Tag: Flying

Johnathan Wilson Lewis – another thinker.

Fourier approaches to the theory of volume holography.

Anyone who takes a doctorate with the above subject title has to have a well-functioning brain.  I know John.  He does.

John Lewis, as I have always known him until reading his Blog, and I met a good many years ago when we both were members of a private flying group that operated a Socata (French) TB20, G BPAS.

TB20 G-BPAS
TB20 G-BPAS

It was based at Exeter in Devon, SW England.  Both of us were/are private pilots.

We flew together on many an occasion and it was clear from the start that John approached everything in life from, well in his own words, “…. motivated by an interest in what things are, how they work and how they are used.”  Say no more!

Well, as luck would have it, the joys of social networking brought us back in touch recently and we had a jolly good chin-wag.  With a bonus.

Read more about John Lewis

Help save 5,000 pets in one week!

Let’s help Pilot’s N Paws achieve something wonderful.

Unless one is familiar with this fine organisation, you may be scratching your head wondering how is it that 5,000 pets can be rescued in a week.

Click to learn more
Click to learn more

The Pilots N Paws 5000 will take place during the week of September 12th through the 20th. This event was conceived as a means to draw public attention to three issues. The first and most important message that needs to be conveyed is that we have a serious problem in this country and as a result about 4,000,000 animals or more are euthanized annually.
This would not be the case if there were more and better spay and neuter programs and laws regarding owners’ responsibility for their animals.

The second issue is that because the problem is primarily regional a lot of these innocent animals could find permanent “forever” homes if they could be transported from high kill regions to areas with homes available. To accomplish this we desperately need more pilots to help with transports.
The final issue is that while aviation has proven to be a successful way to transport animals to safety, general aviation in this country is threatened. The threats range from onerous Homeland Security directives to crippling and expensive fees imposed on general aviation. We want to see general aviation perceived by the public accurately as a driving force in our economy, and one that contributes far more than its economic impact would suggest. We want to see general aviation free of these threats.

Their website has a special section devoted to PNP 5000, so do read more.  The home page has a link where you can donate to support this excellent cause.

Let’s face it, rescuing these animals is only returning the favour.

Rescue dogs

By Paul Handover

Air Sports

World Aerobatic Championships, Silverstone, England

Yesterday was the last of the three days of the WAC, the World Aerobatic Championships, held, this time, in England.  Had I known earlier then this Post would have been published before the event had finished.

Anyway, guess what has been found on the web?  Airsports TV.  So all those that hanker after this sort of thing, here is your very own TV station.  Want to know more about Airsports TV?  Watch the video below:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Want more?
Now hang on to your seats!

STS-128 Mission

This always gives me a thrill.

Hopefully, by the time you read this Post, shuttle Discovery will have had a successful and fault-free launch.

Here was how it looked at the time of writing (13:30 MT/20:30 GMT on the 24th)

Shuttle Discovery awaiting launch
Shuttle Discovery awaiting launch

Awoke to find that poor weather has delayed the launch.  Here’s a pic of the bird standing out in the rain last night.

Shuttle in rain

By Paul Handover

More on that Vulcan

Vulcan XH558 and Red Arrows, Dawlish, Devon, England, August 20th 2009

A few weeks ago, a Post featured the Avro Vulcan, a Cold War nuclear bomber returned to flying condition.  Well here it is again, with friends.

Dawlish is a lovely, typical sea-side town in the county of Devon in the SW of England.  It is less than 15 miles away from Totnes in Devon which, for many years, was my local town.

Dawlish
Dawlish

The weather in Dawlish can be delightful – sometimes!

But the setting is perfect for an air show.

Read more about the Dawlish Airshow

Hitler’s 787.

Imaginative versions of the film Downfall

My son, who is a commercial pilot flying with a company that have a number of Boeing 787s on order, sent me a YouTube clip that is a re-subtitled version of the film Downfall.  That film, by the way, is an excellent portrayal of theHitler last days of Hitler in 1945 and well recommended.

Anyway, it appears that the art of substitution is alive and well because a YouTube search reveals film clips of Hitler learning about Michael Jackson’s death, Hitler being banned from playing XBox Live, Hitler loves his waffles and more.

This particular clip is about Hitler learning of delays in the delivery of the Boeing 787.  It’s funny (but does include some minor vulgarity).

Continue reading “Hitler’s 787.”

Piper Super Cub, L-21B, R-151

More on that aircraft.

Yesterday, there was a Post that showed my German Shepherd sitting in the back of my (ex) Piper Super Cub.  Some readers have asked for more information on the aircraft.

Very happy to oblige.

Read more about R151

German Shepherds

This is just self-indulgence!

This is not my dog but it brings out the same feelings in me as if I was looking at my German Shepherd.

More of this self indulgence!

Avro Vulcan – another wow of an aircraft!

Avro Vulcan Cold War Bomber XH558 takes to the skies again.

That was almost two years ago and, at the time, it wasn’t sure how the funds would keep coming in to enable this amazing aircraft to remain in the air.

Photobucket
Vulcan XH558, by Steve LeVien

Remarkably, the money was found and this great, historic aircraft flies on.

Read more of this Post

Airbus A380. What a wow of an aircraft!

Special visitor to this year’s EAA Airventure, or ‘Oshkosh’ to be more familiar.

AOPA have produced a very nice video covering the arrival of the Airbus A380 to Oshkosh.

Pretty sure that the link is a open-access one so Click here to watch.  Any problems seeing it, please comment.

By Paul Handover