Interiors Two

Good trevia

According to Air & Space magazine--on May 14, Eurocopter test pilot Didier Delsalle landed his Ecureuil Astar S350 B3 helicopter, on the top of Mt. Everest  (29,035 feet), where the temperature was -30 degrees fht, for nearly 4 minutes--setting a new world record for the highest  landing & takeoff.

Under a heading of, If you sink it--they shall come.  The Natl. Park Service has declared that the B29 at the bottom of Nevada's Lake Mead will be a natural attraction for the Scuba Divers of the world!  It seems that on July 21st, 1948, this bomber, modified as an atmospheric laboratory swung over Lake  Mead,  skimming too low, caught a wing at 230 mph, lost 3 engines and sunk like a stone.
This last March & again in May,   archeologists with the NPS Submerger Resource Center surveyed and mapped the wreckage--and since Lake Mead is a National Recreation Area, they decided that the under water  site would be a magnet for divers the world wide.  Since the plane rests 170 ft. below the surface in fresh water, it is well preserved due to lack of marine growth (dark down there), and fresh water doesn't corrode aluminum as quickly as salt water!  Have at it scuba divers all!

The Boom!

Aside from the shuttle work..NASA has summoned 4 teams to begin a 5 month study to design and build a SS low boom - demonstration aircraft, to be made at an affordable price--in a reasonable time frame.  The players will be ..Boeing Phantom Works, Raytheon Aircrft, Northrop Grumman/Gulfstream Aerospace and Lockheed Martin/Cessna.  That about covers our industry!  However, this is Good news for all, and I'm sure that these combined "heads" will solve the boom over land that has impeeded progress in this sector thus far.  CAN'T WAIT FOR THESE RESULTS!

"The World is Flat"

The World is Flat   is a new book by Thomas L. Friedman, writer for the New York Times and former winner of the Pulitzer Prize.  He refers to the pivotal forces that have brought globalization to our planet and the events that precipitated these changes.
There is one section that describes out sourcing in various industries, and draws a circle that is of particular interest to aviation challenges.  As a for instance, Friedman refers to the Boeing Company and how they are outsourcing engineering problems to the Russians- who are more proficient in metallurgy  and large lifting; the Russian engineers are outsourcing some of their items to people in India, but find themselves so busy that many of the Soviet engineers are starting their own Companies to which Boeing is an investing partner! 
All of these major discoveries are pivotal to our industry, and point to the real need for quality design and  involvement in the actual end installation.  This is where an innovative company can complete the circle and take advantage of the changing world.

Think about this!

JAL's union structures are as bloated as they can get. It is a fact that there are 10 unions within the carrier, with five separate unions for the cabin crew alone!  This makes United AL look sleek.  The resulting  chaos is that all communications with management are slowed down to a crawl, and although this condition is not alone with JAL.  The result of mergers and acquisitions, we might speculate, is that combining Airline companies does not always trim down costs or services or the abundance of management personnel.

Something to watch--for sure.

Supersonic news

It seems that the French and Russians are going to collaborate on a SS transport.  Very good news.
The Americans are working too on a Business sized SS for corporate use.  The over riding problem is the sonic boom which makes over land flights difficult.

FT Aerospace as reported in the London Financial Times

There is a very complete, "Special Report" in the Monday, June 13, 2005 Financial Times: the  spotlight is on the commercial, military and political pressures faced by aircraft mfg's.  You can access this information at  www.ft.com/ftreports.    The in depth articles address US Airlines: the High End Fighter (Military--US F/A-22 & the Eurofighter): Helicopters: and the Boeing versus Airbus balance of power.
The entire section is worthy and gives a great overview- including a small color drawing of the countries participating in the Airbus 380.

recent thoughts

Airbus 380 observed by mock up