Progress Ship Docks With ISS, Bringing Food, Supplies
It was propelled by a rocket instead of reindeer, but the
Progress cargo craft made things aboard the International Space
Station look a lot more like Christmas.
Airlines Are Energizing The Pilot Recruitment Process
ExpressJet Airlines has formed an alliance with the FlightSafety
Academy in Vero Beach, Florida. An agreement has been signed by the
Vice President of Operations for ExpressJet that clearly defines
the qualifications expected of its successful pilot applicants.
It was as if the wintry weather across the nation didn't do
enough to foul flight schedules. A massive computer hiccup at Delta
subsidiary Comair grounded all of the airlines 1,100 Christmas Day
flights, leaving thousands of passengers spending the holiday stuck
in terminals from Salt Lake to Atlanta. At the same time, a
suspiciously mystery illness among flight attendants and baggage
handlers grounded 29 US Airways flights and caused a lost-luggage
nightmare.
From NASA:
It's never been a question of "if" so much as "when." Now, we
may have an answer.
That's the word from NASA on the possibility that a large asteroid
could impact the Earth in a little more than four years. 2004 MN4
is now being tracked very carefully by many astronomers around the
world, and we continue to update our risk analysis for this
object.
ANN's good friends Rich and Ginger Davidson (who are running that cool "Time Pieces"
J-3 fractional program) have been dealing with record
snows lately in Hanover, IN. While all that snow would seem to
create a flight or take-off/landing hazard, it was hard to imagine
that the immense snows had yet another hazard in store...
collapsing heavily snowed-upon hangars under the weight of all that
heavy white stuff.
Pilots in Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon, and Washington State's
Puget Sound area got an early holiday present last week. Six
temporary flight restriction (TFR) areas have become much less
restrictive national security areas (NSAs). That nearly completes a
process AOPA initiated earlier this year to reduce the number of
restricted areas nationwide.
Australia’s light aircraft accident rate has continued to
fall steadily by more than four per cent each year over the last
ten years. At the same time the accident rate over the last decade
for large regular public transport aircraft has averaged just 0.2
for every 100,000 hours of flying.
The Turkish government has signed a contract for a Sikorsky S-92
helicopter to serve head-of-state missions. Turkey joins
Turkmenistan in selecting the S-92 as its head-of-state helicopter.
Turkmenistan is buying two aircraft.
The European Space Agency's Huygens probe successfully detached
from NASA's Cassini orbiter Saturday to begin a three-week journey
to Saturn’s moon Titan. NASA's Deep Space Network tracking
stations in Madrid, Spain and Goldstone, CA, received the signal at
1924 PST. All systems performed as expected and there were no
problems reported with the Cassini spacecraft.
New Radars Might Make It Possible Sooner Rather Than Later
A troika of new, highly advanced radars on and around Cape
Canaveral could mean fewer restrictions for future shuttle
launches. In fact, they could mean shuttles will be able to launch
at night, shortly after the shuttles' much-anticipated return to
flight.
An ILS approach is the easiest and safest kind of approach. Even
for a VFR pilot, following the ILS needles at night is a guarantee
you won't hit anything unseen on your way down to the runway.
However, only a little more than 700 airports in the United States
have a traditional instrument landing system.
What's your idea of a dream home? If you're a pilot, chances are
it involves a runway near the house and a taxiway to the garage --
which, of course, doubles as a hangar.
XCOR Aerospace thanked and congratulated President Bush on
signing HR 5382, "The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of
2004," into law recently. This important bipartisan legislation
updates the Commercial Space Launch Act and puts commercial human
space flight on a clear legal foundation.
Aerostar Was Attempting To Land At Wheeling-Ohio County
Airport
A Smith Aerostar loaded with 520 pounds of cocaine apparently
overshot the runway on landing at Wheeling-Ohio County Airport on
the weekend before Christmas. That word came Wednesday from FAA
spokesman James Peters. The man the FAA says piloted the smuggling
aircraft, Eugene Nicholas Cobb of Los Angeles, CA.
First Scholarships Of Their Kind Granted To College-Bound
Aviation Students
EAA Warbird Chapter 17, along with EAA Chapters 268 and 690 are
providing an EAA AeroScholars scholarship for a 16-year-old South
Atlanta High School student to pursue aviation. Liz Porter, Warbird
Chapter 17, coordinated the effort. The scholarship is the first
EAA AeroScholars scholarship granted by EAA Chapters in Georgia and
allows junior Derrick Poole to enroll in Fundamentals of Aviation
Science, a web-based course for high school students that offers
college credit.
Now getting clearances, speaking to Flight Service or telling a
business associate or loved one, "I've landed" is made easier with
the Cell Phone/Music Headset Adapter from Sporty's. With this
device, you can use your cell phone or listen to music with any
aviation headset, and if any transmissions come through, you won't
miss them.
"Why not live with your toys? It's every pilot's dream to walk
out of your house and go fly anyplace you want."
Source: Helicopter pilot Joe Pike, a resident of
Adelanto Airport in California's Victor Valley. Adelanto is one of
about 600 residential airparks, where you can walk outside your
door and straight to your aircraft. Hey, it beats walking.