“I’ll try to get through this if I can. It will be my last clearance here in a second. It’s been a great 31 years here at Atlanta Center and I appreciate everyone here being on the other side of this voice…”
An Atlanta Center controller recently signed off after a 31-year career. His last words on the radio are a great sendoff. A series of pilots congratulate him for his service after his final call to a Delta Heavy aircraft.
UPDATE: The video appears to have been removed. We’ll keep searching for another copy. If you find one, e-mail us at avgeekeryblog@gmail.com
N767BA, the Boeing 767 prototype (Seattle Municipal Archives via Wikipedia)
Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 121.161 states “Unless authorized by the administrator, based on the character of the terrain, the kind of operation, or the performance of the airplane to be used, no certificate holder may operate two-engine airplanes over a route that contains a point farther than 1 hour flying time (in still air at normal cruising speed with one engine inoperative) from an adequate airport.”
The rule was written in the days of the propliner when piston engines didn’t have the reliability of modern jet turbines. When the Boeing 767-200ER entered service, it was the first commercial twin-jet capable of crossing the oceans*- when Boeing’s director of engineering, Dick Taylor, first approached FAA administrator Lyn Helms in 1980, Helms responded “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let twins fly long haul, overwater routes.” Helms even felt that the 60-minute rule was too generous. Despite his opposition, though, in 1982, the FAA began technical discussions with aircraft manufacturers, airlines and ICAO (they had formed a study group of their own in 1982) on the possibility of extended twin-engine overwater flights. At an ICAO meeting in Montreal that December, the FAA asked airline operators of twin jet aircraft to compile a database of inflight events and engine shut downs. Since long range commercial twins were relatively new to the market, the FAA needed a database to draw upon in figuring out the regulatory details of what would become ETOPS flying. After the Air Canada Flight 143 incident (the “Gimli Glider”) where fuel starvation resulted in a skillful emergency landing on an old Canadian military air strip, some thought it a set back for what Dick Taylor had been pushing for with the Boeing 767. However, in a speech to the Royal Aeronautical Society in London in late 1983, he argued that fuel starvation would have shut down all the engines regardless of whether you have two, three, or four engines.
In 1980 three- and four-engined aircraft handled all the long range routes, particularly those that were overwater. There was a joke that stated “” But modern technology and computerized systems brought to the Boeing 767 a level of redundancy, safety, and efficiency not seen in any prior commercial aircraft. And it wasn’t just the reliability of the engines, the various systems of the 767 facilitated the development of ETOPS- Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards- the ability of a twin engine jetliner to exceed the old 60-minute rule.
In 1980 three- and four-engined aircraft handled all the long range routes, particularly those that were overwater. There was a joke that stated “The reason I fly four-engined aircraft across the ocean is because there are no five-engined aircraft.” But modern technology and computerized systems brought to the Boeing 767 a level of redundancy, safety, and efficiency not seen in any prior commercial aircraft. And it wasn’t just the reliability of the engines, the various systems of the 767 facilitated the development of ETOPS- Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards- the ability of a twin engine jetliner to exceed the old 60-minute rule.
I should point out at this point that before the 767, some Airbus A300 operators were flying overwater routes beyond the FAA’s 60-minute rule under ICAO regulations, but that’s beyond the scope of this article and I’ll be touching upon the A300 in a future article on ETOPS history.
Israel Airlines became the first airline to operate the 767 on trans-Atlantic services between Montreal and Tel Aviv, but the aircraft’s routing complied with the 60-minute rule. Not long after, El Al, Air Canada, and Trans World Airlines (TWA) received exemptions to operate no more than 75 minutes from a suitable diversion airport. This would open up some trans-Atlantic routes and Caribbean routes to the 767. In fact, Air Canada was the first to crack the 60-minute barrier having earned its 75-minute exemption in late 1983. By this point Lyn Helms was no longer the FAA Administrator, the post now assumed by Donald Engen who was more open minded to extended twin overwater flights. (Engen would later become the head of the National Air & Space Museum) Interestingly and perhaps not surprisingly, one of the biggest opponents of ETOPS at the time was McDonnell Douglas, who saw the future of the DC-10 line threatened by the 767.
In June 1984 Boeing showcased the new 767-200ER’s long legs with a 7,500 mile delivery flight from Washington Dulles to Addis Adaba, Ethiopia to bring the 767 to Ethiopian Airlines. The flight required a special one-time FAA waiver to take place. In October 1984 Air Canada took delivery of the first ETOPS-qualified 767-200ER which was permitted to go 75 minutes from a suitable diversion airport. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Association, the US-based pilots’ union Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and the FAA made several recommendations to Boeing that resulted in the 767-200ER having a fourth electrical generator independently powered by a hydraulic motor, additional fire suppression features and equipment for cooling of the CRT displays in the cockpit.
By 1985 Dick Taylor at Boeing was lobbying the FAA hard for extension of the 75-minute rule to 120 minutes which would open up a large number of trans-Atlantic routes to the 767. Already several airlines led by TWA had petitioned the FAA for an ETOPS extension to 120 minutes but before the FAA would grant the extension, Boeing had to show “statistical maturity” by equipping a number of 767s with special data gathering equipment to show unparalleled standards of inflight reliability and the Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines had to log 250,000 consecutive flight hours on passenger flights with a very low rate of shutdown.
Trans World Airlines made the first 120-minute ETOPS flight in 1985 (Jon Proctor Collection via Wikipedia)
On 1 February 1985, TWA Flight 810 departed Boston for Paris on the first revenue passenger flight in history under the 120-minute ETOPS rule. The new ETOPS rule shortened the flight distance and it would replace a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar that normally served the route. Before Flight 810 departed, sixteen TWA pilots went through specialized ETOPS training on international requirements, intensive time in a simulator and landing procedures for the airport at Sondrestromfjord in Greenland, the designated 120-minute diversion airport. Eleven observers from the FAA were aboard TWA 810 and the fuel burn was found to be 7,000 lbs an hour less than that of the L-1011 Tristar on the same route. TWA was so convinced of the efficiency of the 767 with the 120-minute ETOPS rule that it spent $2.6 million per aircraft retrofitting all of its 767-200s for 120-minute ETOPS compliance.
But Boeing and Dick Taylor didn’t stop there. The existing 120-minute ETOPS rule wasn’t enough to get the 767 to Hawaii from California. But Boeing continued to compile failure and shutdown data on the 767 on the trans-Atlantic route to prove the the FAA that it was possible to safely operate the 767 to Hawaii from the US mainland. In 1989, the FAA approved the ETOPS extension to 180 minutes which opened up Hawaii to the 767, as the halfway point between Hawaii and the US mainland is approximately 150 minutes’ flying time. But to gain the 180-minute extension, a particular aircraft and engine combination had to show 12 consecutive months of 120-minute ETOPS flights and meet stringent engine failure rates. The first 180-minutes ETOPS flights were made by American Airlines on the DFW-Honolulu routing starting in 1989. By 1993 the entire 767 family, both the -200 and the -300, as well as the possible engine options of GE, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce, gained full 180-minute ETOPS extensions.
By 1991 the number of passengers crossing the Atlantic on 767s exceeded the number of passengers crossing on three- and four-engined aircraft for the first time in history. By 2000, over 50% of all trans-Atlantic crossings were being made by the 767 family of aircraft. By that time, all brand new 767s rolling out at Boeing’s factory in Everett were certified for 180 minutes ETOPS extensions.
It will be the legacy of the Boeing 767 to show that any place in the world could be crossed safely and efficiently with only two engines and it set the stage for the arrival of the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 family of aircraft that routinely fly routes today that were once the exclusive domain of multi-engined aircraft like the Boeing 747, A340, DC-10/MD-11 and L-1011 Tristar.
Just like cars, airplanes have a comprehensive maintenance schedule that airlines must follow. Maintenance is scheduled based on the number of cycles (takeoffs and landings) as well as additional inspections based on the age of a plane.
The 747-400 is no different. Every 5 years a 747-400 has to undergo a ‘D-check’ inspection. The inspection isn’t cheap. They cost almost $3M as they strip the aircraft for a very thorough inspection and cleaning.
Remember the days when MacGyver would rig a machine gun with just a string, matches and a stick? We’re pretty sure that Samm Sheperd could do even better. As an #avgeek himself, he recently decided to build an RC aircraft from scratch using just foam and broken wall heater parts. Here’s Samm’s story and video of how his ingenious idea turned out. Spoiler alert: It’s pretty amazing.
I am a commercial pilot going on CFI and senior aviation technology major at Walla Walla University. After I finished my private pilots certification, I went and taught sailing at a summer camp. These two factors put me in a position to really ponder aerodynamics and how simple airplanes are, to the point that I thought I could make an RC airplane out of foam board. I tried it and found out that I could! I’ve been addicted ever since.
I had recently learned about centrifugal pumps, and so when I found a funny hamster wheel thing in my broken wall heater, I recognized a fun idea. I made a centrifugal blower and then built an airplane around it in one day. This simple blower is not as efficient as a professionally manufactured propellor, but that wasn’t really the point of the exercise. It’s what aviation is all about, crazy ideas and having fun manipulating the air.
What I hope to do in making videos is to educate and inspire people to try things for themselves.
Southwest is known for their ‘free-spirited’ image. They embraced hot pants in the ’70s, Shamu in the ’80s, and state flags beginning with Lone Star One in 1990 and continuing with California One, Nevada One, New Mexico One, Florida One, Maryland One, Illinois One and now Missouri One in 2015. Missouri’s state flag is extremely intricate for a paint scheme. This time lapse video, produced by Southwest Airlines, shows the sheer amount of skill and patience it took to paint the jet.
Ever since Captain Oveur ate fish in the movie “Airplane”, #avgeeks have wondered if they could successfully land an airliner in the event that both pilots somehow passed out. Avgeekery’s friend Steve Thorne recently went to the Delta Flight Museum to find out by signing up to fly in their Level-D (full motion) 737-200 simulator. Below is his account with video!
As a weekend warrior private pilot, I’ve always wondered about the challenge of being handed the controls of an airliner. (it’s actually been more of a fear really, as I had little confidence that I could handle it.)
I got to test that theory recently!
We produced a 2 part series flying the 737-200 full motion level D sim at the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta!
If you’re interested in more flying films produced from the perspective of a self-analytical private pilot, flying for fun, but striving for professionalism, check out www.FlightChops.com
– we’ve produced over 75 videos, and release a new one every 2nd Friday
We love flyovers at Avgeekery. Even after seeing hundreds of them on video and live, we have to say that this one is by far the best. Watch as Blue Angel #5 performs a low pass flyby over the crowd at Pensacola Beach. The jet sneaks by flying low, fast, and precise. The poor people on the beach never saw it coming. The crowd reacts with excitement as beach umbrellas blow everywhere! It’s an awesome testament to the power and speed of the mighty F/A-18.
Why would an F-18 take off on a road? It might look crazy but this crew is just practicing a capability and utilizing what’s known as a highway airstrip. A nation’s air force is only effective if they can get the planes off the ground. It is assumed that some of the first targets of a war would be the airfield. Highway airstrips were built during the cold war. Segments of straight, reinforced concrete roads capable of landing aircraft are strategically located throughout Europe. These auxiliary strips allow aircraft to take to the skies in the event that the primary airfields are rendered unusable.
File this as a “WTF” moment! A bus driver for Air India rival Jet Airways fell asleep at the wheel on December 21st at Kolkota Airport in India. He had a very rude awakening as his bus rammed into a parked Air India ATR-72 aircraft. Fortunately, there were no passengers on the bus or the plane. The bus driver was not injured. According to India Today, it took five days to bring in a crew to separate the bus from the vehicle.
No pilot enjoys training videos or computer based training. If you have to sit through the training, it might has well have cartoons. The Lockheed P-38 training video is actually informative and mildly entertaining. The Lightning is an amazing aircraft. As an avgeek, it’s fascinating to learn about the flying characteristics of the Lightning. Spoiler alert: Shut an engine down on the Lightning and she flies just fine!
This video was masterfully restored and colorized by Zeno’s Flight Shop.
Legendary pilot Bob Hoover passed away on October 25, 2016. This is a profile that we did on him in 2015.
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Late last year, Air Force test pilot Bob Hoover took to the skies in a Frys.com Saberliner-60 doing ‘one last roll’. Hoover is a living Aviation legend. He personally knew and interacted with folks like Yaeger, Jimmy Doolittle, Eddie Rickenbacker, and even Orville Wright himself. Born in 1922, Hoover first earned heroic status when he took to the skies during World War II. He became a POW after his Spitfire was shot down over southern France after a malfunction. After enduring 16 months of captivity, he escaped by stealing a Focke-Wulf 190. After the war, Hoover became a test pilot for the Air Force, flying chase ship for Chuck Yeager during Yeager’s famous X-1 flight that broke the sound barrier and teaching tactics over Korea.
Bob Hoover is best known for his flying prowess in the air show circuit. He flew the P-51 Mustang and later the Aero Commander. During air shows he would wow crowds by flying aerobatics in what was thought to just be a turboprop commuter aircraft. He even once poured a glass of tea while doing a perfect barrel roll (see video below).
What makes this flight special is that Hoover had not publicly flown since 2000. His medical was revoked in the mid ’90s due to health concerns. He briefly regained his medical but retired at the turn of the century. As evidenced by this video, 93 year-old Hoover still has what it takes to be a ‘pilot’s pilot’.
You can learn more about Bob Hoover by checking out the Bob Hoover Project. A preview of the film is below:
Do you get to jump out of a C-17 at your college? The Air Force Academy’s ‘Wings of Blue’ Parachuting team released a video highlighting their training leading up to their competition at the National Collegiate Skydiving Championship. This year’s championship is being held this week at Florida Skydiving Center in Lake Wales, Florida.
The primary mission of the Academy’s jump program is to train cadets how to successfully free-fall jump out of a plane. The Air Force Academy program is unique because it is the only program in the world where the student’s first jump is solo. In addition to running the training program, cadets selected to be jumpmasters form the prestigious “Wings of Blue” team. The Wings of Blue are broken up into two teams–a demonstration and a competition team. The demonstration team performs at public, sporting, and military events. The competition team competes in various competitions around the world during the year.
The A-10 Warthog has been accused by its critics of being slow, outdated, expensive, and past its prime. The Air Force even tried to retire it this past year. They failed. Congress woundn’t allow it and for good reasons. This video made by the 25th Fighter Squadron gives an insight into why.
The A-10 is an amazing machine. The structure of the aircraft is built around a 30mm cannon with a titanium armored bathtub structure that protects the pilot. The Warthog is a tank in the sky. The A-10C provides close air support for troops in close contact with the enemy. The jet is a key contributor to the current US campaign against ISIS in Iraq.
Most pilots breathe a sigh of relief when they break out of the clouds and see the runway. But a landing is never guaranteed until you turn off the active runway and the spoilers are stowed.
Check out this video below of this Boeing BBJ (737 business jet) attempting to land. In the video, you’ll clearly hear ‘minimums’ with the runway still visible. This is the decision altitude where a pilot would normally commit to landing or go around. Even after the decision altitude, the pilot must still have the runway in sight at all times. In this case, the shower obscured the runway. The BBJ crew made the right decision to go around.
In an era of aviation where critics blast pilots for being nothing more than ‘system operators’, this video demonstrates why pilots are actually skilled professionals who command complex machinery in dynamic and dangerous environments. Split second decisions like this one keep passengers safe.
In a move that was widely expected, American Airlines unveiled new crew and employee uniforms this past week. The update will be the first uniform refresh for the newly combined company. Previously, American Airlines had not updated their uniforms in over 20 years. To be frank, American Airlines current uniforms are very dated. This will be a welcome refresh to an airline that has undergone an extensive brand refresh in just the past two years to include a new logo, paint scheme and branding. It follows uniform updates by the other major US carriers-United, Delta, and, Southwest.
The war in the European theater was particularly bleak in 1943 for the US and its Allies. Bombers were brutally attacked by highly proficient German fighters as they attempted bombing runs over continental Europe. Losses were extremely high for the Allies.
In the midst of all this misery, an unusual occurrence happened just days before Christmas as a German Luftwaffe Ace gazed into the cockpit of a severely damaged B-17 and happened to make eye contact with the pilot. The German Ace took pity and spared his life by not taking a final shot at the crippled bomber. Years later, a unique friendship emerged between these two former enemies.
Testimony to the strength of flying skill, American plastics in the ‘60s, but far more significantly it is the story of one US aviator’s selfless loyalty to his wingman, for which ironically he would be reprimanded.
On the 10th of March 1967, US Air Force Captain Bob Pardo and wingman, Captain Earl Aman, were flying their two F-4 Phantoms on a mission to attack a steel mill just north of Hanoi when both were hit by North Vietnamese anti-aircraft fire.
Captain Aman’s Phantom was worst hit, with serious damage to a fuel tank and soon his F-4 did not have to power it over the Laotian border to relative safety.
The obvious choice for Aman was to eject.
Unfortunately below him was a very hostile North Vietnam, not known when dealing with prisoners for following the letter or even the spirit of the Geneva Conventions.
But Pardo was having none of that though, even though Pardo’s aircraft could have made it back on its own, despite a fire onboard. He knew that the only right thing to do was to push Aman over the border. In an interview with 1st Combat Camera Pardo said, “My dad taught me when your friend needs help, you help. I couldn’t have come home and told him I didn’t try anything because that’s exactly what he would’ve asked me. He would’ve said, ‘did you try?’ So I had to be able to answer that with a yes. And luckily, it worked.”
First he tried nuzzling his aircraft up to Aman’s dragchute compartment but the downwash and buffeting killed that idea.
Fortunately though, the Phantom was also designed to serve in the US Navy where a carrier’s 1000-foot, floating runway was far too short for the prolonged niceties of a fluffy dragchute. As a result, all F4 Phantoms, both Navy and Air Force, sported very sturdy tail hooks to snatch the aircraft to a stop in feet, not miles.
So Pardo backed off. Aman dropped his hook shutting down his engines. Then Pardo closed in to push, using his cockpit canopy to nudge Aman’s lowered tailhook.
And this worked – sort of.
Pardo had already shut down one of his engines due to the fire so he could only slow, not arrest, the rate of descent for both aircraft making it a race against time between the border or the ground. And on top of this, every 30 seconds or so, Aman’s tailhook would slide off Pardo’s polished plexiglass.
Despite all that, after 88 miles of precise pushing, both safely aircraft limped into friendly airspace, but at an altitude of only 6000 feet which meant, at their rate of descent, just 2 more minutes in the air. Pardo was running low on fuel himself, so all four airmen ejected to safety.
Incredibly, Pardo was scolded for not saving his Phantom. Over twenty years later, Pardo finally received the recognition he deserved. Pardo and Aman eventually received the Silver Star for their heroism. (See below for Maj. Pardo’s citation.)
Although unquestionably an incredible feat, Pardo’s Push was actually not a first.
In 1952, James “Robbie” Risner who had first flown for the USAF in World War II, was now flying a F-86 Sabre in the Korean
DoD Photo by Col. Cox
War. On the 15th of September while escorting fighter-bombers he attacked and then chased at near supersonic speeds an enemy MIG at ground level, down a dry riverbed and finally between the hangars of a Chinese airbase 35 miles inside China where the MIG crashed among parked Chinese fighters. Unfortunately returning from this triumph, Risner’s wingman, Joseph Logan, was hit, quickly draining his tanks.
To help him reach safety, Risner also decided to push Logan’s aircraft by inserting the nose of his F-86 into Logan’s now cooling tailpipe and, like Aman’s Phantom 15 years later, Logan’s F-86 made it to safety where Logan ejected. Sadly, Logan became entangled in his parachute and drowned.
Risner would go on to fly in a third war, was captured, tortured, freed rose to the rank of Brigadier General – but that’s another story.
Watch an interview with Lt Col Pardo (ret):
LtCol Pardo was interviewed as part of the amazing “Veterans in Blue” series by 1stCombatCamera. You can watch his interview below.
Major John R. Pardo distinguished himself by gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force over North Vietnam on 10 March 1967. On that date, Major Pardo was flying as the pilot of the lead element on the return from a 1,000 mile flight in which heavy flak damage was encountered. He noticed that his wingman’s aircraft was in trouble and was advised that the aircraft was extremely low on fuel. Realizing that the wingman’s aircraft would not make it out of North Vietnam, Major Pardo implemented maneuvers to literally push the aircraft across the border. The attempt was successful and consequently allowed the crew to avoid becoming prisoners of war. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, Major Pardo has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
If you have heard this song belted by a princess in your house, you probably a proud parent of a daughter under 10 years old. Frozen is THE kids movie of decade. It was only a matter of time before an airline capitalized on the success of the movie. Enter WestJet Airlines. They are the official Canadian airline of Walt Disney World in Florida. WestJet recently unveiled a new Frozen themed aircraft to celebrate the partnership.
Painting the Jet
The Frozen jet was originally a stock WestJet 737-800 that was repainted into the Disney motif. It took over 170 gallons of paint and 21 days working non-stop to turn their ho-hum aircraft into a fantasy bird. The paint scheme features 23 colors and even has a sparkling overcoat so that the jet uniquely shines in the sunlight. The paint scheme is designed to tell a story. According to WestJet, “on the tail of our aircraft, sisters Anna and Elsa celebrate sisterhood and the magic of snow. From the aircraft tail along the fuselage, the magic travels to warm the front of the aircraft where Olaf can be found enjoying a summer day on the beach.” WestJet put together a time lapse showing how the Frozen 737 aircraft was painstakingly painted.
On October 18, 2015, WestJet unveiled the aircraft in a spectacular fashion. The airline invited hundreds of children to the unveiling celebration held at a hangar in Toronto, Ontario. The ceremony featured none other than Elsa, Olaf, and Anna characters in full costume. To the amazement of the assembled crowd, Anna danced as the curtain fell to unveil a magical paint scheme. Inside the 737-800, the cabin was fitted with a special Frozen themed leather seating that featured darker winter-like colors in the back (very Canadian) transitioning to brighter summer themed seats and overhead bins in the front.
Shortly after the unveiling of the newly painted aircraft, WestJet also shot air-to-air footage of the aircraft near Calgary. With split-scimitar winglets and a shiny exterior, the 737-800 looks amazing. You can see the video here:
As an added bonus for avgeeks, we stumbled upon footage on YouTube (beautifully shot by dude8472productions) that captures the WolfAir Learjet 25 conducting a flyby of the Frozen WestJet 737-800 departs on runway 17L at Calgary. The video later shows the 737 executing a touch and go on the same runway as the Lear 25 flies by at a higher speed “well to the left of 17L”.
WestJet Airlines puts together some of the most exciting Christmas videos. You may remember their 2013 tear-jerking video where Santa asked passengers what they wanted for Christmas. When they arrived at their destination, their wishes were granted by the WestJet Santa. That video has now been seen over 44 million times on the web.
This year, WestJet took a different approach. Instead of granting a few hundred wishes, they granted 12,000 for people all across Canada, the United States, and even London. WestJet will commence service to London Gatwick on May 6, 2016 using 4 of their ‘new’ 767-300ER aircraft that were previously flown by Qantas Airlines.
Alaska Airlines has announced today that they will retire their fleet of 5 737-400 ‘Combi’ aircraft. The Alaska Dispatch News reports that the retirement of these aircraft is part of a broader initiative to replace all 26 737-400s in the Alaska Fleet by the end of 2016. The 5 737-400s will be replaced by 3 737-700s ‘Next Gen’ airplanes. The 3 -700 aircraft, which are already operated by Alaska, will be converted to ‘Combi’ aircraft.
The 737-400 ‘Combi’ aircraft is a unique airplane. The cabin is divided between a passenger section in the back seating 72 passengers and cargo pallet positions in the front of the jet. The airplane is used on thin Alaska routes that rely on air cargo flights to supply remote towns.
With Alaska’s retirement of the -400 “Classics” in 2016, Southwest Airlines will be the only remaining major US airline that will be operating the “Classic” fleet. Southwest flies a fleet of -300 and -500 aircraft.
Check out the video of a 737-400 ‘Combi’ landing in Anchorage.
