Free Republic

The coronavirus pandemic is grounding Joe Biden’s campaign. The former vice president’s campaign team hasn’t booked any air travel, leaving no need to lease a plane to jet around the country for political rallies, Axios reported on Monday.

The beleaguered F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is still suffering from hundreds of unresolved design flaws, according to a new report from a non-governmental watchdog, dozens of which the Defense Department has "no plan" to ever correct. The Joint Strike Fighter Program Office’s Deficiency Report Metrics, dated Feb. 28 and obtained by the Project On Government Oversight, indicates that the Pentagon is still dealing with roughly 883 design flaws, more than half of which remain "open, in dispute." This designation means that "pilots or engineers believed they found a problem, but the contractors tasked with fixing the problems are claiming no...

A US Air Force helicopter was shot at near Manassas, Virginia, on Monday, injuring one of two pilots on board, according to an Air Force official. The UH-1N was flying 10 miles northwest of Manassas on a routine training mission at an altitude of 1,000 feet when the incident occurred. It landed safely at Manassas Regional Airport west of Washington, DC, and the pilot was taken to hospital where they were treated and released, the official said. The incident is now under FBI and Air Force investigation to determine if the helicopter was deliberately shot at or if someone was...

Precision Castparts, one of Oregon’s largest companies, eliminated 10,000 jobs worldwide in the first half of the year as orders for its aerospace components evaporated. This year’s job cuts represent about a third of Precision Castparts’ global workforce, according to Berkshire Hathaway, Precision Castparts’ parent company. In June, Precision Castparts said it had laid off 717 workers in Portland and Clackamas County due to the coronavirus outbreak. It’s not clear how many employees remain in Oregon. Portland-based Precision Castparts makes heavy metal components for airplane manufacturers, energy producers and other industrial companies. Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s investment firm, paid $37...

n a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the head of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation, Yury Slyusar said that UAC will begin deliveries of the Okhotnik unmanned aerial vehicle to the Russian armed forces as early as 2024. In keeping the Russia’s top-down approach to management, UAC’s President, Mr. Slyusar, stated that Russia’s Ministry of Defense “instructed us to speed up the design and test works, to move it ‘to the left’ as much as possible so that deliveries begin as early as 2024.” In keeping with those instructions, UAC is now “actively working on this issue with our colleagues.”...

Virgin Galactic announced in May that it would be partnering with NASA to work toward high-speed, high altitude point-to-point travel for commercial airline passengers. The plan is to eventually create an aircraft that can fly above 60,000 feet (the cruising altitude of the Concorde) and carry between 9 and 19 people per flight, with a cabin essentially set up to provide each of those passengers with either Business or First Class-style seating and service. One other key element of the design is that it can be powered by next-gen sustainable fuel for more ecological operation. In some ways, this project...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8589339/DB-Cooper-ransom-money-buried-Columbia-River-entered-water-months-skyjacking.htmlg, scientist claims - adding new mystery to the 49-year-old cold case A new clue may have been unearthed in the infamous 49-year-old cold case of skyjacker DB Cooper thanks to new analysis DB Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient flight from Portland to Seattle to November 1971, before vanishing after skydiving out of the plane with $200k One of the few clues recovered in the case came in 1980 when a boy found $6,000 of Cooper's ransom money while camping in Tena Bar Analysis of that cash shows the money was submerged in water for a short amount of time...

A state lawmaker in Alaska and six others were killed on Friday morning after two planes collided mid-air in the city of Soldotna. State Rep. Gary Knopp (R), 67, was the sole occupant of a Piper PA-12 when it collided with a single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver around 8:30 a.m. local time near the Soldotna Airport, The Anchorage Daily News reported. Six people were confirmed dead at the scene except for one person who succumbed to injuries while being transported to a hospital, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The other plane is designed with pontoons to make...

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokeswoman told Fox News the accident occurred while the planes were fighting the Bishop Fire near Caliente, Nev., around 1 p.m. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will lead the investigation, and the NTSB will determine the probable cause of the crash. Each plane had only the pilot aboard, authorities said. The 500-acre wildfire started Wednesday in an area about 17 miles southwest of Caliente and 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

In a move that reminded some people of road trips with their parents, a Delta flight turned around and went back to the gate because passengers were not complying with crew instructions. In a statement from Delta Airlines, Flight 1227 from Detroit to Atlanta on July 23 “returned to the gate following two customers who were non-compliant” with the airline's mask policy. (Please see full article at link)

Utah plane crash kills at least three, including baby girl By Laura Italiano July 26, 2020 | 12:46am | Updated Enlarge Image Emergency crews respond to a small plane crash in West Jordan, Utah, today A plane carrying six people crashed Saturday afternoon in a Utah backyard, killing at least two adults and a 9-month-old girl who were on board, according to local reports. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed a Piper PA-32 with six people on board had taken off from South Valley Regional Airport and crashed into a backyard in the town of West Jordan. The fatalities included the...

The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Aviation Administration have issued a temporary flight restriction over the City of Portland for unmanned aircraft systems, such as drones, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website. That means personal drones cannot be flown within city limits. Administration officials said the restriction is for special security reasons, but they did not elaborate on those reasons. The restriction began July 16 and will end Aug. 16. The restriction is for aircraft systems that fly at or below 1,000 feet. Commercial airplanes and any manned aircrafts are not affected by the restriction. Kama Simonds,...

Smartwatch and wearables maker Garmin has shut down several of its services on July 23 to deal with a ransomware attack that has encrypted its internal network and some production systems. The company is currently planning a multi-day maintenance window to deal with the attack's aftermath, which includes shutting down its official website, the Garmin Connect user data-syncing service, Garmin's aviation database services, and even some production lines in Asia.

Agents found a metal basket and a white duffel bag, which had 26 clear plastic containers full of meth, according to the statement. The street value of the haul is $327,375. There was no mention of a pilot flying the aircraft or whether anyone involved in the operation was arrested. The drugs were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the release.

Abandoned flight Flying in the middle of a pandemic is nerve-wracking enough, what with all the checks and health forms and mask-wearing going on. What’s not going to make anyone feel any better is getting death threats from another passenger onboard.

FRESNO, Calif. — U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd sentenced a Turlock man today to two years and three months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for purposefully striking a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s helicopter with the beam of a powerful laser, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.In March 2018, Roger Shane John, 34, pleaded guilty. According to court documents, on the evening of Oct. 22, 2017, John struck a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s helicopter, Air 101, five to six times with a powerful green laser, causing visual interference of both the pilot and tactical flight...

As mask rules have caused some controversy on U.S. airlines in recent months, Qatar Airways is taking an even stronger stance by requiring economy passengers and cabin crew to wear both face masks and face shields on board. In its recent announcement, the airline says it will provide passengers with a complimentary kit of disposable protective gear that includes a shield, surgical mask, gloves and hand sanitizer gel.

The final Airbus A380 in the Air France fleet is grounded at Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG), after taking one last celebration flight to the Mediterranean Sea and back. In a tribute online, the French flag carrier announced the final departure and landing for the superjumbo jet on June 26, 2020. The legendary #A380 bids a final farewell and makes its last #AirFrance flight today, Friday 26 june. 🛬Bye-bye big bird! #AF380 pic.twitter.com/LNkkqX3htU — Air France (@airfrance) June 26, 2020 Originally scheduled for retirement by 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Air France-KLM to reconsider their plans. After flights...

California Democrats are looking to change the name of John Wayne airport in Orange County over bigoted remarks the actor made during a 1971 interview with Playboy magazine. In the piece — which has stirred controversy in the past — Wayne said he believed in white supremacy adding “I don’t feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves.”

"... In service with the Navy and Marine Corps since 1983, the flexible design has gone through a Porsche 911-like evolution. Two type series of the original Hornet, the A/B and C/D preceded the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, a larger more capable version of the F/A-18 introduced in 1999. Since then the Super Hornet has been updated with “Block II” models and now there’s a “Block III” Super Hornet....