Model Airplanes

India has been up in arms, so to speak, over last month’s announcement that the U.S. proposed to sell eight F-16 combat aircraft to Pakistan.

Yet less than one week from that announcement, New Delhi got a hint that it might have a great opportunity to undercut Pakistan’s F-16 force posture – an offer from F-16 producer Lockheed Martin to add its prized fourth-generation fighter to the list of Make in India products.

Now discussions seem to be steaming forward between one of the U.S.’s top defence producers and the Government of India, with a statement to The Hindu from the office of Lockheed Martin’s India head Phil Shaw noting that they were “in discussions with the U.S. Government, the Government of India, and our Indian industry partners about potential new production F-16 aircraft to address India’s fighter recapitalisation requirements.”

While the company added that details about the aircraft and industrial offer would be determined in conjunction with the two governments in question, Lockheed Martin, and Indian industry, some within policy circles have not ruled out the possibility that the package could include “unprecedented” technology sharing or other favourable terms to woo the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Lockheed Martin’s initial expression of interest in moving its entire production line for the F-16 to India, made by Mr. Shaw at the Singapore Airshow 2016, got surprisingly meagre play in the media. The reason, perhaps, was a lack of clarity on what might in some ways be a

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/embracing-americas-war-machines-f16-may-roll-out-of-an-indian-factory/article8377881.ece

Under the FARs, performing maintenance is the job of an AP mechanic or FAA-approved repair station, but managing maintenance is the aircraft owner’s job. In essence, the FAA looks at each aircraft owner as the Director of Maintenance of a one-aircraft aviation department. Unfortunately, few owners know how do do this important job, and most do it very poorly. Many owners leave it to their APs to manage their maintenance, and then many times wind up unhappy with the outcome.

The essence of good maintenance management can be boiled down to five simple rules. Follow these five principles religiously and you’ll discover that you have a safer and more reliable aircraft while simultaneously spending a whole lot less on maintenance.

Rule 1. Choose the right shop

To use a building-trades analogy, an aircraft owner’s job is to act as the “general contractor” for his aircraft maintenance. The owner hires skilled tradesmen—maintenance shops, mechanics and other technicians—to do the necessary maintenance work, then manages them to ensure they perform as desired and that they come in within schedule and budget, and occasionally fires them if they don’t perform to expectations.

The owner’s most important job by far is the first one: hiring the right shop, mechanic or technician for the job. If you hire the right person for the job, the rest tends to work out well. If you hire the wrong person, the best management skills in the world may not be sufficient to rescue the situation.

Many owners don’t

Article source: http://blog.aopa.org/opinionleaders/?priority=%EF%BF%BD

Good morning, it’s Palm Sunday, March 20, the 80th day of 2016. There are 286 days left in the year. We’ll start the day in the mid-30s with the possibility of widespread frost in parts of the region and a frost advisory is in effect until 10 a.m. Afternoon highs should be in the upper 50s under a sunny sky. Temperatures will fall back into the 30s overnight and there’s a chance of patchy frost.

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On March 20, 1988—28 years ago today–DeAndra Anrig, then 8, found herself airborne when an airplane snagged the string of her kite over Shoreline Park in Mountain View, Calif. DeAndra was lifted 10 feet off the ground and carried some 100 feet until she let go. She was not seriously hurt.

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Today’s Highlight in History:
On March 20, 1816, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee, unanimously affirmed its right to review state court decisions under the Judiciary Act of 1789.

On This Date:
In 1727, physicist, mathematician and astronomer Sir Isaac Newton died in London.
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte returned to Paris after escaping his exile on Elba, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.
In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s influential novel about slavery, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” was first published in book form after being serialized.
In 1899, Martha M. Place of Brooklyn, New York, became the first woman to be executed in the electric chair as she was put to death at Sing Sing for the

Article source: http://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Good-Morning-372602172.html

A passenger jet operated by Middle Eastern budget carrier FlyDubai broke apart while trying to land in high winds in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don Saturday morning, killing all 62 people on board.

Flight FZ981 was making a repeat landing attempt in poor weather at about 3:40 a.m. when it crashed and burst into flames, the Rostov branch of the Emergencies Ministry said on its website. The Boeing Co. 737-800 was carrying 55 passengers and seven crew when it came down about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Moscow.

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Human error, technical failure and difficult weather conditions are among possible causes under scrutiny, according to the Investigative Committee, the main Russian investigating authority. Rossiya-24 state television, citing a local weather service, said winds in Rostov-on-Don exceeded 20 meters per second (about 45 miles per hour) about the time of the accident.

“As far as we know, the airport was open and we were good to operate,” FlyDubai Chief Executive Officer Ghaith Al Ghaith said at a news conference in Dubai. “This investigation will take time until all facts are collected. Before we commit and say anything, we have to be sure. If weather wasn’t suitable, the plane wouldn’t have flown.”

While authorities said the wing came in contact with the ground, independent tracking service Flightradar24.com posted data suggesting that the approach was unusual even before the jet reached the airport.

Flightradar24 showed the plane circled for about two hours after an initial landing attempt — consistent

Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-19/flydubai-jet-crashes-at-russian-airport-kills-61-sputnik-says