Model Airplanes

This holiday is setting records for air travel. By the time New Year’s, Christmas and Thanksgiving are over, USA Today predicts more than 51 million people will have passed through airport gates. That is an increase of about 3.5% over last year. Carriers say air travel in general is seeing an uptick since fares are not rising as fast as inflation.

With the large crowds come ginormous appetites. Walking through airports carrying all those gifts and excess baggage can make you ravenous, but many folks have said losing weight is their New Year’s resolution. What is a hungry traveler to do?

Here is how airlines stack up when it comes to providing in flight meals. According to this year’s Airline Food Survey from dietdetective.com, there are a few clear leaders that have pulled ahead of the pack and a few not-so-savory fliers pulling up the rear.

This distinction goes to Delta and Virgin America. The two are tied for first place for healthy options. A move toward sustainable, nutritious foods and a moderate calorie count put them at the head of the class.

Delta has decreased average calorie count per meal from 628 to 559. Vegan, vegetarian, non-GMO, gluten-free, and kosher items are available for those with special dietary needs or preferences. More kudos to Delta for providing the Tapas box, the only non-GMO snack box offered by the domestic airline industry. It includes

Article source: https://www.avgeekery.com/survey-rates-healthiest-worst-airline-food-options/

With the Federal Aviation Administration mandate for ADS-B equipage (updated/ NextGen aircraft systems) looming at the beginning of 2020, there is debate within the industry as to whether this added expense will precipitate a major retirement of elderly business aircraft, those whose diminished value and use would scarcely justify the cost of the upgrade. Some believe the cost of equipage could drop so much by the deadline that many of those owners will indeed make the move to upgrade their aircraft, which are still perfectly capable of flight despite their age.

Indeed, the longevity displayed by most business aircraft is surprising many in the industry. “They’re living longer than we ever expected them to,” industry analyst Rolland Vincent told BJT sister publication Aviation International News. “We updated our so-called survivor curve for the industry, meaning how long  an aircraft stays in operation. The curve goes to zero just beyond 50 years, and that’s unheard of.”

Yet, in the back of every owner’s mind is the fact that some day their aircraft will take its final flight, and for many, that end destination is an aircraft dismantler.

Currently in the U.S. there are four major general aviation salvage yards: Alliance Air Parts, White Industries, MTW Aerospace, and Dodson International Aircraft Parts (see sidebar). It’s a tightly knit industry where everyone seems to know everyone else, or in some cases, are even related.

Terry White, owner of Missouri-based White Industries, is considered by many to be the elder statesman of the industry. At 80 years old,

Article source: https://www.bjtonline.com/business-jet-news/end-of-the-line-bizjets-to-beer-cans

Avgeekery recently had the opportunity to chat with Lance from WyldeByrd Art. He is a pilot and artist who takes aircraft skins and turns them into beautiful pieces of art.  We’re excited to share his story.  And even more excited to announce that we are jointly hosting an Instagram contest to give away a Delta Air Lines 747-400 Window Cutout!

1.) Hey Lance!  We’re excited to chat with you and learn about your business.  Tell us a little about what makes you an avgeek.

I started my love for aviation as a kid in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada. It is a busy hub for local aviation with light twins and float planes. If you have ever heard a Dehaviland Beaver flying overhead at first light it can either do two things: Inspire a call to the office of the business to complain, or create the memory of home and the desire to run outside to the first sound of a radial engine flying over. Now that I live near the Commemorative Air Force in Mesa, Arizona, I still stop and look up and remember my childhood home in Canada.

2.) How did you get started in aviation?

This answer leads back to the first question. My parents, Howard and Sandra Lockhart, started their own aviation business in Northern Ontario, Lockhart Air Service. Before I had a pilot’s license, I was the builder at their business on my college summer break. They had a Cessna 180 and

Article source: https://www.avgeekery.com/meet-airline-pilot-creates-incredible-boneyard-art/

After bringing in my 25-year-old car for a checkup, I realized it was time for the personal maintenance checkup on my 70-year-old body (as recommended by the owner’s manual). The parts-and-service department went through the checklist:

“Very good, Mr. Gabriele. I see this model was put in service in 1947, so you came in just in the nick of time.”

First of all, can you tell me if any of the warranties on this body are still in effect?

“In accordance with established policy, all warranties are void the first time you engage in hazardous activities. To wit:

Dec 31, 2017-Every time Captain Bed Upreti landed at the Tribhuwan International Airport, he would notice an Airbus 330 that had become a part of the furniture at the already crowded tarmac of the only international airport of Nepal. On March 2015, the jet had skidded off the runaway, and halted all international flights to the country for four days. The airplane, which belonged to Turkish Airlines, was carrying 224 passengers at the time of the accident. Nobody sustained any injuries, but the aircraft became a headache for the airport authorities who had towed it to a corner, unsure on what course of action to follow. But as the adage goes: One person’s trash is another’s treasure; and the plane, for Upreti, became a once in a lifetime opportunity to set up an aviation museum in Kathmandu; something he had dreamed of for decades.

Setting up an aviation museum required skill, dedication, expertise, money and patience—and there was perhaps no better person than Bed Upreti for this arduous task.  Upreti’s life-long passion for flight and airplanes began at the tender age of 12. His first flight, from Mahendranagar to Dhangadi, was barely 10 minutes long, but that, according to Upreti, was long enough to excite the imagination of a young boy. “Now, I have notched up thousands of hours of flight time under my belt,” he says, “But I can still recall every moment of those first 10 minutes with photographic precision, it never fades.”

The young Upreti would go on

Article source: http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-12-31/all-aboard-20171231113800.html