I often think Online Networking is a bit like window shopping. You know what I mean, taking a look at the action and seeing if anything takes your fancy. Sadly it's not always possible to buy, but it can be fun passing the time of day with the shopkeepers learning a bit about their businesses. I may not be in the market to buy, but it's always possible I know someone that is. Without doubt everyone has a story to tell one way or another, and presumably most are here to do business!
I`m in the habit of logging in to Iviation each day just to keep an eye on any interesting discussions that might be have started in the forum or blogs. I also grab a quick peek at the profiles of new sign ups and check for any activity in my chosen groups.
It's been a bit quiet in the forums lately but checking out a couple of the new "joiners" has been interesting.
First prize for best profile image must go to http://iviation.com/frstflyr for the cockpit shot! takes a second or two to load but worth the wait.... Can you work out where the picture was taken?
.. and today's prize for best Website must go to Rich... http://iviation.com/Rich Unfortuately I'm 3000 miles too far away and a few dollars short of the fun, but whoever wrote the copy got my attention and would have succeeded in signing me up....
By contrast I checked out the groups and spotted one for PA28's - I'd like to bet that just about every member of Iviation has flown in one! http://iviation.com/groups/view/id_10/title_piper-cherokee/ so was a little suprised that more people hadn`t signed up...
Got to go now, work to do, but just for fun have you spotted any interesting profiles recently... if so tell us why....
Tags: Light Aircraft Ownership Profiles
Things are pretty quiet at the moment, its always like this during the last week in July and first couple of weeks of August as the nation takes it's summer holidays. This has meant I`ve found a bit of time to catch up on reading some of those books I`ve bought over the years but never got round to reading or re-reading. In particular I've just finished reading a real gem "Vapour Trails" by Mike Lithgow.
Mike Lithgow was a test pilot for Vickers Armstrongs in the 1950's, and Vapour Trails is an anthology featuring true stories of incidents as recollected by fellow test pilots of the era. It's worth mentioning that test pilots of the 1950's were household names, many had remarkable service careers and most were involved in the race to get their companies jet aircraft into service with the military or airlines. That so many lived to tell the tale is remarkable, such is the price of progress.
As I enjoyed the book I was much struck by a comment from one contributor who was lamenting the fact that when he revisited his long forgotten flying log books to research his article he found very little comment in the remarks column to help him recall events.
In particular he recalls an incident in 1941 where he was bounced by a ME109 over the English Channel and suffered amongst other things a damaged engine, his luck didn`t quite hold out and the engine siezed before he reach an airfield. Too low to bale out he force landed, suffering nothing more than a few bruises and a very bent Spitfire. Nowadays this might be enough of an event for many to write a book! - Surely this would merit a few lines in his flying log book to mark the occasion - not a bit of it he ruefully admits in the remarks column he simply added the letters FL! (Forced Landing)
I thought it might be fun to have a look through my own log books and see what I had written in the reamrks column and was not too surprised to see I used a similar code in the remarks column....
My own flying career has been quite unremarkable, and other than records of tests etc I only had one entry of note during my training.. circa 30 hrs alongside the record for a solo cross country navex I added GL. I can`t remember the occasion but a flight time of 1.20 rather than 1.00 probably tells the story.... I Got Lost!
in retrospect I`m amazed at how reliable the aircraft have been and how I managed to get away with any mistakes I may have made along the way.... for example 4000 hrs instructing in Pipers finest and hardly a comment to be found alongside the usual flight exercise info.... but the odd one or two of these along the way made me smile.... alongside the students name the letters- PUMB - This I do remember was ("Puked Up Missed Bag") - PUGB was (Puked Up Got Bag) of course.
The occasion where I managed to break the banner tow line through snagging it in the grass when picking up a banner simply warranted BL (Broke Line) For the sake of history I omitted to mention the fact that this act of incompetence nearly stalled the aircraft in front of 30,000 people watching. (The banner said "Welcome - Flying Displays Start In 10 Minutes.")
In a similar number of hours flying the line all I could come up with in the way of remarks was a sprinking of LS's (Late ATC Slot) - BC (B****y Cold) .. Jetstream's don`t have APU's and preparing for the first flight of the day after a hard frosty night I must have though miserable enough to warrant a comment...
EFD, was one I do remember, it was the only occasion I had to take issue with Pratt and Whitney over their sticker on the engine. This PT6 wasn`t a reliable one... No big deal in a Shorts 360 so all this warranted was EFD (Engine Failure Diverted)....
After those few I find stopped making any remarks at all! - Why I don`t know... just page after page of places and times.... I was lucky nothing much ever I happened I guess.
I`d be fascinated to know what others write in their Log Books... nothing at all, brief mention or a story! Make a comment here and tell us about your Log Book entries.
Cheers Dave
Please Visit My Iviation Group "Iconic Aviation Ads"
http://iviation.com/groups/view/id_6/title_iconic-aviation-ads/
Tags: Flying Log Book
This morning an Email landed in my Inbox from the organisers of a group dedicated to establishing Tempelhof Airport in Berlin Germany as a World Heritage site. The essential links to their Website and Campaign are included at the foot of this Blog.
As it happens I`m currently writing an article about some of the advances in ATC and Aircraft servicing procedures that were made as a result of lessons learned during Operation Plainfare 60 years ago. I don`t have a lot of time now unfortunately, but I've cut and pasted a few paragraphs from my notes to remind you about some of the key points. So forgive me if it's a little disjointed. However I`ll make the full version available once it's complete.
In June 1948 - During a period of high tension amongst former WW2 allies in Europe, The Soviets unilaterally closed all land routes into Berlin. Put simply Stalin wanted the former allies out of Berlin. If Stalin were allowed to succeed the consequences for a free and secure Europe would have been unthinkable. With great foresight the British and American governments determined they would defy this treachery in a way that would not provoke the potential for armed conflict.
Despite the reduced manpower and reduced availabilty of aircraft after demobilisation A combined UK/US operation was launched to airlift essential supplies into the city to lift what effectively amounted to a siege.
Demand and supply
During the three months December to February, the proposed consumption amounted to approximately 4,340 metric tons/day' for German economy, 600 metric
tons/day for Allied maintenance. and a target of 1,680 metric tons/day for civilian space-heating-a total of about 6,620 metric tons/day. The figure for German economy included
Food 1300 metric tons/day
Public utility coal (e.g. , gas, electricity, etc.) 2,040 metric tons/day
Other . essential coal (bakeries, hospitals, etc.) 800 metric tons/day
Consumer goods and raw materials 200 metric tons/day.
The figure of 1,680 metric tons/day of coal for civilian space-heating aimed at would have allowed a distribution of only 4 cwt. to each family for the entire winter, obviously inadequate to cope with the usual Berlin winter.
It was estimated that the air forces planned could provide 3,600-4,100 metric tons/day in December. and 4,100-4,650 metric tons/day in January and February. The forecast stock level on December 1st was inadequate to bridge the gap that remained.
Without very widespread repercussions in the economic and political fields, no considerable reductions could be made in the requirements: the only possible exception was the civilian space-heating coal, and this would naturally mean even greater hardship. Actually, only about 50 Ibs. of coal plus a small amount of wood were issued to each household for the entire winter. Some reduction in the lift of raw materials and consumer goods took place also.
Fortunately, the winter was exceptionally mild, the average temperatures for December, January, and February being those normally encountered towards the middle or end of November, and the beginning or middle of March. Lack of space-heating did no t, therefore, lead to civilian morale being
lowered to any large degree.
The forecast and actual lift and consumption in Berlin are discussed under planning. For example, it was estimated that with the increased force available at the end of 1948 the coal position, depending on the severity of the winter, would be betweeen 6 and 23 days' reserve - the minimum adequate reserve was stated to be 21 days. The actual reserve at the end of February amounted to 21 days, plus 3 days chiefly attributable to the diversion of airlift tonnage from food to coal, and 4 days on account of the discovery of further coal stocks. Hence the margin for safety was quite small in spite of the exceptionally favourable winter.
Ways And Means
At the beginning of the Operation the object was to provide only for the requirements of the Allied Forces in Berlin. Dakotas, based at Wunstorf, were used and were later joined by Yorks, the supply of the civilian population being undertaken. Civilian charter firms called in to increase the lift used a variety of aircraft : Bristol Freighters and Wayfarers, Dakotas, Yorks, Liberators, Lancastrians, Tudors, and Haltons, At first, these civilian aircraft were mainly "freighters", but gradually they became specialized and towards the end of the blockade the majority had been converted to
tankers and supplied the entire liquid fuel requirements. (It was shown that in spite of the increased initial cost, liquid fuel was far more economical than coal for purposes when either could be used).
Aircraft in action
On the American side,the aircraft origina11y engaged were C-47s (Dakotas) and C-54s (Skymasters), but at an early stage the former were eliminated and the Skymaster force was built up. The policy was to use one type of aircraft and so simplify air traffic and servicing , problems; only a few other aircraft were used for specialized loads.
At first, the American airfields were Rhein-Main and Wiesbaden, both near Frankfurt. With the increased number of Skymasters, however, aircraft were transferred to Fassberg in the British Zone and, later, also to Celle; a move which reduced the flying time per trip, and hence increased the utilization of aircraft. Towards the end of the blockade the airfields and aircraft in use were :
British Zone
Wunstorf - R.A.F. Yorks; civilian tankers and freighters
Lubeck - R.A.F. Dakotas
Schleswigland - R.A.F. Hastings; civilian tankers
Fuhlsbuttel - Civilian freighters and tankers
Celle - U.S.A.F. Skymasters
Fassberg - Skymasters
American Zone
Rhein-Maine - Skymasters
Wiesbaden - Skymasters
Ultimately many types were employed including..
Avro Lancaster
Avro York
Avro Tudor
Avro Lancastrian
Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter
Bristol Type 170 Freighter
Consolidated B-24 (also: Liberator)
PBY Catalina (flying boat, Catalina)
Douglas C-54 Skymaster and Douglas DC-4
Douglas C-74 Globe Master
Douglas C-47 and Douglas DC-3 (UK: Dakota)
Fairchild C-82 Packet
Handley Page Hastings
Handley Page Halifax Halton
Ju 52/3m (operated briefly by France)
Short Sunderland
Vickers VC.1 Viking
......
To cut a much longer long story short for now...
The plan worked.. the Soviets were humiliated. On April 25, 1949 the Russian news agency TASS reported a willingness by the Soviets to lift the blockade. The next day, the U.S. State Department stated the "way appears clear" for the blockade to end. Soon after, the four powers began serious negotiations, and a settlement was made on Allied terms. On May 4 the Allies announced that an agreement to end the blockade, in eight days, had been reached.
The Soviet blockade Berlin was lifted at one minute after midnight, on May 12, 1949.
Email received from the rescue Tempelhof group. Please take a look, and sign if you feel it's a good idea. It's a fascinating site.
"We have now collected more than 7,000 signatures for a World Heritage Site "Tempelhof Airport". This puts our goal of at least 10,000 signatures within reach.
Please acontinue to tell friends and colleagues about the action.
Signature sheets in German or English are available at:
http://www.rescue-tempelhof.org/media/aufruf.pdf
To sign online on the Internet:
http://www.rescue-tempelhof.org/cgi-bin/entry.pl
Please forward this information to friends and colleagues.
Yours sincerely,
Volker Perplies
http://www.tempelhof-weltkulturerbe.de
http://www.rescue-tempelhof.org "
Oh... and please tell your friends to visit Iviation so they can see this blog and sign up as well..
I tend to read rather more than is good for me I think, but my excuse is that it's all in the name of research for my Website. I have a house full of aviation books and magazines and keep buying them.
About 15 years ago in the days before Amazon and the Internet I used to regularly frequent a local "antiquarian" bookshop... a posh name for secondhand books. It was fun to browse and choose a book to buy. It was also good to have a person who would search out a particular title I was interested in buying.
One day I turned up to find a note on the shop door announcing they were closing down and everything must go! - Once I'd recovered my composure I went in and had a chat with the owner who informed me he was "going mail order." and handed me a card with some details.
Of course he knew of my interest in aviation books and invited me to a back room to see "something I might be interested in." That bit he had got right! This room was chock full of aviation magazines dating right back to 1909.....
To cut a long story short I bought a lot of them, a lot more than I should have, BUT a lot less than I wish I`d bought now!
With work and family I never really got round to reading them at the time, but over the last year or so I`ve been doing quite a bit of web based content work and decided to see if I could find some stories to tell from the articles that have been hidden for so long.
The Web is full of high quality aviation sites and I spent a while looking through the magazines looking for a different angle. I found myself fascinated by the advertisements. Each ad tells a story and many are just simply great art...
I set up a Website to display aviation related ads from 1900 to 1970. There are about 3000 on display with many more to come. Just UK aircraft I`m afraid otherwise the project would never progress...
The feedback from users has been very encouraging as people are interested in researching their family histories and ask for Hi Res copies of the ads for posters and albums... Also it has led to requests from large and small companies for articles and information about their past as they realise the marketing potential of their heritage.
That's it for now... but I 'd be really interested to see any that you may have... please post if you have any historic ads... If anyone is interested I`ll post some more from time to time and perhaps add a bit about the company or product.
I`ll leave you with an evocative ad from A.V. Roe dated January 1910
BTW.. there's nothing wrong with all this modern glass cockpit stuff! They just don`t seem to have the soul ... 
Tags: Aviation History Ancestry Flying
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