Trivia 2015 (miscellaneous news)

[sn26567]

Anyone among you lost this toilet at Dublin airport? Another unusual lost item is a headstone... You never beat the Irish

[sn26567]

New Vueling crew uniforms:

[Passenger]

"...A Jersey politician missed the handover of the Dance World Cup to the island when he flew to Budapest, Hungary, instead of Bucharest, Romania..."

Source - more info:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-33387201

[Passenger]

The Aviation Herald sometimes reports incidents that are very very unusal. Like this one from yesterday:

"A source told The Aviation Herald that the flight (United UA-104) from Houston to Munich was enroute, when the captain discovered that he was still carrying ammunition consisting of 10 bullets in his luggage, the ammunition not being permitted to be taken into Germany. The captain therefore decided to get rid of the ammunition and disposed of the ammunication into a waste bin. "Unfortunately" a passenger lost her ring in flight, the flight attendants assisted in the search for the lost ring and also checked the waste bins. A flight attendant thus discovered the bullets, dutifully brought and reported the bullets to the captain, who now decided to ultimately get rid of the bullets..."
Continues here:http://avherald.com/h?article=488ffe1c&opt=0

[Passenger]

On Friday 29th May, the Flemish Government has debated on the future of Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport (KJK - EBKT). The government voted in favour of the foundation act and the business plan of the "n.v. Internationale Luchthaven Kortrijk-Wevelgem". The file is now proceeded to a notaris/notaire.

website Kortrijk-Wevelgem:
http://www.kortrijkairport.be

The foundation act of "Internationale Luchthaven Kortrijk Wevelgem nv/sa" is published in today's Staatsblad/Moniteur:
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/tsv_pd ... 311627.pdf

[sn26567]

Oops!

An Austrian Airlines Dash 8-400 was on approach to Vienna, did not report on tower frequency and continued for a safe landing on the runway, contacting tower only after landing explaining that they had become distracted and forgot to tune tower frequency, assessed it was safe to land and continued.

Full report: http://avherald.com/h?article=4894d2ce&opt=0

[Stij]

I think the day ended with "Dear pilots, please come into my office so we can have a little chat."

Stij

[KriVa]

Indeed, tea without biscuits at the DFO's office seems a fair consequence for this one.
I can see forgetting to tune a frequency... But landing without clearance, that's a big no.

[JAF737]

Indeed, tea without biscuits at the DFO's office seems a fair consequence for this one.
I can see forgetting to tune a frequency... But landing without clearance, that's a big no.

That's not the way it works in civilised aviation.
These pilots were honnest and nobody is to be blamed for that. Admit your mistakes, share them, and think about them. Being blamed by the DFO won't change anything.

[KriVa]

I'm not saying they need to be blamed or reprimanded. However, a decent discussion about what happened IS necessary, and should be encouraged in every decent civil airline.
If only to prevent it from happening again, with the same crew or others.
Of course, as always, the initial report on AVHerald only sketches the circumstances. For now, it's impossible to tell what went on in the cockpit.
I have to say, with the information at hand, going around still seems like the safest option to me. Landing without clearance could still be dangerous. Even though the runway may look safe from the cockpit, other things could be at play.

[Squelsh]

Boeing Patents Laser-Powered Fusion-Fission Jet Engine for Airplanes, Spacecraft

Assume the brace position. Boeing has received a patent for, I kid you not, a laser-powered fusion-fission jet propulsion system. Boeing envisions that this system could replace both rocket and turbofan engines, powering everything from spacecraft to missiles to airplanes.

The patent, US 9,068,562, combines inertial confinement fusion, fission, and a turbine that generates electricity. It sounds completely crazy—and it is completely unrealistic given our current mastery of fusion, or lack thereof—but, in the future perhaps, this could be a rather ingenious solution.

To begin with, imagine the silhouette of a big turbofan engine, like you’d see on a commercial jetliner. Somewhere in the middle of the engine there is a fusion chamber, with a number of very strong lasers focused on a single point. A hohlraum (pellet) containing a mix of deuterium and tritium (hydrogen isotopes) is placed at this focal point. The lasers are all turned on at the same instant, creating massive pressure on the pellet, which implodes and causes the hydrogen atoms to fuse. (This is called inertial confinement fusion, as opposed to the magnetic confinement fusion that is carried out in a tokamak.)

According to the patent, the hot gases produced by the fusion are pushed out of a nozzle at the back of the engine, creating thrust. But that’s not all! One of the by-products of hydrogen fusion is lots of fast neutrons. In Boeing’s patented design, there is a shield around the fusion chamber that’s coated with a fissionable material (uranium-238 is one example given). The neutrons hit the fissionable material, causing a fission reaction that generates lots of heat.

Finally, there’s some kind of heat exchanger system that takes the heat from the fission reaction, and uses that heat (via a heated liquid or gas) to drive a turbine. This turbine generates the electricity that powers the lasers. Voilà: a fusion-fission rocket engine thing.

Source: http://arstechnica.co.uk/cars/2015/07/b ... pacecraft/

[sn26567]

Boeing Patents Laser-Powered Fusion-Fission Jet Engine for Airplanes, Spacecraft

If it had not been in a patent, I would have described it as science-fiction !

[sn26567]

Chinese company Tzaneen International has purchased the Spanish airport of Ciudad Real (built with millions of euros of taxpayer money) for ... 10,000 euros. The airport has been closed in 2012 after only a few months of operations.

I wonder what the Chinese intend to do with it. Sell as spare parts?

[KriVa]

I remember reading something about Ciudad Real a while back. If I remember correctly, part of the deal was that the new owner would also accept the debts made, which were quite big. (I can't remember a specific amount.)

[Wohowbagger]

If I remember correctly, the debt when filed for bankruptcy was something like 300million euro's.
The airport on the other hand has a single runway, one of the longest in Europe.
Should be ideal for cargo purposes.
Edit: this is an article from 2011:
http://elpais.com/elpais/2011/10/31/ine ... 50210.html

[Homo Aeroportus]

*
Lockheed Martin buys Sikorsky for $7.1 billion.


From : http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/p ... eview.html

Corporation takes actions to shape portfolio for future growth

Bethesda, Md., July 20, 2015 – Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Sikorsky Aircraft, a world leader in military and commercial rotary-wing aircraft, for $9.0 billion. The price is effectively reduced to approximately $7.1 billion, after taking into account tax benefits resulting from the transaction.

“Sikorsky is a natural fit for Lockheed Martin and complements our broad portfolio of world-class aerospace and defense products and technologies,” said Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin chairman, president and CEO. “I’m confident this acquisition will help us extend our core business into the growing areas of helicopter production and sustainment. Together, we’ll offer a strong portfolio of helicopter solutions to our global customers and accelerate the pace of innovation and new technology development.”

The acquisition is subject to customary conditions, including securing regulatory approvals, and is expected to close by late fourth quarter 2015 or early first quarter 2016.

From Time.com :
It will be Lockheed’s biggest acquisition since 1995, when it merged with Martin Marietta in a deal valued at $10 billion.
Reuters said that Textron Inc., the parent company of Bell Helicopter, had dropped out of the bidding for Sikorski due to price concerns. United Technologies had needed a high price because it faces a chunky tax bill, given that the value of Sikorsky has risen so much since United bought it.

H.A.

[airazurxtror]

The developing low-cost activities of Lufthansa in the long-haul market from Cologne will continue from spring 2016 with the introduction of a new link to Fort Lauderdale in Florida, USA, subject to regulatory approval. The airline’s Eurowings business is seeking a foreign air carrier permit and exemption authority from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to commence flights on the transatlantic city pair “on or about” March 27, 2016 for the summer 2016 schedules.
“We see strong demand for low-cost, long-haul travel in the coming years,” said Karl Ulrich Garnadt, chief executive of Lufthansa. "Our new Eurowings strategy is to strengthen our position in point-to-point traffic."

[Homo Aeroportus]

The Hellenic Air Force lost a "Canadair" last Friday in Laconia, Southern Greece.

The Bombardier CL215 apparently suffered a technical problem and crash landed. Both crew escaped without injuries though they have been transferred to hospital by precaution. Investigation on the cause of the crash is on-going.

HAF CL215 Crash Statement Crash.jpg (47.17 KiB) Viewed 4269 times

Definitely a picture is worth a thousand words.

A bit low Alexis.jpg (51.75 KiB) Viewed 4269 times

I didn't know the HAF was still flying CL215. Well, probably difficult for them to free a budget for CL415 nowadays.
Seems difficult to get this one to fly again if not by dismantling her and getting out by mules !

H.A.

[Passenger]

Unusual luggage belt incident at London City Airport, 19th July 2015, 18h24:

[Passenger]

Fokker has been taken over by GKN (U.K.) for 706 mio Euro.

GKN plc today announces that it has agreed to acquire Fokker Technologies Group B.V (“Fokker”) from Arle Capital for an enterprise value of €706 million (£499 million). The acquisition of Fokker further enhances GKN’s position as a leading global supplier to the aerospace industry. The combination brings together two leading technology companies with broad product portfolios and established positions on major aircraft platforms.

GKN is a UK headquartered global engineering group with over 50,000 people working in the aerospace, automotive and land systems markets. It has manufacturing facilities in more than 30 countries. GKN Aerospace is a global Tier 1 supplier of airframe and engine subassemblies, transparencies and fuel/flotation systems, with sales in 2014 of £2.2 billion (€3.1 billion) and a global workforce of more than 12,000 employees. It has a significant participation on most major aircraft programmes today and a broad customer base spanning the commercial, military, business jets and space markets.

Fokker is a specialist Tier 1 supplier to the commercial, military and business jet markets. With almost 5,000 employees Fokker is headquartered in the Netherlands and has operations in Europe, North America and Asia. In the year ended 31 December 2014, Fokker generated revenue of €758 million. Fokker specialises in the design, development and production of lightweight aero structures, electrical wiring interconnection systems and landing gear. It also provides maintenance, modification and logistic services to aircraft owners and operators.

Full press release:
http://www.fokker.com/GKN-agrees-to-acq ... chnologies
and
http://www.gkn.com

Comment from De Financiële Telegraaf: "this secures the future of Fokker Technologies and its 5.000 Dutch employees, but at the same time the take over ends the possibility that Fokker will develop new aircraft".
http://www.telegraaf.nl/tv/dft/24315332 ... ker__.html

(that new Fokker aircraft was supposed to be the F120NG - see http://www.rekkof.nl)