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BREAKING: Fire Extinguished Near Cargo Hold of American 777-300ER

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BREAKING: Fire Extinguished Near Cargo Hold of American 777-300ER

American Airlines Flight 192 was cancelled today after a ground support vehicle caught fire near the Boeing 777-300ER. First photos and videos that appeared on social media looked as if the aircraft itself had caught fire. Additional images though more clearly showed that it was only a “K-loader” used to load cargo into the cargo hold of the aircraft and not the aircraft itself.

My flight! My luggage! My Clothes!

A post shared by Daniel Chen (@wingmustwin) on

In a statement about the incident to Avgeekery.com, American Airlines said,

“An external piece of loading equipment had a mechanical issue and caught fire while preparing to put cargo in the hold of American Airlines flight 192 from Hong Kong (HKG) to Los Angeles (LAX). As a result, a pallet on the loading equipment containing non-hazardous goods also caught fire. Boarding had not yet started when this occurred and no passengers or crew were injured.  The aircraft, a  Boeing 777-300, has been taken out of service to be evaluated by our maintenance team.”

While the aircraft never caught fire, the cargo and k-loader were very close to the aircraft. The cargo door appeared to be exposed to significant heat and flames. We wouldn’t be surprised if the aircraft was out of service for a few days as a maintenance team determines if a new cargo door and/or additional repair work to the fuselage skin is necessary.

American Airlines operates a fleet of 20 Boeing 777-300ERs.  The aircraft is the largest in the fleet. The larger 777 flies many of American’s flagship routes between hubs at DFW airport and Los Angeles to Asia.

Below are photos and video of the incident that were taken by Twitter and Instagram users at the scene:

KC-135 Deployment Video Makes Tankers Actually Look Kinda Cool

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KC-135 Deployment Video Makes Tankers Actually Look Kinda Cool

Let’s be honest avgeeks, no one grows up and says “One day, I want to be a tanker pilot”.  With frequent deployments in the desert, super-old equipment, and crappy air conditioning, it’s not usually student pilot’s first choice at pilot training. Even the KC-10, which used to be called a “Gucci” plane is getting long in the tooth.

But one guy used the magic of flight to make the KC-135 actually look kinda cool. YouTuber Xanderduke has posted a few videos over the years of his deployments.  He combined his artistic ability and a GoPro to capture some beautiful scenes.

Joking aside, the KC-135 and KC-10 tanker fleet play a critical role in our nation’s defense. Fighters wouldn’t be able to loiter on station. Aeromedical evacuation flights would have to stop short of their destination, and bombers would lack the unlimited range that they enjoy. More importantly, we thank the men and women make great sacrifices to fuel the fight.

BONUS: KC-135s as explorers

Rare Video Shows How The Air Force Reserve Activated In The 1980s

Bill Walton
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Rare Video Shows How The Air Force Reserve Activated In The 1980s

It was a different time. Plenty of manning, great technology (for its time), a wide assortment of aircraft, and a good work/life balance for the airmen.  But they still faced the dreaded ORI (Operational Readiness Inspection).

The film “The Air Force Reserve- Always Ready” was produced by the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) during 1980 and documents that year’s Exercise Paid Redoubt. The exercise involved nearly every facet of AFRES capability and capacity at the time, simulating multiple scenarios and mission variables over the two week-long Colorado event. In the video below, uploaded by YouTuber Airboyd, you’ll see not only the aircraft and crews but the personnel behind the scenes who made the difference between chaos and control.

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

In the film, Lockheed C-130H, DC-130H, and HC-130H Hercules aircraft appear in their tactical airlift, drone control, and rescue command and control and refueling roles respectively. A Sikorsky HH-3H Jolly Green Giant flies a simulated combat search and rescue (CSAR) mission, complete with close air support provided by Cessna OA-37B Dragonfly aircraft.

1200px OA 37B 1
Official US Air Force Photograph

When it comes to the tactical fighter role, the 457th Fighter Squadron (FS) Spads  of the 301st Fighter Wing (FW) fly their Republic F-105D Thunderchiefs from Carswell AFB in Texas to the exercise. Lockheed C-141A Starlifters and C-5A Galaxies provide logistical support for Paid Redoubt.

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Official US Air Force Photograph

United 747 Buzzes Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz At Its Last Ever Fleet Week

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United 747 Buzzes Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz At Its Last Ever Fleet Week

For years, United Airlines has wowed crowds with a display of “The Queen” at San Francisco’s Fleet Week.  Every year, United flies their flagship Boeing 747-400 over the bay to celebrate sponsorship of San Francisco’s big air and sea show.

What makes this flyover unique is that this will be the last year that the city will see the Queen fly over the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the Bay. They plan to retire the 747 fleet on November 7th with the final scheduled revenue flight from SFO to Honolulu.

All hail the queen. ????✈️ #QueenOfTheSkies #UA747Farewell #FleetWeekSF #Avgeek

A post shared by United (@united) on

We’ll leave you with two videos.  Above you’ll see United’s Instagram post capturing the flight.  Below you can see an amateur YouTube video posted by wanderlust1k.  While the quality isn’t professional, it gives you a good idea of the profile that the Boeing 747 flies at the show.

Too much fun! My T-38 Fiasco at Webb AFB, TX back in 1971

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Too much fun! My T-38 Fiasco at Webb AFB, TX back in 1971

On my first T-38 solo, I got into multiple troubles. In one of the maneuvering areas, I decided to do repeated loops, merrily climbing and losing ten thousand feet in each loop. As you pull through the top of the loop, you must look up to see the earth coming back into view. As you finish the loop, there is nothing but earth before you as you streak straight down. I was having a fine time until Center called me and asked which area I was supposed to be in. I gave him the area name, and he informed me I had strayed into the adjacent area in my frolic, and why didn’t I get my butt back into my own area.

That, however, was mild compared to what was coming. I returned to the Webb pattern, shot an instrument approach, and requested the closed (close in) visual pattern to get another quick landing. As I rolled out on final, I noticed the controls were behaving very strangely. I had to use huge control stick movements to get my desired response from the plane. As I pondered this, the RSU officer came up on tower frequency and asked, “T-38 on final, confirm no-flap?”

AAAAAAH!

I had forgotten to put the flaps down to improve lift for the slow final approach and now, belatedly, realized I was about to stall the plane a few hundred feet above the ground, something that could have fatal consequences. I slammed the throttles forward into full afterburner, orange flames shot out the back of the plane’s engines, and I felt a blessed power surge that pressed me back into my seat. Stunned at my lapse and whispering, “Oh, fuck! Oh, fuck!” to myself, I heard the RSU controller on the radio again a moment later.
“On the go, [meaning me], gear?”

AAAAAAH again!

I had forgotten, in my panic, to raise the gear and had now exceeded its maximum extended speed limit. However, it did come up and eventually go down one more time as I full stopped.

I wobbled away from the plane after landing and skulked back into the flight room. I didn’t know if I could possibly get away with this. As it turned out, I could not.

One of the loudest, most obnoxious of our section’s IPs had been the RSU officer asking me the questions from the tower, and he soon arrived to skewer me in front of the entire flight. “Lieutenant Lacklen, were you Rod 22?” he asked loudly, knowing full well I had been.
“Er, yes, sir, I was,” I said.

“Did you write up a gear overspeed when you landed?” he pressed, glaring at me angrily as if he had just caught me in bed with his wife.
“Er, no, sir.”

As he looked around the room to ensure everyone was listening, he continued, his voice rising, “Well, let me count up the busts for you on this flight—one for flying an illegal [for a student] no-flap, one for overspeeding the gear, and one for not writing it up in the maintenance forms. That is three U’s on one solo ride, mister. Where the hell is your IP? Now, get your ass back out to that airplane and write up that gear!”

Captain Obnoxious had known he had a student by the balls when, after asking for no-flap confirmation of me on final, he had seen the orange flames explode from the back of my engines, a sure sign I had hit afterburners; I didn’t even need to answer him. Had he not seen that, and had I not answered, his next, panicked command would have been “T-38 on final, burners now!” because, as my nose-high, wallowing aircraft movement warned, I’d have soon started stalling and falling. But I beat him to the punch. Then, as I streaked past the RSU with my gear still down, he knew he had me again, and he did.”

Editors note: Youtube video by majsparky depicting typical T-38 sorties from the 1970s.

(Excerpt from “Flying the Line, an Air Force Pilot’s Journey, Pilot Training, Vietnam, SAC,” (book one of the three book series) by Jay Lacklen.

Fat Albert C-130 Used To Blast Off On Rocket Assisted Takeoffs

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Fat Albert C-130 Used To Blast Off On Rocket Assisted Takeoffs

Fat Albert is a unique aircraft.  Aircraft like the C-27, C-130s and C-17s will occasionally perform routines at airshows. Fat Albert is the only large transport aircraft on a service-level performance team in the world.

For the uninitiated, Fat Albert is a C-130T used to transport gear and equipment for the Blue Angels.  The crew is comprised of three marine officers and five enlisted crew members.  Each crew member on the immense aircraft is considered part of the Blue Angels team.  They wear the same uniform as the rest of the performance team that flies the F/A-18 Hornet.

While Fat Albert will occasionally perform short field takeoffs and assault landings before the show, its routine is very limited from what it used to do. From 1975 until 2009, Fat Albert used to fly a rocket-assisted takeoff prior to the departure of the main Blue Angels show.  The C-130T was specially equipped with 8 JATO rocket cylinders.  Each rocket was comprised of solid fuel and added about 1,000 lbs of thrust to the C-130.  With 8,000 lbs of extra thrust on the aircraft, the C-130 became airborne in no time.  It then commenced a very spectacular 45 degree nose-high climb to altitude. For reference, typical C-130s climb at around 10-15 degrees climb angles on a normal departure.

Although the JATO takeoffs were impressive, the supply of Vietnam war-era rockets dried up. Fat Albert flew its last JATO takeoff at Pensacola back in 2009. The odds of seeing this amazing departure profile ever again are slim to none.

Even without the rockets, Fat Albert still soldiers on today.  The C-130 was recently refurbished.  It was grounded earlier this year after a crash of a similar KC-130T model.  Fat Albert passed inspection and is now back flying with the team. This video was filmed by Kevin Slay and originally posted on YouTube.

Listen To This Gorgeous Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat Purr In This 4k Start-Up and Flyby Video

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Listen To This Gorgeous Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat Purr In This 4k Start-Up and Flyby Video

The F8F-2 Bearcat was design by Grumman Ironworks and began production in 1947. The Bearcat served in a total of 24 squadrons for both the United States Navy and Marine Corps during 1948. A few of the Bearcat’s notable specs are: the max speed of 455 MPH, lighter airframe compared to similar fighters (when compared to the Corsair, the Bearcat is 3,000 pound lighter), and the second airframe to be used by the United States Demonstration Squadron-The Blue Angels.

Powering the Bearcat is a single Pratt & Whitney radial engine capable of 2,250-hp. It is worth noting the Corsair and the Bearcat share the same engine design, however the lighter airframe of the Bearcat allows the aircraft to reach higher maximum speed. On May 31, 1949 production ended for the Bearcat, yielding a total of 282 aircraft.

The aircraft featured in the video was produced in 1948 and delivered to the Navy for service on December 2, 1948. The aircraft was later placed into storage in 1953 until it’s purchase in 1997 by The Lone Star Flight Museum in Texas. The aircraft was restored to flying condition by the museum.

The current owner, John O’Connor, purchased the aircraft from the Museum in 2011. The Bearcat is quite rare today sight at airshows today. In an interview by the Dailyherald.com owner John O’Connor stated, “fewer than 10 of these aircraft are flying today.” (dailyherald.com) The Blue Angel paint scheme was already applied when the aircraft was purchased in 2011.

Notable Events in the video:

0:10 Mustang “Gentleman Jim” returns to the Hot Ramp

2:27 C-47 with Paratroopers Enter Frame

4:30 Smoke On

4:50 Bearcat Begins Taxi to Runway

5:00 Short Flyby of the Bearcat

Electric Commuter Planes are Set to Revolutionize Regional Air Travel by 2022

Kim Clark
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Electric Commuter Planes are Set to Revolutionize Regional Air Travel by 2022

Zunum Aero has received backing from Boeing and JetBlue for plans that would have a hybrid electric commuter plane in the air by the year 2022. With climbing fuel costs and endless delays at check-in, these new hybrids are expected to operate at a fraction of the cost due to lower fuel consumption and be extremely agile, getting passengers to their destinations faster than ever before.

The initial designs show a plane that is small in stature, seating only a dozen or passengers, and suited for trips that are less than 1,000 miles in distance. Zunum Aero execs say they identified a hole in the aviation market that opened up an opportunity to launch the electric commuter plane program. Connections from smaller airports to large hubs have always been cumbersome. Passengers often complain about inefficiencies and the cost of short trips. The electric commuter aircraft are expected to radically cut travel time from small airports with connections to major hubs and provide airline customers with a seamless solution compared to traditional options.

The initial flight tests are scheduled to begin in 2019. This is a very ambitious goal for Zunam Aero, considering current battery technology is not powerful enough to generate enough energy for liftoff. That is the main reason that there are no electrically powered aircraft today, and most experts estimate that it will take many years for technological advances to make it possible. But according to Zunum Aero executives, their proprietary propulsion and powertrain technology will enable them to build a hybrid with a range of 700 miles by the year 2022 and by 2030, an electric plane with a 1,000-mile range.

Electric hybrid plane
Photo by Zunum Aero

This is great news for consumers because the cost of connections will be lower and even the noise and pollution emitted from the hybrids gets a check in the positive column: the hyrid electric jets boast an 80% reduction in both noise and noxious air emissions.

While the new alliance between Zunum, Boeing and JetBlue is set to conquer short duration flights with the new technology, Boeing said in a comment this week that they plan to further extend the program to long distance flights. Boeing announced its acquisition of Aurora Flight Services October 5 with an eye toward developing electric jets for long duration flights, for both commercial customers and the military.

UK’s Huge Peacetime Repatriation: 10K Passengers Return After Monarch Collapses

Kim Clark
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UK’s Huge Peacetime Repatriation: 10K Passengers Return After Monarch Collapses

More than 10,000 passengers that had traveled abroad are being repatriated back to the UK after the recent Monarch Air collapse. Most of them will be brought back by the end of this week. According to the Business Reporter, the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) has already repatriated almost 35,000 people on 173 flights. The remaining 75,392 passengers are expected to return by October 15. The British government and CAA are working over time as, in total, about 860,000 people have been affected. CAA Chair Dame Deirdre Hutton says this massive undertaking has gone well for the first three days but points out that there are still 11 days remaining before the monumental repatriation is complete. Most all Monarch passengers are expected to be back in the UK by October 15.

With all the canceled flights, news of the collapse is devastating for many people who were planning holiday travel on the budget airline. Holiday flights on other carriers are likely to overbook and experience additional problems related to overcrowding. Travelers are not the only ones affected, however. According to administrators at KPMG, about 1,858 of the 2,100 employed at Monarch’s tour and airline group are now in redundant positions and will be laid off. It is expected that 98 tour and 1,760 airline employees will lose their jobs.

No buyer yet.

Meantime, the airline continues to search for a buyer but no buyer has come forward yet. So, Monarch’s top executives are considering breaking up the company. Monarch Aircraft Engineering, the engineering operation, is not part of administration and is trading normally. Breaking the company into bits and pieces may be a bit traumatic for veterans of the company (Monarch Airlines was originally founded in 1967) but executives are quick to point out that a breakup could be one of the only ways to salvage parts of the company.

Photo 2 800px LHR Terminal 3 waiting area
Passengers wait for a flight. Photo by: Tom Murphy VII (Wikipedia)

To add insult to injury, the workers’ union is filing suit. Unite union has initiated legal action on behalf of more than 1,800 cabin, crew and engineering employees that were laid off. This could add millions of dollars to taxpayers’ already heavy financial burden. Taxpayers are required to bankroll the current repatriation efforts, since the airline is essentially bankrupt.

It is the largest airline bankruptcy in the United Kingdom to date. Monarch stopped trading October 2, after urgent talks with aviation regulators. The CAA refused to renew the airline’s license to sell holiday packages shortly before the 4 a.m. announcement.

Emirates A380 Jet Nearly Loses Directional Control In Windy Landing

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Emirates A380 Jet Nearly Loses Directional Control In Windy Landing

We’re pretty sure the maintenance logs asked for replacement of the tires and the pilot’s seat cushion after this A380 landing.  They are lucky it wasn’t worse.

Landing a “heavy” or “super” sized airliner in strong crosswinds requires great skill. It is even more challenging in gusty conditions. In this video posted on Youtube by Cargospotter, the Emirates A380 airliner touched down hard while still crabbed during gusty crosswinds at Dusseldorf Airport in Germany.  The jumbo then overcorrected as the pilot attempted to kick rudder to straighten out the jet after the hard landing. The jet then slid sideways before the pilot finally regained control. The landing gear incurred some serious side-load on that landing. See for yourself:

Gusty winds cause areas of rapid lift and downdrafts. Strong wind gradients near the surface also lead to low-level wind shear. If a wind gust subsides at the wrong moment, the aircraft can sink faster, leading to a rough landing or worse.

There are many techniques that pilots use in stormy/gusty conditions.  Many crews discuss how they are spring loaded to go-around with an unusually high sink rate or if they encounter wind shear.  They also brief a reference ground speed.  This speed accounts for the expected shear.  It means that an aircraft will fly faster so that they can ‘fly through’ the shear and still be on-speed at touchdown.

Is China’s ARJ21 Just A MD-80 Copy Or Is It The Beginning Of China’s Rise In Commercial Aviation?

Kim Clark
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Is China’s ARJ21 Just A MD-80 Copy Or Is It The Beginning Of China’s Rise In Commercial Aviation?

China’s bid to become a major player in the global aerospace industry is moving forward, with the recent certification of the ARJ21. Mass production has commenced and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or COMAC, reports that it already has 413 orders for the ARJ21 from 19 customers.

Chengdu Airlines COMAC ARJ21 700 at 2014 Zhuhai Air Show

The Deputy Director General of China’s Ministry of Industry, equipment industry department, Yang Shuanchang says the aircraft will serve as a model for the development of similar prototypes like the C919, which is expected to be submitted for certification in 2019. Industry observers say the real test of mettle will be the pending certification of the C919.

A United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-type certification has to be granted as a preliminary condition for any aircraft to be entered into the intensely competitive worldwide aviation market. Boeing and Airbus initially bristled at the potential competition coming from China, in part because the Chinese government has a record of investing heavily in state-run ventures. Those fears were somewhat allayed however since, in spite of these investments, getting the ARJ21 off the ground has taken a decade longer than originally anticipated due to serious issues that arose during the testing phase, calling into the question China’s ability to compete and create indigenous designs.

MD-80 Frankenstein

Early problems with the ARJ21 included avionics and wing cracks. For example, in early static testing, the wings broke or cracked when put under pressure before reaching the average pressure point set by regulators. Because of this, the CAAC limited the plane’s flight envelope during the test program. In addition, tests uncovered faulty wiring. Testing for icing and stall speeds were also postponed. The perpetual problems led aviators and avgeeks to refer to the ARJ21 as an MD-80 Frankenstein with a little CRJ and unreliability mixed in.

McDonnell Douglas MD 80 American Airlines DFW shop nose gear cockpit 2734230329 3
The ARJ-21 looks awfully familiar to the original MD-80 shown here. Photo Bill Abbott (Wikipedia)

The ARJ21 is partially built on specs from the old MD80, thanks to the presence of U.S. manufacturers in China. McDonnell Douglas was operating an MD80 manufacturing facility in Shaghai prior to its merger with Boeing, thanks to a lucrative deal inked in the early 90s. During this time period, presses and other parts were shipped from the United States to the Douglas facility. This gave the Chinese access to Western technology.

Once Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas, production of the MD80 ceased, marking the end of an era. After abandoning the final MD80 and MD90 assembly lines in China after about 30 frames, Aviation Industrial Company inherited McDonnell Douglas tooling.

China Announces Regional Airliner Project

It did not take long before China was announcing it’s “new” regional airliner project, unveiling a design that was eerily similar to the MD80 design. COMAC officials in Shanghai vehemently defend the ARJ21 as an original design. However, despite COMAC’s protests to the contrary, it is commonly accepted that the ARJ21 is fundamentally a redesign of the DC9. There is a general consensus throughout the industry that the ARJ21 is an incarnation of the MD-80 airframe as well, especially since the initial phase of the ARJ21 life cycle began after Boeing made an agreement with COMAC to make a larger version of the MD87.

The ARJ21 was originally launched way back in 2002. It is essentially a reengineered MD-80 with a body shrunk down to regional jet dimensions. It features a new wing designed by Antonov and General Electric GE CF34 turbofans. The aircraft, which has been dogged by issues that led to the lengthy certification delays and major redesigns, has a list price of about $30 million which is a fraction of the cost of jets sold in the West. In spite of the lower price tag, the ARJ21 is significantly more expensive to operate since it is much heavier than traditional Western jets, and therefore, consumes much more expensive jet fuel.

The C919: China’s Ace in the Hole?

C919 COMAC B 001A May 2017
Flying Ace? COMAC C919 taking off from Shanghai – Pudong International Airport. By Weimeng at www.airliners.net [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
The airworthiness of China’s next market entrant, the C919, is already being questioned. Comac VP Shi Jianzhong stated that a number of “issues” with the C919 engine and technology that led to delays for the latest second round of testing. It is difficult to determine the actual status due to lack of transparency from Chinese manufacturers. However, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China executives announced Friday that the C919 testing is back on track. The aircraft is slated to take its third test flight within the next few weeks, if not sooner.

Honeywell navigation systems, Liebherr landing gear and CFM International Leap-1C engines are integrated into the design, even though industry observers say technology powering the C919 is largely out of date. Only time will tell if Chinese Civil Aviation will be established as a major global contender. The aviation community is eyeing the C919 to determine if China will be catapulted into an aviation super power or remain parked at the gate in light of test failures caused by manufacturing problems once again.

VIDEO: One Proven Fighter, One Unproven Stealth Fighter Cruise Together Over London

Bill Walton
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VIDEO: One Proven Fighter, One Unproven Stealth Fighter Cruise Together Over London

From our good friends at AirshowStuffVideos comes this Heritage Flight performed by a United States Air Force (USAF) Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II and a North American P-51D Mustang warbird. This performance took place during the London Airshow 2017 at London International Airport in London, Ontario Canada. The aircraft takeoff, perform their formation flybys, and each perform a solo flyby before recovering after the performance. Turn that sound UP!

[youtube id=”kkxzj_3n0Ng” width=”800″ height=”454″ position=”left”]

The North American P-51D-25NA 44-73029 (N51JB Bald Eagle) is a Horsemen Flying Team aircraft. It entered service with the Ohio Air National Guard (ANG) during the early 1950s and spent time in the Nicaraguan Air Force before returning to the States in 1963. The aircraft changed hands several times during the 60s and 70s and was raced as #15 Jay Bee during the 70s. Jim Beasley acquired the aircraft in 1983. A landing accident in 1984 grounded the aircraft for a while but a restoration completed in 2010 returned the aircraft to flight with The Horsemen.

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The Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II in the video is F-35A Air Force serial number 11-5038 (MSN AF-49) and was delivered to the Air Force on July 29th 2014. Since acceptance the jet has been flown by the 61st Fighter Squadron Top Dogs of the 56th Operations Group based at Luke Air Force Base near Glendale in Arizona. The 56th can trace its roots all the way back to the 56th Fighter Group based in England during World War II- yes, that’s right- Gabby Gabreski’s unit. The 56th was re-activated in October of 2013 to provide F-35A training.

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