Blog Mirror: NTSB Issues Wings Over Dallas Midair Report

 

NTSB Issues Wings Over Dallas Midair Report

The NTSB says the lack of standardized procedures and the inherent limitations of human performance contributed to the Wings Over Dallas collision in 2022.

Airport customs office named for Leatham

 

Airport customs office named for Leatham

Delta To Pull Out Of Casper Airport, Last Flight Is Dec. 3

Lex Anteinternet: Space National Guard? Spare us.

Lex Anteinternet: Space National Guard? Spare us.: 

Space National Guard? Spare us.

The time has come to create a Space National Guard as the primary combat reserve of the U.S. Space Force.  So as president, I will sign historic legislation creating a space National Guard.

Donald Trump, yesterday, at the National Guard Association Convention.

The Space Force is frankly absurd and ought to be abolished, with its enlisted men folded back into the Air Force and its officers assigned permanent duty at Tasty Freeze drive up windows. 

But a Space Force National Guard?

Please, no.

Of course, if a bill like that passes through Congress, and as goofy as Congress has been in recent years, it probably would, no State Governor is going to turn down the chance to have the Mos Eisley Space Guard station put in their state, so every state will end up with a squadron of "Guardians".

The Space Force is flat out dumb.  It's duties belong in the Air Force.  One of the unfortunate legacies of the Trump administration, however, is this absurd new branch of the service.

Would that sanity would reign and it would go away.

Ukrainian Yak-52 two-seat primary trainer shoots down Russian drone. Як-52 над Одещиною

City of Casper Councilmen grill Airport Board

This over withdrawing support for the subsidy payments for the flight to Salt Lake City.  Casper complained it had received no notice of this occurring, and is concerned what it will mean.

AT-6's (SNJ's) from the film Tora! Tora! Tora!, Natrona County International Airport.

I heard them flying over downtown and looked up and saw them flying, but didn't notice the Japanese markings.  After realizing what they were, I went out the next day and to see if they were still there, and they were.

These are the SNJ's that were altered and remodeled to closely resemble Japanese Navy A6M's (Zeroes) and Nakajima B5N's (Kates) for the 1970s movie Tora! Tora! Tora!.  The resemblance to the Japanese aircraft is truly remarkable.

The Commemorative Air Force maintains and flies this team of aircraft today, preserving the excellent replica work done for the film.

In this instance, these aircraft were on their way to an airshow in Salt Lake City.

AT-6 in original markings.

AT-6 alte4red to resemble B5N.

SNJ rebuilt to resemble A6M.

The Delta Blues*

In local and semi local news:

1.  Last Saturday evening, a Delta Airlines 757 bound from Atlanta to Salt Lake City lost cabin pressure and had to land at the Natrona County International Airport.

2.  On June 17the Casper/Natrona County International Airport Board of Directors notified the Fly Casper Alliance (FCA) that it voted to withdraw support for the minimum revenue guarantee which has kept SkyWest flying as the Delta Connection to Salt Lake.  This will almost surely end commercial air service from Casper to SLC.

Footnotes

* The reference is to the type of blues associated with the Missippii Delta.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, June 13, 1944. D+7. First use of V-1s on London.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, June 13, 1944. D+7. Heavy fighting in N...: 

Tuesday, June 13, 1944. D+7. Heavy fighting in Normandy.

The first V-1 rockets were launched on London.

V-1s are, basically, a pulse jet drone, and therefore heralded an advance in weaponry which we're only now seeing the full application of in combat.  One of a variety of late war German "Wunderwaffe", they were primitive in their category and while they affected terror, they stood no chance of being war altering.  The same can not be said of the V-2, which was a ballistic missile and truly revolutionary.

Armed drones would be revolutionary, but it would not really be until the advent of cruise missiles that they'd become effective.  With advances in targeting, they're now a massive dangerous weapon which has been one of the things which has allowed Ukraine to disproportionately take on Russia in the ongoing Russo Ukrainian War.

Blog Mirror: Casper Loses Out On Being Home For $100 Million National Championship Air Races

 

Casper Loses Out On Being Home For $100 Million National Championship Air Races

Blog Mirror: Frustrated Natrona Commissioners Call $650K SkyWest Guarantee ‘Extortion”

Frustrated Natrona Commissioners Call $650K SkyWest Guarantee ‘Extortion”

 

Casper airport to hold first annual 5K fun run/walk

A "rash decision" on pilot retirement age.

The House Committee on Transportation, operating in a Boomer dominated era in which there's a persistent belief that nobody every gets old, voted to extend airline pilot retirement age from 65 to 67.

The Air Line Pilots Association, a commercial pilot's union, opposed the measure, stating:

The rash decision to move an amendment on changing the statutory pilot retirement age, without consulting agencies responsible for safety, or studying potential impacts of such a change as has been done elsewhere, is a politically driven choice that betrays a fundamental understanding of airline industry operations, the pilot profession, and safety.

The measure now goes to the full House. 

Why Canada didn't shoot down the "unidentified" object over its own airspace and relied upon the USAF to do it.

 An excellent thread on NORAD and the strategic considerations that went into it and the modern RCAF:

Why didn't Canada shoot down the object?

Very revealing about the Canadian military budget and the current number of fighter aircraft, and type, that Canada has.

Lex Anteinternet: Wars and Rumors of War, 2023, Part 2. The United States shoots down a Chinese spy balloon.

Lex Anteinternet: Wars and Rumors of War, 2023, Part 2. The Gatherin...: 

Feb 4, cont.

China v. US.

Perhaps for the first time since World War One, a US aircraft has shot down a balloon.

Lex Anteinternet: The 2023 Wyoming Legislative Session. Commercial Pilot Scholarship

Lex Anteinternet: The 2023 Wyoming Legislative Session. End of the f...: HB202 would provide for scholorships for students wanting to be commercial pilots.

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0202

Pilot student loan payments.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Walters, Northrup, Sherwood, Sommers and Western and Senator(s) Gierau and Landen

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to education; providing financial assistance to students obtaining commercial pilot certificates; requiring pilots licensed under this act to fly commercially as specified or repay funds expended by the state; requiring students to satisfy a residency requirement to qualify for the program; allowing the community college commission to forgive student debt where undue hardship exists; requiring reports; providing an appropriation; requiring rulemaking; and providing for effective dates.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.  W.S. 21‑18‑227 is created to read:

21‑18‑227.  Wyoming airline pilot loan repayment program; eligibility criteria; procedures; program reporting.

(a)  The Wyoming airline pilot loan repayment program is created to be administered by the Wyoming community college commission established under W.S. 21‑18‑201. Applicants shall have a Wyoming residence, as defined in W.S. 22‑1‑102(a)(xxx), or shall be graduates of a Wyoming high school and may apply for loans from the program in accordance with this section.

(b)  To qualify for a loan under this section, the applicant shall:

(i)  Be enrolled in good standing in a program at a Wyoming community college for the purpose of receiving an aviation or related degree and a commercial pilot certificate;

(ii)  Intend to obtain an airline transport pilot certification; and

(iii)  Apply for federal financial assistance.

(c)  Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for this program, loans under this section may be granted to qualified applicants to pay the cost of attendance for the aviation or related program and the commercial pilot certificate specified under paragraph (b)(i) of this section.

(d)  A loan provided under this section shall not exceed the cost of tuition fees for the approved program and the cost of earning the commercial pilot certificate, reduced by the amount of any Pell or other federal grant and any employer based financial assistance received by the applicant.

(e)  A recipient of a loan under this section may repay the loan without cash payment by earning an airline transport pilot certification and actively engaging in commercial aviation as an airline transport pilot employed by an airline that regularly flies into airports within Wyoming for three (3) years.

(f)  Any recipient of a loan under this section who fails to:

(i)  Complete the academic program for which the loan was provided shall commence cash repayment of the loan no later than forty‑five (45) days after the recipient leaves the academic program;

(ii)  Obtain employment in the targeted occupation specified in subsection (e) of this section within two hundred forty (240) days after successfully obtaining the airline transport pilot certification, shall commence cash repayment of the loan within two hundred eighty‑five (285) days after successfully obtaining the airline transport pilot certification;

(iii)  Obtain the airline transport pilot certification within two and one‑half (2 1/2) years after completion of the aviation or related program and commercial pilot certificate shall commence cash repayment of the loan.

(g)  Loan repayment options under this section may be deferred for a period not to exceed five (5) years while a loan recipient is serving on full‑time active duty with any branch of the military services of the United States.

(h)  The Wyoming community college commission shall have the powers and duties specified under W.S. 21‑18‑202(c) to implement this section and shall establish terms and conditions of loans issued under this section, including:

(i)  Interest rates and loan terms;

(ii)  The form and process for loan application, review and award;

(iii)  Criteria under which students may be relieved from having to repay loans and interest thereon, in whole or in part, where the requirement to repay would cause undue hardship;

(iv)  Criteria for determining the cost of attendance as used in establishing the loan amount for aviation or related programs and commercial pilot certificates based upon each semester or summer school session of full or part‑time program attendance.

(j)  Funding of the loan program established under this section shall be by appropriation of the legislature. The community college commission shall transfer approved loan amounts to the appropriate Wyoming community college.

(k)  Cash repayment of loans and interest thereon shall be credited to the general fund.

(m)  The community college commission shall annually review the loan program established under this section and report to the governor and the legislature in accordance with W.S. 9‑2‑1014 regarding program results, funds received and loans issued during the preceding academic year, together with the status of all outstanding loan commitments and repayments under the program. 

(n)  Any person who receives a loan under this section shall continue to receive funding for the program as the person remains eligible as required by this section.

(o)  Repayment of loans provided under this section shall continue as specified by this section until all loan obligations have been satisfied.

Section 2.  There is appropriated one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000.00) from the general fund to the Wyoming community college commission for purposes of providing loans for students seeking aviation related degrees and commercial pilot certificates under W.S. 21‑18‑227 as created by section 1 of this act for the period beginning July 1, 2023 and ending June 30, 2026. This appropriation shall not be transferred or expended for any other purpose and any unexpended, unobligated funds remaining from this appropriation on June 30, 2026 shall revert as provided by law. It is the intent of the legislature that an appropriation to fund the student loans authorized by this act be included in the community college commission's standard budget request for the 2027‑2028 fiscal biennium.

Section 3.  The community college commission shall promulgate all rules necessary to implement this act.

Section 4.  

(a)  Except as otherwise provided by subsection (b) of this section, this act is effective July 1, 2023.

(b)  Sections 3 and 4 of this act are effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

United Airlines has asked for $1,000,000

from the Federal Government in order to keep air travel open on United flights from Cody (Yellowstone Regional Airport) to Denver.

United Airlines Triples Pilot Pay for January.

This due to an ongoing pilot shortage, which has been heightened by the Omicron variant of COVID 19.

I.e, United is trying to fill the pilot seats this month.

United Airlines and Southwest cut the booze

The mental image some passengers have of flight attendants.

Problems with passengers have become so prevalent since air travel started to resume as the pandemic eases the US due to the increase in vaccination that United Airlines and Southwest Airlines have banned the serving of alcohol on their flights.

I've frankly always thought this a bit odd in the first place.  Most modern airline flights are comparatively short and I don't know why you'd want to drink. . . anything.  I've actually posted about this on one of our companion blogs, but what I've learned over the years is that if you offer people something, for the most part people will take it.  

"Would you like a big steaming bowl of walrus blubber?"  

"Yes, please".

What some folks seemingly see when getting on an airplane.

I've been on flights so short that there would be really no way to consume any beverage without a dedicated effort.  None the less, I've seen, even on those, and even if they're in the morning, people take a drink.  One one memorable flight a gentleman in his late 60s or 70s took a beer and immediately needed to go to the restroom, which he couldn't as the flight was too short and there wasn't time.  Why do that to yourself?

Alcoholism may be one reason.  I once was on a flight that took off and the shaky man next to me ordered a beer as soon as he could. This was no later than 10:00 a.m.  Either he was scared to death or he had dependency on alcohol that was pronounced.  Indeed, serving customers in that condition may be the one thing that justified booze on flights.

I should note that I don't even take water, soda or coffee on flights.  They're not that long.  The current American "I must constantly be drinking" cultural trait that causes people to pack around 55 gallon drums of water all the time predates me, and I don't need to be constantly sucking down fluids and I don't want to on something that can be pretty bouncy.  Indeed, its inevitably the case that if I'm on a flight with mild turbulence the passenger next to me will order coffee and sit it on the seat tray, so I can then watch it bounce around and threaten to drench me.

Maybe there's still international flights. . . . 

Why Unidentified Aerial Phenomena are almost certainly not aliens.

 Allow me to have a large element of skepticism.

If you follow the news at all, you've been reading of "leaked" Navy videos of UFOs, followed by official confirmation from Navy pilots along the lines "gosh, we don't know what the heck those things are".

Yeah. . . well. . . 

What we know for sure is that in recent years, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena have been interacting with ships of the U.S. Navy as well as Navy aircraft.  Video of them has been steadily "leaked" for several years, and the service, which normally likes to keep the most mundane things secret, has been pretty active in babbling about it.

Oh. . . and not just that.

The Navy also has applied for a patent for technology that appears to offer impossible high speed drives for aircraft, and acting to force through the patents when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office looked like it was going to say "oh bull".  The patenting Navy agent, moreover, a mysteriously named and mysterious scientist, has written babbly papers that are out there, but not well circulated.

So, what's going on?

Gaslighting, most likely.

To those who follow international developments, the US and the Peoples Republic of China are, quite frankly, sliding towards war in a way that reminiscent of Imperial Japan and the US in the late 1930s and early 1940s.  China acts like a late 19th Century imperial power and is building up its naval forces in an alarming way.  China is a land power and has no real need whatsoever for a defensive navy.  The only real use of a navy for China is offensive, or to pose a threat as it could be offensive.

And China has been busy posing a threat.  It's using its navy to muscle in on anything it can in the region.  It's constantly at odds with Vietnam off the latter's coast.  It's threatening the Philippines, whose erratic president shows no signs of backing down to China, and its been so concerning to Japan that Japan is now revising its defense posture.  Most of all, it's been threatening to Taiwan, which it regards as a breakaway province which it sort of is.

The problem with a nation flexing its naval muscle is that sooner or later, it goes from flexing to "I wonder how this stuff really works?"  Almost all totalitarian powers with big navies get to that point and there's no reason to believe that China won't.  Given that, the US (and as noted Japan) have been planning to fight China.  

This has resulted in a plan to overhaul the Marine Corps with a Chinese war specifically in mind, and the Navy, upon whom the brunt of any Chinese action would fall, at least initially, has been planning for that as well. And the Navy is worried.

As it should be.

The United States Navy has been a aircraft carrier centric navy ever since December 7, 1941 when it became one by default.  And its been the world's most power navy as a carrier based navy.  Carries have allowed the United States to project power around the world in a way that no other country can.  But in the age of missiles, a real question now exists and is being debated on whether the age of carriers is ending.

Plenty of defense analysts say no, but plenty say yes.  Truth is, we just don't know, and absent a major naval contest with a major naval power, which right now there isn't, we won't know.  But China is attempting to become that power and it has the ability to act pretty stoutly in its own region right now.

So how does this relate to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena?

The U.S. military has a long history of using the UFO phenomena/fandom for disinformation.  It notoriously did this in a pretty cruel way in at least one instance in the 60s/70s in which it completely wrecked the psychological health of a victim of a disinformation campaign that it got rolling, even planting a bogus crashed UFO to keep it rolling.  Beyond that, it's been pretty willing to use the stories of "weird alien craft" to cover its own developments, with plenty of the weird alien craft simply being developments in the US aerospace industry.

Given that, and the fact that at the same time the service purports to be taking this really seriously, it continually leaks information about it, and it doesn't seem really all that bothered, the best evidence here is something else is going on, of which there are a lot of possibilities.  These range from the service developing some really high tech drones and testing them against the same Navy units (they're usually the same ones) again and again to just having the ability to make this stuff all up.

So why the leaks?

If the service is experimenting with high tech drones, and if the experiment is going well, leaking the information may serve as a warning to potential enemies, notably the PRC, that "look, we have something so nifty our own Navy can't do squat about it. . .let alone yours".  Being vague about it probably serves the US  interest better than simply coming out with "Nanner, nanner. . surface fleets are obsolete . . .".  After all, once we admit we have them, at that point the race to figure them out is really on.

On the other hand, maybe we're just making the whole thing up.  We have been worried in the past about other nations development super high tech aircraft, notably the Soviet Union, then Russia post USSR, and now China.  Running around patenting mysterious things and having weird things going on may be a disinformation campaign designed to make a potential enemy a little hesitant.  And they'd hesitate, because. . . .

Maybe we really have developed some super high tech craft, either manned or unmanned, that are now so advanced that we feel pretty comfortable testing them against a control set, that being, at first, the same U.S. Navy units again and again.  A recent report indicates that other navies are now experiencing the same thing, and we might frankly be doing the same thing with them.  There's no reason to believe that a nation that would do U2 overflights over hostile nations in the 60s, and then SR71 flights the same way, which tested the spread of biological weapons by actually spreading biological agents off of the coast of California, and which tested the intelligence use of LSD by giving it to unsuspecting CIA employees, might not do this.  

Indeed, it'd make for a pretty good test.