Model Airplanes

(CNN) — The two test pilots on the failed flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo had logged many years of flight experience each, according to biographies of the men.

The pilot who died was identified as Michael Tyner Alsbury, 39, the Kern County, California, Sheriff’s Office said Saturday in a news release.

Peter Siebold, 43, was identified as the pilot who survived the crash. He suffered moderate injuries and was airlifted to Antelope Valley Hospital for treatment, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The test aircraft went down about 20 miles northeast of Mojave. The Sheriff’s Office said deputies sent to the scene found “several debris crash sites spread out over several miles.”

Deputies first located Siebold, who’d parachuted to the ground, and later found the body of Alsbury, the news release said.

Both pilots worked for Scaled Composites, the Mojave-based partner of Virgin Galactic. The craft was being tested for the first commercial space flights.

Alsbury worked at Scaled Composites for more than a dozen years and served as a project engineer and test pilot, according to a bio for a 2013 symposium for the Society of Flight Test Engineers.

He was the co-pilot for both SpaceShipTwo’s first glide and first powered flight, the bio said, and logged more than 1,600 hours as test pilot and test engineer in Scaled aircraft.

He had a degree in aeronautical engineering from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California.

Siebold had worked for Scaled Composites since 1996, according to his biography on the company website, and had 17 years and more than

Article source: http://q13fox.com/2014/11/01/we-are-determined-to-find-out-what-went-wrong-in-deadly-spaceplane-incident/

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Article source: http://www.onlineamd.com/boeing-monarch-finalize-order-737-max-110114.aspx

• Space plane broke into pieces above Mojave Desert, California, on first flight using experimental rocket fuel
• One pilot died in the crash, another parachuted out of falling plane but was seriously injured in the disaster
• SpaceShipTwo plane had swapped rubber-based rocket fuel for a higher-performing plastic blend today
• More than 700 people – including Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry – have paid $250,000 for tickets
• Witnesses who rushed to falling debris reported seeing dead pilot strapped into his seat with body parts missing 
• Virgin founder Richard Branson has sunk $500million into space company, which launched in 2004
• Branson had previously said his company ‘can’t lose anybody’ and be successful space flight operator
• Neither pilot has been named. At least five people are cleared to fly the spacecraft – two have been confirmed safe 

By

Mark Prigg for MailOnline

and
Chris Spargo for MailOnline

and
Lydia Warren for MailOnline

and
Kieran Corcoran for MailOnline

Published:
13:17 EST, 31 October 2014

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Updated:
11:29 EST, 1 November 2014

Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2816224/Virgin-Galactic-SpaceShipTwo-exploded-45-000ft-One-pilot-dead-critical-Richard-Branson-s-500m-space-tourism-plane-blows-testing-new-fuel-California-desert.html

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson said he is ‘determined to find out what went wrong’ when SpaceShipTwo crashed during a test flight yesterday.

The rocket came down in the Mojave Desert in California, having ‘suffered a serious anomaly’ during the flight conducted by partner business Scaled Composites.

The space ship blew up at 45,000ft, killing the pilot and setting back Branson’s ambitious plans for commercial space travel.  He arrived at the crash site in the Mojave desert today, to survey the damage himself.

Addressing a press conference in the Mojave today, Branson said he was not going to “push on blindly” to achieve his goal of putting commercial passengers into space.

He said he and his colleagues at Virgin were determined to find out what went wrong to cause the explosion.

Reuters

Branson said the last day had been a “very tough time for everybody who works at Virgin Galactic.”

“Pushing the bounds of possibility comes with unavoidable risk. We are standing on the shoulders of giants, yesterday we fell short,” he

Article source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/richard-branson-said-spaceshiptwo-team-4549040

LUTON, United Kingdom, Oct. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Boeing [NYSE:BA] and Monarch Airlines today finalized an order for 30 737 MAX 8s worth more than $3.2 billion at current list prices. The order, originally announced at the Farnborough International Airshow in July when Monarch selected Boeing as its preferred bidder for fleet replacement, includes options for 15 additional 737 MAX 8s and marks the beginning of the British carrier’s transition to an all-Boeing single-aisle fleet.

“Seven days after welcoming new owners into the business, this order is a demonstration of our commitment to the future and the evolution of Monarch as a distinctive European scheduled leisure carrier,” said Andrew Swaffield, CEO of the Monarch Group. “The 737 MAX 8 fits our network strategy of serving our traditional European leisure routes in greater frequency, providing increased choice and service for Monarch customers, with significantly improved unit costs to our business.”

The 737 MAX has accumulated 2,325 orders to date from 48 customers and is the fastest selling airplane in Boeing history.

“The 737 MAX is the perfect airplane for Monarch as it moves its business model from a traditional charter carrier to a European scheduled leisure airline, offering improved efficiencies, high reliability and an outstanding passenger experience,” said Todd Nelp, vice president of European Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “We are honored that Monarch has chosen Boeing as its future partner and are dedicated to ensuring this iconic operator’s continued success.”

The 737 MAX incorporates the latest technology CFM International LEAP-1B engines, Advanced Technology winglets and other

Article source: http://www.aviationpros.com/news/11749675/boeing-monarch-airlines-finalize-order-for-30-737-max-8s

Reuters had an article yesterday about the rumors, and I too have heard about this over the past couple of months, that Beijing will raise subway prices. This topic is pretty specific and specialized compared to what I normally write about on this blog, but because a friend asked me to discuss the topic with him for an article he was writing, I did do some thinking which although hurried I thought might be of interest to some readers, mainly because thinking about the “correct” subway fare in Beijing is a useful way to think about infrastructure investment more generally.

For many years there had been a huge battle (well, actually a tiny battle because one aside consisted of no more than three or four China specialists) about the extent of misallocated investment in China. For a while this debate focused on manufacturing capacity, but once it became obvious (around 2009 at the latest, I would say) that SOEs were clearly destroying value in the aggregate on a huge scale, the China specialists who remained optimistic about the quality of investment – including virtually the entire research and sell-side – shifted their attention to infrastructure, which is much harder to value and so much harder to criticize as wasteful.

Michael Pettis

More from this author…

• http://carnegieendowment.org/2014/10/30/should-beijing-raise-subway-fares/ht68