Oregon Trip Day 7: Big Planes and Little Creeks

This morning started out again with breakfast at the hotel. Biscuits and gravy. Not nearly as good as my southern grandmother used to make, but not bad.

We then made a quick run to the grocery store, mainly for turkey dogs (we are camping, after all), then back to the hotel to pack the cars and head off for the coast.


Having picked up a brochure during breakfast, JaG was amenable to taking Route 99w to Route 18 out to the coast, stopping along the way in McMinville to see

The fact that JaG was as well is just, well, cool.

Pulling off the highway, we approached the massive building that houses the plane. In Long Beach, the plane had been kept inside a dome, all by itself (as far as I know). What I didn’t realize was that, under the Goose’s massive wings, were parked several of dozen equally interesting planes.

As such, we spent the next couple of hours wandering around, reading the sign-boards for the planes, which were fascinating since they included both general history of the model and specific history of the plane right there in front of you.

As for the Spruce Goose, you could walk into the main deck, looking down the fuselage and learning about how much the plane could transport. I eschewed dropping $50 to see the Goose’s cockpit.

Big planes have big presence on AeroShell Square

No matter how you say it, the word "big" has taken on new meaning at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2009. The Airbus A380 may be gone from AeroShell Square, but plenty of big planes have taken its place

Within two hours on Friday, AeroShell Square volunteers were busy, getting out the Airbus A380 and getting in the C-5M Super Galaxy, the C-17 Globemaster III, and the C-130 Hercules.

The Super Galaxy will leave at 6 p.m. today, but throughout the day you can tour the transporter that is over two stories tall - the top of the tail, in fact, is six stories tall - and just 17 yards short of a football field.

You can also get an audio tour of the C5-M Super Galaxy, with M standing for modernized, by calling 920-593-9050.

The C5 has been serving armed forces nearly four decades, and the modernization ensures it will remain in service through 2040. The C5-M is one of the largest airplanes, and its belly can hold up to six buses, or an eight-lane bowling alley, or 25 million ping pong balls. It has an 840,000-pound takeoff weight.

The C-17 Globemaster III is also designed to fulfill airlift needs, carrying large combat equipment and troops or items for humanitarian need. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 585,000 pounds and is 174 feet long and 55 feet 1 inch high.

The C-130 Hercules is the world's most advanced tactical airlifter. It is nearly 113 feet long and 39 feet high, with a wingspan of 132 feet and 7 inches. It has a maximum take-off weight of 164,000 pounds.

AERONAUTICS: Big Planes

Rabelais' jocose giant Pantagruel, under whose tongue a whole army once hid, might find the 500-ft. U. S. plane now being designed no wonder. But certainly the Arabian roc, which carried off elephants for its nestlings as an eagle rapes a mouse, would shy from the monstrous thing U. S. engineers propose to build for $5,000,000. Who the financiers are, who the builders, was kept secret. That it was a bona fide project Harry Westcott of Westcott & Mapes, Inc., New Haven and Manhattan engineering firm, testified immediately after Governor John H. Trumbull of Connecticut had predicted such a ship at a dinner of New Haven's august Union League Club. Westcott & Mapes are now estimating their bids on the structural work of not one, but two such planes. The builders expect that the first will be wrecked by the ineptitude of navigators with such a mighty machine. The lessons they learn in wrecking the first plane they can apply to flying the second. Each will have at least a dozen 1,000-h. p. motors, will be able to carry 500 passengers, 104 crew. Aerodynamic calculations suggest that they should be able to fly so high, so powerfully that reduced wind resistance will enable them to flit between Manhattan and London in six hours.

To these stupendities the present "biggest" planes already successfully flown are as hawks to eagles. They were designed by Claude Dornier,* Hugo Junkers, Adolph Rohrbach and Gianni Caproni respectively. (A German engineer, probably one of the three aforementioned, is the consultant on motive power for the U. S. ships.)

China wants to rival Boeing, Airbus with its C919 'big plane'

"To develop the large-scale airliner is a strategic decision of the Chinese government and one of the major programs for building up an innovation-oriented country," Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang said last month, according to the Xinhua state news agency.

The model of the C919 was unveiled in August. Work on a prototype began only last month. A maiden flight isn't scheduled until 2014, and the jet won't be available commercially until 2016. Even then, it's aimed at China's domestic market rather than for U.S. or other countries' airlines.

But the Chinese manufacturer already says the twin-engine, narrow-body design of the C919 is superior to the planes it would compete against: the Boeing 737, the best-selling jetliner in the world, and its competitor, the Airbus A320.

The plane "is more advanced compared to the current operating aircraft of the same size," Chen Jin, sales chief of the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, which will make the planes, told China's English-language China Daily newspaper. "It will use between 12% and 15% less fuel, and help reduce carbon emissions."

The manufacturer also says it can bring the C919 in at a price lower than the $50 million range that Boeing and Airbus charge for each of their planes.

Such boasts could indeed make the C919 a rival of Boeing and Airbus — if met. But U.S. and international aircraft industry analysts question whether they can be. Despite state backing and a strong travel market, the Chinese manufacturer faces many technical and commercial challenges.

"I don't think Boeing or Airbus will feel at all threatened by this," says Derek Sadubin, CEO of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an independent think tank in Sydney.

gliders basic

1799-1850's - George Cayley - Gliders

Sir George Cayley is considered the father of aerodynamics. Cayley experimented with wing design, distinguished between lift and drag, formulated the concepts of vertical tail surfaces, steering rudders, rear elevators, and air screws. George Cayley worked to discover a way that man could fly. Cayley designed many different versions of gliders that used the movements of the body to control. A young boy, whose name is not known, was the first to fly one of Cayley's gliders, the first glider capable of carrying a human.
For over 50 years, George Cayley made improvements to his gliders. Cayley changed the shape of the wings so that the air would flow over the wings correctly. Cayley designed a tail for the gliders to help with the stability. He tried a biplane design to add strength to the glider. George Cayley also recognized that there would be a need for machine power if the flight was to be in the air for a long time.

George Cayley wrote "On Ariel Navigation" that showed that a fixed wing aircraft with a power system for propulsion, and a tail to assist in the control of the airplane, would be the best way to allow man to fly.

Early History of Flight

Around 400 BC - Flight in China
The discovery of the kite that could fly in the air by the Chinese started humans thinking about flying. Kites were used by the Chinese in religious ceremonies. They built many colorful kites for fun, also. More sophisticated kites were used to test weather conditions. Kites have been important to the invention of flight as they were the forerunner to balloons and gliders.

Humans Try to Fly like Birds
For many centuries, humans have tried to fly just like the birds and have studied the flight of birds. Wings made of feathers or light weight wood have been attached to arms to test their ability to fly. The results were often disastrous as the muscles of the human arms are not like a birds and cannot move with the strength of a bird.
1485 Leonardo da Vinci - The Ornithopter and the Study of Flight.
The drawings illustrated the wings and tails of birds, ideas for man carrying machines, and devices for the testing of wings.

The Ornithopter flying machine was never actually created. It was a design that Leonardo da Vinci created to show how man could fly. The modern day helicopter is based on this concept. Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks on flight were reexamined in the 19th century by aviation pioneers.

Flight accident insurance plans

This insurance policy comes in handy especially:

When a person who is not a pilot, operator or member of the crew, but a passenger boarding or alighting from a public conveyance provided by a common carrier sustains severe injuries.

Another type of flight accident insurance which is more expensive than the regular flight accident cover can be taken by an individual anytime when he/she is traveling or living abroad.

A multi-trip flight accident insurance is intended for frequent flyers and it provides accidental death and dismemberment coverage for flights only. Typically such type of accident cover extends to several trips during the year and each trip not exceeding a month.


As such there are three major flight accident insurance plans that are offered for most international carriers. There could be minor variation or change in the nomenclature of the plans from one service agency to another although the features of the plans are more or less the same.


Plan 1: This 'flight accident insurance plus plan' offers coverage up to $ 300,000 with additional coverage up to an extent of $500,000, which can also be purchased. A 24/7 accidental death and dismemberment coverage and a medical evacuation and repatriation expenses plan are all included in the plus package. Although there is no trip cancellation cover and only a limited medical expense cover offered, lost or stolen baggage up to $1000 and baggage delay up to $ 100 can be claimed. A flight only coverage from $200,000 to $ 500,000 is also available.



Plan 2: A 'travel guard and flight guard' package under flight accident insurance policy includes coverage for accidental death and dismemberment while aboard a commercial aircraft. A 24/7 live travel assistance is available. This package does not cover medical benefits, and the plan must be purchased prior to departure. No trip cancellation benefits are included.


Plan 3: Yet another 'liaison traveler' flight insurance cover comes with coverage period options of 3-month, 6-month and 12-month for unlimited number of trips outside the country. A host of medical benefits, repatriation schemes, other than accidental death and dismemberment are available. The facility to upgrade the plan to include accidental injury and emergency sickness is available. An increased death and dismemberment up to $ 1 million is also provided.


Flight accident insurance schemes

Flight accident insurance is made available with other packages, and not only as a stand-alone plan. Such packages are:


Travel care packages: Mostly intended by airlines for passengers below the age of 75, here stable pre-existing medical conditions are covered. Emergency medical, trip cancellation and interruption, loss and damage to baggage, and flight and travel accident insurance are covered under such deluxe package. These come as either single trip covers for travelers under age 75 or multi trip annual covers for travelers under age 60.


Deluxe packages: Coverage for cancellation charges or non-refundable amounts and expenses during a trip, protection for baggage and vital documents, 24-hour multilingual professional medical assistance, coverage for death or certain injuries caused by travel or flight accident, and unlimited coverage for eligible medical expenses are some of the features of deluxe packages available in select flights.


Non-medical packages: This is meant especially for those travelers who already possess medical insurance coverage when out of country. This package is available for single trips lasting up to 183 days. It has other regular features such as coverage for trip cancellation and interruption, damage or lost baggage, delay in baggage, flight and travel accident insurance.

The Polish accident: circumstances

As more information emerges about the accident flight, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand the justification for its planning and execution in the marginal weather that prevailed.

On 10 April the Polish air force Tupolev Tu154M operating the presidential flight took off from Warsaw for the 800km journey to Smolensk Severny (Smolensk North). The latter is a former air force base, recently decommissioned by the military but now used as Smolensk's sole civil/military airport since the recent closure of nearby Smolensk Yuzhny (Smolensk South).

Smolensk airport has no precision approach aids, and meteorological observations provided there do not meet ICAO specifications. For example they can provide estimated visibility from the control tower, but not runway visual range. There were no special arrangements made for the presidential flight, according to our sources. Three days earlier (7 April) the same aircraft had flown the identical trip carrying the Polish Prime Minster, so the crew of the presidential flght should not have faced any unknowns.

               

The presidential flight was to be carried out in daylight, but fog was forecast at the destination airport. About 90min before the Tu-154 was due to arrive, a Polish air force Special Air Transport Wing Yakovlev Yak-40 carrying journalists landed at Smolensk in fog. About 30min before the presidential flight was expected, a Russian air force Ilyushin IL-96, bound for Smolensk carrying Russian Federal Security Service staff, was ordered to divert because the weather was below minimums. In Russia, air traffic control can give orders to military flights, but both the Polish air force flights had civilian status, so they could only be provided with advice and information.

When an aircraft hits the ground on the approach, it is self-evident that it was lower than it should have been at that point. The answer sought in all approach accidents is why it was too low. The Russian authorities say conversation between the crew and ATC was normal, and the pilots did not report any technical problems. Initial scans of information from flight recorders also suggests no problems with the aircraft.

If that is the whole truth, we are in the familiar realms of human factors.

If a pilot is determined to land from an approach in marginal conditions, it is tempting for him/her to continue descent below the minimum descent height (MDH) for the approach aid in use, hoping to see the runway through the fog, and relying on seeing the ground below the aircraft so as to avoid collision with it. In the case of the presidential flight, according to air transport regulator Rosaviatsia's chief, Alexander Neradko, the aircraft was so low that it hit an 8m high tree when still 1,200m from the runway threshold. At that point on a standard 3deg approach glideslope it should still have been at 60m height, says Neradko.

But whatever the height of a theoretical glideslope at 1,200m, this flight should not have descended even as low as 60m (182ft) on this approach without the pilots being able to see the runway - and with the reported visibility being 400-600m in fog, they could not have done. The airport has no precision approach aids, and the status of the aids it has have not been confirmed by the authorities yet.

ALOHA FLIGHT 243 Aloha Flight 243 - Air Disaster

History of the Flight

On April 28, 1988, an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737, N73711, based at the Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii, was scheduled for a series of Interisland flights to be conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121. A captain and first officer were assigned for the first six flights of the day with a planned first officer change to complete the remainder of the daily schedule.

The first officer checked in with the dispatch office about 0500 Hawaiian standard time at the Aloha Airlines Operations Facility. After familiarizing himself with the flight operations paperwork, he proceeded to the Aloha Airlines parking apron and performed the preflight inspection required by company procedures before the first flight of the day. He stated that the airplane maintenance log release was signed and that there were no open discrepancies. He prepared the cockpit for the external portion of the preflight, exited the airplane In predawn darkness, and performed the visual exterior inspection on the lighted apron. He stated that he found nothing unusual and was satisfied that the airplane was ready for flight.

The captain checked in for duty about 0510; he completed his predeparture duties in the dispatch office and then proceeded to the airplane.

The crew flew three roundtrip flights, one each from Honolulu to Hilo, Maui, and Kaual. They reported that all six flights were uneventful and that all airplane systems performed in the normal and expected manner. Flightcrew visual exterior inspections between flights were not required by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accepted company procedures, and none were performed.

At 1100, a scheduled first officer change took place for the remainder of the day. The crew flew from Honolulu to Maui and then from Maui to Hilo. As with the previous flights of the day, no system, powerplant, or structural abnormalities were noted during these operations, and the flights were uneventful. Neither pilot left the airplane on arrival in Hilo, and the crew did not perform any visual exterior inspection nor were they required to do so.

Experience New Heights in Nepal

Highlights of Nepal

Nepal is a land-locked country lying between China in the north and India in the south, and boasting a widely diverse landscape. Traveling from south to north, you will be amazed at the beautiful vistas across the Terai Plains; then gazing at the stature of the soaring Himalayas you may feel incredibly small. Nepal can proudly claim eight of the world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest. Nepal has been remarked to be "a place where there are more temples than houses", so there is no shortage of impressive architecture and an overwhelming sense of faith and serenity. The country's romantic history includes a pantheon of Gods and Goddesses of both the Hindu and Buddhist religions. A monarchy for most of its history, Nepal now has a democratic government; their first president was sworn in on July 23, 2008.
Getting to Nepal
Kathmandu is the capitol of Nepal, and therefore the least expensive city to fly into. From Kathmandu you have a wide choice of domestic airlines that fly to most cities of any size, or you can go trekking with one of the many companies that offer excursions across the country. From the U.S. it is less expensive to fly out of San Francisco than from just about any place else. From the U.K.

Nepal (Nepali) Travel

Air

Airports
The only international airport in Nepal is Tribhuvan Airport in Kathmandu.

Airlines
Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) has a London to Frankfurt to Kathmandu service. They are known to be very unreliable and often have delays and cancellations.

There are flights to Kathmandu from Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong. Thai International and RNAC have flights to and from Bangkok. Flights from the west coast of the US and from Australia usually go through these cities.


Highways in Nepal
There are two main highways in Nepal. For the most part the roads are pretty bad in Nepal. Mahendra Highway is the main road and goes from Mahendranagar on the western Indian border to Kakarbhitta on the eastern Indian border.
The Prithvi Highway connects Pokhara to Kathmandu.1ff

Departing Nepal by Air
It is usually a good idea to get to the airport three hours before a flight departs and is a bad idea to not get there at least two hours before the flight departs. You must reconfirm your flight at least 72 hours before the flight departs.

There is a good restaurant on the 2nd floor. After going through immigration that is a restaurant on the first floor.