Aircraft Spotting

The aircraft must be configured appropriately for its weight, runway length, and environmental conditions.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Takeoff is recognized as one of the most critical phases of flight due to the various worst-case scenarios involved in the takeoff performance parameter. A routine takeoff may be much simpler and can be estimated using analytical models.

However, the inclusivity of what-if scenarios makes the modeling highly complex. As such, flight manuals and checklists are designed to incorporate complex scenarios when estimating the takeoff performance of an aircraft.

Balanced field length

The balanced field length is the minimum distance required for safe operations on the runway, whether a liftoff, aborted, or having an inoperable engine. The runway length is determined based on equipment and environmental parameters.

The aircraft size and weight typically determine the runway length. Runway length must be appropriate in case of a safe (routine) liftoff and an emergency (one-engine inoperable) procedure. For a routine liftoff, it is the distance required to continue the flight and clear the obstacle (typically 35 ft/10 m).

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Some determining factors are environmental conditions such as airport altitude, temperature, winds, and surrounding…

LIMOURS, France (AP) — Ukraine’s defense minister said Wednesday that Ukrainian lives will be saved by a sophisticated air-defense radar that France is supplying and which is powerful enough to spot incoming missiles and exploding drones in the skies over all of Ukraine’s capital and its surrounding region.

The minister, Oleksii Reznikov, was so enthusiastic about what he called Ukraine’s new “electronic eyes” that he quickly coined a nickname for the Ground Master 200 radar — the “Grand Master.”

Speaking through an interpreter at a handover ceremony for the radar with his French counterpart, Reznikov described the French-made GM200 as a “very effective” improvement for Ukraine’s network of about 300 different types of air-defense radars.

Thales, the manufacturer, says the radar detects and tracks rockets, artillery and mortar shells, missiles, aircraft, drones and other threats.

“Because of your support, Ukrainian lives will be saved,” the minister said at the ceremony in Limours, where Thales makes the equipment.

Large operating expenses of quadjets prevent airlines from continuing to use them.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

As the last Boeing 747 jumbo jet left the Boeing factory earlier this month, the era of quad jets seems to approach an end. The Boeing 747 has been in production for more than 53 years. The production of the first jumbo-jet for Pan Am Airlines began in 1969. Nearly five decades later, with the advent of more fuel-efficient aircraft, customers started to weigh the economic viability of quad jets.

Airbus pulled the plug on its iconic quadjet, the A380, at the end of 2021. The main reason for both manufacturers to terminate the production of their quad jets is the decline in demand. More and more airlines are opting for fuel-efficient twin-engine jets.

Even though twin-engine jets typically lack the capacity, they provide more flexibility and economic viability for the airlines. China Southern Airlines waived goodbye to its quad jets in 2022.

China Southern Airlines

China Southern Airlines recently retired the last two of its five A380-800 passenger aircraft. The airline had been operating the A380 from its base in Guangzhou since October 2011. It operated its last revenue flight of the superjumbo from Los Angeles (LAX) and Guangzhou (CAN) on November 7.

China Southern is the…

On January 26, 2023 – the 22-year anniversary of Horizon Air’s first revenue flight with the Bombardier Q400, now the de Haviland of Canada Dash 8-400 – the author was invited to go along for what would be the last revenue flight for the regional subsidiary of Alaska Airlines. Of course, after planespotting to watch the mighty Q400 take off to Wenatchee, the author would race ahead and watch the penultimate revenue landing at Spokane International Airport (GEG).

Why Horizon having two fleets was not “cost-effective”

But first, why did Horizon Air make the decision to retire healthy, efficient Q400 airframes? Even though Horizon Air, according to a press statement, was at one point the world’s largest Q400 operator with 52 aircraft and found the Q400 to be an effective “backbone of our regional flying for two decades,” the time had arrived for Horizon Air to call curtains for the mighty Dash.

The rationale, according to the aforementioned Horizon Air statement, was,

[A] transition from the older Q400 turboprop to a single fleet of modern E175 jets. For Horizon, it’s one of the most important things we can do to stabilize our future. It marks a significant milestone for the airline. Flying two smaller fleets of aircraft wasn’t sustainable or cost-effective. Moving to a single fleet type allows us to better focus all our resources.

Furthermore, to Alaska Air…

Master Sergeant John Chapman received a posthumous Medal of Honor for courageous action during conflict in Takur Ghar, Afghanistan. He was the first Airman to earn a Medal of Honor for service during the War on Terrorism.

Background and early life

Master Sergeant John Chapman was born on July 14, 1965, in Springfield, Massachusetts. During his childhood, his family relocated to Connecticut where he eventually attended Windsor Locks High School. Two years after graduating, he decided to enlist in the United States Air Force. Chapman trained as an information systems operator and later joined the Information Systems Squadron at Lowry Air Force Base.

Deployed right into the enemy’s base  

In March 2002, MSgt. John Chapman served with the Navy SEALS in Operation Anaconda. The CIA and U.S. allies had a plan to oust Al-Qaeda and the Taliban from certain strategic regions of Afghanistan. The U.S. deployed nearly 1,700 troops into Shahi-Kot Valley, a Taliban stronghold. As might be expected, service members quickly discovered well-armed Al-Qaeda and the Taliban combatants. As U.S. helicopters landed, enemy forces greeted them with machine gun artillery. On top of that, the mountainous terrain offered the enemy snippers abundant cover. They shot from caves and crevices in the rocks, so the Americans had trouble spotting them.

After an explosive struck a helicopter, Navy SEAL…

Industry and governments are continually looking for efficiencies – opportunities to improve safety and productivity, while reducing environmental impact, response times and costs.

One of the biggest challenges to improving efficiencies is the location and roles of people. When humans are located onsite or are key to frontline operations or processes, the result is often increased costs and complexity, and a simultaneous reduction in safety through exposure. History has shown that as soon as a machine can take the place of a human, it will.

As we’ve seen through defence applications, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the potential to revolutionise many industry sectors including emergency services, security, energy, transport and logistics, resources and infrastructure by delivering commercial advantage and sustainability pathways to organisations that adopt the new technology.

Need to move urgent medical supplies like blood or a donor organ to a hospital hundreds of kilometres away? Need to assess damage after a fire or flood without sending in a spotter crew on the ground? How about monitoring borders, spotting sharks or mapping remote terrain?

Activities like these can be done easier, safer, and more efficiently with minimal human intervention using a combination of drone technology, satellite communication and software that enables livestreaming of high-quality video and data.

Big ideas take off

We’re already doing these things; the…

Community to See First Commercial Flights in Over 10 Years

Gallup, a city located along Interstate I-40 in western New Mexico with a population of just under 21,000 residents will finally be getting commercial air service after 12-years without one. The last airline to serve the community was Great Lakes Airlines, they offered flights to both Denver and Phoenix with an intermediate stop in Farmington, N.M. but that service stopped in 2008.

Hawthorne-Calif. based Advanced Air, will be starting service to this city on August 1, 2022, using one of their 8-seat King Air 350’s aircraft. The route will be flown once daily from their Phoenix Sky Harbor hub and will operate non-sterile out of the Swift FBO at the airport, in Gallup they will be using the main terminal at the Gallup Municipal Airport that carries the ICAO code of KGUP.

It is very rare to see airlines expanding into new airports as pilot and scheduling issues plague the airline industry at this current point in time. And even rarer still, to see a community as small as Gallup get back service after this many years, the community itself only has around 25,000 residents. Although the city is small they do have multiple Native American Reservations surrounding Gallup that add quite a bit to the population.

An employee at the airport did mention that they…

If you are into aviation like we are here at Simple Flying, you will know that there is a great joy to be had watching planes take off and land. While we all know why thousands of pounds of metal can fly through the sky, it still seems unthinkable that it can actually happen. Luckily, for us avid planespotters, there are plenty of airports around the world that make it easy for us to watch planes come and go.

While almost every airport in the world has a location or two that is good for planespotting, some airports are better than others. With this in mind, we decided to compile a list of what we consider the best five locations worldwide for planespotting. Several of these airports will be on the bucket lists of many avgeeks, and even manage to also draw considerable interest from the general public.

1 Princess Juliana Airport (SXM)

Arguably the best place in the world to go planespotting is the Dutch/French Caribbean island of Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. Located on the Dutch side of the island Princess Juliana Airport (SXM) offers planespotters an idyllic location to indulge in their pastime. What makes the airport special is its relatively short 2,300-meter-long (7,546 feet) runway and low-altitude approach.

A PILOT of a huge plane nearly crashed over Oxfordshire after spotting unexpected ‘intruder’.

Pilots from a huge plane reported a ‘high risk’ near crash over Oxfordshire after their alarm system was triggered by a small aircraft.

A grey Voyager aircraft, which is an RAF air-to-air refuelling tanker that also acts as air transport, was alarmed after spotting an unexpected aircraft when taking off from Brize Norton RAF base on November 9 last year.

The Voyager pilot reported that their collision warning system was triggered by an ‘intruder’ – another aircraft, a Bulldog – travelling near them.

READ MORE: Video shows large chunks of roof being blown off RAF Brize Norton hangar

Diagram shows how close two planes were together, with flight paths nearly crossing.

The Bulldog, which is a small two-seat aircraft, was spotted by the Voyager’s safety pilot as the plane began to enter a cloud slightly to the northwest.

There was no way to move out of the way if the flight paths were to converge, leading the pilots on board to fear a crash.

The Bulldog passed the plane 200m away.

Meanwhile, in the control room, the Brize Norton zone controller approved the Bulldog’s crossing from Faringdon to Burford and made the necessary calls.

READ MORE: Royal helicopter lands in Blackbird Leys to residents’…

The Midlands Air Festival is set to return this summer bringing with it a variety of aircraft, hot air balloons and more.

The festival will take place at Ragley Hall Estate in Alcester for a three-day event, starting on June 2 and ending on June 4, 2023.

This summer, the event will see warbirds, vintage aircraft, helicopters, aerobatics, flying circus and military jets and the largest gathering of hot air balloons in the UK fill the skies above Ragley Hall Estate.

Visitors will get to see some of the rarest aircraft in action and some appearances have been confirmed already.

AeroSuperBatics Wingwalkers (Image: Alex Cusden)

Midlands Air Festival returning to Ragley Hall in 2023

The Grumman Bearcat fighter, The Pitts Special, The 6 ship Yakovlev formation team, Stampe Biplane Display Team, Turbulent flying circus display team, Aerosuperbatics Wingwalkers, the weird and wonderful Gyroplane and the ex-Army Auster artillery spotting aircraft are all confirmed for the Midlands Air Festival 2023.

The Grumman Bearcat fighter aircraft is thought to be one of the most powerful piston engine fighters ever built and it’s set to tear up the sky with its massive prop and radial engine and a sound you won’t miss.

Lauren Wilson is returning to the festival for the first time since 2019 in her Pitts Special with some high-energy aerobatics.

Wilson is the top female display aerobatics…