If I am not mistaken, didn't we just have an incident with a pilot having some serious problem and the copilot taking over and landing? As I recall my reaction was to laugh at the news because they were making a big deal about the copilot making a perfect landing, trying to treat it like the cases where a non-pilot had to take over and land a small plane. What they seem to be trying to do here is eliminate that redundant safety. It seems to me like they are setting up that private aviation situation with an ATC trying to talk someone who is not qualified through the landing of a huge aircraft while sitting 3 stories above the runway, at 180 knots, with around 200 or more passengers. Not someones wife whose husband just died at the controls of a small plane while sitting maybe 4 feet above the runway and with a 50 knot stall speed.

(Written on 2022/11/25)(Permalink)

This is an interesting "little" shuttle type space craft. It does not take much imagination to see a whole wide range of missions. Unmanned, without the need for life support, this ship has proven itself capable of long term missions w/o the need for resupply and/or crew changes. I can also see some form of life support package for limited manned (Space Fighter??) missions.

(Written on 2022/11/18)(Permalink)

I know that FedEx home delivery quality (at least out my way) has really gone down hill. I now dread it when a supplier notifies my package is coming FedEx. This started some time back and If I have a choice I will pay a bit more to get another carrier.

(Written on 2022/11/18)(Permalink)

I hope they can pull it off. When I saw what was left of the old one, I almost cried. It was a fantastic aircraft, especially for those huge cargoes which otherwise needed land/sea transportation.

(Written on 2022/11/18)(Permalink)

I remember a 747SP custom built for the then King of Saudi Arabia while it was being finished Boeing Everett. That nose first class was his bedroom. That plane had a real fully functional operating room, and he flew with a heart surgeon, but as I recall, he died of a heart attack anyway. His bathroom was spec'd to be all marble. When the engineers saw that they about ****! It had to be micro shaved and laminated onto honeycomb. I guess even for a 747 that much marble on one side would have presented some real flight control issues. The bathroom had a ships watertight door with a porthole window. I think that was the last custom (at least 747) that Boeing built. It had some expensive problems to overcome.

(Written on 2022/08/26)(Permalink)

This sounds like a very logical move. It would seem they can not return to their old home port anyway. Spare parts would seem to be the major hurdle, and that would be almost anywhere they moved to.

(Written on 2022/05/20)(Permalink)

Thank you, those were two very straight forward reports. No filler, no padding, no unsubstantiated speculation. Just the facts as we know them at this point.

(Written on 2022/05/20)(Permalink)

Yes! I do recall reading about that and I think it still exists. It would really be sort of cool if it could be completed.

(Written on 2022/03/11)(Permalink)

First I am so sorry to see what has happened to such an iconic aircraft. I would find it hard to accept an accidental hit. I saw where the government stated it would be repaired or rebuilt. It does not look like it would be possible to repair that wreckage, and I am sure the tooling has long been recycled. I sadly doubt this Phoenix will ever rise from its ashes.

(Written on 2022/03/11)(Permalink)

I would suspect that it would be properly cared for, why not? That yacht which was seized would not be allowed to sink.

(Written on 2022/03/11)(Permalink)