Boomerjinks posted:

Titan Is are pretty Aeronautically Insane, right?

Best Thursday morning ever!

Tsuru posted:

I thought I'd just leave this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPWtIhIFL14

quote:

Emergency crews race to Melbourne Airport after bomb threat on Air Mauritius flight

UPDATE: A FULLY-loaded Air Mauritius aircraft was forced to make an emergency return to Melbourne Airport this afternoon after a passenger is believed to have made a bomb threat to the crew.

The Airbus A340 had take off from the airport just after 2.30pm when the crew advised the control tower of the need to return, with Federal Police boarding the aircraft after it touched down and stopped at the end of the runway.

The aircraft involved was Air Mauritius flight MK943 bound for Perth.

It is believed a man was detained on board, but other passengers were safely escorted from the plane, which was undamaged.

Sources said there had been a bomb threat, but this was not confirmed by an aiport spokesman.

quote:

On Saturday 52-year-old Terry Kronk, a pilot with more than 15 years experience, was killed when his light plane crashed at Helidon Spa in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane.

Mr Kronk's replica mustang, which he built himself, came down seconds after taking off from the Emu Gully airstrip about 10am AEST.

front wing flexing posted:

It's always crazy to me whenever I remember that Australia has less than 25 million people.

quote:

Super Hornets considered amid fears about JSF

THE Gillard government will consider buying up to 24 new F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter-bombers in a decision that would sharply reduce reliance on the troubled Joint Strike Fighter.

The possible Super Hornet purchase, expected to cost well over $100 million each, is part of a range of multi-billion-dollar air-power options due to be revealed today by Defence Minister Stephen Smith.

quote:

THE DEFENCE GARAGE SALE

12,000 vehicles (3300 Land Rovers variants, 2500 light trailers, 2430 medium trucks)

Up to 24 ships; (Landing ships HMAS Manoora and Kanimbla, supply ship, frigates, barges)

70 combat aircraft; (F/A-18 Hornet fighters)

110 other aircraft; (C-130 Hercules, King Air)

* 120 helicopters; (Sea King, Seahawk, Blackhawk)

* 600 armoured vehicles; (Armoured personnel carriers)

* A range of communications systems, weapons and explosive ordnance (M2A2 Howitzers, 30 calibre machine guns, Hamel guns, M60D Machine guns, SLRs, torpedos).

quote:

Construction completed at Long Beach, California - September 1, 1938 Built as a Douglas DC-3-232A with Wright Cyclone engines

Purchased new by Australian National Airways for $A 64,800 Transported to Australia as deck cargo on the ship S.S. Clydebank arriving Port Melbourne - October 17, 1938
This was the third DC-3 to be imported into Australia

Impressed as A30-3 and issued to No 8 Squadron, Canberra - September 15, 1939. It was operated in full camouflage markings

Damaged during forced landing at Forrest, W.A. when both engines failed on take-off - February 1, 1942
Involved in a wheels-up landing at Mascot Airport, Sydney - September 30, 1943
Damaged on take-off from Mildura when engine failed & undercarriage collapsed - December 13, 1947
Extensively damaged in forced landing 6 km south of Browning following engine fire - October 4, 1948

Jealous Cow posted:

quote:

Holiday makers have run for safety when a vintage bi-plane made an emergency landing on a crowded beach at Barwon Heads.

The bi-plane reportedly suffered engine failure when it was forced to make the emergency landing at about 1.30pm.

quote:

Jetstar fined $90,000 for making cadets pay for own training
Posted 1 minute ago

Jetstar has been fined $90,000 for making six cadet pilots pay for their own training.

The Federal Court handed down the fine in Sydney after the airline admitted it breached the Fair Work Act when it deducted $17,500 from the wages of the cadets to cover the training.

The pilots, recruited between October 2010 and January 2011, were employed on individual contracts through a New Zealand-based Jetstar subsidiary while they underwent six months of training.

After their employment was transferred to Australian entity Jetstar Group, Jetstar tried to recover training costs from the pilots despite being advised it was unlawful under Australia's Air Pilots Award 2010, Justice Robert Buchanan found.

...

quote:

Taranis drone: Britain's $336m supersonic unmanned aircraft launched over Woomera

The first vision of a state-of-the-art drone touted as the future of British warfare has been released, showing it soaring over what is thought to be Woomera in remote South Australia.

The vision shows the sleek Taranis, named after the Celtic god of thunder, making a seamless take-off and conducting a number of manoeuvres over red desert during its first test flight.

The British Military of Defence (MoD) will not confirm where the footage was shot, but in a submission last year to a UK parliamentary hearing, revealed that the Taranis Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator had indeed conducted initial test flights at the Woomera test range.

The MoD is hailing the test flight, which it now confirms occurred in August last year, as an overwhelming success.

"The demonstrator aircraft made a perfect take-off, rotation, 'climb-out' and landing on its 15-minute first flight," it said in a statement.

...

Boomer The Cannon posted:

I'll add another vote for Samurai!, and also recommend Tale of A Guinea Pig by Geoffrey Page, The Last Enemy by Richard Hillary and Thunderbolt! by Robert S. Johnson.

E: Either the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum jumped the gun for April Fools Day by 6 weeks, or you Brits are in for a special treat:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/canada-s-lancaster-bomber-to-cross-atlantic-for-u-k-tour-1.2546757

quote:

http://www.airforce.gov.au/Interact/Displays/Air-Shows/?RAAF-iBBIZGwstZ874cZM/cfL/Idc+u6Ro5VF
The Centenary of Military Aviation 2014 Air Show is proudly presented by the Royal Australian Air Force at RAAF Williams, Point Cook, Victoria over the weekend of 1st and 2nd March 2014.

Point Cook is the birthplace of military aviation in Australia and the oldest continually operating military airfield in the world.

Encompassing a spectacular Air Show with air displays and ground displays, the Centenary of Military Aviation is a national event celebrating 100 years of military aviation in Australia.

ctishman posted:

Can someone help explain the Japanese domestic aircraft thing to me? I mean, the longest distance between two major Japanese cities is only about a thousand miles, yet somehow they're flying 747-400s and 777-300s all over the place? How does that make any sort of sense from a cost perspective?

quote:

A specialist parachute designed for an entire light aircraft has allowed four people to make a miraculous escape from a plane crash in the Blue Mountains.

The male pilot of the Cirrus aircraft managed to dodge houses and major powerlines before landing the plane in the front yard of a house at Lawson at 2.10pm on Saturday.

All four people on-board escaped serious injury with only one passenger taken to hospital for neck pain. The only damage done was to the house's front fence.

The stricken aircraft floats to earth under its parachute. Photo: Claire Hills

Resident Robert Ross, who watched the entire incident unfold as he chopped wood in his backyard, said if it was not for the parachute the plane would have crashed into his home.

"I looked up and the engine started to splutter ... he got it going again and then it went dead," Mr Ross said.

"It then started to go into a spiral. I thought the pilot was going to eject but it all happened too quick. I started yelling out to my wife 'There's a plane going to crash into the house'

"I was making GBS threads myself then it veered off and crashed about 400 metres away."

Police said the pilot deployed the aircraft's parachute at 1300 metres "following an emergency incident".

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/plane-parachute-gives-near-disaster-a-soft-landing-20140510-zr8uc.html#ixzz31KahMIOp

hobbesmaster posted:

He tried to deploy it at 7000 ft AGL?

quote:

Ready set GO! Racing over @Melbourne https://www.facebook.com/Lensaloft #seeaustralia https://pic.twitter.com/PlBVE5T3On

Jealous Cow posted:

While I'm rambling about this, UA is supposedly adding direct lax-Mel service starting in October on the 787. That'll be interesting. I guess it's in response to Quantas and virgin's direct service, but currently the syd-Mel segment is never more than 60-70% full, usually less.