September 6th, 2008
It is published now that some authorities have seen Spanair’s plane that crashed few weeks ago, that it’s flaps were not in the take-off position. Could be.
It is also said that no engine failure has detected and that engine fire theory is not a good anyway. We all know that a plane can take off with half engines. (Not with one engine, plane needs half the engines dear press).
But why write this? Because I have always wondered does it need flaps to be take off position? Can it take off without flaps?
And with this accident, aren’t there a warning system in every plane that take off configuration is not complete. As far as I know there is. If it worked like it should, pilot could have a warning and a chance to abort take off. Or try to put flaps down. Does that make any sense? If a pilot started to roll, is it possible to change the flap position? I mean in the runway…
By Mr. Plane -- 5 comments
August 27th, 2008
A new software tool that allows pilots to easily adjust altitude settings based on a visual display of wind data is helping aviators to reduce fuel use and mission time.
VVO retrieves wind data at user-defined altitudes from defense weather sites and other sources and then graphically displays head and tail wind speeds on a desktop, laptop or knee-board computer so that pilots can quickly adjust altitude settings that take advantage of favorable winds.
The altitude adjustments and wind data can then be used in an aviator’s mission planning system, resulting in an immediate update to the mission plan.
By Mr. Plane -- 0 comments
August 26th, 2008
Unmanned flight record is set for Zephyr. It flew for 82 hours and 37 minutes from the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
The previous record for an unmanned flight was 30 hours and 24 minutes. A Northrop Grumman Global Hawk set that record in 2001.
Launched by hand, Zephyr is an ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre aircraft. By day it flies on solar power generated by amorphous silicon solar arrays no thicker than sheets of paper that cover the aircraft’s wings. By night it is powered by rechargeable lithium-sulphur batteries, supplied by SION Power Inc, which are recharged during the day using solar power.
The flight trial at Yuma took place between 28 and 31 July in the harsh conditions of the Sonoran Desert in mid summer with temperatures up to 45°C (113°F). Zephyr was flown on autopilot and via satellite communications to a maximum altitude of more than 60,000ft. The trial included a military utility assessment of a US Government communications payload.
By Mr. Plane -- 1 comment
August 25th, 2008
The second largest German airline offers its customers the best value for money. This was the result of a study undertaken by the travel portal “smavel.com” to examine the additional charges applied by airlines.
Air Berlin scored highly in terms of its service, onboard catering, 20 kg free baggage allowance per passenger, generous child discounts and favorable conditions for the carriage of pets and special or bulky items of baggage. The transparent booking process – the customer can see the final price payable very early on – was also praised by those conducting the test.
Lufthansa and Condor were in second and third place respectively. Easyjet and Ryanair, the budget competitors, were left trailing and finished in the last two places.
In addition the friendliness of Air Berlin flight attendants was recently recognized when UK consultants Skytrax conferred their World Airline Awards 2008. Air Berlin’s cabin crew can now delight in the title of “Best Cabin Staff Northern Europe”.
By Mr. Plane -- 2 comments
August 25th, 2008
Itek Air 737 crashed shortly after departure from Manas Airport in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, on Sunday.
Kyrgyz and Russian news agencies are reporting that the aircraft was departing Bishkek’s Manas International Airport as flight 6895 for the Iranian capital Tehran.
Only 22 of 90 passengers survived.
By Mr. Plane -- 0 comments
August 24th, 2008
Just Flight announces both the boxed and download versions of the Mosquito are now available, and a demo version is also available for those who’d like to try before they buy.
The demo aircraft is the BOAC unarmed high speed courier aircraft, which is featured in the Mosquito Special Ops - Upgrade Pack A. This variant was adapted to carry one passenger in an extremely compact compartment in the bomb bay on high-speed envoy missions. The BOAC markings were an attempt at trying to convey to the enemy that the aircraft was unarmed, although the Mosquito’s enviable high speed performance was a very handy defence!
You can download the demo (51Mb) plus read about the complete package with the addition packs available.
By Mr. Plane -- 1 comment
August 24th, 2008
Announcing the Beechcraft Staggerwing by PRE-Flight RC Simulator. Regarded by many as “The Most Beautiful Airplane” of all time - certainly the most beautiful biplane, the Beechwood Staggerwing was designed as built from the start in 1932 to be THE premium business executive airplane - much like the Gulfstream executive jets of today.
The Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing gets its name from the negative stagger - the lower wing is more forward than the upper wing - which is designed to give the pilot a superior view as well as provide a lower stall speed. Its retractable gear, uncommon at the time, combined with advanced streamlining and a powerful, light engine resulted in a faster, more agile, and longer-ranged aircraft than its contemporaries. Its design was found by many to be ideal for racing as well as for fast, comfortable travel.
The last Staggerwing left the factory in 1949, however, it was widely used around the world for decades longer, many Staggerwing’s still flying today, lovingly maintained by their owners and still looking very fast and modern despite its age.
This large scale PRE-Flight model of the Staggerwing is composed of over 130,000 polygons, and has full moveable control surfaces, retractable main and wheel landing gears, finely detailed radial engine and even a detailed, cream leather interior. Performance is as would be expected of a muscle biplane.
To download this and other models, visit PRE-Flight RC Flight Simulator
By Mr. Plane -- 0 comments
August 24th, 2008
Flying-W Simulation is pleased to announce the release of Super Traffic Board (STB) for FSX. STB goes far beyond displaying flight information as you would find at any airport with new and exciting ways of interacting with your AI traffic. Supporting all FSX AI packages, Just Flight Traffic, MyTrafficX, ORBX/FTX, Ultimate Traffic and World of AI with others to follow soon STB categorizes aircraft according to the operator (offering unique interpretations for Passenger, Cargo, Military and GA flights), shows flight numbers and IATA codes where available, displays real world airport names and reports allocated runways, speed, altitude and distance of each flight from the airport. For complete details and screenshots of Super Traffic Board visit Flying-W Simulation
By Mr. Plane -- 0 comments
August 24th, 2008
Brian Gefrich and Joel DeYoung are pleased to announced that after a long wait, a public beta of SquawkBox 4 is now available to try on the VATSIM network. This version of SquawkBox works with Flight Simulator 2002, 2004 and FSX. It has been tested on Windows XP and Vista. Download this latest beta version and help find and resolve the last outstanding bugs.
Visit the The Squawkbox site or to download directly visit the download section. To report bugs, please visit the SB4 forums. Please use the Squawkbox forums to report or discuss any issues.
The following issues are already known to occur:
Transponder module may toggle to “ACTIVE” when connecting to a server, regardless of current setting. You may still set the transponder to STANDBY mode after the connection is made.
Switching your sound device in the settings while receiving a voice transmission can cause crashes.
By Mr. Plane -- 0 comments
August 21st, 2008
First airline in U.S, American Airlines will offer in-flight broadband to it’s customers. It will be available in long haul domestic flights. This is very good news as customers have been without phones and internet, not that I know who really needs it but yes, who does, it is a good news. Will it be some sort of combination of companies, like Google, yahoo etc. That may take passengers to only see emails and global news.
By Mr. Plane -- 0 comments
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