------------------------------------------------------------------- Pilot unions kindle strikes as World Cup approaches PARIS - May 24, 1998 5:38 p.m. EDT -- Air France was forced to cancel up to 30 percent of its flights on Sunday after pilots from three small unions started a two-day strike to protest management plans to slash salaries. The strike, the second to hit the French airline this month, is indicative of transport sector unions' growing wave of industrial action in anticipation of the World Cup. An Air France spokeswoman said the company could only guarantee 70 percent of its flights at Paris's second airport, Orly, while 85 percent of flights at the main airport, Roissy, were operating normally. The main SNPL union, which represents 60 percent of Air France pilots, did not take part in Sunday's strike but has said it will call out its members for at least the first two weeks of June unless the firm drops plans to cut salaries by 15 percent. The biggest-ever World Cup, involving teams from 32 countries playing in 10 French cities, starts on June 10. As the soccer tournament nears, so unions are upping the pressure on their bosses to settle pay and condition disputes. On Tuesday, the day pilots return to work, truckers belonging to the militant Force Ouvriere (FO) union are due to set up roadblocks and hold go-slows along the motorways around France to push their demand for a pay hike. The truckers have brought France to a standstill twice in recent years by parking their lorries across highways and have each time rung major concessions out of the bosses. However, FO has complained that a deal signed last year has not yet been honored by haulage firms and set Tuesday's strike to coin- cide with a fresh round of talks. FO Secretary General Marc Blondel said on Sunday that unless union demands were met, the truckers would protest during the World Cup and called on the public to back them. "If people are worried about the Cup, why don't they give us a hand and put pressure on the federation of transport managers," he said in an interview on Europe 1 radio station. French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin appealed this weekend for unions not to damage France's image during the forthcoming soccer extravaganza, but Blondel dismissed the idea of a month-long truce during the World Cup. "I want France to present a good image of itself, especially by having a small number of unemployed and good salaries," Blondel said. The pilots have also shown no intention of holding off from striking. They accuse management of deliberately timing their wage cut to coincide with the World Cup in hopes that a sense of duty will prevent staff from walking out. Air France says its pilots earn 40 percent more than their coun- terparts in Germany's Lufthansa and has offered shares in the company if they accept the slimmer wage packets. Despite Sunday's strike, Air France managed to avert serious delays at Nice airport in the south of the country, which enjoyed its busiest day of the year on Sunday following the end of the Cannes film festival and the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Seven injured in severe turbulence over Oklahoma OKLAHOMA CITY - May 25, 1998 01:20 a.m. EDT -- A US Airways flight from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles made a medical emergency landing Sunday night in Oklahoma City after hitting severe turbulence. Seven people suffered minor injuries when the Boeing 757 hit turbulence around 7:30 p.m. CDT, likely caused by severe weather in the area, said Jeff Bilyeu, operations officer at Will Rogers World Airport. Five people went to a hospital for treatment. The injured included passengers and crew members. They com- plained of abrasions, lacerations and neck and back pains, Bilyeu said. One passenger described the turbulence as "very violent," and several said they were shaken up after the ordeal. There appeared to be no damage to the airplane, Bilyeu said. === --- DB 1.39/004487 * Origin: Volunteer BBS (423) 694-0791 V90 (1:218/1001.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA400010 Date: 05/25/98 From: JIM SANDERS Time: 01:48pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Ec-135 specs EC-135 Brief: Modified KC-135 tanker aircraft extensively equipped with sophisticated communications equipment and capable of flying in continuous airborne alert in support of national command and control; also telemetry and voice relay aircraft. Function: Command and control aircraft; ARIA aircraft. Operator: ACC and AFMC. First Flight: not available Delivered: not available IOC: Feb 3 1961 Production: not available Inventory: seven Ceiling: 40,600 ft Unit Location: Offuft AFB, Neb., Edwards AFB, Calif. Contractor: Boeing Power Plant (EC-135C) four Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-9 furbofans each 18,000 lb thrust. Accommodation: flight crew of four, plus 19 specialists Dimensions: span 130 ft 10 in, length 136 ft 3 in, height 38 ft 4 in Weight: (EC-135C) gross 299,000 lb. Performance: (EC-135C) max speed at 25,000 ft 616 mph, operational radius 2,675 miles. COMMENTARY Several KC-135A tankers were modified for use as airborne command posts during the 1960s. EC-135A/G/L were operated by SAC; EC-135H by USAFE; EC-135J/P by PACAF; and EC-135K by TAC. EC-135Ns had specialized nose radar and tracking equipment to support the Apollo program. Other EC-135 aircraft included J and Y versions. Virtually all retired. EC-135C aircraft, known as Looking Glass, support USSTRATCOM's Airborne National Command Post mission, as well as other command-and-control missions. Delivered as KC-135Bs, they were redesignated in 1964 to reflect their role. Equipment includes HF/VF/UHF radios, AFSATCOM, Milatar, and HF/UHF low- speed data communications capability. Continuous airborne alert status ended July 24,1990, but at least one of these air refuel- able aircraft has since flown a mission each day. All will re- tire by October 1998 as the USN's E-6B aircraft take over the NCP mission. EC-135A/E Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA) function as telemetry data recording and relay stations to sup- plement land and marine telemetry stations that support DoD and NASA space and missile programs. AIR FORCE Magazine / May 1998 === --- DB 1.39/004487 * Origin: Volunteer BBS (423) 694-0791 V90 (1:218/1001.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA400011 Date: 05/25/98 From: JIM SANDERS Time: 08:50pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Kc-10 KC-10 Extender Brief: A modified McDonnell Douglas DC-b which combines in a single aircraft the operations of aerial refueling and long-range cargo transport. Function: Aerial refueling/transport. Operator: AMC, AFRC. First Flight: April 1980. Delivered: March 1981-April 1990. lOC: August 1982. Production: 60. Inventory: 59. Ceiling: 42,000 ft. Unit Location: McGuire AFB, N.J., Travis AFB, Calif. Contractor: McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing). Power Plant: three General Electric CF6-50C2 turbofans; each 52,500 lb thrust. Accommodation: crew of four; additional seating possible for up to 75 persons; max 27 pallets; max cargo payload 169,409 lb. Dimensions: span 165 ft 4.5 in, length 181 ft 7 in, height 58 ft 1 in. Weight: gross 590,000 lb. Performance: cruising speed Mach 0.825, range with max cargo 4,370 miles. COMMENTARY The KC-10 combines the tasks of tanker and cargo aircraft in a single unit, enabling it to support worldwide fighter deploy- ments, strategic airlift, strategic reconnaissance, and conventional operations. It played a key role in deployment for the Persian Gulf War and in later humanitarian and UN peacekeeping missions. The KC-10 can be air refueled by a KC-135 or another KC-10, increasing its range and dispensing with the need for forward bases, leaving vital fuel supplies in the theater of operations untouched. KC-1OA is a DC-10 Series 3OCF, modified to include fuselage fuel cells, a boom operator's station with serial refueling boom and integral hose reel/drogue unit, a receiver refueling receptacle, and military avionics. Later modification included wing-mounted air refueling pods to increase capability. Because it has both types of tanker refueling equipment installed, the KC-1OA can service USAF, USN, USMC, and Allied air- craft on the same mission. Special lighting permits night operations. === --- DB 1.39/004487 * Origin: Volunteer BBS (423) 694-0791 V90 (1:218/1001.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA400012 Date: 05/25/98 From: JIM SANDERS Time: 08:51pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: News-220 From the United Kingdom Diary tells how pioneer woman flew solo in 1932 A LOST diary belonging to one of the first women to gain a com- mercial pilot's licence has been returned to her son after being found during a house clearance. Molly Barnard was a young medical student at Newnham College, Cambridge, when she wrote the journal that records, in neat hand- writing, the ups and downs of trying to master the de Havilland bi- plane and the exhilaration of her first solo flight in 1932. The college authorities had refused her time-off for flying lessons, so she made her own arrangements under the tutelage of Sir Arthur Marshall at Cambridge airport. After qualifying as a doctor, Miss Barnard married George Yuill, a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. The couple, who settled in Marple, Greater Manchester, had two sons who also became doctors and pilots. The diary was lost after the deaths of Mrs Yuill in 1973 and her husband six years later. It turned up during a house clearance by a relative of Sally Jones, a business- woman interested in genealogy, who spotted the name Marshall's Airport in the diary and traced it on the Internet. The diary was presented by Sir Arthur, now 94, to Dr Robert Yuill, 52, Miss Barnard's youngest son. Mr Yuill said: "I had no idea my mother had written a diary. Reading it now makes her come alive again. Her expressions, her speech patterns are all there. It is exactly her. Her character is in this book. She was a marvellous woman who skied, went rock climbing and loved flying at a time when very few women did anything like that." Lessons on the airstrip were 25-30 shillings an hour (1.25-1.50) compared with 91.50 Pounds today. Miss Barnard's diary records how finally she went solo, watched by Sir Arthur, late on a June evening. The entry reads: "You're all alone up here, I said to myself. But I felt so happy I could have burst, rather like looking at an exam paper which you could do every bally question. I banked and turned rather steeply I was so pleased." She cycled back to Newnham "as fast as I could though my dress flew all over the place, and every now and then I hit the handlebars as hard as I could and squeaked. "Half way home I said to myself 'gosh - I've been up solo' it was a bad one . . . but I'll do better next time," it says in the diary. Sir Arthur said: "She was very good, one of six or seven girls who were keen on flying before the war." ---------------------------------- DoT checks crash which killed pals The Department of Transport is to investigate a crash which killed two mates flying to a stag night. Shane Booker and Paul Poulteney, both of Market Harborough, Leicestershire, hit a mountain in Snowdownia, N Wales. They were flying from Leicester to Blackpool, with Booker as pilot, when Saturday's accident occurred. === --- DB 1.39/004487 * Origin: Volunteer BBS (423) 694-0791 V90 (1:218/1001.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA400013 Date: 05/26/98 From: JIM SANDERS Time: 07:41am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: News-221 N. C. copter crash probed; pilot, 4 race fans died MONROE, NC. - Investigators examined the wreckage of a helicopter to determine why it was flying low enough to strike a power line Mon- day crashing on a highway and killing all five people on board. The helicopter should have been flying at about 500 feet, more than three times the height of the wire, said Butch Wilson, lead investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. "He could have been trying to make an emergency landing," he said. The helicopter missed traffic on US 74, which is used by vacationers traveling between Charlotte and beaches in North Carolina and South Carolina. "Its a wonder that there were no motor vehicles involved. Cars were driving by while it was coming down on the highway," said sheriff Frank McGuirt. Pilot John Thomas Elliott, 49, was transporting passengers to the Monroe Airport after Sunday's Coca-cola 600 Winston Cup race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway about 30 miles away. The stock car race ended about two hours before the crash. The airport is a few miles from where the helicopter went down. Also killed were passengers Craig Goodman Rudolph, 37, Alexandra Johanna Schiffers, 30, Kevin Dadey 25, and his wife, Pamela, 26, all from Charlotte. To avoid getting stuck in traffic jams, some racing fans like to take advantage of the steady stream of helicopters that offer shuttle service to and from the track on race days. The crash closed the highway in both directions for several hours. One of the westbound lanes, which will carry thousands of vacationers back from the beaches later Monday was open by dawn. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Concorde lands safely after problems spark London airport alert LONDON - May 25, 1998 10:56 p.m. EDT - A British Airways Concorde sparked a full alert at Heathrow Airport Monday night when it reported wing problems shortly after taking off for New York and was forced to turn back. Emergency crews were standing by when Flight BA003, carrying 53 passengers and nine crew members bound for Kennedy Airport, landed safely at Heathrow at about 10 p.m. local time. The decision to return to Heathrow came an hour into the flight, after the pilot reported that a small section of the supersonic plane's right wing had come loose. "The Concorde pilot decided an emergency landing was not neces- sary but it was felt all the emergency services should be alerted," a Heathrow spokeswoman said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. British Airways spokeswoman Laura De Vere stressed the return to Heathrow was "precautionary" and said engineers were investigating the problem and checking the company's six other Concorde jets for similar faults. Passengers of the BA 003 flight were transferred to nearby hotels for the night and were expected to leave Tuesday. No delays were expected for other Concorde flights, De Vere said. === --- DB 1.39/004487 * Origin: Volunteer BBS (423) 694-0791 V90 (1:218/1001.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA400014 Date: 05/26/98 From: ERIC DE WACHTER Time: 09:51am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Drag-EAS B737-300/400/500 Hello, I'm looking for Drag-EAS graphes for B737-300, 400, and 500. Thanks Eric ;-> --- Terminate 4.00/Pro * Origin: * Brussels National Airport * (2:291/766.168) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA400015 Date: 05/08/98 From: SHANE COUCH Time: 10:08pm \/To: BILL WUNSCH (Read 0 times) Subj: F-20 This is what Bill was saying to Jim Hiya Bill, I read a fair bit about the F-20. Yes, doe to lack of orders it was canned. It was similar to the F-5, specs: TYPE: Multirole tactical fighter ENGINE: 1 17000lb GE F404-100A augmented turbofan (same as F/A-18 from memory) DIMENSIONS: Span over empty missile rails 26'8";length 46'6.7";height 13'10.15";wing area 200sq ft WEIGHT: MT 11810lb; loaded 18200lb; Max 27500lb PERFORMANCE: Max Speed clean >1323mph (2128kph) or Mach 2; combat radius (H-L-H, 5 Mk82 bombs, AAM & 2 tanks, + combat reserves) 633 miles (1019Km). It has a RAM air cooling inlet on tail (like Kfir), horizontally flat nose cone, with TWO M-39 20mm guns (from F-100) They built three, their maiden flights were 8/30/82, 8/26/83, 5/12/84. A prototype bought the farm in 1984, not due to any fault in the aircraft. The single engine produced 70% more thrust than the twin engines in the F-5E. ... "But once you are real, you can't become unreal again." Cya