A Pilot’s Blog
A blog about aviation, aviation news, and space.

While 2007 brought devastating news with the loss of Steve Fossett, there were no major airline accidents or passenger fatalities in the United States. According to an article in USA Today, this is the first time since 1998 that that has happened. I think this is a wonderful testament to the training and professionalism of our flight and cabin crews. There may be events outside of your control that cause flights to be late or canceled, but the flying public can remain at ease knowing that they will arrive safely at their destination.

There is more great news for Boeing this year, as they have earned a potential $1.2bn order from NASA to upgrade their Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) over the next 5+ years.

Initially valued at $695 million, with options increasing the deal to $1.2 billion, the contract calls for two spacecraft, with the first ready to launch in 2012. The second is expected to be ready for launch in 2013.

Boeing will design and manufacture the TDRS K series satellites as well as upgrade NASA’s TDRS system ground terminals located near Las Cruces, N.M., according to a release. The ground terminals are the primary two-way communications link between the TDRS satellites and the ground-based elements of the TDRS system communications network.

Being a government entity, the FAA always manages to come up with things with a straight face, that most anybody else would stop and go…wait a minute. All airports have a three-letter identifier with which they are referenced in the aviation world. The identifier that was given to Souix City, Iowa’s Gateway Airport? SUX. Of course, Souix City didn’t really like that, so they petitioned the FAA to have it changed. Their choices were “GWU, GYO, GYT, SGV and GAY”. Again, you’ve got to love the FAA. Anyways, the airport has decided to turn the tables around and use the unique identifier to their benefit. Fly SUX!.

AP story here.

On October 14, 1947 then Captain Chuck Yeager piloted his Bell X-1 “Glamorous Glennis” into the history books. What began as a flight that was just supposed to go to Mach .97, ended with a Mach 1.06 flight past the sound barrier. Captain Yeager went on to retire a Brigadier General in 1975. You are truly an inspiration General. I salute you.

Per a Press Release issued a few days ago:

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Cobham said Thursday that a memorandum of agreement (MOA) has been signed between its U.S. subsidiary, Sargent Fletcher and Boeing Integrated Defense Systems to provide the composite Body Fuel Tank System for the KC-767 Advanced Tanker.

The MOA was issued by The Boeing Company to Sargent Fletcher, part of Cobham’s Air Refuelling and Auxiliary Mission Equipment Division, in support of the USAF Tanker KC-X proposal, the company said.

The English military is going to be using the Boeing 767 tankers, and I can only hope that the USAF will also continue to use Boeing aircraft for their mid-air refueling needs.

The official search for missing aviator Steve Fossett was halted a few days ago. I had hoped the situation would turn out differently, and I’m very saddened that Mr. Fossett has not yet been found – in any condition. Godspeed sir.

Through the efforts of Google and other companies, satellite images taken of the search area where Mr. Fossett is believed to be have been uploaded to Amazon Mechanical Turk. If you have an account there, and some free time, you can assist with the search to find this legendary aviator.

I was very startled to come home today and read this news.

MINDEN, Nev. (AP) — Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, who has cheated death time and again in his successful pursuit of aviation records, was missing Tuesday after taking off in a single-engine plane the day before to scout locations for a land-speed record, officials said.

Teams searched a broad swath of rugged terrain in western Nevada near the ranch where he took off, but searchers had little to go on because he apparently didn’t file a flight plan, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.

I was very fortunate to be able to watch Mr. Fossett’s record-breaking flight around the world in the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer. Ironically enough, the picture I chose for my top logo last night was taken by me upon his landing following that flight. I pray that this turns out ok and he’s found alive and well.

Today, 07/08/07, brings forth the long-awaited unveiling of the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing will reveal aircraft #001 off the line in a ceremony starting at 3:30pm Pacific / 5:30pm Central time. If you aren’t fortunate enough to have access to one of the satellite channels they will be broadcasting on, you can catch the live webcast here. I can’t wait!

Also, be sure to catch the “7-Series” videos accessible from the webcast link. They’re a bit short, but a nice tribute to each of the members of the 700 line.

Update:

Here she is! A beautiful and sleek aircraft!

Picture courtesy of Airliners.net.

The rumors are swirling now that the first 787 off the line will be headed to paint tonight or tomorrow. I can hardly wait until the 8th. :-)

Dreamliner One has been lowered onto its own landing gear for the first time and the tooling towers were being pulled back. Engine installation was complete and it should be heading to the paint shop today or tomorrow.

Update 6/26: The rumor is true!