New President

President Bush recently nominated Bobby Sturgell as the new FAA Administrator this past Tuesday October 23. Sturgell has succeeded Marion Blakey in her five years as administrator and plans to make some changes to the organization. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) voiced concerns on the new president because he has different views user fees, labor relations, and flight oversight. However, president of AOPA Phil Boyer explained that Sturgell understands their position and has always been able to talk honestly with AOPA.

Congress is also concerned on allowing a Bush administration appointee to serve for five years and will likely vote on having Sturgell hold his position only until the end of the current administration. Bobby Sturgell previously served as senior counsel to Blakey and helped make the Washington, D.C. Air Defense Identification Zone more identifiable to pilots. He has repeatedly voiced his support of AOPA and the work they do for general aviation. The FAA has also shared the same values as AOPA on pilot safety, training, and development. A former United Airlines Pilot and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of Virginia School of Law, Sturgell will prove to be an overall improvement to the general aviation community.

Armstrong: Opened!

All week at Purdue everyone has been talking about homecoming, will we win, is this our year for a big bowl game, where are the best parties. However, there was another story on campus this week. It was admittedly less followed but the event was an amazing experience.

The event I am speaking of is the dedication/opening of the $63 million Armstrong Hall. Dedicated to Purdue alumnus and first man to walk on the moon Neil Armstrong. It will aptly be used for teaching classes on Aeronautical Engineering, and the shape of the building mimics that of wings bringing Purdue's contributions to flight back to campus.

In attendance was not only Neil Armstrong for whom the building is named, but also Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon and also a Purdue alumnus. These two greats were accompanied by their families and 12 other astronaut alumni of Purdue.

To many students on campus this is merely another building to navigate. But for the aeronautical engineers as well as Purdue's flight students this building is a monument to what a diploma from Purdue can get you. In the flight program here we are told that when we graduate we will be ready for a job as an airline pilot, but after listening to Mr. Armstrongs speech today, I am inspired to be more. This building to me is a daily reminder of why I am here. With a Purdue education not even the sky will be the limit for a student's potential.

A380- A First

Singapore Airlines comissioned its A380 fleet yesterday with its first flight from the Changi Airport in Singapore to Sydney Austrailia. For weeks there had been signs posted at Changi announcing this milestone in history. The flight has been described by BBC News as a "party".

This party started at the ticket counter where professional photographers were on hand to provide souvenirs for the occasion. The party continued at the gates with a buffet for the passengers and a stage for dignitaries to put there "two cents" in on this occasion. This was where the A380 made its debut. Not exactly sleek, but certainly impressive. The massive hulk sitting outside the window must have been an amazing site. Two rows of cabin windows stretching the length of the plane paralleling the double decker buses of London. The party ended with a final gift to all passengers. A"goody bag" like those given out at press junkets for movie premiers.

Now I don't know about you guys, but I think this is a little much. Sure this plane is huge and it is most definitely a milestone in aviation history, but it's not exactly the Wright Brothers' first flight. I'm fairly possitive the Boeing 747 didn't get this kind of attention when it was the largest plane on the market, so why should Airbus be granted this publicity. My only thought is that Singapore Airlines has sunk too much money into these planes and is now having second thoughts on how many passengers it will take for them to have per plane to turn a profit in the long run. My advice to readers is to watch Singapore Airlines they may not exist five years from now.

Lexus IS250 - Test Drive

So one day my father came up to me and told me that soon his company was going to switch his company car. So he asked me if I had any ideas on what car to buy. So I simply told him that I would get back to him on that. Our budget was about $30,000. So they very next weekend I went car shopping with my friend (more like window shopping to be honest). At that time Lexus had just released their brand new IS. So I went in there and basically told the salesperson my story.

So for five minutes the salesperson told me all about the car. He said it had a 2.5L V6 that gives a total of 200hp and about 185 ft-lb. I was not very impressed at first when he told me that. But two seconds later he asked me if I wanted to test-drive it. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous but as soon as i got into the car it went away. The leather seats are extremely soft and comfortable. The seats felt like they fit me like a clove. Everything in the car that the drive comes in contact with when he or she is driving has the best quality materials. First of all the steering wheel wrapped with leather makes you never want to drive with only one hand, but then again the stick-shift is also wrapped with smooth leather.

After sitting down in the car, the salesperson told me that the car has no key. I didn't know what he was talking about until he showed me the thing that is supposed to be the "key". This car has key-less entry and bottom start. With the little beeper you simply walk up to the car and automatically the car unlocks. So inside the car the guy told me to press the clutch and the brakes, then I noticed that the engine start bottom lite up green. I tapped the bottom the the engine was on, but the thing that amazed me that most were the gauges. After pressing the bottom they lite up with a neon blue color and both speed and rpm pointers moved all the way to max and back.


So I put the car in first gear and left the Lexus parking lot. As soon as I reached the street the guy told me to step on it, so it did. I was impressed with the acceleration with the fact that the car only had about 200 hp. Handling impressed me as well, the steering was really smooth along with the car ride overall. This car is all about luxury but it does have some sporty aspects to it. When reaching high rpm the a light around the rpm instrument will light up. Also a light around the speedometer will light up by doing speeds over 80 mi/h. The shift-light is cool, but there is not point to the other light.The exterior of the car is not one bit disappointing. It looks aggressive, stylish, and slick all at the same time and that is not easy to do. This car flows all together from the front grill, to the slick headlights, making its way back all the way to the taillights. Overall this car is great car for its price. But at the end my dad decided that he needed some more power under the hood, so we ended up getting the MazdaSpeed 6 which is not as luxurious but it does have 70 more horses and it is all-wheel-drive.

Shelby GT500 Super Snake

Well seems like Shelby was not satisfied with he extremely fast GT500, so he went on to design an upgraded version's. Shelby first releases the GT500 KR, which stands for "King 0f the Road". Now less then a month after its release, the presented the GT500 SS, which stands for "Super Snake". The original Gt500 has a 5.4L V8 supercharged engine. This engine will give you 500hp. The KR version has the same engine but it has an upgraded supercharger that gives it an extra 40hp. Now the SS version has an even bigger supercharger that gives it about 600hp. But if you are the type of person that gets top-of-the-line cars then you could ask for the upgraded version of the GT500 Super Snake. You can actually by this car with a different tuning kit that will give this car 725hp! The only setback is that Ford will not give you a warranty on the car. You can purchase this insanely fast car for about $72,000.

Ford did a great job in making this car look its best. I honestly would not know how to make it look even a bit more aggressive. Ford has defined the word muscular and aggressive into one single car. It is so hard for me to imagine a Mustang with 725 horses, I guess I'll have to got to a Ford dealer myself and makeup another story of how my dad is a millionaire so they will let me test drive it. This trick works with the BMW 325 and other cars in that range. I doubt that trick will work, but its still totally worth a shot. Wish me luck!

Aprilla RS 250

This bike is like no other. This bike first went into production when Aprila wanted to make a replica of Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi's race bike in 1994. He raced for Aprila and won many World Championships for the 250cc category. Aprila is a small Italian motorcycle company therefore they are not really able to produce a street-reliable 250cc engine. They had to get some help. This help came from Suzuki. The engine is a liquid-cooled, two stroke V-twin that has a total of 60hp. That might not seem like much but when a bike weights only about 315 lbs then yes that is more than enough.

Like I sad earlier this bike is not like other bikes, such as, the Hayabusa. The Hayabusa is more comparable to a muscle car. Meaning that it is most effective in straight aways. The Aprila is like more like a little sports car that will accelerate from 0 to 60 in about 3.7 seconds and stick to every single corner you throw at it. Sadly this sporty bike has not been under production since 2004. Hopefully one day it will come back.

Rise to the Top

Over the past decade there have been very few airlines able to keep a steady profit and not go into bankruptcy. However, recent statistics have shown that JetBlue Airways and United Airlines have both soared in earnings, especially during its third quarter. As the airline industry began to recover from the September 11 attacks, shares of both companies started steadily rising throughout each quarter. United Airlines, which is based in Chicago, overtime has lowered its costs and increased passenger revenue. The company’s earnings have gone up to around 334 million this quarter, its best quarterly profit in almost seven years. Now the nation’s #2 carrier, United has increased its stock from $1.30 per share to $2.21 in only one year.

Low cost carriers have also proven to be a success in the industry. JetBlue is an example of how an airline can quickly recover after an accident that causes the company to lose millions of dollars. The entire country watched two years ago as a JetBlue flight landed with a cockeyed front nose gear that could have caused a major crash. Fortunately the flight landed safely and no one was hurt on board, but the negative news coverage that came afterwards caused JetBlue’s stock to plummet. Now the company has almost made a complete recovery and returned to become one of the nation’s top airlines once again. JetBlue has earned more than 23 million dollars alone this quarter and expects to keep rising over the next year.

Southwest Airlines is also a great example of how discount carriers become such a huge success in the industry. A few years ago, Southwest bought millions of dollars in fuel reserves that have lasted the airline up until now. Because the company bought the fuel back when it was less than three dollars per gallon, they saved millions by powering the fleet with its own fuel, instead of paying four dollars per gallon like it cost the rest of the airlines. However, now Southwest’s reserves are almost run dry and the upcoming months will show how it will compete using public jet fuel. Overall the airline industry is getting steadily better, which is good for both the economy and anyone who seeks a job in aviation.

Name that Plane

It is very rare that an ordinary person can look at a random airplane and decipher its manufacturer, number designation, and official name right on the spot. The skill of aircraft recognition takes time and patience and does not come easy for most people. However, just like being able to determine the cars you see in everyday life, naming airplanes requires similar steps that make the process much simpler. Aviation enthusiasts may still have trouble deciding the difference between a Boeing 757 and a Boeing 767, but overtime airplane nomenclature will come natural with practice.

There are various methods that anyone can use in order to narrow down what the airplane may be called. The basic ideas are to first look at the engines one the aircraft and notice where they are located and how many it has. A Boeing 717 and Boeing 727 can easily be differentiated by seeing that the 717 only has two engines on the tail, while the 727 has three. Winglets are a good way to distinguish whether the airplane is made by Boeing or Airbus, and the size of the windows and tires can also be a good indication of what type of aircraft it is. For example, the landing gear on an Airbus A340 includes a single tire that comes out of the middle part of the fuselage, which makes it very distinguishable.

The wing configuration is probably the most important aspect of identifying an airplane. High, mid, or low wing airplanes rule out many different factors of the type of aircraft, and at the same time the wing shape is just as important. Straight, swept, and delta wings are a good giveaway on the airplane. The shape of the tail is also very helpful such as conventional, forward slant, high horizontal stabilizer, t-tail, v-tail, and twin boom tails. All of these factors are easy to learn and understand with practice and eventually will help anyone identify a plethora of aircraft.

A Normal Day in the Life of a Pilot

A routine flight turned into an adrenaline rush last week during my training. I departed Lafayette Purdue University Airport and traveled southeast to Frankfort Municipal Airport to practice short and soft field takeoff and landings in my Piper Warrior PA-28-161. When I arrived at Frankfort there was a Piper J-3 Cub in the pattern, which I determined to be practicing landings as well. I entered the normal traffic pattern behind the cub and landed shortly after he took off and departed on runway heading. However, when I landed I soon realized that he made a steep bank heading quickly back to the airport. Since the runway is only 2,500 ft long I didn’t have time to back taxi to the beginning of the threshold and takeoff before he landed. I then decided to roll out to the end of the runway and position the airplane in the apron off to the side so he could land safely.

When I turned the plane around the Cub seemed to be on a low approach path and was extremely off to the right side of the runway. I became increasingly nervous as he began to dive down straight towards me. As the tension was building up inside me, he pulled the airplane straight up no more than 20 feet off the ground directly over my airplane. I was astonished to see that he attached himself to an advertising sign seconds before he climbed away from the ground. He flew around the airport for a few minutes to ensure the sign was attached properly and proceeded to fly towards Purdue. I was amazed to learn first-hand how advertising signs are displayed in the air, but couldn’t believe that the only time he ever talked on the radio was to apologize for giving me a scare.

Caparo T1

I did not find out about this car until recently and after researching it for a while I knew I had to write about it. The Caparo T1 should be under production right now and will be in sale some time next year. This car will set you back about $400,000 but honestly who would not pay that much to have their only street legal Formula 1 car, if they are millionaires that is. Anyways this car was designed by the same people who designed the McLaren F1.

This car has a mid-engine, that means that the engine is placed in the middle of the car and gives the car extreme handling and stability, also cars such as Ferrari and Lamborghinis have mid-engines. This car is power by a 3.5L naturally aspirated V8. A naturally aspirated means that the pressure of the cylinder is decreased, this leads to more air and gas going into the cylinder, therefore having a bigger explosion in the cylinder, and ending up with much more horsepower. The Caparo has 575 hp and it only weighs 1036 lb, this means that it has a hp to weight ratio of 1045 hp/tone; double the Bugatti Veyron. Unfortunately this car will only be accessible to the super rich, but us others are still allowed to dream.

Airport Paradise

Over the years, airline travel has seemed to get less and less romantic and luxurious and has become almost the equivalent of traveling on a public bus. However, there are many people joining a new trend of airline clubs that offer the service that traveling coach now lacks. The expense of joining these clubs causes many people to turn down the offer immediately, but considering all of the hassles of air travel today with delays and crowded airports, it could be well worth opening the pocket book. In addition to comfortable work stations and cushy chairs, they offer perks like free beverages and civil reservation agents.

These locations can overall be less expensive than first class tickets and at the same time offer more perks than upper class seating during flight. Most of the major US airlines have such clubs, for example, Delta Airlines has the Crown Room Club, American has the Admirals Club, United the Red Carpet Club, Northwest the WorldClub, and Continental has the Presidents Club. Annual memberships are not the only option however, because one day passes are also offered and sometimes given away free of charge for customers who regularly fly on that particular airline. The clubs do this to give people a taste of royalty when they enter the five star locations inside the drib airports.

Wi-Fi, Internet, and bar services are perfect for anyone who likes to relax during a stressful day of dealing with the airlines. All of the services are included within the memberships to prevent any worries of paying for the costs of beverages or food during a visit. Customers are also able to rebook their flights at the front desk instead of waiting in the extremely long lines at the airline counters. All together, the clubs are able to save time on air travel and save the stress that normally comes with everyday commuting.

Approach Paths- Too Low?

After the recent collision of a dual engine plane with an apartment complex inBritish Columbia some residents are asking if the approach and departure paths are too low. My answer to them is are you fucking kidding me?

Many people don't understand what actually goes on in the aviation world, but let me paint you a picture. Airports are generally built far away from cities because of noise restrictions put into effect by the FAA. However, as soon as the airport is built there are people that have to work there so houses start popping up. Then businesses decide they want to be able to do their own flights out of these airports so office buildings show up. Then you get grocery stores start popping up and fast food restaurants and car rental places and just about everything you can think of. So you end up having an airport surrounded by a city.

And then you get people saying "There's a couple of times there's a plane flying right above our buildings," Well the airport didn't find a 50 acre spot of land in the middle of a city and say hey let's build here so we can get flights in the air and have them just barely clear that building there. Hell O'Hare used to have nothing around it.

Diesel Aviation

A giant new development is being made in the aircraft manufacturing industry as traditional Avgas engines are being replaced by engines powered by diesel fuel. There are many different concerns and criticism about whether these new engines will be proficient enough to power piston driven airplanes. Replacing avgas with diesel is a very heated topic within general aviation because it could change the way pilots fly in the future. However, there are also many benefits to having diesel engines that has many experts wondering why companies haven’t completely switched over to the fuel already.

In the early years of aviation before the jet age, planes were powered by a high octane leaded fuel, similar to when cars used gas that had lead in it. Over the years it was discovered that lead was extremely detrimental to the environment and cars completely switched over to unleaded gas. However, aviation fuel converted to 100LL, which still has a small percentage of lead in its composite. Now, the Environmental Protection Agency is alleging that airplanes flying in high elevations are pumping lead into the atmosphere. This concern sparked the debate that a new fuel source should be used to power these airplanes. The decreasing reserves of Avgas is one of the greatest reasons that a demand for change has occurred and eventually prices will be so high that flight training will become a more difficult financial challenge

Diesel fuel was considered to be the best method used in converting from 100LL because it is less expensive and has a slightly better fuel economy than Jet A. However there are some negative aspects of diesel that would deter many pilots from switching over to the new source of power. The first problem is one that is occurring today but could worsen once diesel becomes popular in airplanes. There have been numerous accidents in general aviation when pump attendants fuel airplanes with Jet A instead of 100LL. When this happens the engine can run from taxi to takeoff and will cut out when the airplane is about 100 feet in the air. Pilots prevent this from occurring by checking the fuel during preflight to insure that it has a blue color and doesn’t smell like kerosene. When diesel is introduced into the market it is very hard to determine what fuel it is because it has the same color and smell as Jet A. Studies have also shown that diesel causes filter plugging and possible fuel starvation under high-altitude, low-temperature operation.

One of the latest aircraft models that changed to using a diesel engine is a Cessna Model 182.
SMA, a company in France, began developing the diesel aircraft engine back in 1998 and just released the engine that Cessna has installed in the 182. SMA has also produced diesel engines for the Piper Dakota and Seneca, Socata Trinidad and Cessna Skyhawk. The company is also developing six-cylinder, 300 to 350 hp models for possible use on large singles and medium twins. As other companies such as Lycoming and Continental begin to compete for top spot in the market for this new phenomenon, many are anticipating the best for diesel aviation.

Rollercoaster Ride

A scary ride was reported Friday night when a 767 encountered severe turbulence on a landing approach into South Bend airport(KSBN). On the approach sudden severe turbulence caused the 767 to plumet towards the ground, but the quick thinking pilot calmly performed a go around for a second chance at the runway. On the second attempt the 767 safely made the runway.

On the first approach the turbulence the passengers are reported to have been thrown from their seats. The passengers on this plane were none other than the football team of USC flying in for todays game against Notre Dame.

I have done some flying into the South Bend airport and can tell you from my experience that you can get thrown around easily by the turbulence in their approach paths but I have never encountered any turbulence as bad as this must have been. Enough to send a 767 plummeting towards the earth I couldn't imagine what that would do to my warrior. Can't say I blame the team for fearing for their lives. It could have been a Marshall University all over again.

Death of the DC-10

Northwest Airlines, one of the few airlines still flying the DC-10 in their fleets, is finally considering phasing out there use of these planes most of which were built in the late sixties. Currently the domestic fleet of Northwest is made up of DC-10s and Boeing Boeing 747- 200s. While their flights overseas are made by newer Airbus A330s.

Northwest is no doubt considering this change to to rising gas prices which currently top six dollars a barrel. The DC-10s were built in the sixties when far less proficient engines were rolling off the assembly lines so needless to say the DC-10 is the Hummer of the airplane world, eating gas faster than you can pump it in.

Northwest is looking to begin replacing these planes in 2008 with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This aircraft is larger, more comfortable, and has all the modern technological advanements(video screens in the headrests). Not to mention they use far less gas and will yield more profit per seat.

This looks to be a great improvement for Northwest. Hopefully this will get them on their feet again. Maybe this will give them the push to get competitive with Jet Blue, though Jet Blue has been a growing company since it came into existence.

Suzuki Hayabusa

This bike is well known all around the world for beating every other bike out there. Now the new 2008 Hayabusa has an improved engine with more power, its funny to think if there will ever be a limit to how much power a bike can have. This did happen in Japan in 2001, they placed a speed limiter in the bike so that it would not go over 186mph. Honestly what is the point of lowering the speed limit from 212mph because if you crash you will still kill yourself especially in bike. It would probably take about 60mph to lose your life if you crashed. But this is what makes riding a motorcycle so thrilling, its the adrenaline that rushes through your blood. Riding is simply something that cannot be described. There is no word to describe the feeling of going down the highway with a motorcycle and being in the complete opened space. Even though it true that you might be a light sore after riding for hours but that is all included in the fun of it.

This bike has a top speed of over 200mph and to buy a car that reaches those speed you would have to be a millionaire. Now with $12,000 you can purchase one of thees awesome speed-demons. Now instead of having 1299cc its got 1340cc, that makes a pretty big difference. This bike is the fastest production bike and it will take you from 0 to 60 in about 3 seconds! There is no other feeling than the feeling of acceleration especially an acceleration like this one. The Hayabusa is also well known for not only it's aggressive looks but also it's unique design that gives it an extra muscular look. If you still don't believe the fact that this bike is the one you should own, then take a look at this video. Well of coarse that is not a stock Hayabusa.

Mini Cooper

Well I've always liked these little cars, but it wasn't until I actually drove one that I realized that I have to own one. The first time I drove one of these was at the official Mini Cooper dealer. There I test-drove a Mini Cooper S 6-speed manual, the handling was spectacular! I took a turn at 60 mph, this was no wide turn, and the car did not tilt what so ever. I always heard from people and from the Mini commercials that they were great handling cars, and let me tell you something, they were right. While this car is extremely fun to drive, I would only recommend it to people who are not going to be taking a lot of people in the car (they will not fit or they will be extremely uncomfortable).

The Mini Cooper S has an in line-4 fed by a turbocharger that gives this engine 174 horsepower. That might not sound like much but, trust me it's enough because this car is extremely light. But if you still don't think I'm telling the truth go drive one yourself. If after that 174hp is not enough then drive the Mini Cooper S with the John Cooper Works kit which is also known as JCW. The Cooper Works kit is best performing Mini Cooper out of the factory. This kit includes things such as a bigger turbocharger, sport-tuned suspension, performance brakes, and also a performance intake system. This JCW kit will cost you an extra $6,000 on top of the price of the Cooper S. Thankfully I also got the opportunity to drive one of these, and wow was I speechless. This time I went into a used car dealership where I saw a Mini Cooper. At first I thought it was the Cooper S. It wasn't until I looked around the car and saw the JCW logo on the way better-looking exhaust. It was then that I told myself that I had to drive it. Somehow I convinced the seller to let me test-drive it.

I'm not going to lie, I was a bit nervous but I couldn't wait to accelerate this car. At first I got myself used to the clutch and the overall car then when I was on a straight-away I sunk my foot down the gas pedal. My friend was riding shotgun and the seller was in the back. Honestly I knew that I was going pretty fast but it wasn't until my friend saying "hey, your going 100mph!" that actually realized how fast I was going. If it wasn't for my friend I think I would've kept going until the seller told me to slow down. This car was so stable at 100 that I really thought I was going about 70 max. This comes to show that you really shouldn't under-estimate little cars.

Delivery!

The much anticipated A380 is finally rolling off the assembly lines and into airline fleets.

The first A380 will be delivered tomorrow to the prouud new owner Singapore Airlines. There is to be a huge party at the Airbus Delivery Center in Toulousse. This monster of a plane will not depart until Tuesday, arriving in Singapore on Wednesday, where it will soon make its first flight from Singapore to Sydney. It will enter dailt service on this route on October 28.

Singapore is not the only airline committed to the A380. The A380 is being seen as the next generation of air travel so naturally its orders have increased. Currently 16 airlines have committed asking Airbus to produce a total of 189 planes. I can't imagine that many double dechers in the air. Not to mention that those numbers average out to be about 12 planes per airline. Can you imagine walking up to a terminal and seeing 12 of these monsters lined up in a row? Each plane is powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines and I probably don't have to tell you that's a ton of power. But even with all that power Airbus claims the A380 is "cleaner, greener, quieter and smarter," and "is already setting new environmental benchmarks in air-transport. Per passenger, the A380 has an unmatched fuel efficiency of less than three litres per 100 kilometres." I guess we'll find out.

747?

This plane may look like one of Boeings 747's, but upon closer inspection you would find that it has undergone a major rehaul. NASA calls this plane SOFIA(Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy). It is currently undergoing flight tests at Edwards Air Force Base in California where scientisits will determine if this new spin on the 747 is airworthy.

Tests being performed include aerodynamic, structural integrity, stability and control, and handling qualities for this aircraft.

The biggest modification to this aircraft by far is the 17 metric ton 16 foot tall telescope which was attached to the plane. In order to do this a large hole had to be cut into the aft fuselage, so you can see why an aerodynamics and stability tests are needed. Thus far the tests have been performed with the cavity doors closed, but the telescope may only be used when the doors are opened. Door opened tests are expected to begin in late 2008. This time is when we will really see how promising this new technology is.

If this aircraft becomes operational scientists will have the most effective infra-red telescope. The 747 has the capability to fly at 45000 ft. positioning the telescope above most of earth's water vapor. This will allow for clear viewing of constellations, and hopefully a chance to peer inside the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Scientists hope to begin these observations in 2009.

Hang Loose?

Hawaii may no longer be as laid back as they were thought to be. Hawaii's two major airlines have been named numbers one and two for the most timely carriers. Hawaiian Airlines took the number one spot with 94.7% of their planes being on time while Aloha Airlines took second with 91.5%.

This information came at a most intriguing time as the U.S. Airlines report came out and showed that overall the U.S.'s performance was the eleventh worst in history.

I, however have to put my two cents in on this. I took a trip to Hawaii in the summer of 2006 and did quite a bit of island hopping while I was there. We used these two airlines and while they were fairly close to being on time(within 10 min.), we still missed one flight completely because our plane was so late in getting to the gate. This was my experience with Aloha.

After this disaster I found myself wondering how the hell we could have missed our flight and been twenty minutes late to begin with considering the longest trip these planes make is about 80 miles. By the time you get up to cruising altitude it's time to start your approach and begin your descent. Should it really be so hard to stay on time? Based on the proximity of the islands I don't see any reason why these airlines shouldn't be the number one and two spots for most on time.

New Subaru STi

As contrast to my previous blog about the Mitsubishi Evolution X, the new Subaru STi, in my opinion, did meet the regular standards of the usual aggressive look that it has always had. But this time Subaru tried something new. This time they made the new WRX STi into a hatchback, which is good and bad in numerous ways. First of all ,am not going to lie but I didn't really like it when I saw it for the first time, I actually hated it as a hatchback, but honestly I've learned to appreciate it. Now I really think that Subaru went the right direction with this more European-looking car. They also managed to make it more muscular by making the fenders wider; not only does it look nice but it also serves a purpose, this allows you to put wider tires in the car which will give the car more stability and traction. Well stability and traction is what this car doesn't need, and now with it being improved even more, if you are the type the type of person that likes taking your corner fast, like myself, then this is the car for you.

Subaru, apart from improving the stability and traction of the car they also upgraded the engine. Rumors say that the engine will be a 2.5L inline-4, oh and don't forget the massive Turbo! This motor will put out a total of about 320 horsepower. While the Japanese version only being 2.0L with about 300h hp, which is due to power restrictions in Japan. These restrictions are similar to those in Rally competition, engines cannot be bigger than 2.0L, a limit of 4 cylinders, and also a limit to the size of the turbo.


To add on to the many improvements of this car, it is also lighter than the previous model. So with the decrease of weight and the addition of power this car will be much faster than the 2006 model. Estimations state that this car will take you from 0 to 60 in about 4.5 seconds, now i don't know about you, but that is extremely fast for a car that you can buy for only $35,000. Compared to all the other cars that get you there at that amount of time is a huge difference of price. Here is a chart with the statistics of cars from 0 to 60, take a look you will be impressed at the types of car this one can keep up with. Well it is obvious though that this car will not completely keep up with these car since all of them have top speeds from 180 to 220 mph. The Subaru STi will probably have a top speed of about 160 to 170mph.

This car actually taught me a lesson of not hating a car after only taking a glimpse at it. To be extremely honest I did not like this car until I started writing this blog and looking up pictures of it. But the one thing that i still don't like about the car are the front headlights. I think that they don't match with the car and also i don't think that they are aggressive enough. But I still think that this car will out-sell the Mitsubishi Evolution X; not by huge number but a noticeable one. Subaru took a big gamble by making this car into a hatchback but I think it will live up to previous models.

Infiniti G37 Coupe

Recently Infiniti has replaced the previous G35 with the new G37. Well you might be wondering "why is it now called the G37?". Well the number has all to do with the type of engine. The previous G35 had a 3.5L V6 now the G37 has a 3.7L V6. Well 0.2L can make a big difference in the output of the motor. This increased the horsepower from 280 to 330hp! Along with its improvements under the hood, I personally think that Infiniti managed to improve dramatically the exterior of the car as well. I know that it might not look very different from the older model but what makes the difference here is how the G37 looks much smoother than the G35. The G35 was too "boxy", it had only straight lines, and now Infiniti has fixed those mistakes with making the cars lines much smoother and rounder in general. This car was acknowledged for not exactly out-running but actually out-lasting BMW's new 335i Coupe. Both cars were taken to their limits and until the BMW could not go any longer while the Infiniti was still in real good shape (Here is the whole story). Well this comes to show at least some car companies are making improvements to their previous models and hopefully other car companies will learn from Infiniti.

Hyundai Tiburon

Well if you had been keeping up with my blogs the new Hyundai Tiburon, aka Tib, does not come close to competing with the cars that I have been writing about. Honestly I was really impressed with the 2007 model. A friend of mine has the top of the line model and I when I saw it from far away it looked nice, and as I got closer it looked even nicer. About the exterior of the car, first of all the 17'' wheels are really nice and inside of them are the stock ventilated disc brakes. The holes in the disc helps it stay cool and therefore increase the braking capabilities at high speeds. Not many cars offer this type of disk brakes especially cars that cost $22,000. The exhaust is the other thing that impressed me, the dual-exhaust look really nice with the way that it blends into the body. The only thing that I didn't like as much about the outside of the car was the front bumper but that can be fixed.

Now I was honestly overwhelmed by the interior. The things that stood out to me the most were the gauges and the two-tone bucket seats. The interior in general was really nice. When I was riding the car I couldn't stop thinking that my friend got this car for only $22,000. Am not going to lie but originally when i first saw the car and noticed that it was the best trim, I thought it cost around $30,000. The gauges were big and easy to read, and with their neon-blue lights turned on at night, they look even better. There are also some gauges in the center console, which includes how much torque the car is using; theses gauges also light up with the neon-blue lights. The the two-tone seats are red and black. The center part of the seat is red cloth and the rest is black leather; there is also the option of having the red leather with black cloth. This car has seats for 4 people, but only the front two will be comfortable.

The exterior and interior are real nice, you might be asking yourself now "what about the motor?" Well don't worry because the V6 will impress you as well. This car has a 2.7L V6 engine that has a total of 172 horsepower and 181 ft-lb of torque. That might seem little, but while I was riding the car without knowing how much power it had I would've guess at least 200hp, no joke! So if you are young or at least want to feel young, without spending too much money, than this is the car for you. Well at least for me it is!

Who Needs a Fall Break?

Over the weekend of October 5-9, students at Purdue University were able to enjoy a peaceful and relaxing fall break and return to their home towns. It may not have been as peaceful as many had hoped since Purdue lost to Ohio State that Saturday, but that is beside the point. When mostly all 40,000 students left the University, a few stayed behind because of obligations they had to complete. One of the groups that I am talking about is the Purdue University Flight Team. The regional competition for the flight team is quickly approaching the last week of October and fall break was the perfect opportunity to get some solid practice in before the event.

The team met and practiced Monday and Tuesday from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon and some even flew into the evening. While classes are stressful enough for college students, this puts that term to a whole new level. Each day the team met in the morning at Purdue’s airport and took five Piper Warriors and a Cessna 182 to Delphi Municipal Airport. Most of the practice was spent at this small deserted airport, but it didn’t take long until the peaceful field turned into a busy formation of small airplanes.

Spot takeoffs and landings were a big part of the practice as well as the message drop event. Flour was laid in a line across the runway to give the pilots a clear view of their aiming point, and on the grass strip next to the paved runway; two barrels were placed on opposite sides of the field as a target for message drop. It was now time for the airplanes to fly and it had to be done in shifts since there weren’t enough aircraft for everyone on the team to fly at once, nor did the airport have the capability to have all members flying at the same time. Three airplanes flew a left pattern from runway 18 and used the runway to practice six power on and six power off landings. At the same time there were two airplanes flying a right pattern around runway 18 except they used the field next to the runway for their low pass. As planes were constantly taking off and flying low dropping objects out of the air, many spectators came to see what all the excitement was about. Some general aviation pilots were even confused when coming in to what they thought would be a routine day at the small airport.

All together the two days of strenuous practice for the Flight Team was a complete success. The pilots became comfortable with their events and the amount of air traffic in a close proximity. There are only a few more weeks until regionals for the team and by the time October 30 hits, they will be ready to show all other schools what Purdue flying is all about.

Fly Free or Die Hard

In one of my earlier blogs I talked about airplane graveyards, where most aircraft in the United States are taken when they are out of commission and are laid to rest in the middle of the desert. Since I got so much positive feedback on the issue I decided to give the readers some more fun facts and information they wouldn’t normally think ever happened in to airplanes.

If you ever asked someone about an airplane graveyard and they understood what you were talking about, they most likely would mention Mojave, California. That is because it is probably the biggest trash site for aircraft in the country and holds more military planes than any other location. Most people have probably seen this place on television without even realizing it, because it is a famous setting for many movies such as Con Air and the TV show JAG. It is also holds the research facility for Spaceship One and is the site where Burt Rutan made the first ever commercial voyage into space.

Mojave holds a plethora of airliners long forgotten, and beneath the sands it holds quite a bit of history of commercial aviation in America. With its location being close to Edwards Air Force Base, Spectators can see an array of rare aircraft. At the main entrance to the graveyard there is an extremely rare Convair 900, and the site also holds some living aircraft such as some of the only F-4 Phantoms left in operation. Sadly, the graveyard itself is fenced off to prevent injuries around the decaying planes, but there is still plenty to see around the area and from the fence. There is also a public airport at the graveyard site and most people would find very strange that an animal shelter is built in the very middle of it.

Throughout the American southwest there are plenty of small aircraft graveyards that seem to pop up out of nowhere. There have been an increasing number of these sites over the past decade mainly blamed on the September 11 attacks and the bankruptcies of almost every US major airline sometime over the past 15 years. Adelanto – Victorville, California and Albuquerque, New Mexico also house deceased airplanes and some places are just abandoned military bases. Whatever the case may be, rest assured eventually the airplane you are flying on will most likely bite the dust.

The V-22 Osprey Returns!

As the war in Iraq progresses, the marines have decided to bring a very distinct aircraft out of retirement to assist the troops in battle. Many people in Washington were surprised that the marines brought back the Bell V-22 Osprey, including Vice President Dick Cheney, who has repeatedly tried to cancel the entire Osprey program. This aircraft was designed by military engineers as a way to enhance the helicopter during war, but it has a dark past behind it that has left many experts worried whether this will help or hurt US troops.

The V-22 was developed over 25 years ago when the marines were in demand of airplanes that could vertically takeoff and land aboard small decks of ships. After Vietnam War when the CH-46 went obsolete, commanders needed a new method of amphibious assault. As a result, the Osprey was born with the ability to cruise like an airplane and takeoff and land like a helicopter. Money was a huge issue for the government because the cost of building twin rotors that tilted in midair was ridiculously expensive. High prices also cut the number of Osprey’s sold to the armed forces in half. Now, congress has decided that the Marines, Navy and Air Force will get 458 aircraft, averaging $119 million per copy.

The Osprey came under heavy scrutiny when it began to show major flaws that all together killed 30 marines in the course of its history. Problems began at the V-22’s maiden voyage, where it crashed due to improper wiring. There was also a second crash in 1992 that killed 7 soldiers, but despite its flaws the Osprey continued to fly throughout the Clinton administration. The greatest disaster in the program came in 2000, when two of the aircraft crashed killing 23. The marines then immediately grounded the Osprey project for 18 months because of its inability to land safely during an emergency.

Now many people are questioning why the US government is sending these planes to Iraq. The military is responding to critics who say it has killed to many people by stating that the AV-8 Harrier Jet, which also can vertically land and fly as a fighter plane, also killed over 45 marines. However, in the long run the Harrier was a great success in war and is still used today. The counterargument to this is that the Harrier only carried one pilot who wore a parachute and the Osprey carries 23 passengers that have no parachutes. The V-22 also likes the fighting power of a combat jet, with only one forward mounted machine gun and less maneuverability. In the upcoming months the world will be watching how well these airplanes perform and whether they can lead to success in Iraq.

Lamborghini LP640!

Ever since the release of the Murcielago it has been a hit. This car is basically a substitution to the Murcielago. The Murcielago previously had 575 at 7,500 rpm horsepower and the LP640 is pretty self-explanatory, this thing has a total of 640 horses at 8,000 rpm! It is a huge improvement from the Murcielago; its hard to think that they could actually improve this car so much. The exterior did not change much, the most noticeable change would probably be the exhaust, now instead of being a dual exhaust in the middle, now its a since huge exhaust. They probably got this idea from the Bugatti Veyron. But don't get me wrong it looks amazing on this car.

The most amazing version of this car is the Roadster. This car simply looks amazing. What else could you ask for when you can drive down the road with the top down while going at amazing speeds. This car has an amazing handling due to its all-wheel-drive system. It is true that the AWD does keep the car from making some extreme burnouts but I'm sure if you turn off the traction control you'll be able to make some sweet doughnuts! Now back to the technical stuff. This car is almost entirely made out of carbon fibre which gives it insane strengh and makes it much lighter. This reduced weight is needed to make up for the weight of the huge V12 engine that takes it from 0 to 60 in 3.4 seconds and a top speed of over 200mph! So if I was a millionaire this would be the car for me.