This flight is operated by Loganair in Scotland between two small islands in the Orkneys.  The flight is between Westray and Papa Westray islands and apparently if the winds are right it could be done in as little as 50 seconds.  Take a look:

 
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwyVWaCAD2A&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]
 
 
I’ll bet you hope I don’t play a video of the world’s longest flight in its entirety.

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Tim Clark, CEO of Emirates, has made a variety of statements regarding the airline industry and the world as a whole to Gulf Business. 

Clark sees another steep escalation of oil prices as being disastrous for the airline industry as a whole (I agree) and even for the world.  He blames world speculation in oil as being the source of the problem and calls it greed.

I think speculation in oil has raised the prices significantly.  What’s worse, that rise in cost is not well reflected in inflation values for both the United States as well as other nations.  Inflation calculations don’t consider the rise in the cost of fuel for our cars.

But I’m not sure that I blame speculators entirely either.  The truth is that we’ve had sustained financial crisis of one kind or another since 2008.  The US Dollar has devalued considerably as has the Euro as well.  Oil is a dollar denominated commodity presently.  There has been some desire to sell oil in Euros as well but that wouldn’t fix the problem one iota.  The Euro is, if anything, less “sure” than the dollar whatever its present value.

The key to lower oil prices is fiscal and monetary policies that are consistent, stable and sustainable over the long term in the United States and other western nations.   The markets are attracted to oil because it is a hedge against inflation presently.  We think there is little to no inflation at work presently and that’s just not the case.  In fact, we have quite a bit of inflation presently which isn’t accounted for.

It’s not so much greed on the part of speculators or oil companies as it is a result of sustained economic crisis.  When we handle our crisis and have plans in place that are sustainable for the long term, things will improve.

Lest any reader think I’m advocating a political party here, I’m not.  The truth is that I believe that our crisis is a result of both sides of the aisle attempting to have it all their way.  I think our solutions are to be found in the exercise of compromise and I think both sides have done us a great disservice in fighting this out in public.  The truth is that if I blame anyone, I blame Congress and, in particular, the House of Representatives for acting like a pack of middle school aged teenagers.  I see similar behaviors in Europe and elsewhere.

We deserve exactly who we vote for and apparently we deserve obstinate ideologists who would rather shoot both feet off to save face with their electors.

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Here is some video of the arrival of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas.  The video has great shots of various aircraft arriving including old Braniff 707-227s, Pan Am 707 press aircraft and others.  The arrival of Air Force 1 and 2 are well worth the watch alone.  At one point, an announcer refers to LBJ’s Air Force 2 as a “707 Astrojet” which had to have thrilled American Airlines.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv-frO6zG3w&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE3xozpqLj8&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

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I’ve watched this unfold much as anyone else has and there is one peculiar observation I have.

Am I the only one to notice that Doug Parker & company have largely kept their mouths shut in the merger process while virtually all other parties keep trying to find ways into the public eye?

Am I the only one to notice that AA CEO Tom Horton seems to be working overtime to speak about this merger opportunity?

We continually here Tom Horton portray himself neutrally when speaking to news media.  Yet when he has an opportunity to make a company communication, there is always a tone that leads me to believe that he’s less than happy with the merger idea being pressed upon him.

And it is curious to me that Horton’s “private” comments about the merger opportunity get leaked to the press pretty frequently whereas Doug Parker and his team really have largely just kept their mouths closed.

I’m tempted to think that Tom Horton protests too much in this and tend to interpret his behavior as somewhat desperate.  This may in fact not be the case at all.  The truth is, what’s going on behind closed doors is pretty much unknown by all.

But the more I notice Doug Parker’s silence, the more I think that he’s managed to pretty much corner this deal and it is his to lose at this point.

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The people at Brussels Airlines decided to play a nice trick on a few passengers while they waited for the luggage.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag9Y6RQcbEc&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

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Delta Airlines has a great 2012 holiday video.

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US Airways flight attendant Bette Nash has achieved 55 years of service with the airline but her history is rather unique in my opinion.  Ms. Nash started her career with Eastern Airlines flying Lockheed 1049 aircraft and shortly thereafter transferred into the Eastern Air Shuttle operation based in Washington, D.C.  in 1961.

Ms. Nash worked this shuttle system for the next 52 years.  The Eastern Air Shuttle was operated by Eastern Airlines between New York City, Boston and Washington D.C. from 1961 until it became the Trump Shuttle in 1989.  The system was operated as the Trump Shuttle from 1989 until 1992 when it was purchased by US Airways and operated as the US Air Shuttle (old US Air) and the US Airways Shuttle (post merger with America West).

52 years serving the shuttle system is, in my opinion, a big accomplishment.  Congratulations on your service, Ms. Nash.

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Lest anyone of you believe that the new movie, Flight, bears any resemblance to the real world, ALPA has released a statement defending its pilots:

“Hollywood dramas can make riveting entertainment and a compelling character study may sell tickets, but fiction on a movie screen doesn’t represent a profession in the real world.

“The more than fifty thousand ALPA pilots in the United States and Canada embody the highest possible standards of training and professionalism.

“These standards are borne out every day, as we safely transport hundreds of thousands of passengers and tens of thousands of tons of cargo across the country and around the world.

“We all enjoy being entertained, but a thrilling tale should not be mistaken for the true story of extraordinary safety and professionalism among airline pilots.”

I admire how they carefully ignore the number of incidents in which pilots have been found to be intoxicated and about to pilot an aircraft over the last 5 years.

Dear Pilots:  The history of Hollywood has made it clear that what goes on in that movie is sheer fantasy.  Should anyone in the public think that a pilot could be that drunk and pull off a recovery like that, well, you wouldn’t want them flying with you anyway.

Your professionalism is already well known and the public knows that pilots both in North America and across the world act with care and are trained extremely well (except the guy in China who managed to fly without a license).  There is no need to be paranoid that people might think that that is an ordinary reality.  I have a suggestion:  Get out and see a movie and relax.

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The other night I was doing some searching of area north and west of DFW and came across something that has to be a bit unusual.   A photo of an aircraft.  Actually, it shows as 2 aircraft but I suspect it’s one captured in two different frames.  It is, I believe, an American Airlines MD-82.

You can see it HERE (I hope.)

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When the new American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER was spotted at Boeing, everyone was a touch surprised to see it painted in grey with some preparation for a different scheme shown in how the tail was painted.  Current speculation is that AA will introduce a new livery with this aircraft although it might simply be a one-off design.

American Airlines is, of course, famous for its polished aluminum aircraft although that livery has been modified here and there over the years.  When the A300 came onboard, it was originally painted grey since Airbus aircraft nominally can’t be polished and left bare.  MD-80s ultimate saw their tail surfaces painted grey although originally they were polished as well.

Some think this 777 may just be a Oneworld paint scheme but it doesn’t follow what has been done with Oneworld aircraft so far.

I think it’s a new livery but if I’m a creditor of American Airlines, I would be pretty annoyed at discovering this.  Changing liveries is costly and with the future of AA much in doubt, it would be wiser to pause on a livery re-design until other issues are settled.

Yes, American does need a new livery because it is taking on new Airbus A320 series aircraft that must be painted and the 787 cannot be polished either.  More important, AA’s current livery is just . . . old and dated.

AA has lately been throwing out lots of change into the media.  Changes in seating, changes in first class experiences and just change.  Much of it scheduled years away.  Clearly it’s designed to create some excitement about the brand again but it seems slow and uncoordinated and against the best interests of a bankruptcy exit.   None of it fundamentally improves AA’s revenue plan so far either.

Enthusiasts will be excited and that includes me since a livery change is rare for most airlines and rarer still for American Airlines.

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A non-engineer in the United Kingdom purchased a RB-211 jet engine formerly glued onto a TWA L-1011 and restored it to running condition.  Yes, running condition.

He did it in his backyard and then he ran it in his back yard.  Take a look:

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ABC News did a little experiment where they put a large sum of money and an iPad in an secured bag and then sent it through TSA security in 10 different cities.  In 9 of those cities, honesty was displayed.  In Orlando, their iPad was stolen.

Here is an ABC News link to see their video.

If anyone thinks is an exceptional circumstance . . . don’t kid yourself.

Items are lost due to TSA theft frequently and their response is *always* “Gee, sorry, you’re out of luck.”  Items are lost out of bags that are secured with TSA approved locks.  You know, the locks that the TSA is only supposed to be able to unlock?

But in the name of guarding against terrorism, they continue to get a pass from investigation and from Congress.  At this point, I regard the TSA as more “mafia” than protection.  They are a protection racket rather than security.

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Watch this brief video of a very late, very tight A340 Air France go around as it approaches the island of St. Maarten as Tropical Storm Isaac approached.

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Enjoy this column written for CNN by Bob Greene about the Golden Years of airlines and flying.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/19/opinion/greene-flying-celebrities/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

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A C-17 managed to land at the wrong airport  a few days ago and I suspect that a pilot’s career may be over as a result.  The C-17 landed at a private airport which has a 3500 foot long runway.  It was intending to land at MacDill Air Force Base which has an 11,500 foot runway that was just 5 miles further along and which uses the same runway headings.  The plane had to be significantly lightened and fuel burned off for a max power take-off to leave the small airport.  Here is the video:

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Here is a great video of lightning striking an aircraft on the ramp.  Notice the flash at the forward nosegear when it happens?  That’s the airframe passing the current through the aircraft so that no one in the aircraft is shocked.

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An ANA 767 landed hard enough in Tokyo to bend the fuselage severely resulting in serious fuselage wrinkling forward of the wing.  I suspect we’ve identified the next 767-300 to be retired from ANA’s fleet.  Here is the video:

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A great video of a stored Southern Air 747 without engines trying to lift off in flight as high winds weathervane the aircraft.

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Eastern Bloc countries apparently had a penchant for landing the Il-62 on short, unprepared fields to deliver aircraft for museums.  Here are videos of those two landings (in German and Russian languages respectively.)

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The Discovery Channel in partnership with British and German television channels has performed a controlled crash into the ground of a 727-200 in a Mexican desert.  Here is the video:

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