Straight & level: 5 September 2006

Well, fancy that…
“Flightdecks are assembled and installed at Lockheed Martin’s C-5 Galaxy
production facility in Marietta, Georgia, so there is usually no need to transport them via aircraft as they are normally attached to the fuselage.”
A little-known fact about aircraft design contained in a recent AFPN story about how the salvaged flightdeck from the April C-5 crash at Dover AFB in Delaware is being converted into a training device.

Eye in the sky
UAV expert Ryan G Hawk on the mantra of all unmanned aircraft makers: “In God we trust – all others we monitor.”
Chinese puzzle?
“Beijing, 27 August (Xinhua): Two passenger airplanes of Airbus 320 and Boeing 777 scratched each other while sliding at the Capital Airport Sunday here. There were no casualties. The two planes, which belong to China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines respectively, were damaged to somewhat, said an official with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China. The vertical empennage of Airbus 320 and right wing of Boeing 777 were damaged.”
(Spotted in indiaenews, 27 August)
Temporary Raptor
“The F-22 is a stop-gap between today’s F-15 and F-16 aircraft and tomorrow’s Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35.”
(The Economist, 26 August p52).
Budgie News defence analyst Bluey Strewth says: “Blimey! Has anyone told the US Air Farce or Lockmart Heedtin about this?”
Uncle Roger’s summer bookshelf
The Vulcan Story by Peter March.
Produced by Sutton publishing in association with the Vulcan to the Sky Trust, this splendid pocket-sized book delivers far more than its diminutive proportions would suggest. Packed to overflowing with dramatic, historic and evocative black and white as well as colour photographs, this thoroughly researched, concisely written book does a good job of explaining the development of the Vulcan in the global context of the Cold War and its aftermath. Not surprisingly for a book aimed at supporting the return of the last Vulcan to flight, a good proportion is dedicated to the story of XH558 and the team that plans to bring it back to the skies. As well as providing a wealth of new, but little-known facts (such as the ability of the high-flying Vulcan to outmanoeuvre usually more agile pursuers during NATO exercises at extreme altitudes up to 65,000ft), the book also contains a handy appendix section detailing specifications, milestones and where to see preserved aircraft and cockpit sections.
ISBN: 0 7509 4399 8
Price: £8.99, $17
www.suttonpublishing.co.uk

 Read Flight from 1956.