The Truth Is Out There (In Area 51)

Nevada’s mountains provide a wall around one of the world’s most secret places.
(Courtesy KPITV; Map: USGS)

From Air & Space Magazine:

A veteran reporter describes his search for the aircraft of Area 51.

"And you'll see a very long runway right...there." Our aircraft commander jabbed a finger at a small, cross-hatched circle on the U.S. Air Force navigation chart. "But, even if we lose all four engines," he said, "we will not land on it.”

“Why not, sir?” I asked.

“We’d be there a long time and have to answer a lot of questions,” the commander replied, then moved on to the next day’s mission preview. A four-stripe sergeant leaned toward me. “That’s Groom Lake,” he said under his breath. “That’s where the really secret [stuff] happens.”

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The 727 That Vanished

In 2003, a 727 that once flew for American Airlines disappeared from Angola.
(Courtesy Mike Gabriel)

From Air & Space Magazine:

A case pursued by the FBI, the CIA, the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security, CENTCOM, and the sister of Ben Padilla.

Seven years after her brother disappeared from Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport in Angola, Benita Padilla-Kirkland is trying to persuade the FBI to re-open his case. She believes she has the “new information” agents told her they require. But she suspects that the agency already has more information than agents will admit to.

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Boeing's Billion Dollar Gamble

Boeing has taken 847 orders for the Dreamliner, worth nearly $150 billion, which makes the 787 the most successful new aircraft in Boeing's 94-year history

Boeing's Billion Dollar Gamble: Inside The World's Biggest Building, Where The New 787 Dreamliner Plane Is Built -- The Daily Mail

It's made in the world's biggest building, takes only four days to put together and is the first commercial aircraft built from carbon composites, but will the revolutionary new Dreamliner win the battle for our skies?

Tucked away in the upper north-west corner of the U.S., about 30 miles north of Seattle, sits the biggest building in the world, utterly dominating the town of Everett. It's three-quarters of a mile long and a third of a mile wide. Beneath the concrete floors there are two miles of pedestrian tunnels, while nestling in the five-storey structures that have sprung up inside the place are meeting rooms, offices and cafes. The inhabitants of this strange, vast palace get around on golf buggies and bicycles. It's so huge that the storm water runoff ponds - a must in Seattle winters - are large enough to float an ocean-going liner, and it has its own fire department.

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An F-22's Rainbow

Refraction Action: Stunning Rainbow Caught In Trail Of F-22 Fighter Jet -- The Daily Mail

It looks like a fancy new special smoke effect that would put the the Red Arrows' simple colours to shame.

But this spectacular photograph is simply a remarkable fluke of nature when all the components that were needed to create this kaleidoscope effect were suddenly present.

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My Comment: As an aviation buff, for me this is cool.

Why Can't Planes Fly Through Volcanic Ash? NASA Found Out The Hard Way

Jet Engine Meets Volcanic Ash This British Airways engine experienced a run in with a volcanic ash plume in 1982. Image: Eric Moody, British Airways

From Popular Science:

If you’ve been anywhere near a television or Web enabled device in the last week (and you must have been), you know that a volcanic eruption in Iceland has grounded airline flights across Europe and even halted a few flights into the northeastern-most areas of Canada. What you probably don’t know is how to pronounce the name of the volcano (Eyjafjallajökull) or why an eruption in Iceland is grounding flights in London, Madrid and Berlin.

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Why Iceland's Volcano Is A Hazard For Air Travel

From Time Magazine:

Passengers sitting in planes on the runways of Heathrow Airport outside London on Thursday morning must have wondered what the problem was.

The sky above was clear and blue, yet the British government had closed the country's entire airspace, grounding all flights at five airports and disrupting the itineraries of tens of thousands of travelers — including those whose journeys originated elsewhere in Europe, North America and beyond and who would have only passed through Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport and a major international hub that handles more than 1,200 flights and 180,000 passengers per day.

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Swiss Team Breaks Record for Around-the-World Flight, Despite Encountering Volcanic Eruption

The Sabreliner 65 and Her Swiss Crew Emmanuel Joffet - Sipa Press

From Popular Science:

First time the record has been set with refueling stops.

Piloting a plane older than two of the three crew on board, a Swiss team shattered Steve Fossett's around-the-world flight record by almost ten hours over the weekend, the first time the record has been set in this weight class with refueling stops. But the pilots didn't just have to negotiate the usual headwinds and bad weather -- their flight was nearly derailed by a volcanic eruption in Iceland that forced them to make an extra refueling stop and add an unexpected 12th leg to their journey.

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Video: A Silent Rotor Blade Paves The Way For Super-Stealth Choppers

From Popular Science:

For all the government conspiracy militia nuts out there, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there is no such thing as silent, stealth black helicopters. The bad news is that, thanks to Eurocopter's noise-canceling Blue Edge rotor blades, there soon will be.

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Video: In Attempt at True VTOL, F-35 Makes Shortest, Slowest Landing Yet

From Popular Science:

To perfect the vertical and short takeoff and landing ability of the F-35 Lightning II, test pilots have been taking off and landing at progressively shorter distances and slower speeds, building up to the final, true vertical boost. And today, engine manufacturers Pratt and Whitney released video of the slowest, shortest takeoff and landing yet, in which the jet cruises to a stop at 130 knots.

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Where Planes Go To Die: Massive £22bn Air Force 'Boneyard' Revealed In High Resolution By Google Earth

(Click Image To Enlarge)
Four of the numerous types of military aircraft kept at the site in Arizona

From The Daily Mail:

It's where old planes go to die - a 2,600-acre patch of U.S. desert where several generations of military aircraft are stored in what has been dubbed 'The Boneyard'.

The $35billion (£22billion) worth of outdated planes is kept as spare parts for current models at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.

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My Comment: The Google link is here.

Boeing's Biggest Bird Takes To The Skies

(Photograph by Jeremy Lindgren)

From Popular Mechanics:

The largest commercial aircraft ever built in the United States, the Boeing 747-8, took off on its maiden flight Monday afternoon, marking an important step forward for the manufacturer's iconic—but aging—747 family of airliners. After lifting off from Boeing's factory at Paine Field in Everett, Wash., Boeing Flight 501 Heavy flew loops around northwestern Washington for a few hours of tests before returning to Everett.

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Boeing’s New 747-8 Continues A Jumbo Tradition

From Autopia:

EVERETT, Washington — Boeing spent more than five years and hundreds of millions of dollars developing its new 747-8, but in the end the decision on whether to send the company’s biggest aircraft ever down the runway and into the air for the first time rested with the man in the cockpit.

The flight window for the 747-8’s maiden flight opened at 10 a.m. Monday, but Mother Nature had other plans. Paine Field was socked in by low clouds, and the clock was ticking. Mark Feuerstein, Boeing’s chief test pilot for the 747 program — the man who has spent years preparing for the day — had to decide whether to proceed.

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Boeing 747 Marks A Major Milestone

747-100. Photo Credit: Boeing Photo

From L.A. Times:

The first jumbo jet made its maiden commercial flight 40 years ago today. More than 1,400 of the planes with their signature hump have rolled off the Boeing assembly line.

It was the kind of plane that seemed to fit the swinging go-go days with martini-swigging travelers lingering around a bar.

First-class passengers dressed in their Sunday best made their way up a spiral staircase to get to the "flying penthouse," harking memories of private rail cars.

It seemed the epitome of plushness when it made its first commercial flight 40 years ago today. A Times reporter described the cabin as a "luxurious auditorium some genie had wafted aloft."

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$5 Million Will Buy You Your Own Jet Fighter

$5M Buys the Ride of Your Life -- Autopia

The Russian Sukhoi SU-27 has a top speed of Mach 1.8 (more than 1,300 mph) and a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than 1:1. In other words, it can accelerate while climbing straight up. It was designed to fight the best the United States had to offer, and it can be yours for the cost of a mediocre used business jet.

Last week, we told you about a cool DIY jet. If you like the idea of a jet but not the thought of doing it yourself, John Morgan has you covered. He’s got a pair of beautifully restored Sukhoi SU-27 Flanker jets. They’re first-rate pieces of Soviet-era hardware designed to go head-to-head with the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. They’re for sale, joining a very elite group of former military fighter jets offered for private ownership in the United States.

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My Comment: My dream has always been to fly a P-51 Mustang. But to fly a SU-27 .... sighhhh .... I will need a lot of Google clicks to get that bird.

Flying Blind: The Disappearance Of Flight 188

From Slate:

You've heard of planes that vanished into thin air? Here's a truer, scarier story: On Oct. 21, 2009, two pilots flying from San Diego to Minneapolis vanished into cyberspace.

Their plane was fine. Ground controllers tracked it the whole time. The passengers and flight attendants in the main cabin noticed nothing unusual. And the pilots' bodies stayed planted in their seats as though they were flying the aircraft. But they weren't flying it. Their minds had been sucked into a pair of laptops.

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The Innovative 787 Carries Boeing, And Aviation, Ahead

From Autopia:

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner looks like any other airliner, so it might be hard for anyone but an airplane geek to get so excited about its inaugural flight. But the energy-efficient airliner is a bold step forward for Boeing, and for aviation.

As much as the 787 Dreamliner looks like the jet that carried you on that cramped, uncomfortable flight last month, almost everything about it is new. From the extensive use of composite materials and advanced aerodynamics to its fuel-efficient Rolls Royce engines and all-electric systems, Boeing is betting the 787 will be the plane to usher in a cleaner, greener future for the airline business.

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Video: NASA Drops A Helicopter From Midair To Test New Anti-Crash Tech

From Popular Science:

No stranger to rough landings, NASA just engineered a crash of its own design to test a new crash countermeasure for helicopters. NASA dropped a donated Army MD-500 carrying four crash test dummies from 35 feet, to determine whether a new honeycomb cushion made of Kevlar strapped to the bottom of the copter could absorb the brunt of the impact. The result: a more or less intact MD-500, and the cool impact video below.

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Three Years Late, 'The Grizzly' Military Transport Plane Finally Takes To The Skies

(Click Image to Enlarge)
We have lift-off: The A400 Airbus finally gets into the sky, and the design specifications that make it so special

From The Daily Mail:

Heading into the blue three years late, Airbus's troubled A400M 'flying truck' military transport plane lifts off for its maiden flight.

The plane took off from Seville, in Spain, yesterday, with the flags of nine countries emblazoned on its side - the seven Nato nations plus Malaysia, which has ordered several planes, and South Africa, which recently pulled out of its order.

Britain has ordered up to 20 of the planes but the project has been dogged by delays and cost-overuns.

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Boeing's 787 Dreamliner To Attempt First Flight Next Week

Dreamliner in Hangar Aviation Explorer

From Popular Science:

Boeing announced early this morning that its next generation airliner, the 787 Dreamliner, will take to the skies next Tuesday, December 15 at the company's Everett, WA proving grounds--if the Pacific Northwest's finicky weather cooperates.

The plane, the first with an airframe made of primarily composite materials, has faced numerous delays, putting the program a full two years behind schedule. Most recently, a structural fault was found in the side-of-body portion of the airframe that connects to the wings, causing the initial first flight planned for July to be canceled just a week before it was scheduled to take place.

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The Tech That Makes New Airplanes And Runways Safer

Enhanced and synthetic vision systems (inset) blend GPS information with a topographical database to create a moving digital map of unseen terrain and hazards. (Photograph by Sam Chui)

From Popular Mechanics:

In our Anatomy of a Plane Crash feature, PM investigates the causes behind Air France 447's disappearance. Here are some of the advances in technology for airports, cockpits and airframes—systems that work in tandem to make air flight safer.

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