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In Flight USA Articles
Department of Homeland Security Issues 9/11 Anniversary Statement
One Hot Event – The Vectren Dayton Ohio Airshow
By Mike Heilman and Joe Gust
Sean D. Tucker in the Challenger III and Brain Norris in the Extra 300 fly in formation over Dayton, Ohio. Team Oracle uses the Extra 300 for some airshows and to give media and VIP rides. (Mike Heilman)There is only one word to describe the 2011 Vectren Dayton Ohio Air Show – hot! The temperature and the airshow lineup were equally heated. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning for the three-day event, which took place on July 22-24. This kept the attendance down about 15 percent as compared to the 2010 show, with an estimated 65,000 spectators coming out this year to brave the heat.
Organizers opened the airshow weekend by hosting a free Friday night hanger party. The public got a chance to preview some of the airshow acts during the party. Many aircraft crews and performers attended the party and it gave the public a chance to meet them.
An Interview with NASA’s STS 135 Crew… Is it an end of an era?
By Pete Trabucco
In order from left to right: Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus, Shuttle Pilot Douglas Hurley, Pete Trabucco, Commander Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialist Rex Walheim (Pete Trabucco)It’s hard to believe that the NASA Space Shuttle program is actually at an end. It wasn’t very long ago we were marveling at this new flying vehicle that could not only orbit the earth but also glide back from the heavens to be reused over and over again. Thirty years ago, NASA launched Columbia, the first space shuttle, on a two-day mission to circle the Earth. Aboard the space vehicle were veteran astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen. Since then, 135 shuttle missions (at an average cost of 1.4 billion dollars per flight) on five different shuttles has carried more than 350 astronauts into space. This represents almost 70 percent of the 523 people (since the beginning of spaceflight) from all nations that have been in space. Indeed, it was a vehicle unparalleled by any that have come before. This past July the last of these incredible vehicles, Atlantis, left Pad 39A at Cape Canaveral for the final time and since then has successfully completed its mission and has been recorded in the history books for all of us to remember.
The Discovery Program: NASA Gets it Right
By Ed Downs
Our August issue of In Flight USA carried coverage and comments about the ending of America’s Manned Space Program (read on www.inflightusa.com). America’s surrender of leadership in manned space flight to a country with space technology from the late 1950s is, at best, questionable. Those making this fateful decision should have asked the question, “What happens to the International Space Station (ISS) if that obsolete technology breaks down?” Well, it has, and no answer is at hand.
On Wednesday morning, August 24, 2011 a Russian Progress M-12M vehicle lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on an unmanned supply mission to the ISS. This is the booster system that has been used since the late 1950s and is now used to launch the manned Soyuz capsule. It did not reach orbit. This is currently the only vehicle combination used to take crews to and from ISS. It is now grounded. The Russian Proton rocket was to have served as a back up, but it, too, failed just a week earlier. The much touted entry of privatized boosters into service that are man rated is at least five years in the future. America’s more than $100 billion investment in ISS is in significant jeopardy due to self-serving political decisions. NASA has lost much of its glitter.
USAF Weapons School Mission Employment Phase Combat PHD
By Richard VanderMeulen
A pair of F-16’s hold formation on the wing of the KC-135 tanker as their element completes pre-strike refueling during the CAS (Close Air Support). Vul. A Vul refers to the “vulnerability period” or the time aircraft are away from base and vulnerable to harm. (Richard VanderMeulen)On June 9 the United States Air Force Weapons School completed its Mission Employment Phase, a seven-mission capstone to a five-and-a-half month training period. During Weapons School Class 11A ME Phase graduating Weapons Officers flew more than 90 aircraft on 500 individual sorties day and night utilizing every aircraft and asset in the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense inventory.
More than 30,000 man-hours and 1,400 flight-hours go into preparing students for the ME Phase. More than 3,300 personnel support each class. Maintenance Squadrons play a crucial role in the ultimate success of Weapons School students, even more so during ME Phase when operational tempos run at, or even higher than, actual combat operations.
EAA Members Respond to EAA/NTSB Amateur-Built Safety Study
Wings Over Waukesha Airshow
12th Gary South Shore Airshow
By Mike Heilman
Aeroshell AT-6 “Texan performing a loop at the Gary South Shore air show. The show was held July 15-17 in Gary Indiana on Lake Michigan. (Mike Heilman)Sand, sun, surf, smoke and spectators were all part of the 12th Gary South Shore Air Show. The three-day event was held at Marquette Park Beach on the shores of Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana. The airshow was produced by the Indiana South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority and was free to the public.
The airshow opened with a twilight show on Friday that included a large fireworks display. Many of the airshow acts flew their demonstrations at the Friday night show. It was a great start to the weekend.
The headliner for this year’s show was the Heavy Metal Jet team. This civilian team is new to the 2011 airshow season. Heavy Metal team flies four L-39s and either a T-33 or MIG-17. The team flew the MIG-17 at the Gary Show. The team performs at airshows that do not have a military jet as part of the line up.
EAA Reports: Presidential TFRs Follow Obama Bus Tour This Week
House Lawmakers Call For Federal Intervention On Avgas Claim in CA
Warner's Mines More Aviation Gold from it's Archives
By S. Mark Rhodes
Warner Archives keeps cranking out great chestnuts from its vaults and making them available as a “Made to Order” disc. The latest releases are four great aviation melodrama/thrillers.
Bombardier is a 1943 film concerning the training program for bombardiers of the United States Army Air Forces. The film, starring Pat O’Brien as Major Chick Davis and Randolph Scott, is solid action with a plot revolving around the central clash of whether specific bomber training was necessary as a component of the USAAF. In the course of the film, Major Davis manages to demonstrate the superiority of high altitude precision bombing which allows for the creation of a training academy for bombardiers. As with many of these films, the trivia is particularly fascinating; reportedly this film’s plot reflected some of the debate about the role and effectiveness of specialized bombing during World War II. Much of the film was shot at Kirtland Air Force Base, which employed some of the cadets as extras. Bombardier has many near documentary elements reflected in it’s approach to the subject matter. Most interesting of all is the film’s prologue which is delivered by Brigadier General Eugene Eubank who was the commander of the first heavy bombardment group of the US Army Air Forces to see combat in World War II. In this prologue, General Eubank praises the bombing crews, which “must vindicate the greatest responsibility ever placed upon an individual soldier in the line of duty.”
FAA Programs Still in Limbo as Congress Departs
Wrong Way Corrigan - A Last Bit of Fun Before World War II
By Alan Smith
In October of 1925 when 18-year-old Douglas Corrigan went for a ride in a Curtiss Jenny, he had no idea that in thirteen years he would be both famous and notorious. What the ride did was change his goal in life from being an architect to living in the growing world of aviation. He started taking flying lessons every Sunday and after twenty Sundays he soloed. The government rules and regulations of aviation were still forming and Corrigan soon had a pilot’s license in hand. He also had good mechanical talent gained from a few years in the construction business. When his parents divorced, he had quit school and gone to work to earn money. His father was a construction engineer and Douglas had learned a lot from him.
Claude Ryan and his partner B.F Mahoney were building airplanes as the Ryan Aeronautical Company at the California airfield where Corrigan learned to fly and also had a shop in San Diego. They offered Corrigan a job as a mechanic at their San Diego operation when they decided to shut down their factory near Los Angeles and move south. It was 1927 and Corrigan saw about a half dozen partially built airplanes in Ryan’s San Diego plant. They just sat there because of cancelled orders. Corrigan went to work wondering how long this job would last.
FAA Shut Down Looms
EAA: User Fee Idea Just Won't Go Away
See Burt Rutan (and his new book) At Wick's Booth at AirVenture
Voice Your Opinion: GPS Interference by LightSquared
House Lawmakers Call on DOT to Shelve Plan to Disable BARR
13th Annual Olympic Air Show
Story and Photos by Paul Tannahill
Despite less than ideal weather conditions the 13th annual Olympic Airshow went on June 18-19 without any major incidents. Hosted by the Olympic Flight Museum, and held at the Olympia Regional Airport, in Olympia, Wash., the show has become a Fathers day weekend tradition for many aviation enthusiasts in the Northwest.
First Female Civilian Air Traffic Controller in the U.S.
By Carl E. Chance
Editor, WingsOverKansas.com
Mary Chance was one the country’s first recognized air traffic controllers. According to Andrew Pitas, former historian with the Air Traffic Controllers Association, Mary Chance VanScyoc was one of the country’s first recognized female civilian air traffic Controller’s in the United States. She played a vital role as one of many pioneer female aviation controller’s during World War II, representing well over 40 percent of the controller workforce.