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Special KLM Livery Celebrates The End of Cityhopper Fokker F-70

Bill Walton
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Special KLM Livery Celebrates The End of Cityhopper Fokker F-70

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has had a close relationship with the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker for 97 years. KLM is the oldest airline in the world that still uses its original moniker. Some of their first airliners were Fokker F.II and F.IIIs. Of course KLM has also used the majority of the Douglas DC-X series airliners, every Boeing 7X7 type, Lockheed Constellations, Airbuses, and various DeHavilland and Convair aircraft as well. But over the first 19 years of KLM’s storied history their aircraft were almost entirely Fokker aircraft, ranging from the original F.II through the F.XXXVI.

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Photo Credit: Anthony Hisgett

As far as Regional equipment is concerned, KLM Cityhopper and the other KLM Regional subsidiaries have flown Fokker F-50s since 1991, F-70s since 1995, and F-100s since 1991. Embraer 175 and 190 aircraft have replaced the F-50 and F-100 over the years. The only Fokker aircraft currently in KLM service are Fokker 70s, the last of which are due to be replaced in October of 2017.

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Photo Credit: KLM Cityhopper

The final farewell for the Fokker F-70 will feature tributes to Anthony Fokker and KLM’s relationship with the pioneering Dutch aviator, designer, and manufacturer. The last Fokker 70 in service has received a special commemorative paint scheme with a portrait of Anthony Fokker on the vertical stabilizer and special graphics on the fuselage.

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Photo Credit: KLM Cityhopper

Fokker was known as the “Flying Dutchman.” In 1910 as a young man he designed and built The Spider- his first airplane. Fokker went on to build and test-fly many more of his own designs. An entire series of passenger airplanes, much later referred to as airliners, were his most enduring contribution to aviation, but he also designed and built several of the German Air Force’s fighter aircraft used during World War I. Fokker was the inventor of the synchronization device that allowed machine guns to be fired through the propeller arc while in flight.

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Photo Credit: KLM Cityhopper

Fokker moved to America during 1926. He lost no time building up another division of his company, called Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, in the United States. After a few successful years in the business he sold his American aircraft plants to General Motors, which renamed them the General Aviation division of General Motors. Anthony Fokker passed away in 1939 at the age of 49. He was a true aviation pioneer and his designs became famous and were used the world over. It was a Fokker F.VII that United States Navy Lieutenant Commander Richard E. Byrd and Machinist Floyd Bennet flew over the North Pole during May of 1926.

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True #Avgeek Challenge: How Many Navy Planes Do You See In This Film?

Bill Walton
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True #Avgeek Challenge: How Many Navy Planes Do You See In This Film?

Test Your Aircraft Recognition Skills With This 1970 Navy Film

“Flight:  The Romance of Naval Aviation” is a film produced by the United States Navy (USN) and distributed in 1970. With no narration but a fusion jazz music accompaniment, the film’s footage was shot aboard the Midway-class aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea (CVA-43), the Forrestal-class aircraft carriers USS Forrestal (CVA-59), USS Constellation (CVA-64), and USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63), the Essex-class carrier USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) and the training carrier USS Lexington (CVT-16) as well as during what appears to have been many hours of air-to-air shooting from at least one F9F-8T Cougar. Some of the footage was shot during Western Pacific (WestPac) deployments of these carriers. Also included is some footage of the Blue Angels flying their F-4J Phantom IIs.

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Included in the film is footage of front-line carrier aircraft operating from the boat featuring McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs, Vought F-8 and RF-8 Crusaders along with A-7 Corsair IIs, Douglas A-3B and KA-3B Skywarriors, A-4 Skyhawks, and A-1 Skyraiders, and North American A-5 Vigilantes. Grumman A-6 Intruders, North American FJ Furies, Grumman S-2 Trackers, Lockheed P-3 Orions, McDonnell F3H Demons, and Sikorsky SH-34 Seabat and SH-3 Sea King helicopters are all included. Naval Air Training Command (NATC) aircraft are also well represented, with Lockheed T-1A Seastars, Grumman F-11F Tigers, North American T-28 Trojans and T-2 Buckeyes, Grumman F9F-8T Cougars, Beechcraft T-34 Mentors, and Bell TH-13L helicopters all there. In fact, counting the single glimpses of an E-2 Hawkeye, a Kaman SH-2 Seasprite, and a C-1 Trader on deck, there are 26 types of aircraft in the film. Did I miss any? Let me know.

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Powerful Engine Gave Crew a Chance at Ejection By the Skin of Their Teeth

Bill Walton
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Powerful Engine Gave Crew a Chance at Ejection By the Skin of Their Teeth

Sometimes the Bears Eats You, and Sometimes You Eat the Bear

On 12 June 1999 Sukhoi test pilot Vyacheslav Averynov and navigator Vladimir Shendrikh took to the skies in the shiny new Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKI Flanker-C  demonstrator “Blue 01” on opening day of the 43rd Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport.

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The jet was the latest word in Russian vectored-thrust air-superiority fighter aircraft. Near the conclusion of the demonstration, as the fighter was descending during a downward spiraling maneuver, before Ayerynov could pull out and with afterburners blazing, the tail of the jet hit made contact with the ground. Even though the aircraft was nearly out of energy and the left engine was en fuego, the jet was still able to pull away from the ground and stabilize long enough for the crew to successfully eject. The aircraft then pancaked into the ground on the infield and went up in flames. Fortunately nobody was hurt.

Su 30MKI 6 Vitaly V. Kuzmin
Photo Credit: Vitaly V. Kuzmin

The Su-30 is a development of the earlier Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker. The primary differences between the Su-27 and the Su-30 are the thrust-vectoring engines in versions after the Su-30 MKI and that the majority of the Su-30 models are two-seaters. Notable developments of the Flanker family include the MKI with canards and thrust vectoring for Russian and India, the MKA with different avionics for Algeria, the MKM for Malaysia, the and the SM for Russia herself. Operators of the 14 distinct version of the Su-30 family include Algeria, Angola, the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, the Russian Federation, Uganda, Veneuela, and Vietnam. In the video there is an interview (in Russian I think) going on during part of the video but almost all of the demonstration flight is shown.

C-130 Hercules Has Always Found a Way to “Hack the Mish”

Bill Walton
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C-130 Hercules Has Always Found a Way to “Hack the Mish”

The C-130 Hercules Has Been There and Done That for Longer Than Most of Her Pilots–Hack the Mish!

The Lockheed C-130A Hercules first became operational on June 12th 1956 with the United States Air Force (USAF) 463d Troop Carrier Wing at Ardmore Air Force Base (AFB) in Oklahoma and the 314th Troop Carrier Wing at Stewart AFB in Tennessee.

These initial early-model “roman nose” Hercules and “thimble nose” C-130Bs also equipped six more Troop Carrier squadrons as part of the 322nd Air Division in Europe and the 315th Air Division in the Far East.

Need a Job Done? Count On a Herc To Do It

Beginning a long tradition of adaptation and specialization, some C-130As were modified for electronic intelligence work, operating from Rhein-Main Air Base in Germany over and sometimes behind the Iron Curtain and designated EC-130A.

Still more C-130As were modified and designated RC-130As. These first reconnaissance Hercs were assigned to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) photo-mapping division.

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Official US Air Force Photograph

The Most Modified Airlifter

The C-130 Hercules went on to become one of the most versatile and adaptable airframes ever developed. There have been standard “vanilla” C-130 airlifters and “trash haulers”, C-130s modified and equipped with skis to operate in arctic conditions, C-130s modified to become flying radio and television stations, C-130s modified to communicate with the nation’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, C-130s modified to aerial refuel other probe-equipped aircraft and helicopters, and C-130s adapted for use as search and rescue support and command aircraft.

There have been at least seven different gunship versions for close-air support equipped with all manner of weaponry and precision sensors.

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Official US Air Force Photograph

Sneaky Hercs

Hercs have flown into hurricanes and typhoons to gather storm data, controlled all manner of aerial drones, flown airborne early warning and control, electronic eavesdropping, and jamming missions, and inserted and supported personnel behind borders and enemy lines by flying we-were-never-there, nap-of-the-earth ingress and egress routes.

C-130 Hack the Mish…all different kinds of ‘Mish-es’

C-130s do aerial firefighting, recover spy satellites and their “take”- there are even Hercules tankers that can be converted to gunships on the spot and back again after mission completion. C-130s have been flying for the United States Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard for more than 60 years- and they’re still going strong.

They also serve with scores of foreign countries and several civil operators. It’s a pretty good bet that C-130s have visited every country on the planet at one time or another. It all started on June 12th 1956.

Forgotten Video Highlights How Air Power Turned The Tide Against The Axis War Machine

Bill Walton
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Forgotten Video Highlights How Air Power Turned The Tide Against The Axis War Machine

Long lost archive from the Air Force in 1953 highlights the ways that airpower changed the game in WWII.

During the second half of 1943 the Allies were beginning to turn the tide against the German U-Boats and seeing successes against them using long-range airborne anti-submarine patrols using radar-equipped Consolidated B-24 Liberators. When the Army Air Forces turned these aircraft over to Navy crews late in 1943 the aircraft were re-designated PB4Y-1s. One result of these successes was that American-built fighters like Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and North American P-51 Mustangs were getting through to their bases in England, eventually to take on the Luftwaffe over occupied Europe.

Curtiss P 40Fs near Moore AAF 1943

In the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI) supplies were being flown by the fledgling 10th Air Force from Tibet over “the hump” of the Himalayas to General Claire Chenault’s needy 14th Air Force “Flying Tigers” in China. In the Aleutian Islands the 11th Air Force was slugging it out with and winning against the Japanese invaders on Attu and Kiska Islands.

In the Southwest Pacific the offensive against Japanese-held Munda on New Georgia took place. Many of the missions against Munda were flown from Henderson Field on recently-secured Guadalcanal. Once Munda was taken the Army Air Forces and the Marines used the airstrips in the area to launch missions against the next objectives up the Solomon Islands chain in the overall offensive known as Operation Cartwheel.

The video is a transfer from volume 12 of a 1953 film series produced by the US Air Force.

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Hunting Submarines From The Air Hasn’t Changed A Whole Lot in 50 Years

Bill Walton
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Hunting Submarines From The Air Hasn’t Changed A Whole Lot in 50 Years

The US Navy promotional film “ASW To Catch a Shadow” was produced by Lockheed and the United States Navy during what the audience is led to believe was an operational readiness evaluation that took place during the early 1960s.

The film, shot aboard the anti-submarine aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CVS-10) and with lots or aerial footage included, is an excellent look at what it takes (or at least took then) to wage anti-submarine warfare (ASW); to prosecute a submerged submarine contact and the coordinated nature of the various moving parts of the forces involved. The film was shot with Pacific Fleet assets and includes interior shots of many of the aircraft and ships used in the film.

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Aircraft featured in the film include VP-6 Blue Sharks Lockheed P-3 Orion anti-submarine patrol planes and the squadrons making up Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group (CVSG)-55 aboard the Yorktown:  VS-23 Black Cats and VS-25 Golden Eagles Grumman S-2 Tracker carrier-based ASW aircraft, HS-4 Black Knights Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King ASW helicopters, and VAW-11 Detachment T Early Elevens EA-1E Guppies (Skyraiders) used for airborne early warning. The destroyers USS Leary (DD-879), USS Walker (DD-517), USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754), and the frigate USS Bridger (DE-1024) along with their DASH helicopters complete the ASW forces. Playing the role of the hunted are several different types of submarines. The film also includes some footage of the ill-fated nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589).

The clip is distributed by Periscope Film.

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The Giant Beluga Fleet Keeps Airbus Jet Production Humming

Bill Walton
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The Giant Beluga Fleet Keeps Airbus Jet Production Humming

They are Airbus’s delivery ships of the sky.

The Airbus A300-600ST Beluga is built using many of the components from the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner. The ST in the designator stands for the original name: Super Transporter. It is a super transporter, but the name Beluga stuck and hasn’t let go.

 

There are a total of five operational Belugas flying aircraft components between factories spread around Europe. Unmistakable for their size and appearance, the A300-600STs have been incrementally updated, upgraded, and improved during their 21 years of service. Belugas have performed charter flights to carry outsized cargo such as a huge chemical tank for a merchant vessel, two complete NH90 helicopters and a single Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter from France to Melbourne in Australia for the Avalon Airshow, and large / voluminous space vehicle components and satellites for multiple national space programs including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the former Soviet Union. Belugas have also flown relief supplies to areas devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes.

Replacement coming soon

a330The Beluga is due to be replaced by a similarly modified version of the A330. The Beluga has carried components of Airbus aircraft since it took over from four even more-modified Super Guppy transporters in 1996. But rather than locate the forward loading door behind the cockpit like the Guppies, the Beluga relocated the cockpit to a location below the loading door, which means systems don’t all have to be disconnected every time the door is used. First deliveries of modified A330 will begin in 2019.

Watch the video and become enlightened about how Belugas work.

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Air Canada’s New Livery Looks Sexy on 787-9 Dreamliner

Bill Walton
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Air Canada’s New Livery Looks Sexy on 787-9 Dreamliner

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner entered service in 2014. The aircraft are manufactured is multiple locations and assembled at Boeing in Seattle. Subcontracted assemblies arrive from Japan, Italy, South Korea, France, Sweden, India, the UK, and Kansas, Connecticut, and South Carolina in the United States. The larger components are carried by the four Boeing 747-LCF (Large Cargo Freighter) Dreamlifters. The prototype 787 first flew on December 15th 2009. More than 500 of them have been produced (all variants) and they are operated by more than 40 airlines around the world.

Air Canada has taken delivery of 26 787s, the majority of which (18) are the “stretched” 787-9 version. Over the years Air Canada has used several liveries for their aircraft, but Avgeeks, plane spotters, and fence checkers seem to agree their new white paint scheme is one of the more attractive looks for the 787.

The 787-9 Dreamliner in the video, registered as C-FRTG (callsign Air Canada 300), was captured during its first appearance at Montreal’s Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport (YUL / CYUL) on its way from Vancouver International Airport (YVR / CVYR). Both the approach and departure are included in the video. Enjoy!

Video and screen shot by CYUL Plane Spotter.

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Brigadier General Robin Olds Tells His Story in This Rare Video Series

Bill Walton
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Brigadier General Robin Olds Tells His Story in This Rare Video Series

The Mustachioed Hero Shares the Keys to His Abundant Success.

Brigadier General Robin Olds served his country in the Air Force for thirty years. A football player at West Point, he flew Lockheed P-38 Lightnings and then North American P-51 Mustangs in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during World War II. Olds was credited with a total of 12 aerial victories and another 11.5 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground. After returning to the United States at war’s end as a 22 year old Major in command of his squadron, he was instrumental in the creation of the first jet aircraft demonstration team. He was then assigned to the fledgling Air Defense Command (ADC). He married movie star Ella Raines in 1947. As a result of his ADC assignment Olds did not make it to the Korean War. During the 1950s and early 1960s Olds was assigned to duty in places like Wheelus Air Force Base (AFB) in Libya, RAF Bentwaters in the UK, and Landstuhl AFB in Germany. Then…Vietnam.

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Official Air Force Photograph

Becoming the Dynamic Duo

Olds was perhaps most famous for his exploits as 8th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) Wing Commander in Vietnam. When Olds took over command of the 8th TFW, based at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) in Thailand, he brought in fellow Air Force legend “Chappie” James to be his deputy commander for operations. As a result the 8th TFW became one of the most successful Air Force units to fly combat missions in Southeast Asia.

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“Chappie” James (left) with Colonel Robin Olds (right). Official US Air Force photograph

The Man Tells His Own Story…With a Laugh or Two Along the Way

Olds flew a total of 259 combat missions (107 during World War II and 152 in Southeast Asia. Later in his career he was Commandant of the Air Force Academy and Inspector General of the Air Force. He retired from the Air Force on June 1st 1973. In the videos below, shot during an hour-long Air Force Association event in 1998, Olds shared memories of his career with his trademark humorous delivery. Enjoy all three parts of the discussion linked below. You Avgeek bookworms will undoubtedly enjoy his book Fighter Pilot, written with his daughter Christina. The General passed away at the age of 84 in 2007.

Part One

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Part Two

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Part 3

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Robin Olds.
Official US Air Force photograph

WATCH: Delta A319 Has a Close Encounter With a Mic’d Up Weather Balloon.

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WATCH: Delta A319 Has a Close Encounter With a Mic’d Up Weather Balloon.

Have You Ever Wondered What an A319 Sounds Like When It Flies By at FL380?

It was an incident likely to cause ‘Light Chop’ for the Delta Airlines A319.  Delta flight 159 from Boston to Detroit faced some rather unique traffic back on March 26, 2017.  A weather balloon known as an OLHZN or ‘Overlook Horizon High Altitude Balloon’ had taken off from Honeoye, NY near Rochester New York.  Over Newark, New York (not New Jersey), the balloon and the airliner had a close encounter at 38,000 feet.

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In the video released by the OLHZN team, you can see that the balloon is less than a thousand feet below the Airbus. This video is really unique for a couple of reasons.  The balloon is nearly stationary and doesn’t have a motor. Therefore, the balloon is able to capture the native and typically serene sounds of the world. In this case though, the passing Delta jet sounds like a fighter aircraft buzzing by a crowd at low altitude.  The jet passes by the balloon at 400+ knots.

This is a very different perspective than most people who observe jets at altitude. Pilots frequently see crossing traffic. But they see traffic from their perspective where they are also moving through the sky at hundreds of miles per hour.  They also never hear the other aircraft’s engine noise(or if they do, its a very bad day!).

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Airliner encounters with weather balloons aren’t all that common. They occasionally occur as the balloon rises above the flight levels where airliners typically fly. Air traffic controllers are aware of these balloon flights and do their best to route traffic around them.  In the video post, the OLHZN team had this to say about the flight, “All of our flights follow FAA Federal Aviation Regulation requirements outlined in FAR 101 and have NOTAMs filed with the FAA and coordination is performed with the local ARTCCs and airports to ensure safe operations.”

The balloon eventually climbed to an altitude of 102,544 FT. and landed northwest of Syracuse, NY.  If you are interested in learning more about this weather balloon flight, watch the video below:

A Mig and a Sabre Fly Together At The Gathering of Warbirds

Bill Walton
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A Mig and a Sabre Fly Together At The Gathering of Warbirds

The annual Gathering of Warbirds event takes place at Waukesha County Airport (KUES) near Waukesha in Wisconsin. It is an event that most warbird aficionados will tell you is one of the highlights of the Midwest summer airshow season. The 2017 Gathering took place on May 27th and drew scores of vintage and veteran aircraft and thousands of fans. The Commemorative Air Force Wisconsin Wing sponsored and hosted the event. The next big deal in that part of the country will be the 65th Annual Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Fly-In at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh (KOSH)- just a few miles up the road from Waukesha.

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One of the highlights of the show was the demonstration of two 1950s-era jet fighters- the North American F-86 Sabre Jet (flown by Jeff Kaney) and the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Fresco (flown by Paul Keppeler). They were joined during their flight by an Aero L-39 Albatros photo / video plane. The video alternates between views of the pilots in their cockpit and their points of view out the front of each of the aircraft. One thing you Avgeeks might pick up on is the difference between sound pitch and volume between the MiG to the Sabre. Watch Sabre pilot Kaney work those rudders during takeoff!

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The Ingenious Swedish Plan That Keeps Their Planes Flying Even If Bases Are Attacked

Bill Walton
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The Ingenious Swedish Plan That Keeps Their Planes Flying Even If Bases Are Attacked

Roads can be runways too!

Air Base System 90 is a dispersal and alternate deployment plan developed during the 1970s and utilized by the Swedish Air Force. The system was developed from the Air Base System 60, which was intended to protect and preserve as many of the available aircraft as possible in the event of a nuclear attack. Base 90 was conceived after the Six Day War during 1967. Israel had knocked out the majority of Egypt’s aircraft on the ground due in large part to lack of dispersal or affective protection for those aircraft. The Swedes took a look and decided to put a plan in place to modify some 22 of their airbase installations ASAP. NATO implemented similar contingency planning for German autobahns as well.

Swedish Air Force jets on the tarmac.
Photo Credit: Rune Rydh

Rather than maintain revetments (hardened or otherwise) in the two or three locations generally utilized at a given airbase such as near the ends of runway(s) or near the center of the installation, the Swedes devised widely dispersed revetments for their aircraft and widened sections of nearby public roads, turning them into makeshift runways. Centrally located hubs for fuel, lubricants, ordnance, and oxygen allowed Swedish ground crews to service the 20 to 40 widely dispersed Saab 37 Viggen and other combat aircraft at each expanded base as efficiently as possible. The result was that it would take several more sorties, to knock out the same number of Swedish Air Force assets than if they were dispersed in the traditional manner. No single conventional bomb would damage more than a single Swedish fighter.

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