Free Republic

The propellers of both engines of the Yeti Airlines aircraft that crashed in Nepal last month and killed 71 people, including five Indians, did not have power during its descent, a PTI report quoted government-appointed panel probing the aviation disaster as saying. During the analysis and investigation, the propellers of both engines were found to have gone “feathering in the base leg in the course of landing,” My Republica newspaper reported, quoting the panel. Yeti Airlines flight 691, after taking off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport on January 15, crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old...

A PILOT has allegedly stolen a plane and is threatening to slam it into a Walmart, forcing police to evacuate the store, as well as nearby homes and a local Dodge dealership. Police in Tupelo, Mississippi, where the plane is flying overhead received a call from the man around 5am Saturday when he made the threats. The plane is believed to be a Beechcraft King Aire 90, and its erratic circular flight pattern was seen in online flight trackers. The police have asked people to avoid the area until the all-clear is given. "With the mobility of an airplane of...

FLIGHT TEST: Grob Aircraft G120TP - Pocket rocket By Peter Collins Problems with the development of the Grob180 SPn business jet led Grob Aerospace to declare insolvency in late 2008. But early 2009 brought the emergence of Grob Aircraft, a new private company that inherited Grob Aerospace's trainer aircraft and support businesses. Owned by five investors, Grob Aircraft operates under the corporate umbrella of H3 Aerospace. It is based at the Grob Aerospace production facility and airfield at Tussenhausen-Mattsies, around 65km (40 miles) west of Munich in Germany. Since 1971, more than 3,500 Grob aircraft and gliders have been delivered....

Indonesia has reduced its original order of sixteen Brazilian EMB-314 Super Tucano aircraft, to eight. The Indonesian generals wanted sixteen, but the politicians, and budget realities, cut that in half. The Tucanos will replace twelve 1960s era American OV-10s. The two seat, 5.2 ton, single engine turbo prop Super Tucano will be used for COIN (Counter Insurgency) operations. It can fly low and slow, yet still has a 1,000 combat kilometer radius, five hour endurance, 600 kilometers per hour top speed, and a 35,000 foot ceiling. The Super Tucano armament consists of twin 12.7mm (.50 caliber) machine guns and nearly...

Indonesia has reduced its original order of sixteen Brazilian EMB-314 Super Tucano aircraft, to eight. The Indonesian generals wanted sixteen, but the politicians, and budget realities, cut that in half. The Tucanos will replace twelve 1960s era American OV-10s. The two seat, 5.2 ton, single engine turbo prop Super Tucano will be used for COIN (Counter Insurgency) operations. It can fly low and slow, yet still has a 1,000 combat kilometer radius, five hour endurance, 600 kilometers per hour top speed, and a 35,000 foot ceiling. The Super Tucano armament consists of twin 12.7mm (.50 caliber) machine guns and nearly...

Engineers with the 418th Flight Test Squadron are currently testing a C-130H3 cargo plane equipped with Hamilton Sundstrand NP 2000 propellers. The new eight-bladed composite propellers are shaped to provide additional thrust in the takeoff and low airspeed range while using the current C-130 engines. Regular C-130 "legacy" planes use four-blade propellers. With eight blades, the NP 2000 props are designed to perform with more power and efficiency. "A major limitation propellers have is the wave drag generated by shockwaves when the propeller tips go supersonic," said Dustin Marschik, a 418th FTS performance and flying qualities engineer. "Newer propeller designs...

A Defense Ministry spokesman said Saturday that two Tu-95 MS long-range strategic bombers successfully test-fired cruise missiles during a 12-hour flight. During the tactical exercise on Friday, the missiles "accurately hit all the targets at the Pemboi testing site in the (Russian) republic of Komi," said Vladimir Drik as quoted by the Interfax news agency. A MiG-31 interceptor jet and a Beriev A-50 Shmel airborne early warning aircraft also participated in the exercise, he said. The two bombers landed at the Ukrainka airfield in Russia's fareastern Amur region. The Tu-95 strategic bomber, which made its debut in 1952, is a...

may start receiving its first An-70 military transport planes as early as in 2012, the defense minister said on Thursday. "We hope to start receiving the tested aircraft by 2012. We need this plane and the Russian Defense Ministry plans to buy it," Anatoly Serdyukov said during his visit to the Black Sea Fleet's base in Sevastopol on Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. The An-70 is a medium-range turboprop military transport plane developed by Ukraine's Antonov design bureau. The Antonov company first tested a flying prototype of the An-70 in 1994, but a lack of Ukrainian state funds, and political disputes between...

Legends of Vietnam: Bronco's Tale One of the most versatile aircraft of the Vietnam War appears on the verge of a comeback. * By William E. Burrows * Air & Space Magazine, March 01, 2010 The U.S. military has been here before:fighting an enemy who wears no uniform, one who hits and runs then disappears, blending in with local villagers. It has pursued before, with overwhelming technological superiority, guerrilla fighters who improvise weapons and use the terrain to hide. The rugged mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier, where the Taliban and al Qaeda hide, are as effective at concealment as the...

A Russian Tu-142M3 reconnaissance aircraft recently crashed twenty kilometers off the Pacific coast, during a training mission. The Tu-142 is an unarmed maritime patrol aircraft that, in the last few years, have resumed long range patrols. Such activity had been halted in the early 1990s. The Tu-142, which was introduced in the 1970s, is the patrol version of the Tu-95 heavy bomber. This aircraft entered service 51 years ago, and is expected to remain in service, along with the Tu-142 variant, for another three decades. But these elderly aircraft are increasingly expensive to maintain, and prone to developing unexpected problems....

<p>Fox news reporting that a US Air Express flight to Mass has crashed off Cape Cod. Flight 9446. Down 3 miles off coast.</p>