.

How much, you ask, before reaching for your plastic? How about $109 for a one-way ticket on a 30-seat Embraer 135 jet?

“It’s a private jet-style experience for the price of an airline seat,” JetSuite CEO Alex Wilcox told Condé Nast Traveler. “We looked at some short-haul markets in California where people fly a lot, and we found that while nationwide, traffic is up, there are fewer people flying those (smaller) markets every year.”

With mergers and consolidation at the top of the airline industry, there are some cheap-fare alternatives but those “bare fare” carriers ask passengers to give up convenience and creature comforts to save money. Plus, those low-fare carriers still have the hassles of air travel that frequent fliers are all too familiar worth.

Even though it’s barely a blip on the radar right now, here are some reasons why JetSuite’s plan is appealing:

  • Smaller airports. That equates to convenience. For those around the San Francisco area, flying out of Concord’s Buchanan Field Airport means avoiding the traffic hassle of driving to the major airports in San Francisco or Oakland.
  • Time saving. The hassles of baggage check, parking and TSA screening are reduced to the point of being eliminated. JetSuite says that their screening process is a “pre-approved Transportation Security Administration (TSA) protection process.” JetSuite says that the check-in time between arrival and boarding the plane could be about 15 minutes.
  • Comfort. The seats on the JetSuiteX flights have a pitch of 36 inches so it’s similar to what commercial flights offer in business class. There’s also free Wi-Fi. Yes, free.

Further expansion of service is planned in 2017 as the company receives deliveries of the 10 Embraer 135s it has on order. JetSuiteX has targeted San Diego, Phoenix and Santa Barbara, Calif., as possible destinations.

“There are a lot of markets that can support 30 seats that can’t support 160 (that are typical on bigger jets like a Boeing 737). We’re going to be creative in finding those,” Wilcox said. “We’ve only got 30 seats to fill. And we only have to sell 20 of them to (break even).”

Still though, Avgeekery remains skeptical that this plan will succeed.  Remember ExpressJet and Independence Air?  Both airlines failed miserably at trying to be a standalone regional jet carrier.  The cost structure is unfavorable. However, the industry is enjoying low oil prices and a decent economy.  Will they survive? Time will tell.

 

Disappearing Act: American Airlines Continues to Phase Out its “Super 80s”

Wendell Barnhouse
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Disappearing Act: American Airlines Continues to Phase Out its “Super 80s”

 

MD80

Once the workhorse for American Airlines, the MD80 is in the process of being sent to the glue factory – aka the boneyard.

Much like the 747, which is slowly being phased out of passenger service, the MD-80 is suffering the same fate. Most are headed to the boneyard.

American Airlines made the MD-80 the workhorse of its fleet, with approximately 370 in service at its peak. Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, the MD-80 made its debut in 1980. At the time, it was popular for use on short and medium routes.

But in less than two more years, American will have removed all of its MD-80s from service.

American placed its first order for MD-80s in 1982. Here’s how the company explained the order in its annual report for 1983: “The operating efficiency of the Super 80 stems from its twin-engine, twin-seat cockpit design. On American’s system, it performs the same missions as a 727 aircraft, which has three engines and requires three cockpit crew members. The Super 80 therefore conserves fuel while enhancing pilot productivity. On a route of 750 miles, the Super 80’s fuel cost per seat mile is 37 percent less than that of a 727-100, while its cockpit crew cost per seat mile is 42 percent less.”

Pilots who have spent a lot of time flying the MD-80 know that the aircraft has one of the best safety records, it’s easy to fly and it’s a hybrid of old-time flying and modern avionics. In particular, the cockpit of an MD-80 has a lot of quirks that helps make the piloting experience unique, including a very unique compass placement.

That workhorse is now too old and eats too much. American Arilines chief executive Doug Parker sums up the reason the airline is phasing out the “Super 80” back in a Dallas Morning News interview in 2014.

“They’ve become obsolete, really,” he said. “There are new aircraft coming in that are more fuel-efficient, and the cost of fuel is so much higher than when those airplanes were purchased. “The economics are much better to bring in a new airplane because you save enough in fuel.”

American has ordered new planes such as the Boeing 737-800 (and MAX) and the AirbusA320 series that will replace its MD-80s. The new planes can carry more passengers and do so more efficiently thanks to fuel efficient engines.

Nearly 2,000 MD-80s were produced, with Boeing taking over from McDonnell Douglas in 1997. A few years after that takeover of production, Boeing halted production of MD-80s to concentrate on the 737 as its short/medium-range aircraft.

In its heyday, the MD-80 played a key role in the growth of American Airlines.

“It was a seminal moment for us back in the 1980s when that deal was made, before I even started with American,” American Airlines chairman Tom Horton said. “It was our last major fleet renewal, and it was the cornerstone of the growth plan under (former American CEO) Bob Crandall at the time.”

Today, American has fewer than 95 in the fleet with a majority of those to be retired this year.

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Yakkity Yak: Russia’s Yak-141 a successful VTOL aircraft

Wendell Barnhouse
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Yakkity Yak: Russia’s Yak-141 a successful VTOL aircraft

Russia developed the Yak-141 but the breakup of the Soviet Union sidelined the program just when progress was being made.

Ever since the Wright Brothers proved men can fly, the configurations of the flying machines have involved two types of takeoffs – horizontal (planes) and vertical (helicopters). Planes need runways, while helicopters need much less space for takeoff and landing.

Combining a machine that can take off vertically like a helicopter but then have the horizontal flight capabilities of an aircraft has been a vexing problem for designers. In terms of military uses, an aircraft that can land and takeoff like a chopper but then carry a lethal payload and reach close to supersonic speed would be a valuable asset.

Yak3While the Good Guys always like to think they’re always winning the Innovation War, in this case the Soviet Union was able to develop a VTOL (Vertical Take Off/Landing) aircraft that could reach supersonic speed and also carry a meaningful payload.

Unfortunately for the Russians, the development of the Yak-141 (aka Yak-41 with the NATO moniker “Freestyle”) occurred near the end of the Soviet Union. When it collapsed, the funding for further production and improvements ended.

The Russians were able to solve a problem facing all VTOL aircraft – the power needed for vertical lift off that can convert to horizontal speed. The Yak-141 had two lift engines and one main engine for horizontal thrust that was equipped with an afterburner to attain supersonic speed.

The high point for the Yak-141 was in April in 1991 when a test flight produced 12 world records. But with military funding eliminated with the disintegrating of the Soviet Union, it became a versatile plane with no purpose.

England produced the Harrier Jump Jet, which made its debut in 1969. It was one of the most successful military V/STOL (vertical/short takeoff and landing) aircraft but it could not achieve supersonic speed.

Lockheed Martin’s F-35B does what the Harrier can’t. It’s an STOVL that can go supersonic and also has stealth capabilities. It went operational in July of 2015. It uses a patented Rolls-Royce LiftFan propulsion system with an engine that can swivel 90 degrees to make short takeoffs and vertical landing possible.

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey was developed for both vertical and short takeoffs. It was a hybrid of a helicopter and a long-range high-seed turboprop. The tilt-rotor aircraft survived considerable controversies involving its cost and safety issues. Its main uses are for transport and medivac missions.

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It’s Liberating To Watch and Listen To This B-24 Fire Up Its Four Radial Engines

Wendell Barnhouse
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It’s Liberating To Watch and Listen To This B-24 Fire Up Its Four Radial Engines

One by one, watch this vintage B-24 Liberator crank up its four engines.

The folks who work long hours as volunteers to restore World War II aircraft so that they’re able to fly – they deserve our support and thanks.

The Greatest Generation flew these aircraft to help the Allies win in both the European and Pacific theaters. Allowing people to see these planes up close and personal and see them flying is a goose bump experience. (And if it doesn’t produce goose bumps – call 911; you might require a defibrillator.)

The four-engine bombers utilized by the United States – the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator and the B-29 Superfortress – are especially impressive when they crank up their engines. In this case, the B-24 named the Witchcraft, which is maintained by the Collings Foundation’s.

The typical B-24 was equipped with four Pratt & Whitney turbo-supercharged radial engines,

The B-17 was popular with the crews that flew it. The B-24, not so much. It wasn’t an easy aircraft to fly. But it’s high-mounted wings helped give it long range and the ability to carry a heavy payload. It wound up being the most produced heavy bomber in history, the most produced multi-engine aircraft in history and the most-produced American military aircraft – nearly 20,000 rolled off the assembly line.

Why was the C-5 Galaxy Nicknamed FRED?

Wendell Barnhouse
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Why was the C-5 Galaxy Nicknamed FRED?

The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is the largest transport plane of the United States Air Force. It’s larger than the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and can carry almost twice the load of a C-17 Globemaster.

The C-5 has been in operation since 1969 but it had a rocky start. The development and testing led to cost overruns and created financial difficulties for Lockheed. Once the planes entered service, cracks in the wings grounded the aircraft until the problem was solved.

FRED Had a Huge Cargo Hold

To best serve the military, the C-5 FRED was built with a cargo hold big enough to carry bulky equipment. Its cargo capacity is 135 tons and it can accommodate up to six Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters or five Bradley Fighting Vehicles at one time

The Galaxy has a range of 2,760 miles and a cruising speed of 570 mph. The cargo is one foot longer than the entire length of the first powered flight by the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk.

Many were not fans of the massive C-5 FRED

The C-5 has plenty of detractors because of its reputation as a gas guzzler and the need for constant maintenance. The ground crew who service the Galaxy has named it FRED – F***ing Ridiculous, Economic/Environmental Disaster.

Aviation historian Robert F. Dorr is blunt in his assessment of the C-5:

“After being one of the worst-run programs, ever, in its early years, it has evolved very slowly and with great difficulty into a nearly adequate strategic airlifter that unfortunately needs in-flight refueling or a ground stop for even the most routine long-distance flights. We spent a lot of money to make it capable of operating from unfinished airstrips near the front lines, when we never needed that capability or had any intention to use it.”

Be that as it may, the development and eventual deployment of the C-5 proved to be a trail blazer for modern-day commercial aircraft. By building “the biggest plane possible” Lockheed was able to provide a template for development of planes like the 747 and the L-1011.

C-5M, FRED Upgraded

However, the C-5M Super Galaxy is an upgraded version with new engines that are more fuel efficient and upgraded avionics. It can fly higher and has a shorter takeoff roll (as seen in the video below)

The Warthog’s GAU 8 Gatling Gun Is Bad-Ass Lethal Weapon–Watch It In Action

Wendell Barnhouse
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The Warthog’s GAU 8 Gatling Gun Is Bad-Ass Lethal Weapon–Watch It In Action

The A-10’s “flying cannon” and its 30mm shells makes it a friend to U.S. ground troops and a nightmare to the enemy.

GatlingHere at Avgeekery.com we are contractually obligated to regularly feature the A-10. Why? The Warthog has proven to be one of the most durable and efficient ground support aircraft in military aviation history. And it’s as cool as it’s klunky.

The A-10 can carry a variety of weaponry but the plane was built as a firing platform for the General Electric GAU 8 Avenger Gatling gun. Basically, it’s a flying cannon. Hydraulically driven and featuring seven barrels, it spits out 70 rounds per second. With a loaded ammunition drum, the entire weapon weighs about 4,000 pounds.

A “combat squeeze” produces a two-second burst that delivers 112 rounds of 30mm ammunition with devastating effect. The blink-of-an-eye firing means that on most missions, the A-10 is equipped with enough ammo to make about nine strafing runs.

In addition to the fact the GAU 8 delivers a powerful punch that’s accurate, there are two other unique factors to the A-10’s main weapon.

First, it’s mounting.

Because the gun’s recoil forces could push the entire plane off target during firing, the weapon itself is mounted laterally off-center, slightly to the port side of the fuselage center line, with the actively “firing” barrel in the nine o’clock position (when viewed from the front of the aircraft), so that the firing barrel lies directly on the aircraft’s center line. The firing barrel also lies just below the aircraft’s center of gravity, being bore sighted along a line 2 degrees below the aircraft’s line of flight.

Second, the sound of those two-second bursts is memorable. Instead of the rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns, the A-10’s Gatling gun sounds like … a piece of paper being ripped. It also could be analogous to … well … flatulence.

Which is probably the sound the enemy makes when they see a Warthog swooping for a strafing run.

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Russian Pilots Apparently Like Top Gun And Buzzing The Tower

Wendell Barnhouse
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Russian Pilots Apparently Like Top Gun And Buzzing The Tower

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A rare glimpse of the Russian SU-33 making a low-level pass – twice.

For a neutral observer, there’s nothing as exciting as being up close and personal as a military jet does a low-level buzzing of the deck.

That’s exactly what’s depicted in our featured video. A Russian Sukhoi SU-33 makes two passes just off the tarmac. The speed, power and sound is impressive.

(And this video is reminiscent of a much more serious incident that happened recently involving the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea. Two Russian SU24s made 20 passes at the warship, coming within 1,000 yards and just 100 feet off the waves. Perhaps the Russian pilots had been watching Top Gun and declined to request a fly by.)

Catching a glimpse of the SU-33 (which is designated as Flanker-D by NATO) is rare. It was designed as all-weather carrier-based twin-engine, twin-tailed air fighter and came into service in 1998. However, when the Soviet Union dissolved, the Russian Navy was scaled back and only about three dozen SU-33s were produced.

The SU-33 has a maximum speed of Mach 2.17 (1,430 mph) and a service ceiling of 55,800 feet. It’s range is nearly 1,900 miles.

Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, is reported to be deploying to the Mediterranean Sea. Its air wing will be comprised of the SU-33, SU-25UTG and Mikoyan MiG-29K.

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Southwest Analysis: Profits Up, Large Classic 737 Retirement On The Horizon

Wendell Barnhouse
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Southwest Analysis: Profits Up, Large Classic 737 Retirement On The Horizon

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Southwest Airlines made $511 million in first quarter and its pilots would like their new contract settled by getting a bigger piece of the pie.

Southwest Airlines last week announced better-than-expected first-quarter profits – clearing $511 million – as Southwest is benefiting from the same factors driving up profits for the industry – low fuel cost and high load factors.

At the same time, Southwest announced it is accelerating plans to retire the 737-300s in its fleet. The original time line had those planes coming off line in 2022, then it was moved to 2018. Now, Southwest President and CEO Gary Kelly announced that the company plans a “hard stop” and will take place a year earlier.

“This is a viable and manageable solution, although not preferred,” Kelly said in a statement. “This accelerated retirement of the Classics will result in fewer aircraft and lower available seat mile growth in 2017 than previously planned.”

That means that over 100 737-300s will be retired over the next 18 months.  This is in addition to the remaining 12 737-500s that are scheduled to be retired by the end of September of this year.

Why would Southwest pump the brakes on growth?

News of this type never happens in a vacuum and the report of record profits along with taking approximately 50 of the 737 Classics out of action invites some between-the lines thinking.

The airline industry rides a roller coaster of cycles and right now the ride has reached the top. Profits are high as the price of oil (and jet fuel) is at record lows. Coupled with most flights departing at near capacity, profits are up.

Southwest and its pilots have been trying to agree to a new contract. The pilots have been working under a deal signed in 2012 that expired three years ago. They are seeking compensation that would rank as the highest in the industry plus have the company make larger contributions to retirement plans.

With Southwest reporting high earnings, the pilots obviously believe they deserve a cut. No pilots, no profits.

Kelly said it’s not meant to be a warning shot at pilots…

The announcement to move up the retirement of the 737-300s could be interpreted as a warning shot by Southwest. Kelly denied that theory.

“This is not a shot (at the pilots’ union,” Kelly said. “Contrary to the way our industry has worked in the past, this is not the way we do business here at Southwest. We’re here to take care of our people. Clearly accelerating this retirement is not a good thing for our employees. It’s not a bad thing either. We’re not at war with our people. We’re at war with our competitors.”

One of the reasons Southwest is pulling the 737-300s out of service is that delivery of the new Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft is expected to be head of schedule. Those aircraft are more fuel efficient and carry more passengers – a win-win for Southwest.

However, the pilots’ union says the MAX isn’t listed in the current labor agreement as an aircraft they can fly. Southwest disagrees.

“They cannot fly the MAX without a new contract,” said Jon Weaks, the union’s president.

Another twist in the story involves the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency has yet to decide on the training needed for pilots flying the MAX. If the FAA says that pilots cleared to fly the current 737-800 (the MAX’s predecessor) can fly the MAX, then the Southwest pilots will lose negotiating leverage.

“We have been working with our pilots’ union, Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association, to mitigate this issue through segmenting the classic flying, but that effort has been unsuccessful,” Kelly said. “Given the FAA is not expected to complete training requirements until next year, the only solution now is to avoid flying both the classics and the MAX (at the same time).

“We have to have every pilot trained to sit in every cockpit. It’s all or nothing.”

Southwest expects to receive its first plane in the third quarter of 2017, while Boeing says the delivery may come sooner.

“It’s a freight train coming down the track,” said Casey Murray, the head of the Southwest pilot union’s negotiating committee, said in an interview. “We can see the light and they can, too.”

 

FAA Directive Orders Repairs To Engines On Some 787s

Wendell Barnhouse
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FAA Directive Orders Repairs To Engines On Some 787s

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Icing issues on certain models of the General Electric engines on Boeing 787 Dreamliners led to FAA to issue directive to “urgently modify” those engines.

According to a directive issued Friday by the Federal Aviation Agency directive, the engines on Boeing 787 Dreamliners must be “urgently modified.” The General Electric engine model GEnx-1B PIP2 is in question. Planes that are equipped with both engines of that model could potentially experience a catastrophic loss of both engines in flight.

The FAA directive says in part of its directive:

“The urgency of this issue stems from the safety concern over continued safe flight and landing for airplanes that are powered by two GEnx-1B PIP2 engines operating in a similar environment to the event airplane. In this case both GEnx-1B PIP2 engines may be similarly damaged and unable to be restarted in flight. The potential for common cause failure of both engines in flight is an urgent safety issue.”

Airlines have until the first week of October to fix the problem. A directive has been issued to pilots of 787s with those model engines to follow a new in-flight ice-removal procedure. That procedure says when ice buildup above 12,500 feet is suspected or if an indicator light confirms it, pilots are advised to rev each engine at 85 percent of full throttle every five minutes.

A Jan. 29 incident heightened the urgency for the FAA directive. A Japan Airlines (JAL) 787 shut down in midair and couldn’t be restarted. The right engine failed about 90 miles from Tokyo’s Narita Airport on a flight from Vancouver, B.C. The pilots were able to land with one engine. The 787’s other engine was an older model and the FAA said the left engine incurred only “minor damage during the icing event and continued to operate normally.”

The report on the JAL incident said that ice had built up on the fan blades before the trouble occurred. The engine model had been upgraded (and certified by the FAA) and the newer version had reduced a tiny gap between the fan blades and the engine case. The JAL plane’s engine experienced ice breaking loose, causing the fan blades to rub against the case and causing a shut down. The engine could not be restarted.

The FAA did not issue an “emergency” directive but because of the danger to the flying public, action will be immediate. The FAA reported that the problem affects 176 Dreamliners at 29 airlines; that’s about 44 percent of the worldwide fleet.

GE has altered the manufacturing process of the PIP2 engine model to increase the fan-tip clearance. GE spokesman Rick Kennedy said rework on about 40 airplanes has been completed. He added that the work to modify the engines takes about 16 hours and can be completed without removing the engines from the wings.

Twin-engine jets have taken over the commercial aviation industry. The newest birds, particularly those manufactured by Boeing, feature GE engines that are touted for their fuel efficiency, thrust and reliability.

And reliability is crucial when an aircraft jam packed with passengers is reliant on two engines. When both are disabled it takes a miracle like the one conjured up by Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger in 2009. His calm maneuvering saved 155 passengers by guiding US Airways Flight 1549 to a crash landing in the Hudson River. Both engines on the Airbus A320 were disabled by colliding with a flock of geese.

You can read the FAA document about the engine issue here.

The Rare Air of The AN-255 Cossack: A One-Off Giant Bird

Wendell Barnhouse
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The Rare Air of The AN-255 Cossack: A One-Off Giant Bird

If you ever get into a trivia contest in a bar or other location that requires you to display your vast knowledge, keep this information in mind.

When and if the subject gets around to the world’s largest aircraft, remember that the Antonov An-225 Mriya (Dream or Inspiration), also known as the “Cossack,” qualified as the longest and heaviest airplane ever built. Its original purpose was to ferry the Russian space shuttle. In the United States, that job was handled by a modified 747 – which looks like a Lear jet compared to the Cossack.

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Some facts about the world’s largest plane.

Wingspan: 290 feet.

Wing square footage: 9,740 square feet (nearly a quarter of an acre).

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Image via Public Domain

Length: 275 feet 7 inches.

Height: 59 feet 5 inches

Fuselage diameter: 63 feet.

Power plants: 6 Progress D-18T turbofan engines each putting out 51,000 pounds of thrust.

Antonov An 225 Mriya at 1990 Farnborough Airshow Andrew Thomas
Image via Andrew Thomas

Built by Russia in 1988 as a military cargo plane, only one was ever built. The aircraft was destroyed during on 24 February 2022 by invading Russian forces in Ukraine. But watching the giant jet lumber into the air was a goose-bump experience.

The An-225 was the workhorse of the Antonov Airlines fleet in Russia. It was the go-to cargo aircraft when it comes to hauling something that skeptics say, “You can’t put that in an airplane.”

In August of 2009, a generator for a gas power plant in Armenia was delivered by the An-225. The cargo weighed in at 189 tons.

When the An-225 was built, the Cold War was in its final days. When the Soviet Union broke up, its space program languished and there wasn’t much need for the world’s largest aircraft. However, it enjoyed a rebirth as a specialized cargo hauler.

Antonov 225 Mriya 6835041784 RAF YYC
Image via RAF-YYC

Week in review: Here’s what happened this week in the world of Aviation on Avgeekery

Wendell Barnhouse
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Week in review: Here’s what happened this week in the world of Aviation on Avgeekery

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If you missed any of our posts from this week, here’s a roundup with clickable links.

So, how was your week? If you’re into aviation stories, we hope that you thought this was a good week at Avgeekery.com.

A sobering story about a drone that apparently collided with a British Airways Airbus A320 as it was landing at Heathrow Airport.

Plane spotting from a helicopter at LAX – what could be better?

Avgeekery.com has a crush on the A-10 Warthog. Here’s another example, this video of an A-10 delivering 2,500 rounds from its 30mm gun.

Read about GE9X engine, the world’s biggest jet engine with the most thrust, and watch a video of the engine getting fired up for a test.

A House subcommittee is asking the Air Force to study the cost and feasibility of restarting the F-22 Raptor.

This week’s edition of Flashback Friday highlighted a record-setting flight in 1961 by a pioneering female aviator.

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