Hang up and drive...

I am not a real big fan of government programs.  

However, the UK's "Think" campaign, which encourages driver safety... generally through graphic videos where lots of people die in dramatic fashion... is exceptionally effective at getting their message out in a memorable manner.  

Here in the US it is apparently too controversial to show dramatized versions of what happens every day on our highways, and kills over 40,000 people a year.  

On the lighter side, Think! has produced a driving safety challenge (link here) where you see how well you can divide your attention between pedestrians on the road and a cell phone conversation.  The pass rate is 19%.  I failed miserably.  Good luck.  

Russian subs in the gulf!

Nice to know we are not alone out here, as there are Russian subs operating in the Gulf of Mexico.  

The article states that "it is also not known why the submarine conducted the operation".  

Uhh... to clown the US Navy?  Just sayin'.  

No pilot? No big deal.

Most Marines would not want close air support from an unmanned attack helicopter, nor to be flown to a hospital in an unmanned medical evacuation helicopter.  

However, after nearly 500 sorties of night time vertical resupply missions to remote bases in Afghanistan, the "optionally piloted" KMAX has proven that an unmanned cargo hauler is a win-win.

In fact, the two evaluation aircraft in support of the Marines have been extended for six months, and may be extended another year.  

Ironically, the aircraft still requires a pilot to start it up and shut it down.  Flying sling loads cross country through the mountains at night?  No pilot.  Time to get fuel?  Go get a pilot to shut it down.  Talk about not logging any flight time...

See it in action in the Lockheed Martin video below.  

Bell 214ST testbed crashes, no injuries

During a test flight on 7 Aug 2012, a Bell 214 test aircraft reportedly lost tail rotor control... and possibly tail rotor components, landing in a field and rolling over after a wheel dug in to the soft ground.  The FAA preliminary accident report is here.

Of significance is that this aircraft was testing components (possibly the transmission) for the future Bell 525 relentless project.  It is more than likely that the suspected failure of the tail rotor components was unrelated to the incident, but it is impossible to know at this point.  The 525 is planned to have a five-bladed rotor design, and from the wreck pictures it appears that the 214, which normally flies with a two-bladed system, was equipped with a four-bladed system.  

Good job by the pilots in getting the aircraft down in one piece.  Since this was an instrumented test aircraft, I imagine the investigators and the engineers will have way more data than they will need to pinpoint the cause.  

Near miss or not?

Much news hysteria has come of the "near miss" between three US Airways planes in the vicinity of Reagan National Airport in DC last week.  But the truth is a lot more complicated than the hype.  


Without getting deeply into the FAA's Air Traffic Control policy,(and way beyond my pay grade) suffice it to say that the required Instrument Flight Rules separation of three miles laterally and 1000 feet horizontally IS NOT REQUIRED if either one of the aircraft has the other one in sight.  Once you understand that key point, there is no story here.  This is the biggest ATC non-story since an aircraft carrying Michelle Obama had to perform a go around last year.  


Did Air Traffic Control violate established procedures or fail to communicate when these aircraft came too close?  Maybe.  But notwithstanding all the gotcha stories about sleeping controllers, etc. it is extremely hard to find an unprofessional or clueless controller out there in the real world.  They are highly trained, highly professional, highly standardized, and very good at what they do.  


Aviation is dangerous, human error is always a threat, and it pays to keep your head on a swivel.  But not in this case.  More than likely the investigation will find as the Administrator has already stated... "they were not on a collision course".  

Take the 24 hour challenge...

Another fine five-minute video from our friends at Prager University. This challenge is much harder than it sounds! Just try and do it!

Thought for the day

You can train a monkey to fly an ILS, but you can't train a monkey to pull a phase.