CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force unmanned scientific and military research space shuttle safely returned to earth on Sunday completing 718 days in orbit.
The fourth flight of the fully automated orbiter test vehicle began it’s deorbit early Sunday, and reentered the earth’s atmosphere about 25 minutes prior to it’s 8:00 a.m. EDT landing at the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility.
“The landing of OTV-4 marks another success for the X-37B program and the nation,” Lt. Col. Ron Fehlen, X-37B program manager, said. “This mission once again set an on-orbit endurance record and marks the vehicle’s first landing in the state of Florida. We are incredibly pleased with the performance of the space vehicle and are excited about the data gathered to support the scientific and space communities.”Sunday’s landing marked the X-37B’s first return from space to land at the Florida Spaceport, and it will not be the last. The X-37B manufacturer Boeing is renting the space center’s Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 to off-load experiments, refurbish the craft, and prepare it for relaunch from the Cape. Bay 1 was used for over three decades to service NASA’s fleet of space shuttle’s.
Once the command to return to Earth is given by the Air Force, the X-37B automatically descends from low earth orbit, reenters, and flies through the atmosphere to land on a planned runway. There is no one in a control room with a joystick flying it.
The program’s fourth test flight into future robotic space planes began with its launch a top a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in May 2015 from Cape Canaveral AFS. The 29-foot long shuttle resembles NASA’s space shuttle orbiters at first glance, however the X-37B is 80% smaller fitted with small wings, twin vertical stableizers, and a windowless avionics cockpit.
“Today marks an incredibly exciting day for the 45th Space Wing as we continue to break barriers,” Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, commander of 45th Space Wing said. “Our team has been preparing for this event for several years, and I am extremely proud to see our hard work and dedication culminate in today’s safe and successful landing of the X-37B.”
Including the three previous missions, the total time of the four OTV missions on orbit is now 2,085 days.
In 1999, NASA began the X37 project, however the space agency handed it over to DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) in September 2004. DARPA is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.
DARPA, originally formed in 1958 as the Advanced Research Projects Agency, is an office designed to prevent technological surprises against the United States, such as the Soviets launch of Sputnik in 1957. The OTV project partnership between the military, DARPA and NASA was announced in October 2006.
This flight was performed by the second mini shuttle of the Air Force’s two shuttle fleet. The Air Force office also announced on Sunday the next X-37B will launch in late-2017. That launch will see the reflight of Boeing’s first flown shuttle on it’s third mission.
(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates via social media @Military_Flight.)
“There is a Way” Shows You How Thunderchief Pilots Made Heroic Memories.
Got a high boredom quotient working? You should check out the video There is a Way: The 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron “Fighting Cavaliers” and their F-105 Thunderchiefs. This film was made over several months of combat operations during 1966 by the Air Force, but it doesn’t look or seem like a regular USAF training film or documentary. It is a rare look inside the operational details of F-105 crews at war.
The film features the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS), part of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW), operating out of Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) during shooting of the film. The Fighting Cavaliers were flying regular missions up North at the time. The footage includes much more than just the aerial combat in which the Thuds were embroiled. Also included is footage of the ground crews and armorers turning the big F-105s around for their next mission and the various activities that we part and parcel of a Thunderchief squadron at war.
Not Your Usual Hum-Drum Production
The film really captured the human side of the war. Interviews with everyone from the mechanics and armorers, the pilots, all the way up to the base commander are used to tell the story along with actual mission footage. Much of the mission footage includes the radio calls made during the engagements- always a better experience than plain old film alone. Also included are celebrations for pilots completing their hundredth missions, briefings and debriefings, and plane-side remarks by pilots preparing for battle and those who have just returned from it.
Opinions and Observations From The Guys Flying the Missions
The pilots themselves give rare glimpses into their thoughts about the war and how it is being fought. They discuss tactics and the different missions they are tasked to fly. If you’re a Thud veteran, a fan, or just want to see what it was like to be part of a Tactical Fighter Squadron at war in Vietnam you can’t do any better than There is a Way. Enjoy!
Thanks to Zeno’s Warbird Video Drive-In for uploading the film and cleaning it up enough to be enjoyable to watch. Bravo Zulu.
The Mattel Marauder proved that a beefed up T-37 could become a superb COIN aircraft.
On May 2nd 1967 the first A-37 Dragonfly or Super Tweet went into service with the United States Air Force (USAF). A development of Cessna’s T-37 primary jet trainer, the A-37 was a counter-insurgency (COIN) specialist of the first order. Cessna took a stock T-37 Tweet two side-by-side seated trainer, added stronger wings and wingtip fuel tanks, strengthened the landing gear, added mission-specific avionics and a 7.62 millimeter rotary cannon and a refueling probe in the nose and presto- instant Dragonfly. It was a little bit more complicated than that…
Where Ideas Go to Formulate
Things started in 1962 at the USAF Special Air Warfare Center at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida. Vietnam was already sucking America in. Hurlburt Field was and still is the epicenter for development of Air Force spec ops aircraft, so when two all-white T-37C Tweets showed up among all the camouflaged aircraft in late 1962 something had to be percolating. While the Air Force liked what they saw it was immediately apparent that some changes would need to be made in order to adapt a T-37 airframe to the COIN mission.
Where’s the Beef?
Those changes started with more powerful engines. General Electric J85 turbojets replaced the Tweet’s standard Continental J-69 engines, more than doubling the thrust available, although this didn’t quite translate that way due to added weight in the A-37 airframe. Still, it was a considerable improvement. The other changes to the basic Tweet outlined above were also incorporated into the two YAT-37D prototypes contracted by the Air Force in 1963.
Back-Burnered But Back In Business
During October of 1964 the first YAT-37D flew and a little less than a year later the second prototype, with hard points for a total of eight underwing pylons made its maiden flight as well. But about that time the project was back-burnered by the Air Force. Ironically a significant factor in the resurgence of interest in the A-37 was the losses suffered by the Douglas A-1 Skyraiders in Vietnam. The Air Force didn’t jump in with both feet though. Not right away.
Starting Out Slow
They issued a contract for 39 airframes modified from existing T-37s so they could conduct an evaluation. The original AT-37D designation was changed to A-37A. The evaluation would be conducted by what would become the 604th Special Operations Squadron (SOS) under the most trying of conditions- combat.
Passing the Test
The Combat Dragon evaluation was conducted in Vietnam beginning in August of 1967 using 25 of the A-37A “Mattel Marauders.” The aircraft flew thousands of sorties out of Bien Hoa air base over III and IV Corps without a single loss due to enemy fire. The Super Tweets didn’t fly milk runs either; typical missions were helicopter escort, close air support, night interdiction, and Forward Air Controller (FAC) sorties- but they were primarily in-country sorties. The 2 to 1 maintenance hours to flying hours ratio was the stuff of which FAC dreams were made. It helped that the Super Tweet retained the ease of maintenance and simplicity of the Tweet.
Back to the Drawing Board For a Better Jet
Once Combat Dragon concluded the Air Force had identified a few things that required attention. Range was one. Unboosted controls were another. Cessna was soon the recipient of a contract to build 127 A-37B Dragonflies, many of which would be used by the South Vietnamese Air Force to replace their A-1 Skyraiders lost in combat and operational accidents. When the first A-37B emerged from the Cessna factory in September of 1967 it was a new-build aircraft that weighed nearly twice what the T-37C weighed but incorporated scores of improvements and refinements to the Dragonfly.
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Hawaiian Airlines formally unveiled their updated livery on Monday, May 1. The livery update features the title “Hawaiian” in a more modern stylized font. The updated colors also sport a more modern Pualani (Flower of the Sky) on the tail with a grey lei wrapped around the fuselage.
A Boeing 717 was the first jet to sport the new colors. It was unveiled at a ceremony at Honolulu International Airport. An updated Airbus A330 will soon follow. Their new A321’s will be delivered in the new colors. While the Boeing 767s will not be repainted, the rest of the fleet will be repainted during their scheduled maintenance over the next few years.
The updated Hawaiian livery represents the final stage of a brand refresh. Over the past year, Hawaiian has updated their cabins with a subtle, island-inspired motif. They have also updated their club and headquarters at Honolulu International Airport to showcase the island spirit.
The unveil of an updated livery wasn’t a surprise to most avgeeks. GeminiJets, a manufacturer of diecast models, accidentally posted a drawing of the exact livery on their Facebook page. Each month they post their model releases with drawings first, then later post actual images of the models. In their April releases, they let a drawing of a revised Hawaiian 717 slip. It was quickly pulled from the page but not before some shrewd avgeeks captured photos of the embargoed photo. Screenshots of the leak made their way through forums across the internet.
Just the one story about the SBD didn’t seem like enough. There was so much more to this Pacific legend. So we ginned up a little bit of trivia about that tide-turning dive bomber- the SBD Dauntless.
Here are five things you might not know about the SBD Dauntless:
During the early 1942 American carrier raid on the Marshall Islands, Japanese bombers were attacking the Enterprise when Aviation Machinist Mate Third Class Bruno Gaido jumped out of his catwalk gunnery station, climbed into the back seat of a parked SBD, picked up one of the bomber’s 30 caliber machine guns, and opened fire on a bomber closing on the carrier. The bomber’s wingtip sliced the tail off the SBD in which Gaido was standing before crashing into the sea. Admiral Halsey promoted Gaido to Aviation Machinist Mate First Class on the spot.
Between the attack on Pearl Harbor and the end of April 1944, SBDs flew an incredible 1,189,484 operational hours. SBDs flew one quarter of all the operational hours flown from American aircraft carriers. SBDs sent six aircraft carriers, 14 heavy and light cruisers, six destroyers, 15 transports, and countless smaller ships and craft to the bottom- more than any other single carrier-borne type.
French Navy Dauntlesses were the last SBDs in combat, flying combat sorties from their aircraft carrier Arromanches during their Indochina War. The French Navy finally relieved their Dauntlesses of operational obligations but they operated them as trainers as late as 1953.
The United Sates Army Air Forces actually operated their A-24 Banshees long enough to re-designate them when the new United Sates Air Force became an independent service branch in 1947. The vagaries of re-designation resulted in the A-24 becoming the F-24 Banshee. Three years later the F-24s were finally withdrawn from service and scrapped.
The last country to retire their SBDs was Mexico. The Mexican Air Force operated a few of their Dauntlesses until 1959.
Enjoy the sight and sound of one of the few remaining airworthy SBDs in flight.
This Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber Made Blow But Deadly WORK.
On May 1st 1940 the Douglas SBD Dauntless flew for the first time. The SBD would go on to fight in virtually every naval engagement in the Pacific, sink more Japanese tonnage than any other American carrier-based aircraft, and often bring its crews back to their carriers after suffering fearful damage. According to legend the S-B-D stood for Scout Bomber Douglas but the crews referred to them as “Slow But Deadly.” Slow perhaps. But deadly indeed.
Roots of a Family Tree
The SBD really owes its origins to the Northrop BT-1 dive bomber design begun in 1935. Douglas aircraft took control of Northrop in 1937. The BT-1 went into service in 1938. Douglas designer Ed Heinemann let the team that redesigned the landing gear and strengthened the airframe of the BT-1 to accept a larger and more powerful Wright R-1820 Cyclone engine. This new design was the Douglas entry for a new Naval Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) dive bomber proposal. Today you know this aircraft as the SBD Dauntless.
First in Service
The first squadrons to receive the SBD-1 Dauntless were Marine Corps outfits Marine Bombing Squadron (VMB)-2 Red Devils during late 1940 and VMB-1 Crying Red Asses (you can’t make this stuff up) during early 1941. By the end of 1941 SBD-2s were flying with Navy Bombing Squadrons (VB)-6 aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) and VB-2 aboard the USS Lexington (CV-2).
Scouting and Bombing
At the beginning of the war squadron numbers matched up with the carrier numbers. VB-3 and Scout Bombing Squadron (VS)-3 were assigned to USS Saratoga (CV-3). VB-5 and VS-5 were assigned to USS Yorktown (CV-5). Each carrier eventually embarked both a VB and a VS squadron, both flying Dauntlesses and with interchangeable missions. This meant that during the first year of the war more than half of the aircraft aboard American carriers were SBDs.
The Banshee Wails
By the time 1941 was heading toward its conclusion and a world war, Navy Scout Bombing (VS) and Dive Bombing (VB) squadrons were flying SBD-3s equipped with better armor protection, self-sealing fuel tanks, and additional firepower. Marine Scout Bombing squadron and (VMSB) and VMB squadrons were flying Dauntlesses at the time as well. The Army Air Corps also ordered 948 of the Douglas dive bombers, but designated them A-24s and called them Banshees. Many of these Banshees fought alongside the ragtag group of American forces trying to slow the Japanese advance toward Australia during the opening months of the war.
Evolving and Improving
The most produced model of the SBD was the SBD-5, equipped with a more powerful engine and additional ammunition carrying capacity. Many of the -5s were built in Tulsa in Oklahoma. The final production version of the Dauntless was the SBD-6. The fact is Douglas incrementally made minor modification to SBDs many times without changing the variant designation. SBD fuel capacities, ranges, and payloads increased with every new variant introduced. Of the 5,936 SBDs produced by Douglas, more than 2,400 of them were SBD-5s. The very last SBD was rolled out of the factory in El Segundo in California on July 21st 1944.
Friendly Fire and Raiding With Halsey
The Japanese destroyed a large number of SBDs on the ground when they attacked the various air fields around Pearl Harbor on December 7th. Jittery American gunners shot down or damaged several more when the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) returned from its cruise and sent them ashore. An SDB from the Enterprise was the first American aircraft to sink a Japanese combatant, the Japanese submarine I-70 on December 10th 1941. During the first several months of the war Dauntlesses participated in Admiral Halsey’s raids on several Japanese outposts in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, New Guinea, Wake, and Marcus Islands. These raids did little real damage to the Japanese but they did provide crews with experience that would pay off during the pivotal battles fought at the Coral Sea and Midway.
The First Battle of Its Kind
Two American carriers, the USS Lexington (CV-2) and the USS Yorktown (CV-5) and their task groups went up against the Japanese carriers Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Shoho in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Fought between May 4th and May 8th 1943, it was the first battle fought between combatant ships that attacked each other entirely beyond the horizon with aircraft only. SBDs sank the Shoho and badly damaged the Shokaku, preventing her from participating in the next fracas: The Battle of Midway.
Following up on the story of the F-5, here are five things you might not know about the F-5 series:
The Iranians Morphed it into a homebrew fighter
1.) The Iranians took an F-5, added twin vertical stabilizers to it, and created a ‘new” fighter they call the HESA Saeqeh (Thunderbolt ). Iran claims the Saeqeh performs like an F/A-18 Hornet.
But even plain old avgeeks like me know that shoehorning some kludgy glass displays into the cockpit and bolting a second fin on to a standard F-5 do not add up to a home-grown Hornet. The Iranians say the Saeqeh maneuvers better than a standard F-5. That’s a long way from performing like a Hornet.
The F-5 Had Multiple Strut Options
2.) In order to get the F-5 off the ground using just a little bit less runway, the nose gear in F-5Es and F-5Fs is equipped with a selectable two-position strut. When in the extended position the aircraft’s static angle of attack is increased by 3.3 degrees, providing additional lift at takeoff speeds.
F-5 Fact: It inspired the Northrup YF-17 and the F/A-18
3.) Many sources credit the F-5E design as the basis for / starting point for / predecessor of the Northrop YF-17 Cobra, which lost the Lightweight Fighter competition to the YF-16 during the mid-1970s.
The YF-17 came back in a big way though. Today you can recognize the family resemblance in the McDonnell-Douglas (Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet. The American version…not the Iranian.
Fact: The F-5 Had a Cool Nickname
4.) Northrop’s original codename for the design that became the F-5 was “Tally Ho”.
The Soviet Union Had Access to the F-5 Too
5.) The Soviet Union acquired captured F-5Cs from Vietnam and F-5Es from Ethiopia. They thoroughly evaluated and tested the F-5s over a period of several years. The Soviets threw the F-5s at MiG-21s and MiG-23s to see how aerial combat might conclude between the dissimilar aircraft.
Supposedly the data generated during these flights contributed the designs of the second-generation and much improved MiG-23MLD Flogger K and ultimately the MiG-29 Fulcrum.
Ironically the Soviet evaluation of the F-5s roughly parallels the similar American dissimilar aircraft training efforts outlined in our previous story about the development of the MiG-21.
I’ll be honest, I have no clue why this rooster flew in a glider. But the video is somehow mesmerizing and I couldn’t stop watching it. And it’s not as scary as barely hanging on in a hang glider. A guy really took his pet bird for a glider ride in the alps of Austria.
It doesn’t appear that the bird enjoyed the flight though. A big chunky fellow like that makes a better Chicken Nugget than an aviator. In one scene you can see the bird shake its head as if it were confused. It was probably supremely disorienting to think it a standing still but still feel the forces of flight.
In the end, it doesn’t appear that the bird was harmed in any way, just a little disoriented. All’s well that ends well, I guess. As of press time, there is no word if PETA has scheduled a protest against the Austrian flight school yet.
There Are a Very Few Sea Harriers in Private Hands. Art Nolls Owns Several of Them
Have you ever wanted to own a warbird? There are lots of options out there. You can get your hands on a wide variety of former military aircraft these days. World War II-era and newer warbirds are actually more plentiful now than they have been for quite a while. Want a trainer? T-6/SNJ Texans, BT-13 Valiants, Stearmans, Tiger Moths, N3N Yellow Perils, T-34 Mentors, SF-260Cs, CJ-6As, T-28 Trojans, and several other beautifully restored prop trainers are available for sale as you read this. For that matter attack aircraft like the TBF/TBM Avenger and A-1 Skyraider can be had too.
Photo by: Skeet Shooter
More Types of Warbirds Available Than Ever Before
Do you see yourself at the controls of a fighter instead? If you’ve got the money you can purchase any of several P-51 Mustangs currently for sale. F4F Wildcats, F4U Corsairs, P-47 Thunderbolts, even foreign fighters like Bf-109s, Fw-190s, Yak-3s, Yak-9s, and Sea Furies, Spitfires, Hurricanes are all on the market today. If you want a jet, you have several options. You can go with a trainer like a T-33 Shooting Star, L-39 Albatros, or even a T-2 Buckeye. Jet fighters for sale include F-86 Sabres, MiG-17s…even a Me-262. There was even a like-new TA-4F Skyhawk trainer on the market! How much? If you have to ask…
Photo by: Mike Freer
Rare and Exciting
Warbirds are eye-catching and a thrill a minute to fly. Well, maybe not all of them, but most of the fighters and jets anyway. And of course not everyone is qualified to fly them, but training is both available and essential. But what if you’re qualified and have a hankering to fly something well off the beaten path? Even an aircraft that would be the dictionary definition of “rare?”
Photo by Skeet Shooter
Art Nalls- Sea Harrier Owner/Pilot
The video features United States Marine Corps (USMC) Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Nalls USMC (retired). Art got the flying bug big time while flying with the Marines. He flew McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harriers for the Corps. He also attended the US Air Force Test Pilot School and flew pretty much everything in their inventory too. After retiring from the Marines, Art transitioned to civilian life. But after a while he went to an airshow and got the bug all over again. He got to thinking about flying a Harrier again. The video explains how Art Nalls went about acquiring, restoring, and flying his very own Hawker Siddeley Sea Harrier. Enjoy!
It’s like watching giant multi-million dollar lego parts getting snapped together.
With state-of-the-art engines, a high amount of composites, and high-tech flourishes, the A350 is quickly becoming a favorite of airlines and passengers alike. The A350 XWB is meant to fill a gap between the A330 and A380 in Airbus’s lineup. The A350 has a range between 8000 and 10,000 miles depending on the version. It is designed to be an ideal replacement for the Boeing 777-200 and 767-400 sized aircraft and is positioned as a competitor to the slightly smaller 787 series jets.
Building a jet like the A350 is no small task. It’s more like a precise logistical ballet than a rapid construction project. Airbus components are made throughout Europe. An Airbus A300 Beluga jet transports the large components like fuselage sections and the wings to final assembly in Toulouse, France.
The video shows the final assembly of Asiana’s first A350 XWB aircraft.
You get to the airport parking lot, run to catch your shuttle, make it through the TSA body cavity search, and then schlep your stuff a thousand yards to the gate. You board and heave your rollaboard into the overhead bin. After finally sitting down you notice two things: you are drenched in sweat and there is almost no air coming out of the vents. Or if there is air, it is warm.
Or perhaps it’s July and you have a light shirt and slacks on for your trip but have brought no jacket. But shortly after takeoff you notice that it’s cold in the cabin. I mean really cold. Your hands are blue and you are shivering.
So why the heck can the airlines never seem to get the temperature right? How difficult can it be?
As it turns out, getting it right is more difficult than you would think. This issue has about 85 moving parts involving both human and mechanical factors. I’d like to go over each aspect of what goes wrong, but first let me give you a quick description of the systems in place which provide heating and cooling aboard your aircraft.
Heating and Cooling At the Gate
In years gone by, heating and cooling at the gate were mostly provided by running a unit on board the aircraft known as the auxiliary power unit or APU. This is a small turbine engine usually mounted in the tail which provides both electrical and hydraulic power for use during preflight and also pressurized air to run the air conditioning or heating system.
It generally worked well but consumed a lot of fuel and the technique was eventually replaced by the use of large heating and cooling units mounted directly on or near the jet bridge. Ground crews are required to attach a large air hose to the belly of the aircraft to allow this unit to heat or cool the interior of the plane. The systems are either programmed to provide a preset temperature or a temperature probe might be hung in the cabin to provide feedback to the system.
Cooling and Heating While Under Way
After the airplane is away from the gate and under its own power, all heating and cooling is provided by onboard systems which are powered by compressed air from the engines. These onboard units are known as pneumatic air cycle machines or PACs (on Boeing aircraft) and not only provide heating and cooling but also pressurization to the cabin while at altitude.
Without going too far down the rabbit hole concerning Carnot cycles and thermodynamic flow equations, suffice it to say that the units take hot compressed air from the engines and make cold air out of it or use the hot air directly for heat. Yes, all the air that you’re breathing on an airplane is brought in through the mouth of the engines. It is also why an engine malfunction can quickly fill the cabin with smoke, but that’s a topic for another time.
After going through some plumbing and a water separator, the air is distributed to the cabin through ducting and the gasper outlets, which are those little twisty vents over your seat. The system temperature is controlled through the use of a thermostat which is usually located in the cockpit. It is supposed to be a “set and forget” type of arrangement which should always provide a comfortable temperature over a range of aircraft operating states such as taxi, climb, cruise, or descent.
At least that’s how it is supposed to work. Let’s now take a look at the many things that can go wrong to make you miserable:
Human Factor Errors
One of the basic problems concerning complex feedback systems is that the user…you freezing or sweating in your seat…is not the controller. A systems engineer might say the feedback loop of this control system is in an open state. My suggestion is that you attempt to close the loop by hitting your call button and complaining. Many times certain parts of the plane may be warmer or cooler than others. The galley where the flight attendants spend most of their time may be fine. Let them know that you are not fine.
Another issue could be that the user is feeling perfectly fine, but that person is not you, it is a flight attendant. They are the ones who call the cockpit to request a warmer or cooler temperature. On some airplanes, they can control the temperature directly. Remember, they are constantly on their feet and are likely to appreciate a cooler cabin than you sitting in your seat motionless. Again, if no one complains, they have no way of knowing.
Pilots are great people who might not be aware that you are uncomfortable. Photo by Liz West. https://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope
The same dynamic is true for the pilots. If they don’t hear any complaints from the back, they’ll just assume everything is OK. And speaking of pilots, they are sitting up front in a glass house. It is the guy in the right seat who controls the temperature, so if he is on the sunny side of the airplane and is warm, he’ll just dial it down.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that some folks just naturally run cold or hot. Heavier people seem to like it cooler than thin people. So if your first officer appears as an endomorph and is sitting on the sunny side of the plane, that may explain why you’re freezing in your seat. Again, hit that call button and complain.
Operator Errors
Photo by Bernal Saborio https://www.flickr.com/photos/44073224@N04/28809123780
Another class of error in temperature control might be classified as operator errors. For instance, on a coolish spring or fall day the ground crews may simply neglect to connect the air hose thinking that the temperature outside is cool so it must be OK inside the airplane. What they don’t realize is that several hundred bodies in an aluminum tube will always result in a stuffy cabin even on the coldest of days. This problem is compounded when the pilots fail to look out the window to see a folded up or deflated air hose. The solution is to start the APU and get some air flowing.
Being a commuter, this is my personal pet peeve. We have a certain set of pilots who mean well but have their priorities askew. They are reluctant to start the APU because they’ve been told that it uses too much fuel, so in this situation they will call station operations on the radio to request that the ground air be hooked up. Station operations will then call the ramp agent who’s probably loading bags and now has to stop what he’s doing to hook up the air. All this might take five minutes. And surely you won’t mind going into your meeting with sweat stains on your shirt.
My technique is to reach up and to start the APU, get some air to the customers, and to then perhaps chase down why the ground air isn’t hooked up or working. Most jet bridges are owned by the airport authority which is usually a city-owned bureaucracy. If they are out of service for maintenance, making a call to get them fixed is literally the same as calling city hall to get a pothole fixed. Good luck with that.
I was even once parked at a gate without a working APU, so the only source of air was the ground unit. As I sat there in a full airplane on a summer day, a city crew pulled up, turned off the unit, and before I could shout at them, drained the coolant out of it to perform some maintenance. When I asked them if they noticed this big blue thing with wings and engines sitting there, the answer back was that they had their orders and didn’t know nuthin about no airplanes. Luckily we were close to pushback, but this is part of the impenetrable stupidity that makes the job so enjoyable.
Lastly, sometimes the system is either overwhelmed such as waiting for takeoff on a 110 degree day in Phoenix with a full airplane, or it simply doesn’t perform as expected. There’s not much that can be done about the former, but if the system won’t heat or cool properly, it needs to be written up and fixed. This can take some time.
In Conclusion
The heating and cooling systems on jet aircraft are charged with keeping you comfortable while the temperature outside the aircraft can range from over 100 degrees to 50 degrees below zero at altitude. They usually do a pretty good job but have their limits mainly due to human or mechanical error. The best thing you can do to ensure a comfortable ride is to speak up…and to bring a jacket.
The 57th FG Made History in the MTO. Along the Way They Made a Movie
Our film for today is William Wyler’s “Thunderbolt”, shot during 1944 in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) by the Army Air Forces and released to the military in 1945 and to the public in 1947. Starring P-47D Thunderbolts and their pilots flying missions from Alto Air Base on Corsica and their supporting personnel, the film begins with an explanation of how the footage was shot. Army Air Forces B-24 pilot Jimmy Stewart introduces the picture. Our thanks to Manic Movies for uploading the film.
The footage is not all pleasant. You should be aware that the film, shot and produced during wartime, wastes little time before getting to the meat of the issue in Italy during the war. However, there is no better way to get a feel for the war, particularly the air war, and how it was fought in that part of the world. The P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as Jug, was a punishing fighter-bomber well suited to the kind of war in the air being fought in the MTO. Footage from this film was used in several other films and movies. You’ll probably recognize some of it.
The Vagabond 57th FG Lineup
The group featured in the film is the 57th Fighter Group, consisting of the 64th Fighter Squadron Black Scorpions, the 65th Fighter Squadron Fighting Cocks, and the 66th Fighter Squadron Exterminators. The film also mentions that the 57th Fighter Group moved 58 times in two years. That seems like a lot of moves but having started out flying P-40Fs in North Africa during 1942 it seems entirely plausible that the Group moved many times. The 57th moved to Corsica on March 30th 1944.
Fame From a Merciless Fight
Earlier, while stationed in North Africa flying P-40Ks, the 57th participated in the April 1943 aerial battle over the Gulf of Tunis at Cape Bon known as Operation Flax. The group destroyed approximately 74 enemy transports and fighters. Nearly that many more enemy aircraft were lost when they attempted to ditch at sea or crash land on beaches in the area. This action became known as the “Goose Shoot” or “The Palm Sunday Massacre.”
How to Earn a Distinguished Unit Citation
As you will see in the film, the 57th flew missions at a hectic pace, averaging about 48 sorties per day against railroads, lines of communication, and vehicular transportation targets- primarily behind enemy lines. The 57th earned a Distinguished Unit Citation during the time Wyler was filming for their attacks against the German forces in the Florence-Arezzo area. Later the Group flew missions in the French campaign against Elba in June 1944 and later during the invasion of Southern France.
Strangling Supply Lines
The 57th flew many of their missions in support of Operation Strangle, an air interdiction effort with the goal of preventing essential supplies from reaching German forces in central Italy and to compel a German withdrawal. For operations in the MTO, the 57th Fighter Group earned three Distinguished Unit Citations and the French Croix de Guerre (Cross of War) with Palm (awarded in late 1967). We hope you enjoy “Thunderbolt!”
