Golf Hotel Whiskey: for pilots and aviation enthusiasts
Hat tip to Devesh Agarwal and his Bangalore Aviation blog for finding and posting a link to a file that will allow you to build your own Airbus A320neo with paper. You can download the A4 version here along with more Airbus paper cutout goodies here.
Both the Airbus and Boeing PR teams have gone all out to cover their activity at the 2012 Farnborough Air Show with videos offering highlights for each day of the show. However and as you can see from the following videos, the PR teams of both Airbus and Boeing took radically different approaches to get their respective messages across with Airbus daily highlight videos having no commentary and just plenty of great aircraft videos set to music while Boeing’s daily highlight videos sound like a commercial intended for Wall Street analysts:
Day One at the 2012 Farnborough Air Show
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP89bIwFAMU&w=480]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKydeOcQZ9Q&w=480]
Day Two at the 2012 Farnborough Air Show
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIzlTu6ltDM&w=480]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BBxWO9MZa0&w=480]
Day Three at the 2012 Farnborough Air Show
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqgUKiWm8c0&w=480]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPqO9Jdo_Lw&w=480]
Day Four at the 2012 Farnborough Air Show
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pylVH3MloF8&w=480]
I should mention there are plenty of dry Airbus videos on their YouTube channel as well as on the Boeing YouTube channel. Nevertheless, who do you think should win an award for having the best or most effective 2012 Farnborough Air Show PR videos, Airbus or Boeing? Feel free to tell us in the comments section below…
Recently, Prime Minister David Cameron sparked controversy when he and his aides flew to Indonesia around Easter in a rented Boeing 747 owned by an Angolan carrier banned from the EU over safety concerns that was leased from an American company. Even more embarrassing was the purpose of the mission: To convince Garuda Indonesia airlines to buy 11 European made Airbus 330 aircraft.
Apparently, they would normally charter British Airways or Virgin Atlantic aircraft for foreign travel but both airlines were busy during Easter. Hence and in the future, the Royal Family along with senior UK politicians may consider using one of the RAF’s “Voyager” Airbus A330 tanker aircraft to make foreign trips to avoid any further embarrassments. After all, Britain does not have a dedicated aircraft like Air Force One or the private Airbus jets used by French and German leaders to jet around the world in.
Moreover and sadly, Britain’s domestic aircraft manufacturing industry is a far cry from what it used to be. A quick search of the Internet reveals that the British aircraft industry once included homegrown aircraft manufacturers such as:
I have probably left out a few companies (feel free to mention them in the comments section) but most almost all of the above names no longer exist. Nevertheless and if there is any consolation, the Wikipedia entry for the aerospace industry of the United Kingdom notes that it:
….is the second- or third-largest national aerospace industry in the world, depending upon the method of measurement. The industry employs around 113,000 people directly and around 276,000 indirectly and has an annual turnover of around £20 billion.
So I guess all is not lost – even if the Prime Minister has been reduced to flying American made jets leased from American companies and owned by Angolans…
Hat tip to the Bangalore Aviation blog for finding and posting this video made by the Baltic Aviation academy on the differences between the cockpits of the American Boeing 737NG (737-700, -800, -900ER) and the European Airbus A320 (A318, 319, 320, 321) families – the two most popular commercial aircraft in the world today. The video does an excellent job of showing the difference in thinking required by pilots for both aircraft along with the different design philosophies behind these aircraft.
So which aircraft is better and which one would you prefer to fly – the Boeing or the Airbus? Feel free to tell us what you think after watching the video!
Airbus has unveiled a proposed see-through airliner complete with a holographic game course for passengers. Specifically, Airbus’s cabin of the future design will include an "intelligent" wall membrane that will become transparent at the wave of a hand as well as change according to outside light conditions.
In addition, the aircraft’s structure will mimic the bone structure of birds while new seats will be sensitive to the body shape of passengers and their specific needs. In fact, the seats themselves will offer massages, drinks as well as even a sea breeze or the aroma of a forest.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal has posted this video showing the proposed Airbus aircraft:
At the end of the day though, the real question will be whether or not airliners will buy a see through Airbus airliner with a holographic golf course and just how much such a proposed design will end up costing them to purchase and to fly. Nevertheless, Airbus’s proposed see-through design could definitely work for a much smaller business jet designed to be a billionaire’s toy!
Several bloggers have noted a recent incident at JFK where an Air France Airbus 380 (Flight AF007) hit the tail of a Comair Bombardier CJR-700 (Flight 6293). Luckily, no one was injured as there were 61 passengers and crew aboard the Bombardier and 580 aboard the giant Airbus.
As the Lucky Puppy Aviation blog noted, fingers are already being pointed but its the pilot-in-command’s responsibility to "see and avoid" all traffic. However and if you watch the video of the incident, a Bombardier taxis to it’s spot but then someone in a pick up truck darts across the plane’s path – forcing the Bombardier had to stop. The Airbus couldn’t see it happen as it was already out of view from the cockpit.
On the other hand, Tracy on the the Around the Pattern Blog has written that he is amazed by the actions of the A-380 crew and noted further that:
It’s always hard to judge speed when you are looking at a single point through a camera lens, but it sure looks like the A-380 was moving along a bit fast. It doesn’t appear that they made any effort to slow down and check their wingtip clearance with the commuter aircraft. You’d think that with a plane as big as the 380 you would always be concerned about wingtip and tail clearance – especially at a congested airport like JFK. You know that the plane is bigger than the airport was initially designed to handle, so normal taxiway markings will provide only marginal clearance. Maybe they expected the commuter to continue into the alleyway. Bad assumption.
Tracy further added that if you are ever going to make an assumption about another person’s actions, you need to assume that they will do whatever will make the worst outcome for you.
Meanwhile, Sulako of Sulako’s Flying Blog has noted that someone on AvCanada has posted a picture of the accident scene (courtesy of Google Earth) with the wingspan of the A380 superimposed. Sulako added that there should be enough clearance – if the 380 was on the center line of the taxiway with the Bombardier north of the the road.
Hence, we want to ask you our readers what you think of this incident. In other words, who is at fault? Moreover, could the size of the Airbus be partially to blame – and not to mention the idiot truck driver?
