tirsdag 31. juli 2012

Plane spotters i London

Myrtle Avenue: Plane-spotters' paradise

Det er viktig at du sjekker videoen: http://tinyurl.com/cckc96a Det er mange plane spotter grupper i Norge, og jeg har særdeles god kontakt med guttene og jentene på Flesland. Det er nesten ubegripelig hva de får med seg av detaljer. Det er grunn til å valfarte til Myrtle Avenue etter dette!

Myrtle Avenue in west London looks like your typical suburban street of semi-detached houses with family cars parked on the driveways.
But when you walk to the end of the road, you notice a patch of grass where dozens of middle-aged men are sitting in a row, armed with binoculars, flasks of tea, high-frequency radios and expensive cameras.
The reason? The street is an ideal vantage point to see planes flying in and out of nearby Heathrow Airport.
BBC News spent an afternoon with a plane-spotter to find out more.
Video journalist: Dan Curtis

Sjekk annen informasjon:

Guide to London Heathrow Airport

ICAO Code: EGLL
IATA Code: LHR
Latitude: N51° 28' 16"
Longitude W0° 27' 20"
Sunrise Today: 05:23
Sunset Today: 20:52
London Heathrow is one of the worlds premier airports, handling a huge amount of airlines operating to destinations around the world. The airport is the busiest in Europe and is very popular with enthusiasts around the world. Heathrow is rather let down though by its complete lack of viewing areas. When compared to other major European airports like Amsterdam Schiphol, Frankfurt and Zurich the facilities provisded are very poor. This situation is made worse by the closure of the one official area photos were possible from, the Queens Building and there is still no word on if or when this will re-open. It should also be said that the security around Heathrow is very tight and although you shouldnt have a problem at the areas below, they are not official areas and you may be approached by police, although most are understanding towards enthusiasts.

The airport offers a fantastic selection of airlines but there are better airports in the UK for photography, namely Manchester. The spots listed below, with the descriptions are from my findings and I have never had problems at them. If anyone has different experiences at the airport then please let us know by discussing it in the forum, a link to which is the right side of the page. My "How To Get There" descriptions are meant only for people driving as my knowledge of public transport is very, very limited, again if anyone has things to add then please use the Heathrow forum.

Radio Frequencies Radio Frequencies

Approach: 119.725 & 134.975
Delivery: 121.975
Director: 120.4
Ground: 121.9 & 121.7
Tower: 118.5 & 118.7

Criminal Liability of Pilots - CLOP

The criminalisation of air accidents threatens safety management philosophy


By: David Learmount London
The criminalisation of air accidents is likely to get worse before it gets better - if indeed it ever does get better. That is the consensus in the air transport industry itself, and among the specialist lawyers who serve it.

If this consensus proves correct, the dream of operating a successful industry-wide "just culture" to generate healthy internal incident reporting systems is under threat, endangering the objective of introducing safety management systems (SMS) in airlines worldwide.

An effective SMS depends completely on an open reporting culture, which in turn depends on trusting that those who volunteer information will not have it used to criminalise them.

"There is little doubt that the criminalisation of air accidents is on the increase," says Tim Brymer, a partner in London-based law firm Clyde & Co. "The laudable concept of balancing safety and accountability inherent in a just culture has largely failed."

In 2006, the Flight Safety Foundation drew up a joint resolution with France's Air and Space Academy; the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS); the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation; the European Regions Airline Association; the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations; the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association; and the International Society of Aviation Safety Investigators.

The resolution named nine fatal airline accidents which provoked criminal prosecutions in six national jurisdictions - Brazil, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and the USA - and argued that aviation safety was being harmed by these actions.

Speaking at the RAeS in London two years later, Dr Francis Schubert, chief operating officer of Swiss air navigation service-provider Skyguide, said the message about just culture had been too purist, and it had relied on "an unfounded assumption" that safety overrides justice.

He said: "The way the just culture message is currently expressed is neither understandable nor acceptable by the judicial authorities or the general public." Schubert maintained that the rise in criminalisation of aircraft accidents is testimony to this fact.

EASA - 2011 sikrest noensinne

Aviation accidents in Europe fall to new low



" This mixed picture does not give us any room for complacency"
EASA

The number of aviation accidents in Europe has fallen to an all-time low, according to a new report.

The study, by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), says that in 2011 there was not a single fatal accident in scheduled operations.

According to EASA's annual safety review the rate of accidents in scheduled operations in EASA member states between 2002 and 2011 was one of the lowest in the world, with 1.6 fatal accidents per 10 million flights.

On a global level, accidents of the year 2011 send a contradictory signal, says the report.

While the number of accidents involving passenger fatalities scheduled operations remained high at 16, the related number of fatalities to passengers dropped from 658 in 2010 to 330.

This drop can be mainly attributed, says EASA, to the smaller aircraft involved, as well as to a lower proportion of fatalities.

Commenting on the release of the review, EASA's executive director, Patrick Goudou, said, "This mixed picture does not give us any room for complacency.

"Efforts must continue from both regulators and the industry to work towards a continuous improvement in global aviation safety levels."

The review also addresses, for the first time, aerodrome safety covering issues such as runway excursions and bird strikes.

It also includes information developed by the Brussels-based Eurocontrol on traffic movements in Europe and airline fleet sizes.

EASA is the centrepiece of the EU's strategy for aviation safety whose mission is to promote and achieve the highest common standards of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation.

Based in Cologne, the agency currently employs more than 650 experts and administrators from all over Europe.

SAS og Widerøe med kredittkort gebyr


Det er mange som betaler med Mastercard fordi de får reiseforsikring inkludert. Nå er ikke det lenger en god ide.

(VG Nett) Fra 1. oktober må du betale 2,2 prosent av billettprisen hos SAS og Widerøe hvis du betaler flybillettene med kredittkort.

- En SAS-billett skal ikke ha skjulte gebyrer og avgifter, lovet SAS-sjef Rickard Gustafson overfor VG etter at han tiltrådte i jobben i fjor vinter.

Fra 1. oktober innfører flyselskapet likevel sitt første gebyr. Det samme gjør datterselskapet Widerøe.

Etter den datoen må kundene betale gebyr for å betale med kredittkort når de bestiller billettene. Gebyret blir på 2,2 prosent av det billettene koster.

Lover gratismuligheter

- Det vil fortsatt være gratis å betale med debetkort, og vi jobber for å få på plass en nettbankløsning som også vil være gratis, opplyser pressekontakt Tormod Sandstø til VG Nett etter at Reiselivsavisen og Aftenposten omtalte saken.

For en langdistanseflyvning kan gebyret bli på flere hundre kroner.

Norwegian krever til sammenligning 50 kroner per reservasjon, mens Ryanair tar det samme per strekning per passasjer (slik at to personer betaler 200 kroner for en tur/retur-billett). Også selskaper som KLM, Lufthansa

- SAS' gebyr kan dermed bli høyere enn hos konkurrentene?

- Det stemmer. Men veldig mange av våre passasjerer reiser Oslo-Trondheim eller Oslo-Bergen. Da vil kredittkorttillegget ha en helt annen pris, svarer Sandstø

mandag 30. juli 2012

UAV`er - The way ahead

With shift to drones, war is often waged from home

Critics say the move to unmanned aircraft blurs battlefield boundaries and makes it too easy to drop a bomb. The transition also is creating a major cultural shift for the Air National Guard.

July 29, 2012|By Brian Bennett, Los Angeles Times

  • Col. Scott Brenton, with the Air National Guard at a base in Syracuse, N.Y., where he pilots Reaper drones on missions in Afghanistan. “It’s a different way of fighting a war," said the pilot, who used to fly F-16 jet fighters.
Col. Scott Brenton, with the Air National Guard at a base in Syracuse, N.Y.,… (Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles…)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Strapped into the cockpit of an F-16 jet fighter, Air Force Col. Scott Brenton has dropped bombs over Bosnia, screamed over the desert in Iraq and strafed Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. But on a recent morning, Brenton flew his combat mission from a leather easy chair in a low-slung cinder block building on the edge of Syracuse.

UCAV - Autonomous flight in PAX traffic pattern

X-47B UCAS Demonstrator Completes Flight Test
The Northrop Grumman-built X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator completed its historic first flight from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
The 36-minute flight – the first for the tailless, strike-fighter-sized aircraft since it was transported to the Navy base in June from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. – was successfully completed July 29 at 11:36 a.m. Eastern time. It marks the first time a tactical unmanned aircraft has been fully integrated into the air traffic patterns and the command and control structure of the Pax River flight test complex, Northrop Grumman said.
During the flight, which comprised two precision racetrack patterns over the Chesapeake Bay, the aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 7,500 feet and a maximum air speed of 180 knots. During the flight, the aircraft communicated with a shore-based version of the aircraft carrier systems that will help guide the X-47B to precision landings on the carrier deck, which are located in the Navy UCAS Aviation/Ship Integration Facility at Pax River.
"This flight of the X-47B is the first time an autonomous, carrier-capable unmanned system has flown at Pax River," said Carl Johnson, vice president and Navy UCAS program manager for Northrop Grumman. "It's also a major milestone for the program as the Navy/Northrop Grumman team prepares the aircraft to enter carrier suitability testing this fall, the last major phase of testing before we begin carrier trials in 2013."

Sjekk video: http://tinyurl.com/d4ysote

Hub and Spoke carrier Comair legges ned

Delta to shut down regional carrier Comair



CINCINNATI (AP)-Delta Air Lines said Friday that it will close its shrunken, 35-year-old regional carrier Comair at the end of September as it switches more of its flying to bigger jets.

Operating regional carriers has become more expensive while customers have been demanding roomier planes. Comair, which has slashed its fleet, flights and workforce in the last seven years, operates mostly 50-seat regional jets, which Delta doesn't want to fly any more.

Delta, which is based in Atlanta, had about 500 of the 50-seaters in 2008 and plans to reduce that to 125 within two years. Most of that flying will be replaced by new 76-seat jets as well as the 117-seat Boeing 717s Delta is leasing from Southwest Airlines.

Comair represents only about 1 percent of Delta's flying, so the closure won't result in significant changes to Delta's network. Delta also said it won't result in fewer flights out of Comair's base at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Besides Cincinnati, Comair also has hubs in Detroit and New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports.

Comair was founded in 1977, flying three propeller-driven Piper Navajo aircraft. It started operating as Delta Connection in 1984. Comair helped pioneer the regional jet area when it began flying Bombardier CRJ regional jets in 1993.

The regional airline is down to 290 flights a day and 1,700 employees. More than 1,000 of the Comair employees are in the Cincinnati/northern Kentucky region.

Before entering bankruptcy in September 2005, Comair had more than 7,000 employees and 1,160 flights.

Forty-nine people were killed when Comair Flight 5191 crashed Aug. 27, 2006, into a field near Blue Grass Airport in Lexington after trying to take off from a runway too short for commercial jets. The National Transportation Safety Board found the pilots failed to notice clues they were on the wrong runway

Delta sold its other regional airlines-Compass and Mesaba-in 2010, and had said it was interested in selling Comair. Those carriers still run flights for Delta, as do several other companies.

Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. rose 4 cents to $9.45 in morning trading Friday.

Rotor & Wing tester X3

Augustutgaven er på gata nå, og her testes Eurocopters X3. Bladet følger resten av hopen og er udelt enig i at dette er veien fremover. Når den skal bli kommersielt tilgjengelig er det ikke noe offisielt om. Både militære og sivile er interessert i konseptet.

De store motorene har problemer

EASA issues emergency AD on Trent 1000 engines
25 July 2012




An All Nippon Boeing 787 with Trent 1000 engines

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an emergency airworthiness directive, requiring replacement of specific gearbox assembly models on Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

EASA reports that transfer gearbox (TGB) failures occurred during Trent 1000 engine testing.

Engineering investigation determined that the crown wheel gear of the TGB had failed due to corrosion. The latter was the result of a change in a step of the manufacturing process. It was possible to identify a list of potentially affected
gearbox assemblies.

Therefor, an emergency AD was issued to require replacement of the affected gearbox assembly with a serviceable part. This AD also prohibits installation of an affected gearbox assembly.

The Trent 1000 engines are known to be installed on, but not limited to Boeing 787 series aeroplanes. The only airline currently operating 787 planes with Trent 1000 engines is All Nippon Airways.

By the time the emergency AD had been issued, July 25, All Nippon had already grounded five planes on July 22.

B787 GE motor spyr deler

Boeing Dreamliner GE Engine Probed After Jet Spews Debris



Boeing Co. (BA), General Electric Co. (GE) and U.S. officials are investigating a malfunction that spewed metal debris from a GE engine on a 787 Dreamliner and caused an airport grass fire in South Carolina.

Material was ejected from the back of the engine during preflight testing, Rick Kennedy, a GE spokesman, said yesterday. Julie O'Donnell, a Boeing spokeswoman, declined to comment, citing the inquiry into the July 28 mishap at the Charleston, South Carolina, airport.
.
The incident was the second in less than 10 days involving engines from GE and Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc (RR/) on Dreamliners. Japan's All Nippon (9202) Airways Co. pulled five 787s with Rolls-Royce engines from service on July 21 after the manufacturer found that some components had a shorter-than-expected service life.

Boeing is "unaware of any operational issue that would present concerns about the continued safe operation of in- service 787s powered by GE engines," according to a statement from the Chicago-based planemaker.

AF - KLM gruppen går dårlig

Air France – KLM saw its losses for the second quarter grow nearly fivefold to €895 million compared to the €197 million loss of a year before. The airline group explained that €368 million had been set aside for its restructuring plan while a further €372 million was lost due to a fall in the value of fuel hedging contracts.
However there was an improvement in its operating performance where it recorded a loss of €66 million, much reduced from the year ago debit of €145 million. Revenues rose 4.5 per cent to €6.5 billion.

It describing its outlook for the remainder of the year as “uncertain” due to the global economic situation, fuel prices and the euro.

NHO Luftfart om flygeledere

Klikk på artikkelen for bedre lesbarhet:

søndag 29. juli 2012

Norsk Flygelederforening har mistet kontrollen


Flygelederne på Østlandet vil ha overtidstillegg på 3000 kroner timen

► SE VIDEO: Etter det NRK kjenner til ønsker flygelederne ved Gardermoen og Røyken et overtidstillegg på 3000 kroner. Dette skaper isfront med flygeledere fra resten av landet.
Det er isfront mellom flygelederne på Østlandet og resten av landet. Årsaken er at flygelederne på Gardermoen og Røyken krever et eget overtidstillegg på 3000 kroner timen.
Publisert 27.07.2012

Kjetil Berakvam (Foto: Kristoffer Møllevik/NRK)Kjetil Berakvam er tillitsvalgt for flygelederne ved Stavanger kontrollsentral.
Foto: Kristoffer Møllevik/NRK
Flyene letter og lander nesten som normalt igjen, men det kan bli flykaos til igjen høsten. For flygeledermangelen er prekær.
Nå krever flygelederne i Røyken og på Gardermoen, etter det NRK kjenner til, et eget overtidstillegg på 3000 kroner timen.

Ser rødt

Dette får flygelederne ellers i landet til å se rødt.
– Fra mitt ståsted er det ingen som fortjener 3000 kroner timen for å være villige til å jobbe ekstra. Når det er sagt kan jeg bare snakke for Stavanger kontrollsentral, og vi har ingen slike krav i det hele tatt, sier flygeleder Kjetil Berakvam, som er tillitsvalgt i Stavanger kontrollsentral.
Tillitsvalgt i flykontrollsentralen i Røyken sier han ikke kjenner til tallene, mens på Gardermoen vil de ikke kommentere saken til NRK.

Les også:

– 27.000 kroner på ett skift

Bård Hoksrud (NRK)Nestleder for transportkomiteen på Stortinget, Bård Hoksrud (Frp) kjenner til kravene fra flygelederne, og mener de er alt for grådige.
NRK
Nestleder i transportkomiteen på Stortinget, Bård Hoksrud, kjenner imidlertid til kravene, og synes det er horribelt.
– De som har topp ansiennitet har de siste to årene fått hundre tusen i lønnsøkning. Viss de skal få 3000 kroner timen vil det si 27.000 kroner på et ni timers skift, jeg tror alle vil reagere på den type krav, sier Hoksrud til NRK.
Han mener flygelederne i Røyken og på Gardermoen nå må besinne seg.

– Legg lønnskamp til sides

– Jeg håper de flygelederne som på mange måter prøver å legge kjepper i hjula, med å drive en lønnskamp nå, legger den til sides. De må tenke på at dette rammer helt uskyldige mennesker, som ønsker å komme på ferien sin.

Flygelederne på Sola er like underbemannet, og har like stort arbeidspress som i Røyken, sier de tillitsvalgte. Men de har ikke store krav for å jobbe ekstra.

– Vi bruker alle midler som er mulig for å være nok folk på jobb. Vi jobber utstrakt overtid, skifter på ferier, kaller folk tilbake fra ferier og sørger for at trafikken går som normalt. Det er ingen her som har intensjoner om å ramme trafikken på noen som helst måte.

lørdag 28. juli 2012

Beech 200 havarert i Brasil

Åtte omkom i flystyrt i Brasil

Kart

Map data ©2012 Google, MapLink - Terms of Use
Map
Map
Satellite
Hybrid
Terrain
50 mi
100 km
Flyet tok av fra Belo Horizonte og styrtet i nærheten av Juis de Fora.
Kilde: Google Maps
Alle de åtte som var om bord, mistet livet da et privat småfly styrtet i Brasil lørdag.
Det var et Beechcraft King Air B200GT-fly som styrtet, skriver NTB.
Smålyet tok av fra Belo Horizonte i delstaten Minas Gerais og gikk ned i nærheten av Juis de Fora, som ligger 260 kilometer unna.
Ifølge brasiliansk presse gjorde piloten flere forsøk på å lande i tåke før ulykken skjedde.
Ifølge en tjenestemann ved flyplassen i Juis de Fora styret flyet i et skogområde. Ingen på bakken skal ha blitt skadet.
Det var tåkete på det tidspunktet ulykken intraff, men den eksakte årsaken til flystyrten er fremdeles ukjent, skriver nettsiden G1.
Ifølge G1 tilhørte småflyet et cateringselskap.
Byen Juis de Fora ligger sørøst i delstaten i Minas Gerais, på grensen til nabodelstaten Rio de Janeiro.