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Aviation Thread - News, facts, questions, photos, videos, etc.

Started by Taaroa, June 04, 2017, 09:15:23 AM




Taaroa

Russian spy plane flies over Trump's New Jersey golf club, DC area
QuoteA low-flying Russian spy plane was spotted Wednesday over parts of Washington, D.C., and Bedminster, New Jersey, where President Trump is vacationing at his Trump National Golf Course -- but the flight had been approved under a long-standing global treaty, officials said.

The Russian spy plane, Tupolev Tu-154M, flew near the golf resort at 4,000 feet, and then climbed to 5,000 feet before flying into New York airspace, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News.

One of the officials said the Russian jet flew through the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) airspace that was established around the golf club.

The plane was permitted to fly through the TFR under the Open Skies Treaty, which allows unarmed observation flights over the entire territory of all 34 member nations, of which Russia and the U.S. are both signatories.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/09/russian-spy-plane-flies-over-trumps-new-jersey-golf-club-dc-area.html


Uncle Duke

Quote from: Taaroa on August 09, 2017, 08:55:25 PM
Russian spy plane flies over Trump's New Jersey golf club, DC area
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/09/russian-spy-plane-flies-over-trumps-new-jersey-golf-club-dc-area.html


That Open Skies Tu154 flies in and out of WPAFB every so often, last saw it early this calendar year.  On a few occasions there has also been an An30 Open Skies a/c from one of the Eastern European countries, I think Bulgaria or Romania.  That Antonov was really ratty looking, and had very odd sounding engines.  Hard to describe the sound, it was almost as if you could hear them individually.  It's a sound that makes you look up immediately, like maybe the a/c is having engine problems.

Taaroa

Quote from: Uncle Duke on August 10, 2017, 09:00:14 AM
That Open Skies Tu154 flies in and out of WPAFB every so often, last saw it early this calendar year.  On a few occasions there has also been an An30 Open Skies a/c from one of the Eastern European countries, I think Bulgaria or Romania.  That Antonov was really ratty looking, and had very odd sounding engines.  Hard to describe the sound, it was almost as if you could hear them individually.  It's a sound that makes you look up immediately, like maybe the a/c is having engine problems.

The NATO reporting name for the An30 is 'Clank'.  ;)



You don't ever get Soviet aircraft designs (or B757s for that matter) flying where I live except very rarely the occasional An225 hauling mining equipment, and that makes the evening news. This discussion reminded me of the first time I went overseas and seeing their 'odd' designs like the Il62 sitting on the tarmac in the old Antonov livery.
You also don't get 727s anymore because even with hushkits they're considered too loud and are virtually banned despite the government still using them as the basis of ATP exams.  ::)

Uncle Duke

Quote from: Taaroa on August 10, 2017, 08:04:44 PM
The NATO reporting name for the An30 is 'Clank'.  ;)



You don't ever get Soviet aircraft designs (or B757s for that matter) flying where I live except very rarely the occasional An225 hauling mining equipment, and that makes the evening news. This discussion reminded me of the first time I went overseas and seeing their 'odd' designs like the Il62 sitting on the tarmac in the old Antonov livery.
You also don't get 727s anymore because even with hushkits they're considered too loud and are virtually banned despite the government still using them as the basis of ATP exams.  ::)

I can relate.  Back in the early 80s I starting flying into Shannon, Ireland.  First three trips were with college buddies, then a few with the newly minted Mrs. Duke.  The college buds were EEs, the wife a nurse.  None of them understood why I was content to spend so much time at Shannon.  They were genuinely unimpressed about the opportunity to see loads of Soviet commercial and military aircraft as they transiented through, some just for gas and a quick stop in duty free, others there for phase or depot maintenance.  I was happy as a clam to get up close to these a/c I'd only read about over the years.  Certainly got a lot closer to the a/c than I could in this post 9/11 period, and no body (Irish or Russian) ever said a word to me as I wandered around taking photos.

Quote from: Uncle Duke on August 06, 2017, 07:30:34 PM
The B-25 was selected for the Doolittle Raid almost by exception.  The B-26's take-off run was too long for the carrier, and the B-23 was too large (wingspan).  That left only the B-18 and B-25, and the B-18 was eliminated immediately due to its poor performance and overrall obsolescence.

By chance  John Batchelor has a nice series up on this:
https://audioboom.com/posts/6185919-target-tokyo-jimmy-doolittle-and-the-raid-that-avenged-pearl-harbor-by-james-m-scott-part-1-of-6

Including a shout out to Ted Lawson's  Ruptured Duck



ZaZa

Quote from: GravitySucks on August 12, 2017, 08:53:01 PM
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/08/12/us-navy-pilot-ejects-in-crash-landing-in-bahrain-officials-say.html

Yes RUSSIAN News Agency RT  reported about it several hours before FOX News did.
Next time you wan't to be on top of the latest news go to RT. 

US fighter jet makes crash landing at Bahrain airport (PHOTOS)
Published time: 12 Aug, 2017 13:42
https://www.rt.com/news/399410-us-fighter-jet-bahrain/

*An engine malfunction forced a US fighter pilot to eject from his aircraft during an emergency landing at Bahrain International Airport.
The pilot had taken off from a US supercarrier in the Gulf before the incident on Saturday.
Delays were reported by passengers at the airport following the incident.
Images corroborated by RT.com show the F/A-18E next to the runway tipped on to one wing.*

Taaroa

Gonna post a copy of this article here since it's behind a paywall:

Noise and aviation safety
QuoteThe roar of a commercial jet as it levels out after take-off is usually the signal to kick back and catch a movie. Studies, however, reveal it has a deeper and more disturbing significance.

University of New South Wales researchers examining the impact of noise on aircraft occupants have found that broadband engine noise of about 80 decibels at cruise altitude can cause significant pilot impairment in key areas.

It not only diminishes pilots’ recall of information from air traffic control but can also intensify fatigue, according to Dr Brett Molesworth, a senior lecturer and aviation safety researcher at the university’s School of Aviation.

“Pilots rely on information supplied by traffic controllers and others to fly the plane safely but we found that study participants did not recall between 10 and 20 per cent of messages when subjected to simulated levels of cruise noise,” says Molesworth.

“That is comparable to the recall of somebody with a .01 blood alcohol concentration and even higher â€" .05 â€" for a non-native-English-speaking pilot.”

Perceiving sound of various frequencies and decibels is unavoidable in everyday life and these latest findings are part of a growing body of evidence that noise â€" sound that is considered distracting and irritating â€" has health implications beyond hearing impairment.

Molesworth says that up until now the aviation industry has focused on noise that affects auditory health, choosing to ignore several other areas of consideration.

His team’s most recent study looks at fatigue and if it is intensified by the type of noise that is common during cruise altitude.

“Most of us are awake at 6am and as we progress through the day fatigue increases and therefore affects our performance,” says Molesworth. “We measured whether or not noise intensifies that fatigue for pilots and came up with some interesting results.”

It involved three groups of participants and two separate tests over a two-hour stretch: one group was subjected to 80 decibels of noise without any hearing protection, another to the same noise with noise-attenuating headsets, and one group was not subjected to any noise.

The memory performance in the second test of those subjected to no noise improved 20 per cent and those with the headsets improved by 11 per cent. The performance of those with noise and no protection dropped by 5 per cent.

The first test was the baseline and under quiet conditions participants should and did improve by the second round of questions because they had learnt the method of working out the answers (known in psychology as the learning effect). Molesworth says the results, however, show that noise as time went on intensified fatigue among the other two groups.

The team’s sound specialist, Marion Burgess, also identifies a problem with noise-attenuation headsets: they are only mandatory for pilots in circumstances where noise exceeds 85 decibels and are usually used haphazardly.

The fatigue study is under review and is yet to be published.

Molesworth says regulators and aircraft manufacturers could take stronger measures to reduce engine noise for all occupants, including passengers who in a separate study were found to miss about 10 per cent of the safety spiel during the aircraft’s taxiing phase, which is only about 65 decibels.

“Regulators often raise the argument that no air crash has ever been linked specifically to noise,” he says, “but that’s only because it’s not even on a crash investigator’s radar.”

However, fatigue is considered by crash investigators but not directly linked with noise. Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority has guidelines to help pilots manage fatigue but they focus mainly on sleep, duty time restrictions and nutrition.



International commercial pilot Peter, who does not wish to be identified, says constant engine din figures high on his list of professional aggravations.

“We fly at about 900km/h so there’s a fair bit of air noise mainly coming around the flight deck at the front of the plane which is the first point of entry with the outside airflow,” he says. “So, yeah, there’s a lot of noise that tends to accost us.

“I can’t comment on recall but I do know that when you use headsets you find you don’t have to ask the air traffic control to repeat messages as much.”

On the issue of fatigue Peter says he finds noise wearing, particularly after long-haul flights.

Like most other pilots who use headsets for noise, he uses them only on one ear so he can hear his copilot. This means he is never totally free of engine noise.

“The noise in the cockpit tends to be more high pitched than in the cabin and you need to elevate your voice to speak to other pilots. So even that after a while becomes tiring.”

Peter says the industry could help by making noise-attenuating headsets mandatory at lower thresholds and investing in improved aircraft insulation. However, he holds little hope of change.

“Aviation is one of those price-sensitive industries. Introducing change costs money and airlines won’t add an extra $5 to a ticket to cover those costs because they know it will send people looking elsewhere,” he says.

“The industry needs to realise we work in a hostile environment. The outside air temperature at cruising altitude is usually around minus 50 degrees, we’re in the same uncomfortable clothes for up to 15 hours and, on top of that, we’ve got air noise rushing past at nearly 1000km/h, so I’d welcome anything that makes work more comfortable.”



Noise is a challenging area of health research because of its complexity. Crashing ocean waves, for example, can send many people off to sleep whereas the barely audible drip from a tap two rooms away can become intolerable.

Psychological profiling has found that introverts tend to be more affected by noise than extroverts.

For dramatic evidence of noise as a stressor, one only need to look at police reports of the violence that erupts among neighbours over barking dogs or noisy parties.

“Most people consider noise as unpleasant but are not aware of the more serious effects,” says Dr Wolfgang Babisch, who is considered one of the world’s most prominent noise epidemiologists and helped establish strong links between noise and cardiovascular disease.

In 2015, when he was senior research officer for the German Federal Environment Agency, he delivered a paper in Pittsburgh to the Acoustical Society of America that in part read:

“The evidence is increasing that ambient noise levels below hearing-damaging intensities are associated with the occurrence of metabolic disorders (type 2 diabetes), high blood pressure ... coronary heart diseases ... and stroke.

“Short-term laboratory studies carried out on humans have shown that the exposure to noise affects the autonomous nervous system and the endocrine system. Heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output, blood flow in peripheral blood vessels and stress hormones ... are affected ...

“The long-term effects of chronic noise exposure have been studied in animals at high noise levels showing manifest vascular changes (thickening of vascular walls) and alterations in the heart muscle (increases of connective tissue) that indicate an increased ageing of the heart and a higher risk of cardiovascular mortality.”

The recently retired Babisch, when asked by The Saturday Paper if we still have much to learn about noise and its effects on the human body, says: “My short answer is, ‘Yes.’ One cannot say which exposed individuals will develop an adverse health effect.

“However, on a statistical level exposed people are at a higher risk on average. This means that relatively more events are seen in exposed than in unexposed populations after correction for other established risk factors.”

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2017/08/11/noise-and-aviation-safety/15024103505046

Taaroa

Lost de Havilland Mosquito blueprints discovered
QuoteMore than 20,000 engineering drawings and diagrams for the de Havilland Mosquito have been found, just days before bulldozers were due to destroy their hiding place. The drawings, on microfilm cards, is thought to be the most complete set of engineering drawings for the multi-role aircraft.
Plans are underway by The People’s Mosquito charity group to use the drawings to restore a Mosquito back to airworthy condition.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/06/discovery-lost-ww2-mosquito-plans-will-allow-wooden-wonder-fly/



https://youtu.be/ZxBE2Tz3NVQ





Taaroa

Helicopter Hunter-Killer Pairs in the Vietnam War
http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/snakes-loaches-180964341/



QuoteOut of 1,419 Loaches built, 842 were destroyed in Vietnam, most shot down and many others succumbing to crashes resulting from low-level flying. In contrast, of the nearly 1,100 Cobras delivered to the Army, 300 were lost

pyewacket

Here is an old radio show about a scary night at air traffic control.

SUSPENSE -- "THE LONG NIGHT" (11-18-56)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKLLefCgcK4

Taaroa

On 24th August, the European Aviation Safety Agency issued an emergency airworthiness directive for the A350 and have warned that it's only an interim measure:

QuoteIn the A350 design, the hydraulic fluid cooling system is located in the fuel tanks. Recently, an overheat failure mode of the the A350 hydraulic Engine Driven Pump (EDP) has been found. Such EDP failure may cause a fast temperature rise of the hydraulic fluid.

This condition, if not detected and corrected, combined with an inoperative Fuel Tank Inerting System (FTIS), could lead to an uncontrolled overheat of the hydraulic fluid, possibly resulting in ignition of the fuel-air mixture in the affected fuel tank.

https://avherald.com/h?article=4ad695d1&opt=0



Uncle Duke

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/13851/north-koreas-recent-drills-featured-one-its-most-dangerous-weapons-the-ancient-an-2-biplane

Almost got to fly in an An-2 years ago at an airshow, but the flight was cancelled due to a maintenance issue.  Did get to go through it however.  Cargo bay reminded me of freight car, except fabric covered.  An-2s were also involved in one of the strangest, yet least known, bombing raids of the war in SEA.

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol52no2/iac/an-air-combat-first.html


Rix Gins

The Port Victoria P.V.8 Eastchurch Kitten  This little beauty was designed and flown but sadly, never went into production.  Underpowered, and no wonder...it utilized a Gnat (no kidding) engine.  Some aviation enthusiasts manufactured one some years later.  Came across this while looking for 100 year old stuff.

Info:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Victoria_P.V.8 


QuoteA Port Victoria Eastchurch Kitten PV8 at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington, UK.
By Paul Hermans - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41303911







Taaroa

A B-24 on a bomb run over the Astra Romana refinery in Ploiești, Romania, during Operation Tidal Wave


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