Model Airplanes

It could be argued that true military aviation took off in 1903 when Dayton, Ohio, natives Wilbur and Orville Wright launched the first self-propelled airplane off a hill in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

A lot has changed since the Wright Brothers’ first flight. Military aircraft can now soar high above the ground at supersonic speeds, fire rounds or drop payloads with pinpoint accuracy and conduct missions without a pilot in the seat. Planes like the F-16, the F-22 and the U-2 have become stars in the world of film and television — and on the walls of many a teenager.

At the same time, aircraft serving with less fanfare are just as critical to military missions. Supporting them is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation.

Training Wheels

In the military aviation community, the phrase “You have to crawl before you can walk” takes on a whole different meaning. For the Air Force, the T-38 Talon helps pilots take those high-speed, aerial baby steps.

According to the Air Force website, the T-38 Talon is a twin-engine, high-altitude, supersonic jet trainer used in a variety of roles because of its design, economy of operation, ease of maintenance, high performance and exceptional safety record.

Northrop Grumman produced nearly 1,200 Talons from 1961 to 1972. About 530 remain in service.

Lee Grazetti helps keep them flying. He’s the T-38 weapon system program manager for DLA Aviation’s Air Force Customer Facing Division in the Customer Operations Directorate. He’s also the WSPM for the plane’s J-85 twin engines.

Grazetti said DLA manages more than 18,500

Article source: https://www.standard.net/hilltop/dla-aviation-support-to-the-unsung-workhorse-aircraft/article_3e1a237e-d724-5f67-8584-5541125a2239.html

WASHINGTON
– 
Facing global outrage over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi officials are now acknowledging that the journalist was targeted inside the kingdom’s consulate in Turkey and a body double was on hand to aid in a cover-up — the latest twist in the kingdom’s evolving efforts to explain Khashoggi’s death.

This new version of events — which was described to The Associated Press by two Saudi officials — comes three weeks after the kingdom said Khashoggi left the consulate on his own and insisted Turkish claims he was killed by an assassination squad were unfounded.

Now Saudi officials tell the AP they did in fact send a team to Turkey that included a forensics expert and a member whose job was to dress in the 59-year-old writer’s clothes and pretend to be him — though they still insist that his death was an accident.

This account attempts to distance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from the killing, even though officials linked to the 33-year-old ruler have been implicated. But the fact that the Saudis are acknowledging some aspects of the account provided by Turkish authorities suggests that the kingdom is feeling intense global pressure, including from President Donald Trump and members of Congress, some of whom have called for cutting off arms shipments and imposing sanctions.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the matter and the ongoing investigation into Khashoggi’s death.

There was no way to corroborate the Saudi account, which paints the suspects as

Article source: https://www.news965.com/news/national-govt--politics/shifting-saudi-account-writer-death-confirms-key-parts/cMRtiySLetqYQpBTrxKxKI/

Special: 40YearsOfReform

China’s aviation sector has after a slow start gathered momentum, since the country promoted reform and opening-up, and is now blazing a new trail in the global market.

Without the reform and opening-up that started 40 years ago, the country’s large civil aircraft industry, often spearheaded by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), could never have achieved the current scale, aver industry experts.

Reform and opening-up made it possible for the manufacturers of civil aircraft and suppliers of design, parts, and engines to embark on a new business model that hinged on higher productivity, reduced costs and better market competitiveness, said Wu Xingshi, a member of the State Council’s large passenger aircraft program’s expert advisory committee.

“It also enabled the industry to forge positive relationships with sponsors, government department and clients,” said Wu, who is also a member of the science and technology committee of COMAC.

Yet another salient feature of reform and opening-up has been the development of the financial sector which has fostered fast and smooth progress of the capital-hungry civil aviation sector.

The four decades of reform had three major development milestones for the sector in 1986, 1993 and 2007.

Since then, the country has successfully developed and produced some domestically made jets, including the regional jetliner ARJ21, which rolled off the assembly line in Shanghai in December 2007, and the homegrown large passenger plane C919, which conducted its maiden flight in Shanghai last May.

COMAC has so far received orders for 815 C919 planes from 28 airlines from home and

Article source: http://www.ecns.cn/news/economy/2018-10-24/detail-ifyyzeyv7663314.shtml

A man arrested for allegedly touching a woman’s breast on an airplane, according to court documents, told authorities “the president of the United States says it’s OK to grab women by their private parts.”

Bruce Alexander was on a Houston-to-Albuquerque flight on Sunday when he twice leaned forward and touched the breast of a woman sitting in front of him, court records show.

The woman, who wasn’t identified, told authorities she thought the first of two touchings may have been accidental, while the second clearly wasn’t.

According to court documents, after she dozed off and was touched again “she rose from her seat, turned around and told the passenger behind her that she didn’t know why he thought it was OK and he needed to stop.”

A crew member relocated the woman to a different seat.

Alexander, whose hands matched those described by the victim — “thick fingers, were hairy and dirty finger nails” — was arrested when the plane landed.

Alexander has been charged with abusive sexual contact. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for later today.

It’s unclear at this time whether Alexander has retained legal counsel.

During the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump was caught on a 2005 video bragging to “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush about sexually assaulting women.

“It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” Trump said. “Grab them by the p—-. You can do anything.”

The video prompted national outrage. In a statement after

Article source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-accused-groping-woman-flight-trump-grab-women/story?id=58681265