Category: Aircraft

And now for something completely different!

Keeping a balance on one’s state of mind.

Don’t know about you but I find that it is all too easy to get wound up by so much that is going on in this crazy world.  That’s not to marginalise the threats to society that are all around us and there are some powerful writers out there who work so hard to inform the world as to the truth of those threats.  (As an aside, one of my favourite authors is this context is Patrice Ayme, just see this recent Post of his as an example of his depth of analysis.)

But my dear friend of over 40 years, Dan Gomez, recently sent me a link to a video of the 10 most extreme airports in the world.  That stirred some memories from my own flying days.

First settle back and enjoy 7 minutes of reasons why you don’t want to think about flying! 😉

The YouTube video has this information, which I republish below,

Pictures and videos of the top 10 most extreme airports in the world!

San Diego: Busy airspace lots of buildings on approach
Madeira: Difficult approach and did have a short runway
Eagle Vail: High altitude, short runway & mountainous approach & departure
Courchevel: Short runway, bumpy runway, high altitude
Kai Tak: Difficult approch, fly through tall buildings, short runway
Gibraltar: Short runway, building on approach, winds from the Gibraltar rock
St Maarten: Short runway, has to fly over the beach with alot of people on there, steep takeoff because of mountains
St Barts: Short runway, has to dive.
St Barts: To land, the low approach on that hill thingy
Toncontin: Difficult approach, short runway
Lukla, short runway, only was cemented a few years ago, no go around, if land too low you land into a cliff

First song: La Perla by Kobojsarna

Second song: Feel It – Explicit Album Version by Three 6 Mafia vs Tiesto with Sean Kingston and Flo Rida

Now to a personal recollection.

I was a private pilot for many years, first learning to fly at the Suffolk Aero Club at Ipswich Airport in Suffolk, England.  My first lesson was on the 3rd March, 1984!

Some twenty years later, on the 13th August 2004 to be exact, I was checked out to land at Courchevel Airport in an aircraft type known as a TB20, a French-built aircraft.  Here’s the page from my log book with the necessary authorisation stamp affixed.

Cleared to land at Courchevel, LFLJ!

The following year, 19th July, 2005, I added my wonderful Piper Super Cub to that authorisation.  (See here for a part picture of the aircraft.)

So thanks to YouTube as someone has uploaded a film of a light aircraft operating into Courchevel.  It really is rather thrilling!

Finally, back to Dan.  Here’s his recollections included in the email that he sent with that first film.

Just found this.  I’ve landed at two of these.  Eagle Vail was a piece of cake compared to Toncontin as Marty and Bruce know. BAE146 and small Boeing jets.  I flew in and out of Toncontin 5 times in the 90’s and had no idea it was as scary as it was.  That is to say, I knew it was scary because my palms sweated and heartbeat was about 140 but when I look at it now I go “what was I thinking?”

Take offs were like Orange County, Full brake power straight up. The big difference was you were shuttling along the runway and then down the runway and finally, up the runway to get the wheels up.

One time, on a connecting flight from Medellin, we taxied in, were boarded by military police with drug dogs who sniffed their way through the aisle.  Bags were searched while everyone waited in intense heat. It took about 2 hours, three time longer than necessary. Then the interior was fumigated with everyone aboard. All the big machine guns too. Nobody said a word!

There’s one thing about flying a light aircraft, especially into ‘interesting’ airfields, you don’t have a moment to worry about the state of the world!

Welcome Doctor Barkman!

A delightful contribution from a guest author.

Dear readers, from time to time I am approached by other authors who have flattered me by asking if I would like to publish their Blog posts from time to time.  So I have been doubly flattered by having two authors contact me in the last week.

So to the first.  It is with great pleasure that I welcome Jane Brackman, Ph.D., author of the blog Doctor Barkman Speaks who will, from time to time, republish her posts on Learning from Dogs. I have no doubt that you will enjoy her scientific expertise regarding dogs

So today, please enjoy …

oooOOOooo

HOW DOGS THINK – NEW SCIENCE LOOKS INSIDE THEIR MINDS WITH MRI IMAGING

Canine illustrator Robert Dickey assigned thoughts and feeling to his Boston Terrier based on the dogs’s expressions. Here he illustrates contentment, sympathy and misery.  (Dogs from Life, Page & Co., 1920)
**
“Are you gonna eat that? Are you gonna eat that?  I’ll eat it.”
Is this what dogs think?  Or do they experience more complex thoughts?  Apparently science is getting pretty close to figuring it out. If not exactly WHAT they’re thinking, then where in the brain the thoughts are coming from.  Since brains are pretty much the same across mammal species, if researchers identify which parts of the the brain light up, based on what humans have said, they can guess what the dogs’ thoughts are, too.

A couple of smart guys, Gregory Berns and Andrew Brooks of Emory University, watching a military dog assist Navy Seals as they overran the Osama Bin Laden compound, got a brilliant idea.  If you can teach dogs to jump out of helicopters, surely dogs could be trained to enjoy themselves inside an fMRI machine while scientists calculate what the dogs are thinking by scanning their brains.

The researchers, who are dog-lovers, explained, “We want to understand the dog-human relationship, from the dog’s perspective.  From the outset, we wanted to ensure the safety and comfort of the dogs.  We wanted them to be unrestrained and go into the scanner willingly.”

So they recruited a professional dog trainer, Mark Spivak, and two companion dogs, a Feist Terrier named Callie and a Border Collie named McKenzie.  The team said that both dogs were trained over several months to walk into an fMRI scanner and hold completely still while researchers measured their brain activity.

In the photo below Callie wears ear protection as she 
prepares to enter the scanner.  The research team 
includes, from left, Andrew Brooks, Gregory Berns and Mark Spivak.  
(Credit: Photo by Bryan Meltz)

This is what the researchers wrote in the journal article that was published in PLOS last week:

Because of dogs’ prolonged evolution with humans, many of the canine cognitive skills are thought to represent a selection of traits that make dogs particularly sensitive to human cues. But how does the dog mind actually work? To develop a methodology to answer this question, we trained two dogs to remain motionless for the duration required to collect quality fMRI images by using positive reinforcement without sedation or physical restraints. The task was designed to determine which brain circuits differentially respond to human hand signals denoting the presence or absence of a food reward.

Eventually they hope to answer the more profound questions we all ask:  Do dogs have empathy? Do they know when we are happy or sad?  How much language do they really understand?”  (And here’s one from me- When they pee on the carpet and we don’t find it until the next day, when we scold them do they know why we are scolding them?)

Do dogs feel guilt?
You can read a brief summary of the project here:  What is Your Dog Thinking? Brain Scans Unleash Canine Secrets.

Or read the entire scholarly article here:

Berns, Gregory, Brooks, Andrew and Spivak, Mark, Functional MRI in Awake Unrestrained Dogs (April 27, 2012). 

Jane Brackman, Ph. D.

oooOOOooo

Well, I don’t know about you but I found this a most fascinating article.  All of us who live around dogs, both physically and emotionally, sense the closeness, may I use the word ‘magic’, of the relationships.

Take a look at the photograph below.  Until I left the UK in 2008, a few of us owned a lovely old Piper Super Cub.  It was a joy to fly.  I used frequently to take Pharaoh to the grass airfield, Watchford Farm, up on the Devon moors.  One day he showed such interest in the aircraft that I lifted him up to the passenger’s seat, strapped him in and taxied all over the grass airfield.  This picture shows something that is difficult to explain otherwise – Pharaoh’s real joy at sharing the adventure.  Of course, I didn’t fly with him, that would have been a step too far, but we did taxi almost up to take-off speed.  Dr. Barkman, what do you make of that?

Watchford Farm, Devon, July 2006.


The only way to fly!

London Airport this isn’t!

(For my regular readers, indeed, for all of you, just a reminder that I’m giving the Blog a small rest until later this week – just filling in with silly things!)

Dear friend, senior airline Captain, Bob D., sent me this video to demonstrate that not all flying is from one enormous hub to another.

Background information on the aircraft is here.

Practice makes perfect

A personal musing about the value of training.

A good friend here in Payson, himself a former ‘lamplighter’ forwarded me an email with a link to a video taken using the Head-Up-Display (HUD) camera which  also has a voice recorder.

F-16 fighter/attack aircraft

This is the email,

Here’s the F-16 dead stick into Elizabeth City, NC: A fairly short  RWY for jets, (about 6000 ft long), but qualifies for an  “Emergency landing field” in the grand scheme of US  aviation.

You’ll probably have to watch the video several times to appreciate  how intense the situation and how busy the pilot was all the way to  stopping on the runway.  Very apparently, the pilot was one-of-four  F-16s in a flight returning to their base, (most probably from  the Navy Dare bombing range south of Manteo), and the F-16  in question had already reported a “Ruff-Running Engine” to his flight  leader before the start of the video.
A few comments not readily apparent are:

  • The whole episode, from start-to-finish only takes about 3 1/2  minutes!
  • The video begins as the flight is being followed on radar.
The flight leader asks for the Elizabeth City tower UHF freq which  is repeated as 355.6 and the entire flight switches to that freq: Just  one-more-task for the pilot to execute in the cockpit as he reports that  his engine has QUIT.  He has to activate the Emergency Unit to  maintain electric and hydraulic power.  This unit is powered by  Hydrazine:  (the caustic fuel that Germany created in WW II to  power their V-2 Rockets and their ME-163 rocket fighters among  others.) Thus, the last call about requesting fire support after the  jet is safe on deck, and pilot breathing easy.

Meanwhile, back in the cockpit, the pilot is busily attempting to  “Re-light” his engine: (Unsuccessfully, of course) while tending to  everything else.  The video is taken using the Head-Up-Display (HUD) camera which  also has a voice recorder.

The HUD is a very busy instrument, but among things to notice  are the ‘circle’ in the middle which represents the nose of the aircraft  and where it is ‘pointed’: “The velocity Vector”.

The flight leader reports they are 7-miles out from the airport and  at 9000 ft altitude.  Since the weather is clear and the airport is  in sight, this allows for adequate “Gliding distance” to reach a  runway with the engine OFF.  Rest assured, jet fighters glide sorta like a rock.  They don’t enjoy the higher lift design of an airliner like that which allowed Sullenburger to land in the  NY river.

Coming down 9000 ft in only 7-miles requires a helluva rate of  descent, so the pilot’s nose remains well below the “Horizon” until just  prior to touching down on the runway.  The HUD horizon is a solid,  lateral bar, and below the horizon, the horizontal lines appear as dashes.  You’ll see a “10” on the second dashed line below the horizon which =  10-degrees nose low.

Radio chatter includes the flight leader calling the  tower and the tower stating runway 10 with wind 070 @ 5 mph with the altimeter setting of 30.13, yet  another step for the pilot to consider.
The flight leader calls for the pilot to jettison his external fuel  tanks and askes another pilot in the flight to “Mark” where they  dropped.  The tower later tells the pilot to land on any runway he  chooses.
Pilot reports “Three in the green” indicating all three gear  indicate down and locked which the flight leader acknowledges.
You will hear the computer voice of “Bitchin’-Betty” calling out  “Warnings”.  More confusing chatter when none is welcome or even  necessary.  (That’s “Hi-Tech” for ya.)

The pilot has only ONE CHANCE to get this right and must also slow  to an acceptable landing speed in order to stop on the short runway.   You’ll see Black rubber on the rwy where “The rubber meets the road” in  the touchdown area.  Note that during rollout, he gets all the way to the far end which you can see by all the black skid marks where planes have landed heading in the opposite direction.

OK: That’s more than ya probably wanted to know, but you have to  appreciate the fine job this guy did in calmly managing this emergency  situation.  He is a “USAF Reserve” pilot and those guys generally have plenty of experience.  That really pays off.

Please scroll down for the link  + Enjoy.

The pilot just saved  about $20+m at his own  risk…….Great job!  Note  the breathing rate on the hot mic and also the sink rate  (airspeed  tape on the left side of the heads up  display.)

Pretty  cool guy!!!

See  if you can keep all of the radio transmissions  straight.

Probably  the coolest sounding voice in the whole mix is the pilot of the  engine out aircraft.

Just  a reminder an F-16 has only one engine.  When  it goes, you are coming down. It  is just a matter of figuring out where the airplane will come to  rest on terra firma.

(Cut N Paste if a click doesn’t open this link )

http://www.patricksaviation.com/videos/SUPERGT/3384/

Note: For  those not familiar, the EPU (Electrical Power Unit) provides  hydraulic and electrical power in event of failure of the engine,  electrical or hydraulics.  The  EPU is powered by Hydrazine which decomposes into hot gasses as it  passes across a catalyst bed or engine bleed air (if  available).  The  hot air passes through a turbine which drives the emergency  hydraulic pump and generator through a gear  box.

The video is also on YouTube, as below,

Most people are aware of the value of training and experience that saved, in this case, the US taxpayer a large pile of money.

Now onto a much more tragic case, the loss of Air France Flight AF 447 that went down on 1 June 2009 after running into an intense high-altitude thunderstorm, four hours into a flight from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to Paris.  AF 447 was an Airbus A330-203 aircraft registered F-GZCP.

Many will recall that earlier on in May the second of the ‘black boxes’ or flight recorders was found.  Here’s how Bloomberg reported that,

Air crash investigators retrieved the second of two black boxes from the Air France jet that plunged into the Atlantic in 2009, which may help them unlock the mysteries of the crash after two years.

“They appear to be in a good state,” said Jean-Paul Troadec, head of the BEA, the French air crash investigator that has been probing the accident that killed all 228 people aboard a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. “The first thing is to dry them, prepare them, which needs about a day.” Once the boxes arrive in BEA’s offices, in about 10 days, “the reading of information would be pretty fast,” he said.

Full article is here.

Those who wish to read the report issued by the French Authorities may find it here.  The summary from the report concludes,

NEW FINDINGS

At this stage of the investigation, as an addition to the BEA interim reports of 2 July and 17 December 2009, the following new facts have been established:

  • ˆ The composition of the crew was in accordance with the operator’s procedures.
  • ˆ At the time of the event, the weight and balance of the airplane were within the operational limits.
  • ˆ At the time of the event, the two co-pilots were seated in the cockpit and the Captain was resting. The latter returned to the cockpit about 1 min 30 after the disengagement of the autopilot.
  • ˆ There was an inconsistency between the speeds displayed on the left side and the integrated standby instrument system (ISIS). This lasted for less than one minute.
  • ˆ After the autopilot disengagement:
    • „ the airplane climbed to 38,000 ft,
    • „ the stall warning was triggered and the airplane stalled,
    • „ the inputs made by the PF were mainly nose-up,
    • „ the descent lasted 3 min 30, during which the airplane remained stalled. The angle of
    • attack increased and remained above 35 degrees,
    • „ the engines were operating and always responded to crew commands.
  • ˆ The last recorded values were a pitch attitude of 16.2 degrees nose-up, a roll angle of 5.3 degrees left and a vertical speed of -10,912 ft/min.

If my maths is correct a descent speed of 10,912 feet per minute is the equivalent of 124 miles per hour!

Anyway, I am advised by someone who is a very experienced Airbus captain that the odds of a stall in the cruise for a commercial airliner are extremely low, sufficiently so that it is not something that is regular covered during crew recurrent training sessions.

Here’s a short news video from ABC News.

Solar Impulse

Just enjoy this.

Solar Impulse

From Wired Magazine,

“In a world dependent on fossil energies, Solar Impulse is a paradox, almost a provocation.”

Press release gobbledygook? Absolutely. But you’ve got to give it up for any company with the guts to try designing and building a true solar airplane.

We’ve written about Solar Impulse — it’s a consortium of European financial and technology parters led by the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland. The group is working on a solar-powered plane that can take off under its own power without generating any emissions at all. The general idea is that sunlight would not only power the plane during the day but would also charge its lithium batteries, allowing it to fly around the clock pollution free.

That was written May 12th, 2008.  This is now!  Landing at Brussels International Airport, May 2011.

And here’s the Solar Impulse website.

Man’s first orbit around Planet Earth.

A wonderful tribute to Yuri Gagarin and all his team.

When I recently wrote of it being 41 years since Swigert on board Apollo 13 transmitted “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” I also included a closing reflection as follows,

Finally, this Post is published, not only on the 41st anniversary of that memorable Apollo Flight but the day after the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first flight of a human into space, the 12th April, 1961.

Coincidentally, our favourite documentary film website, Top Documentary Films, featured on April 14th the new film First Orbit.  We watched the film that night.  It was a most unusual format for a film, yet a most haunting experience.  Watching the credits, it then became clear that the film was a co-operative venture made especially for the 50th anniversary of that remarkable, historic flight.

Of course, had I previously been aware of the venture and this remarkable film then it would have been promoted on Learning from Dogs in good time before the anniversary date.  However, better late than never!

Indeed, there is a dedicated website in recognition of this First Orbit.  Here’s the background to the film,

April 12th 1961 – Yuri Gagarin is about to see what no other person has seen in the history of humanity – the Earth from space. In the next 108 minutes he’ll see more than most people do in a lifetime. What sights awaited the first cosmonaut silently gliding over the world below? What was it like to view the oceans and continents sailing by from such a height?

In a unique collaboration with the European Space Agency, and the Expedition 26/27 crew of theInternational Space Station, we have created a new film of what Gagarin first witnessed fifty years ago.

By matching the orbital path of the Space Station, as closely as possible, to that of Gagarin’s Vostok 1spaceship and filming the same vistas of the Earth through the new giant cupola window, astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and documentary film maker Christopher Riley, have captured a new digital high definition view of the Earth below, half a century after Gagarin first witnessed it.

Weaving these new views together with historic, recordings of Gagarin from the time, (subtitled in Englsih) and an original score by composer Philip Sheppard, we have created a spellbinding film to share with people around the world on this historic anniversary.

The music in the film is most beautiful, quite moving.  Here’s the background to the music from the First Orbit website,

The music in our film is all composed by Philip Sheppard and comes from his album Cloud Songs.

First Orbit’s producer Christopher Riley first worked with Philip in 2006 on the Sundance Award winning feature documentary film ‘In the Shadow of the Moon‘ and since then Philip had been working on a new suite of music inspired by spaceflight.

“We’d been working with some of these tracks on another project” says Chris, “and we suddenly realised how perfectly they could compliment ‘First Orbit’ as well. We contacted Philip to ask his permission to use them, only to find that his entire Cloud Song album was already in orbit onboard the International Space Station!”

“NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, had them on her iPod” says Philip. “Her husband Josh Simpson is a friend of mine and they’d listened to a lot of my music together before she left, so I made up a playlist for her!”

Quite by coincidence Cady had been listening to the music in ‘First Orbit’ at one end of the Space Station whilst European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli was shooting for the film at the other end, without either of them knowing the connection!

Back on Earth Chris and the film’s editor Stephen Slater took Philip’s tracks from Cloud Song and weaved them together with Paolo’s new views of the Earth to create the different moods of the film; from the first views of snowy Siberia to the darkness of night over the Pacific Ocean and the homecoming over Africa, as Gagarin starts to re-enter the atmosphere.

The result is a mesmerising combination of imagary and music which we hope convey the spectrum of emotions which no doubt went through Yuri’s mind as he gazed down upon the Earth.

Finally, here’s the film. It’s an hour and thirty-nine minutes and, as I said, an unconventional film experience.  But if any part of you either remembers the event or wonders what it was like, those 50 years ago, then find somewhere out of reach of interruptions and watch the film.

Beauty of flight

There’s more to flying than many of us realise.

Thanks to Mike T who I have known for a few years now.  Mike is an air traffic controller as well as being a keen private pilot so if there is one person who can see through the telescope from both ends, it’s this man.

Anyway, GE Aviation are one of the big players in aviation.  Here’s a quote from the website that I am going to link you to in a moment.

GE Aviation designs engines, flightpaths, and advanced aircraft systems. And we wanted to share the intricate choreography of flying in all its glory.

 

Dancing in the air!

 

Here’s the video – just 1:48 long – it’s captivating.  This link takes you to the GE web page where there is much more of great interest other than the video.

If you only want to watch the video then, of course, there’s a copy on YouTube, as below.  Enjoy!

Thanks Mike.

By Paul Handover

Onwards and upwards

Some remarkable recent achievements in aeronautics

Just happened that a few items crossed my inbox more or less in the same time-frame that made me reflect on the ingenuity and persistence of inventors and explorers.

Here’s the first item that I came across in The Register.

Canadian enthusiasts have finally achieved a feat that has eluded humanity’s finest engineers since the time of Leonardo da Vinci – to build a machine, powered by a human pilot’s muscles, which flies by flapping its wings: an ornithopter.

Here it is on YouTube.

Read the rest of the report here.

Then Klaus Ohlmann is recorded on the FAI website as submitting a world record claim for flying a solar powered glider a total of 375.7 km (233.4 miles) around three turning points.  Oh, and not forgetting a claim by Jan BÈM and Olga ZALUSKÁ  from the Czech Republic for a world record altitude by a weight-shift microlight – 8,188 metres no less (26,864 feet!) – or the claim by Richard Young of the USA for a world record of flying an aircraft between 300 to 500 kg around a closed circuit of 100 km at a speed of 390 km/h (242 mph).  What is it with these guys – have they not got proper jobs to go to? 😉

Anyway, here’s Klaus on a nice video.

Finally, my dear friend of many years, Dan Gomez, reminded me in a recent email of this very brave pushing back of the boundaries.

More from here.

Swiss pilot Yves Rossy

By Paul Handover

Sullenberger and US Airways Flight 1549

Not forgetting First Officer Jeffrey Skiles

There has been much written and published about these two heros who enabled the stricken Airbus A-320 to ditch on the Hudson River with no loss of life.  That was Flight 1549 on the 15th January, 2009.

However, at this year’s Oshkosh, Sullenberger and Skiles were presented with a wonderful memento from Jeppesen who publish among other products instrument approach charts for aircraft.  They did something very creative in producing the following.

Hudson miracle approach chart

Here’s what was said by Jeppesen:

Englewood, Colo. | 27 Aug 2010

Jeppesen, known in the aviation industry as the worldwide leader in navigation and charting services, recently presented “Miracle on the Hudson” pilots captain Chesley Sullenberger and first-officer Jeffrey Skiles with a specially designed approach chart and engraved Jeppesen chart binders to commemorate the remarkable ditching of US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009.

Entitled “Hudson Miracle APCH,” the one-of-a-kind chart includes several light-hearted notations that honor the famous water landing that saved the lives of 155 passengers and crew on board the flight disabled by bird strikes.  In the “briefing strip” section of the chart, instructions include: “After water landing, oversee evacuation of ALL SOULS from airplane. Float via HUDSON RIVER to RESCUE point. Once everyone is SAFE aboard rescue boats, secure passenger list and double check cabin. Captain is last to exit. Give THANKS.”

The chart documents the historic five minute flight with a unique graphic, beginning with departure from LaGuardia Airport, followed by a “Cooked Goose Transition” point and “Hudson River Approach,” which is then followed by “Splash” and “Rescue” points on the water.  The humorous chart also salutes the career achievements of the crew of flight 1549, including Sullenberger, Skiles, and veteran flight attendants Sheila Dail, Donna Dent and Doreen Welsh.

Along with the commemorative chart, the pilots were presented with a special Jeppesen chart binder, engraved with the famous fortune cookie advice kept in Sullenberger’s flight bag: “A delay is better than a disaster.”  The items were presented by Mark Van Tine, Jeppesen president and CEO, during the 2010 Gathering of Eagles fundraiser dinner and auction held during the EAA AirVenture fly-in and air show in Oshkosh, Wisc.  The EAA Young Eagles event raises funds and awareness for youth involvement in aviation.

To view the commemorative US Airways flight 1549 chart, please visit this page.

A fellow pilot, Martin Thorpe, sent me the chart shortly after the Oshkosh event but it seemed appropriate to let some water flow under the bridge, so to speak, before I mentioned it on Learning from Dogs.

By Paul Handover