Collision between Aviation Superpowers

Corporate flight is becoming increasingly popular these days with airline ticket prices constantly rising and the hassle of security and delays at airports. Many people prefer the convenience of a flexible flight schedule and being able to cut the time of getting to their destination in half. Experts agree that there is an increasing number of passengers chartering airplanes rather than buying airline tickets.


The airlines are fighting back by accusing the growing number of small jets of overcrowding the skies. Also, at the same time charter businesses are blaming the airlines losses on their poor management and abundance of delays. A perfect example of airline mishaps occurred over the past summer when passengers were stuck on an airplane for over five hours while sitting on the ramp. Events such as these are one of the reasons why the airlines are struggling to keep in power and make a profit. Steve Brown, senior vice president for operations at the National Business Aviation Association said that "The vast majority of delays are caused by weather and the airlines always over schedule everything so if the smallest weather pattern develops, you have cascading delays all day long." On the other side of the spectrum Steve Danishek, an independent travel industry consultant based in Seattle explained "Corporate jets may be smaller, but they still take up space.


There are also different financial reasons for the growing conflict between the two aviation giants. The airlines claim that they are also losing money due to the fact that corporate and general aviation planes are paying for the faction of the cost for fuel. This has been a hot topic recently, as I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, where the airlines are supporting a bill that will put more restrictions and fees towards general aviation. Congress is in the process of voting whether these new set of rules will be set in place, but most agree that there is no clear resolution in sight between these dueling superpowers.

From the Minor League to the Majors

Every college student has one goal in mind during his or her years of school and that is to land a job that pays enough money for them to start a living. This is the same for pilots that come out of college with a four year degree. During college, students in flight majors earn their Private and Commercial Pilot Certificate, Instrument and Multiengine rating, and hundreds of hours of flight time that will aid them in finding the job they prefer.

Students usually line up a job before they receive their diploma by submitting their resumes to various commuter airlines, small cargo carriers, or private companies that need pilot services. When it comes to getting hired by an airline, most individuals seeking employment could care less about the company name that is hiring them. Most graduates are anxious to get a job quickly and smoothly so that they can begin to make a living doing the thing that they love. However, making these small mistakes could cost a pilot dearly in the future.

There are many factors that future employees must make before making a final decision on which airline to commit their expertise. Before going with the first offer that comes their way, students need to browse through several airlines and observe how each company operates, the aircraft they use, pay rate, and the future growth within the company. Generally, pilots just coming out of college will only have enough experience to earn a position in the right seat of a regional carrier. Then as their career progresses they can earn a position in the coveted left seat and eventually get hired with a major airline.

There are several distinct differences between minor and major airlines. When pilots begin their career with the minor airlines they fly relatively short distances from a large airport to smaller satellite airports. The commuter airlines are also usually associated with a major airline to allow a smoother flow of senior pilots from commuters going to the major airlines. This allows the pilot to stay within the same company without having to switch to a completely different atmosphere. Those who have made it to the majors are at the peak of their flying career and have reached a plateau that took them years of training to achieve. Pilots in the major airlines have the benefits of high salaries, increased job security, and retirement plans that will allow them to support themselves and their family for the rest of their lives. Although it takes pilots many years to work their way up the corporate ladder to become a senior captain, they are still following their passion of flying while being paid and able to see the world at the same time.

2008 Pontiac G8

Pontiac has recently released their new car line, the G8. This car is to be released in early 2008 and i looks like Pontiac did a good job with this one. This car is going to have two different trim levels, the base model will offer a 3.6L V6 engine that has a total of 256 horsepower. This base model will also come with a 5-speed automatic transmission while the GT model will have a standard 6-speed automatic and an enormous 6.0L V8 engine that puts out a total of 361 horses!

Well to be honest I'm not here to talk about the base model even though it is pretty sweet, but it is no where close to the GT version. This car is also available with a red and and black leather interior matching with their awesome red and black gauges. The base model will start at around $28,000 and the GT model at $30,000 so if I was to buy this car, without a doubt I would buy the GT version.

Mitsubishi Evolution X, so Much for Being a Full 10

Well its finally here, the new Mitsubishi Evolution X. This time Mitsubishi took a different step when it came to their high-performance Lancer. They improved the horsepower from 286 to 295 and the torque from 289 to 300. But as it increased power it also increased size and weight. So basically it was like it never improved. To me it just looks nowhere near as good as the as the Evolution IX.

Okay so let me start with the front of the car. I gotta say that it doesn't look bad but that tiny little hood-scoop is just ugly. I mean it you are going to put a hood-scoop in a performance car at least have the decency of making much bigger than that. I don't have a lot of problems with the side of the car but the thing that i would change would be the fenders; i would make those fenders much wider because it makes the so much more aggressive and it allows car enthusiasts to put extremely wide tires on the car. Now the back of the car is where i have most problems with. First of all the back tail-lights are a rip-off from the Lexus IS. Second the the rear wing is not as big and nice as the one on the Evo IX. Last but not least, having dual exhaust is cool but to be quite honest I'd rather have one huge exhaust than those two little ones.

So what I'm trying to say here not that this car will not sell, because it will, what I'm trying to say is that Mitsubishi was not able to outdo their previous model. So Mitsubishi didn't make this car the pure performance was that they used to make. This car was basically the epitome of an affordable sports car. Everyone knows that they don't buy their car only for their performance, usually its the looks of that car that will attract the customer. In my opinion it will have some tough competition with the new VW R32 but unfortunately for my i believe that Subaru was also not able to outdo their last STi, the hatchback thing really doesn't work. Well that is how the car industry works. It is always random, and car-makers are just trying to find the perfect formula for a car that most people will like, but no matter what there will always be people who don't like it.

The Barge of the Sky

Sometimes people look at certain planes and ask themselves: how exactly does an aircraft of that size ever make it off the ground? Well, most people would agree that after taking one look at the Airbus Beluga they wonder why manufacturers ever designed such a plane that looks like the Astro-Van of the sky. The Airbus A300-600 ST, or otherwise known as the Beluga, has a sole purpose of transporting oversized cargo. Its main deck is larger than military transports such as the C5 Galaxy, Antonov An-124, and the C17.

Airbus only made five Belugas but they are all currently in use operating for Airbus Transport International. The cargo deck, located above the cockpit instead of the traditional lower designs, prevents manufacturers from having to break down large parts of equipment and allows quick and easy transport. The cargo hold also has temperature control for sensitive payload and is large enough to carry most helicopters. The cockpit is designed for a two person crew and has the most up to date glass instrument panel system. However, the Beluga also has a very prominent flaw, which is its performance and maximum distance it can fly without having to refuel. That is why the A300 is mainly used in Europe, while most other cargo aircraft are able to fly oversees without a fuel stop.

Know Your Runways!!

I'm a student pilot, but even I'm not as dumb as this asshole.

Yesterday was my first dual cross country lesson. My instructor and I decided to fly from Lafayette to Frankfort, Frankfort to Monticello, and Monticello back to Lafayette. Both Frankfort and Monticello are local, uncontrolled airports so my instructor taught me the differences in the radio calls at these airports before we left.

Well we took off and flew to Frankfort and everything went fine there, I made the radio calls we did a touch- and- go and headed for Monticello. This was when the fun started.

On the way to Monticello we discovered there was another Purdue plane(Purdue 3) ahead of us and that they were also headed to Monticello. When we began making radio calls a thid aircraft, a Saratoga, made himself known as being inbound for Monticello. About two miles out neither of the Purdue planes had seen the traffic, so Purdue 3 proceded to begin a left traffic pattern. As Purdue 3 turned base I began my downwind and as I called it the Saratoga called his own downwind for runway 18 the same runway Purdue 3 was on pattern for. At this point we began really looking for him. Purdue 3 then called its final and the Saratoga called his simultaneously.

That's when I spotted him! Coming over the trees. Purdue 3 had just landed on 18 and the Saratoga was on final for 36 the same runway running the opposite direction. They were going to crash and all because one pilot had his runways backwards. Thankfully Purdue 3 saw him and took off making a steep right turn to avoid the collision.

This is why Pilots must know their headings and how the runways are set up. Because one pilot had his runways backwards he nearly took three lives including his own. How this jackass got his license, I'll never know, but hopefully he gets his headings straight before he returns to the air.

New Shields

December will mark a new phase in the development of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.(CEV) This is when engineers from NASA and the USAF's Arnold Engineering Development Center will begin conducting aerothermal tests on new materials to use as the CEV's heat shields.

Another goal of these tests is to collect data at Mach 8 and Mach 10 from the CEV models surface. These data are then used to update NASA's fluid dynamics data on the Orion project.

Orion although larger than the Apollo spacecraft were built with the same structure details in mind. While they look almost completely the same the Orion heat shields will face far more heating and shear than did any of the Apollo spacecraft.

The Orion is planned to be used for missions to the International Space Station by 2014, and to the moon by 2020.