--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: ED300001 Date: 08/30/97 From: RAY HARKNESS Time: 01:10am \/To: JIM SANDERS (Read 0 times) Subj: News-674 JS> While ValuJet's hold was airless, the fire fed on the oxygen JS> canisters and created a roaring blaze that filled the passenger JS> cabin and cockpit with smoke, eventually burning through vital JS> controls in the aircraft. In today's presentation Birky showed a JS> video of a test fire involving similar generators where tempera- JS> ures soared to 3,000 degrees in 10 minutes. Jim, Do you think that ANYTHING that an aircraft maker could do would have prevented this fire from spreading ? High temp and its own oxygen would probably defeat any fire suppression measures if installed. -=RH=- --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: GenBOARD/2 (Wgtn, New Zealand) HST/DS 64-4-479-1960 (3:771/160) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: ED300002 Date: 08/30/97 From: RAY HARKNESS Time: 01:50am \/To: LINDSEY JONES (Read 0 times) Subj: Back online LJ>Well we finially moved and in conjunction with summer vacation it's been Hi Lindsey, What is your new address? I have big apology to make - parcel is in front of me addressed to 314-364 99th ave. I have just managed to get some video footage of a `Fly By Wire' extreme adventure that has just opened near Paraparaumu. I went to have a look last week. You are strapped face down on a surf-board like contraption with handle bars which turn a ducted fan at the tail. The engine is a small three cylinder 2-stroke that is used by ultralight aircraft. Propeller is 4 blade about 3 feet diameter. The `aircraft' is attached to a 4 point sling and hoisted vertically to a height of about 50 feet. A tow cable attached at the rear then pulls the aircraft up and back till you are almost vertical. The pilot then releases the tow and you swing down like a pendulum. At full throttle you pull nearly 3 g at the bottom of the swing. Allowing for your turns you can make elipse tracks in any direction. As you reach the top of your swing you use hard rudder and turn the `aircraft' so that you will point in the direction of the down swing. The location is in a narrow valley with cables streached between the hill tops to support the pendulum like setup. Cost about $65 US for about 7 minutes (1 tank of gas). Beats bungey jumping. At one point the `aircraft' is only about 5 feet above a small ridge. There are plans to flood light the area and attach a laser gun with ground targets that react to hits. World patents have been applied for and there is BIG interest from theme parks etc over seas. If you want to play ground attack games this is it ! -=RH=- --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: GenBOARD/2 (Wgtn, New Zealand) HST/DS 64-4-479-1960 (3:771/160) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: ED300003 Date: 08/30/97 From: RAY HARKNESS Time: 05:50am \/To: LINDSAY JONES (Read 0 times) Subj: Over water flying You may be interested in the following account of a delivery of an aircraft from Java to New Zealand that I recently read about. The aircraft was an Alaskan conversion version of a 1977 Piper Super Cub (PA.18-150) with about 600 hrs from new. The Alaskan conversion has aprox 3 feet extra wingspan with turned down tips, Cessna toe brakes, bigger more angular fin & elevators, full instruments, remote screw on oil filter, 60 US gal fuel tanks. The aircraft had been originally taken to Java for missionary work but was found to be unsuitable and not used for some time. It was purchased and flown down to New Castle in Australia (33 hrs) The aircraft was serviced and made ready for the flight to NZ. First leg to Lord Howe Island over water 3.6 hrs. The second leg was the longest over water to Norfolk Island (484 nm) took 5 hrs. 3rd leg over water to landfall on the northern tip of New Zealand took 4.7 hrs then down the coast to New Plymouth (this leg totaled 8.5 hrs). Dont know if the `Alaskan conversion' has a better seat then the standard Piper Cub - 8.5 hrs is a looong time. GPS worked well, pilot said that seeing a small island appear dead ahead after 5 hrs flying over water is a great feeling! -=RH=- --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: GenBOARD/2 (Wgtn, New Zealand) HST/DS 64-4-479-1960 (3:771/160) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: ED300004 Date: 09/01/97 From: RAY MARSH Time: 09:08pm \/To: JIM SANDERS (Read 0 times) Subj: Back again Greetings... > I have been sharing Aviation photos with Ken Nitt and Ray Marsh of > Australia. Marsh went in for an operation and I have heard nothing > from him since. I hope he is O.K. > Does anyone know? I'm here. The operation turned into a marathon effort after they discovered something mean and nasty inside me. I now have several bits missing plus massive re-arrangement of tubes and organs and things. While recovering I stayed with a girlfriend who is not only a delightful creature and excellent cook, but who also lives under a flight path. ...from Brisbane, Australia. raymarsh@hotmail.com ... Carpe diem. ___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30 [NR] --- Maximus 2.02 * Origin: Brisbug MIS Brisbane Qld (3:640/829) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: ED300005 Date: 09/02/97 From: ELVIS HARGROVE Time: 10:25pm \/To: RAY HARKNESS (Read 0 times) Subj: Back online -> The location is in a narrow valley with cables streached -> between the hill tops to support the pendulum like setup. Cost about -> $65 US for about 7 minutes (1 tank of gas). Beats bungey jumping. -> At one point the `aircraft' is only about 5 feet above a small ridge. -> There are plans to flood light the area and attach a laser gun with -> ground targets that react to hits. World patents have been applied -> for and there is BIG interest from theme parks etc over seas. If you -> want to play ground attack games this is it ! Jeeze, Ray that thing sounds scarier than my Cassutt! (And almost as expensive to fly!) Sure as heck oughta get your adreneline pumping! ^..^ --- FidoPCB v1.5 beta-'j' * Origin: BOO! Board Of Occult, Rio Grande Valley Texas (1:397/6) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: ED400000 Date: 09/02/97 From: JIM SANDERS Time: 05:06am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: News-691 New Stealth Like Passenger Aircraft WITH PASSENGER AIR TRAFFIC expected to triple in the next 20 years, engineers have begun long, difficult tests to see if they can build a super jumbo jet. Called the Blended-Wing-Body, it would carry more than twice as many passengers as a Boeing 747 and would make the traditional cigar-shaped airplane a thing of the past. The double-decker plane with a wing span of 289 feet, almost as long as a football field, looks like something out of "Star Trek," but its concept carries on a dream that dates back more than half a century. Aviation pioneer Jack Northrop died in 1981 taking his dream of a flying wing aircraft to his grave. Northrop had worked on flying- wing designs since the 1940s but, with the introduction of Douglas Aircraft's ground breaking DC-3 in 1936, the cigar-shaped design became the industry standard for commercial aircraft. While the Boeing Co. and Douglas refined the conventional air- craft, Northrop Aircraft pioneered the flying wing. By 1941 the Army Air Force ordered two models of Northrop's XB-35 flying wing, and in 1946 test flights began. For the next seven years Northrop produced various versions of the design for the military, but the program was scrapped in 1953. BIRTH OF THE STEALTH BOMBER Decades later, the essence of those early designs became the inspiration for Northrop's B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, which used a flying wing design to avoid radar detection and became the most feared bomber in the world. The batlike B-2 went into service in 1994, capable of flying from the United States to any country in the world in a matter of hours. Now, with the BWB aircraft being jointly developed by NASA, Boeing and four universities across the country, the airplanes of the future may look more like the stealth bomber than a cigar with wings. "Myself and the rest of the team members are so excited we can hardly stand it," said Robert Liebech, Boeing's program manager for the project. Work on the blended-wing concept, which Liebech said builds and improves on Northrop's flying wing, began in 1992 with a contract of just $90,000 from NASA to evaluate designs for the airplane of the future. By 1994 the project was put on a solid footing with a three- year grant of about $3 million. In July, a 17-foot model of the BWB completed a remotely piloted test flight in California, adding to designers' confidence that it will enter service by 2020. "My own feeling is that this will become a real airplane," Liebeck said. The simplicity of the design, which requires much fewer parts, means it would cost less to make than conventional aircraft. The BWB would be more environmentally-friendly and burn 30 percent less fuel than conventional planes, which should translate into lower airfares for passengers. Further adding to the case for the new plane is that it can be built entirely from existing materials such as aluminum. NO NEW TECHNOLOGY "The only thing new in the airplane is the configuration," Liebeck said. "It's not dependent on any new technology." He said the cost of developing the plane would be no more than that of a new conventional model. His design can use existing run- ways and could have a variety of sizes ranging from as few as 300 passengers up to 800 passengers. Industry experts are split on the need for a new design. "This has not been an industry where you have been able to introduce revolutions and get rid of all the old stuff," said Cai Von Rumohr, aerospace analyst at Cowen & Co. "This is not like the (computer) industry where things move a lot faster." Paul Nisbet of equity research firm JSA Research disagrees. "When the technology in current aircraft becomes antiquated there will be a need for bigger and better aircraft," he said. "I don't think there's much question about that." Boeing and European competitor Airbus Industrie disagree about the need for a super jumbo jet. Airbus is planning to develop the A3XX, a long-range double-decker jumbo jet that could seat between 500 and 600 passengers. Analysts estimate the development cost could run as high as $15 billion. Boeing, meanwhile, has shelved plans to develop a stretch ver- sion of its 747 model, claiming the cost is not justified under current market conditions. Boeing's 747-400 is the largest airliner now in service, seating up to 425. ---------------------------------- --- DB 1.39/004487 * Origin: Volunteer BBS (423) 694-0791 V34+/VFC (1:218/1001.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: ED400001 Date: 09/02/97 From: JIM SANDERS Time: 10:57am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: News-692 Alaska Airlines flight has rough landing; no injuries SEATTLE (September 2, 1997 02:05 a.m. EDT) -- The nose gear on an Alaska Airlines jet collapsed after the plane landed at Seattle- Tacoma International Airport late Monday, forcing the 116 passengers and crew to exit on emergency slides. No serious injuries were re- ported, however, airline spokesman Lou Cancelmi said. Flight 255 originated in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and was on its way to Spokane in eastern Washington after a stop in Los Angeles. Cancelmi said the plane landed without incident and was rolling when the gear collapsed about 9 p.m. The 111 passengers and five crew members got off the plane by using the slides. "My understanding is that there were no injuries, but I'm trying to get more information," Cancelmi said. "It's not untypical when you use slides to evacuate people ... for people to receive some cuts and bruises." The airport closed for about 10 minutes. Cancelmi said the cause of the collapse was being investigated. --------------------------------------- Pilot and four skydivers killed in plane crash BREMERTON, Wash. (September 2, 1997 00:16 a.m. EDT) -- A small plane carrying four skydivers crashed into a ravine after takeoff and erupted in flames Monday, killing the pilot and all the skydivers. Witnesses indicated the single-engine Cessna 182 had engine trouble after takeoff and was trying to return to Bremerton National Airport, said state patrol Lt. Gary Leach. It crashed into a ravine at the airport and caught fire, he said. The plane owned by Blue Skies Skydiving Adventures had four skydivers aboard - three men and a woman ranging in age from 19 to 57, said company spokesman Robert Turso. It was a little windy and cloudy, which Turso said was just right for skydiving. "They were all experienced divers out to have fun," Turso said. Another skydiver, Elaine Carroll, said about 30 people were making a series of jumps during a Blue Skies' end-of-summer party. Bremerton is 15 miles west of Seattle, across the Puget Sound. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ovt mulls selling part of Air France PARIS, France _ France's Socialist government is weighing plans to sell part of the national airline Air France, Le Monde newspaper reported over the weekend. Air France Web "THE GOVERNMENT DOES not rule out opening quite soon the capital of Air France," the newspaper said in a report. A decision could be made before Sept. 12, when shareholders of Air France and of regional and European carrier Air France Europe meet to vote on approval of the merger between the two companies, Le Monde said. The government is trying to find a way to reconcile demands by Air France Chairman Christian Blanc for a rapid sale and the oppo- sition to such a sale by Communist Transport Minister Claude Gayssot, it said. There was no comment from the prime minister's office. France's previous conservative government had planned to privatize Air France, but the plan was thrown into question when the left took power in a June 1 parliamentary election. An Air France spokeswoman confirmed that airline shareholders would meet on Sept. 12 but declined to comment on the Le Monde report. Christian Blanc feels the status of Air France as a state-owned company limits its ability to forge international alliances and curbs its development. He has made its privatization his top priority and may be unwilling to remain at the helm of Air France if the company is not privatized, the newspaper said.