Free Republic

The Air Force is preparing to trim hundreds of aircraft from its aging fleet in order to meet an Obama administration austerity order. The move will strike many Air Force supporters as ironic. Because just as the fleet is set to shrink, Defense Secretary ...

Sudanese media reports that planes attacked convoy of land cruiser jeeps, number of people reportedly killed; another strike hit truck near border with Egypt, according to reports. Sudanese media reported over the weekend that IAF planes struck a number of targets in the east of the country last week. According to the reports, the planes attacked a convoy of land cruiser jeeps and a number of people were reportedly killed. Another strike took place last Sunday against a truck near the border with Egypt, according to the reports. In another incident in early December Israeli planes were reported to have...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai's fast-growing airline Emirates kicked off the Middle East's biggest airshow Sunday with a huge order for 50 Boeing 777s, marking the U.S. aircraft maker's biggest-ever single order in dollar terms.

Investment in new aeroplane technologies is the key to the UK maintaining its status as an aerospace leader, according to a report. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) said the country's research and development spending has "flat-lined" since the 2008 financial crisis. It said that made the UK's position vulnerable to China, India and Brazil. It urged the creation of a research centre to test ideas such as pilot-free planes and solar-powered flight. "The UK aerospace sector already employs over 100,000 people around the country and is worth over £29bn a year to our economy, but we need to take...

The NYPD is capable of shooting down planes in the event of another 9/11-style attack on New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday, but it's unknown exactly what weapons the police have at their disposal, and whether their arsenal includes surface-to-air missiles. "The NYPD has lots of capabilities that you don't know about and you won't know about," Bloomberg told reporters Monday, echoing recent comments by police commissioner Ray Kelly. "Do you mean to say that the NYPD has the means to take down an aircraft?" Kelly was asked by "60 Minutes" on Sunday . "Yes," he replied, "I...

There was a net gain of zero jobs in August despite the president’s promise again to “focus like a laser beam on jobs.” Many people are blurry on the exact meaning of zero. Let me try to explain the concept of what zero means. Zero is 5 less than the number of rounds of golf President Obama shot in August. Zero is 7 less than the number of days President Obama spent in Martha’s Vineyard in August. Zero is 2 less than the number of planes the Obamas used to get to Martha’s Vineyard. Zero is 71,500 less than the...

A family of seven on board a small plane were killed when it crashed in Alabama after an engine failed - leaving behind a 16-year-old daughter. A couple and their five young children were returning to Florida from a family reunion in St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday night when the crash happened, authorities said. Fred and Terresa Teutenberg died, but her oldest child, Ashlei Bruewer, 16, was not on the plane.

MIAMI — Robert Woodus III never met his father, who died eight months before his birth in 1996. But on Wednesday the 14-year-old eighth-grader stood near the place his father died, in a watery Everglades prairie where ValuJet Flight 592 plunged to earth in a fiery crash just north of U.S. 41. "I was thinking about this place, and what happened before I was born," said Woodus. His father, Robert Woodus Jr., was one of 110 people who died in what remains Florida's deadliest air crash.

MALICIOUS hacking software that could force a passenger jet to nosedive has been developed. Security representatives at the Asia-Pacific Aviation Security conference, which included representatives from Qantas and Virgin Airlines, said that cyber attacks were the second biggest risk to the aviation industry after natural disasters. Ty Miller, of Australian security firm Pure Hacking, said the risk was no longer "something out of a movie" but had become more likely with the dawn of the Stuxnet virus. An unknown attacker last year used the software to sabotage one of Iran's uranium enrichment plants. "The stereotypical Die Hard 2 airport attack...

"They are the sort of striking images that wouldn't look out of place in a scene from a sci-fi movie. However, one of these could soon be the face of modern aviation with the unveiling of a new generation of passenger aircraft. NASA has revealed three concept designs for quiet, energy efficient aircraft that potentially could be ready for flight as soon as 2025...."

As violent drug cartels take over Mexico and expand their criminal enterprises north, the United States has signed a “trusted traveler” agreement that allows pre-screened Mexican airline passengers to bypass lengthy airport security checkpoints. The foreigners will get “trusted traveler cards” with fingerprints and other biometric data and they must answer customs declarations questions on touch-screen kiosks before leaving airport inspection areas. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano claims it’s a way to enhance information sharing and mutual security in the face of “ever-evolving, multinational threats.” About 84 million Mexicans are expected to qualify for the trusted traveler program, according to...

In first claim of invasion, military drill spokesman says planes were intercepted by Iranian jets Associated Press Published: 11.17.10, 11:32 / Israel News Iran says that unidentified foreign planes violated its air space six times as the country kicked off an air defense drill, but that they were intercepted and forced back by Iranian jets. The remarks by Gen. Hamid Arjangi, a spokesman for the exercise, are the first Iranian claim of an intrusion. His comments were carried Wednesday by the semi-official Fars news agency. Arjangi says Iran's radar stations and observation posts reported six cases of foreign planes entering...

MESA, AZ - A man was arrested Tuesay after reportedly throwing oranges at planes at Falcon Field airport in Mesa, according to police. After a complaint about the oranges was called in to police, Brian Henio, 33, was found sitting in an orange grove by the airport apparently drinking out of a green jug, said Mike Melendez with the Mesa Police Department. Police said they could smell spray paint and saw paint on Henio's upper lip. He reportedly admitted to being under the influence of spray paint and to throwing the oranges. Henio was arrested on suspicion of possession of...

Iran confirmed on Tuesday that some companies were refusing to refuel its planes at European airports and said it would retaliate if the situation continued. Iran has played down the impact of international sanctions, which were tightened in June, and previously said news reports that Iranian airlines were having problems refuelling abroad were part of a "psychological war."

A technology writer has claimed the high-speed rail route connecting Madrid and Seville did a great job of convincing people to travel by train instead of plane. Pablo Valerio explained on Technorati.com that the track was completed in 1992, just in time to transport eager tourists to and from the World Expo in the Andalusian city. No doubt plenty of accommodation Seville guests will be heading to the sun-soaked destination via this reliable train, which was the first high-speed line in Spain, according to Mr Valerio. "Since the start of the high-speed projects in Spain, thousands of jobs were created...

I have been traveling a lot lately, and it has not made me a fan of airlines. Financial troubles have caused the airlines to slash their work forces to the bone, leaving the few remaining employees to handle multiple jobs with no real support. Costs are cut and the airlines have become more aggressive in beating cash out of us, their customers. The short staffing and reduced service lead to the kinds of emotional clashes we saw with the recent Jet Blue incident when flight attendant Steve Slater lost control, berated a passenger and then exited the aircraft via the...

WARWICK — Even before the first train rolls into the nearly completed station that will link T.F. Green Airport to Boston commuter rail service, the state Department of Transportation is adding route options to the opening schedule. According to department officials, morning routes from Providence to Warwick and evening return routes from Warwick to Providence have been added to the schedule that is expected to operate when the new train station opens in October. Until now the tentative schedule for the first runs had only included morning trains heading north from Warwick to Providence and Boston, and evening trains that...

IRVING -- The clock is ticking for Texas to get a share of the more than $50 billion for high-speed rail that Congress is expected to approve for the next five to seven years."You've got to have it coming out of Texas government leadership," Rod Diridon, a California High-Speed Rail Authority board member, said Tuesday during a break at the Transportation and Infrastructure Summit in Irving. "Someone at the state level has to come up and say, 'I want this to happen.'"While Texas lags in developing passenger trains that may travel 220 mph, high-speed rail was the big talk at...

Third of four parts.LA ROCHELLE, France - The train factory here on the Bay of Biscay was created in 1918 by the masters of the industry - the Americans - to build troop transports during World War I.Today, French engineers, welders, and electricians work in the same long sheds for the French manufacturer Alstom Transport, building the great-great-grandchildren of those early trains - sleek tubes of aluminum that travel at 225 m.p.h. They hope their new customers will include the old bosses, the Americans.About 500 miles south, near Madrid, the Spanish manufacturer Talgo is building high-speed trains with a novel...

<p>On another planet, it sounds like Steven Slater and I could have been friends.</p> <p>He likes swearing, beer and rubber slides. Me, too!</p> <p>But Slater is an airline attendant, or steward, or whatever’s the right thing to call those petty tyrants who rule the airplane galleys this week.</p>