Model Airplanes

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Article source: http://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/future-aviation-180953683/

By Bill Palmer

Editor’s note: Bill Palmer, an Airbus A330 captain for a major airline, is the author of “Understanding Air France 447,” an explanation of the details and lessons of the crash of that aircraft in June 2009. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) — On Sunday, all contact with AirAsia Flight 8501 was lost over the Java Sea as a wide area of thunderstorms covered the area. The discovery of floating debris on Tuesday about 100 miles from its last known position, in combination with an analysis of ocean currents, will give investigators clues where to search for the remainder of the aircraft.

From its cruise altitude, the airplane’s gliding distance would also be about 100 miles, but consider that for the debris to drift that same 100 miles it would only take a drift rate of 2 knots, yielding a wide range of possibilities as to the nature of the aircraft’s descent to the water below.

Many parallels between AirAsia 8501 and Air France 447 in June 2009 are obvious. Both aircraft were lost in thunderstorm areas of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Both crashed at sea where floating debris drifted for days from the point of contact with the sea before being discovered, and both were sophisticated fly-by-wire Airbus aircraft (though different models).

While flying into a thunderstorm is always to be avoided, it was not likely the sole cause of the accident. The reported requests by the crew to deviate course and change altitude

Article source: http://www.erietvnews.com/story/27736082/how-airasia-flight-compares-to-air-france-447-crash

HONOLULU — Hawaii’s military history pops up in unexpected places.

Sometimes it’s right underfoot. Or under dive fin.

The latter was the case in 1977, when three friends who were spearfishing in Kailua Bay found the wreck of a World War II-era P-40 Warhawk fighter in relatively shallow water.

A .50-caliber machine gun, two .30-caliber machine guns, a clock, gauge, ammunition and other items went home with the trio.

It took 37 years for the fighter — or what’s left of it — to get some attention again.

According to aviation historian Dave Trojan, the Allison V-12 engine still sits upright in 10 to 12 feet of water.

Landing gear and corroded structural ribbing are also there.

But therein lies another mystery: Whose plane was it?

The question may not be answered soon. But the good news is that parts of the plane will be going on display.

Mike Holton, one of the three Kainalu Park friends to retrieve the plane parts in 1977, is providing some of the artifacts for a new air terminal display at the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps base, Trojan said.Trojan, who lives in California, said he spent months searching records to try to identify the plane.

“And I was not able to do that, so it’s still kind of a mystery plane,” he said. “All I know is it’s definitely an early model P-40 B or C. It could have been an accident, or it could have been shot down. It’s definitely an early war wreck that nobody really knew about.”

The engine serial number didn’t

Article source: http://westhawaiitoday.com/news/state-wire/parts-mystery-plane-go-display

Article source: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/30/nicki-minaj-high-school-actress.html