May 21, 2011 RC Pilot Blamed For Collision With Biplane

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By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief

The NTSB blames the operator of a large RC model for its highly publicized collision with a full-size biplane at a fly-in in Colorado last Aug. 14. In its final report, the board says the RC operator flew the model outside the area designated for RC operations at Brighton Van-Aire Estates Airport before it was struck by the SA 750 Acroduster homebuilt. The NTSB described the biplane's maneuver as a go-around but video shows it was done at high speed and low altitude with airshow smoke on. An earlier report by the FAA says the biplane pilot reported he turned his smoke on to increase his visibility while he did the go-around. The biplane's lower wing was damaged but the pilot was able to land safely. The RC model was destroyed. The NTSB said the model was getting out of a vertical prop thrust hover when it strayed over the active runway and outside the RC box, but it suggested organizers of the show shared some responsibility for the incident.

The report says the organizer of the event briefed the RC pilots before the show and warned them to stay east of the active runway but it questions whether the separation between the two zones was policed effectively. "While the event coordinator was monitoring the radio for traffic, it was not clearly communicated who, if anyone, was providing spotter duties for the radio controlled airplane operator prior to the collision," the report said.

Canadair DC-4M-1 North Star

Douglas DC-3A a

Douglas DC-1-109

De Havilland DH-106 Comet 1

Blackburn B-101 Beverley C1

Spaceship "Feather" Test A Success

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By Mary Grady, Contributing editor

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The tricky maneuver of re-entry to the atmosphere is a challenge for spacecraft, but Burt Rutan's innovative "feathering" mechanism aims to make it simple and safe -- and now Scaled Composites has successfully tested the technology on its large-scale SpaceShipTwo. The first feathering test was completed earlier this month, and this week, Virgin Galactic posted video footage of the flight (at right). "It was a really major milestone for the test-flight program," says Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides in the video. "Today we received confirmation that the basic design of the spaceship is solid." Program manager Matt Steinmetze says, "We dropped it, we folded it in half, and the airplane didn't do anything bizarre, it didn't turn upside down. It did what it was supposed to, so now we've got an entry vehicle. Now we can come back from space."

SpaceShipTwo launched from Mojave early on May 4, attached to its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft. At the controls of the spaceship were Scaled test pilots Pete Siebold and Clint Nichols. After a 45-minute climb to 51,500 feet, SS2 was released from the carrier ship and established a stable glide profile before deploying, for the first time, its "feathered" configuration by rotating the tail section of the vehicle upwards to a 65-degree angle to the fuselage. It remained in this configuration at a level pitch for about a minute while descending, almost vertically, at around 15,500 feet per minute, slowed by the powerful shuttlecock-like drag created by the raised tail section. At around 33,500 feet the pilots reconfigured the spaceship to its normal glide mode and executed a smooth runway touchdown, about 11 minutes after release. "All objectives for the flight were met," said Virgin Galactic in a news release.

Boeing Tanker Crashes On Takeoff At California Air Base

All 3 Crewmembers Survive

CBS Newspath

Posted: 6:28 pm PDT May 18, 2011Updated: 6:57 pm PDT May 18, 2011

VENTURA, California -- A Boeing 707 tanker crashed and burst into flames as it took off Wednesday from Point Mugu Naval Air Station in Southern California, injuring the three people on board, an airbase spokeswoman said.

Broadcast reports showed black smoke and flames pouring from the aircraft after it went down at 5:25 p.m. and slid off a runway. The three on board escaped with minor injuries, air station spokeswoman Terry Reid told KCAL-TV.

She said the tanker is used for fleet operations support and transporting fuel.

It's not known where the tanker was headed at the time of the crash.

Point Mugu Naval Air Station is in Ventura County and about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Zeppelin makes a stop at North Perry Airport while on national tour

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Breaking News: Update: 158,000 pounds of jet fuel burning off from crashed Navy plane at Point Mugu, Calif. http://bit.ly/m9HV4y
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Breaking News: Navy refueling tanker crashes near Point Mugu, near Oxnard, Calif.; all 3 on board survive

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Malibu 'Wing House' made of 747 plane parts

The Molinari Gyrocopter

May 18, 2011 4:00 AM PDT

The Molinari Gyrocopter is a street-legal motorcycle that converts into a gyrocopter. It's fairly unlikely that attendees will be able to pilot the prototype that will be at the Maker Faire.

Photo by Molinari

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/2300-17938_3-10007805.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20#ixzz1MiQjr0Jj

CIA flew stealth drones into Pakistan to monitor bin Laden house

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By Greg Miller, Published: May 17

The CIA employed sophisticated new stealth drone aircraft to fly dozens of secret missions deep into Pakistani airspace and monitor the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed, current and former U.S. officials said.

Using unmanned planes designed to evade radar detection and operate at high altitudes, the agency conducted clandestine flights over the compound for months before the May 2 assault in an effort to capture high-resolution video that satellites could not provide.

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 The long-hunted al-Qaeda leader and chief architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was killed by U.S. forces May 1.

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The hunt for Osama bin Laden.

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• CIA flew stealth drones into Pakistan to monitor bin Laden house
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• Timeline: The life of bin Laden
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The aircraft allowed the CIA to glide undetected beyond the boundaries that Pakistan has long imposed on other U.S. drones, including the Predators and Reapers that routinely carry out strikes against militants near the border with Afghanistan.

The agency turned to the new stealth aircraft “because they needed to see more about what was going on” than other surveillance platforms allowed, said a former U.S. official familiar with the details of the operation. “It’s not like you can just park a Predator overhead — the Pakistanis would know,” added the former official, who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the program.

The monitoring effort also involved satellites, eavesdropping equipment and CIA operatives based at a safe house in Abbottabad, the city where bin Laden was found. The agency declined to comment for this article.

The CIA’s repeated secret incursions into Pakistan’s airspace underscore the level of distrust between the United States and a country often described as a key counterterrorism ally, and one that has received billions of dollars in U.S. aid.

Pakistan’s spy chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, last week offered to resign over the government’s failures to detect or prevent a U.S. operation that he described as a “breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty.” The country’s military and main intelligence service have come under harsh criticism since the revelation that bin Laden had been living in a garrison city — in the midst of the nation’s military elite — possibly for years.

The new drones represent a major advance in the capabilities of remotely piloted planes, which have been the signature American weapon against terrorist groups since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

In 2009, the Air Force acknowledged the existence of a stealth drone, a Lockheed Martin model known as the RQ-170 Sentinel, two years after it was spotted at an airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The aircraft bears the distinct, bat-winged shape of larger stealth warplanes. The operational use of the drones has never been described by official sources.

The extensive aerial surveillance after the compound was identified in August helps explain why the CIA went to Congress late last year, seeking permission to transfer tens of millions of dollars within agency budgets to fund intelligence-gathering efforts focused on the complex.

The stealth drones were used on the night of the raid, providing imagery that President Obama and members of his national security team appear in photographs to have been watching as U.S. Navy SEALs descended on the compound shortly after 1 a.m. in Pakistan. The drones are also equipped to eavesdrop on electronic transmissions, enabling U.S. officials to monitor the Pakistani response.

Cathay Pacific Airbus 330 makes emergency landing in Singapore

'God, save our flight! Give us your protection!' passengers pray

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msnbc.com news services

updated 2 hours 32 minutes ago

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SINGAPORE — Terrified passengers aboard a blazing jetliner prayed together before the plane made an emergency landing on Monday.

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An engine on a Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 caught fire in midair.

Cathay Pacific said the jet, bound for Jakarta with 136 passengers on board, landed back in Singapore "without incident" just before 2 a.m. It said the crew shut down the engine after receiving a "stall warning."

The Hong Kong-based airline said that it and engine maker Rolls-Royce were investigating the incident. 

Reuters photographer Beawiharta was aboard the aircraft with his wife, two sons and daughter. About 20 minutes after take-off, there were two sharp bangs, sending cabin staff scurrying to retrieve the meals they had only just begun serving.

The plane began shaking violently, he said, and the lights went out. He could smell something burning.

'Will we die?' His son, Pradipta, 15, said he saw nothing as he peered out the window.

"But I asked him to cup his hands to get a better view," Beawiharta said. "He shouted: 'I see fire! I see fire!'

"Panicked, he then asked: 'Will we die? Will we die?' I took his hand and told him firmly: 'No, we are going to live.'

"Behind us, passengers were praying: 'God, save our flight! Give us your protection!'"

The prayers got louder and louder, pierced by only the occasional cry of panic.

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"A stewardess told us an engine had caught fire and we were on our way back to Singapore. Glued to the window, my son said he could see lights, the sea and ships and then lights on the ground. We all grabbed life jackets from beneath our seats, but the plane landed smoothly.

"Within five minutes, as firefighters doused the damaged engine, we walked off the plane into the terminal."

In the waiting room, the pilot greeted assembled passengers.

"The best that we can ever ask of passengers is to stay cool, stay calm ... which you did," he said. "And for that we thank you."

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Flight CX715 had taken off from Singapore heading to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, at 1:12 a.m., but soon turned around after engine trouble and landed at 1:57 a.m., Singapore's Changi Airport said in a statement.

Firefighters extinguished the fire and normal flight operations resumed on the runway about an hour later, the airport said.

It was the second time in six months an Airbus had to make an emergency landing in Singapore because of engine problems. A Qantas A380 turned around shortly after takeoff Nov. 4 when one of its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines disintegrated. The Cathay plane was powered by Rolls-Royce's Trent 700 engines.