The oldest flying Boeing in the world - restored Boeing 40

These photos have been making the email rounds, so thought I'd share them here:

"This is as it should be -- passengers in closed cabin, pilot in open cockpit so he will stay awake. The airplane is in Spokane, WA and is the oldest flying Boeing in the world."



After 8 years of repair and rebuilding, and 8,000 hours of toil, the Boeing 40C rolled out last winter as a finished airplane, but it took a few weeks for the snow to melt before it was taken out of the hangar. Project personnel received the Standard Airworthiness Certificate from the FAA and completed the engine pre-oil and fuel flow tests for the first of the taxi tests.



Facts about the Boeing 40 project:
221 1/2 gallons of dope/reducer and 120 yards of 102 ceconite fabric.
12 gallons of poly urethane paint for the sheet metal.
The wings have 33,000 individual parts in them.
The airplane weighs 4080 lbs empty and has a gross weight of 6075 lbs..
It is 34 ft long and 13 feet tall with a wing span of 44 1/2 feet.
Wing loading is 10 lbs per sq ft and power loading is 10 Pounds per HP.. It should cruise at 115 mph using 28 GPH, and 32 GPH at 120 mph. It carries 120 gallons of fuel in three tanks.
350 two-inch brushes were used to apply 6 gallons of West Systems epoxy, and 181 rolls of paper towels were used for cleanup.
A total of 62 volunteers worked on the project to some degree, 21 of whom performed a significant amount of work, and nine of them worked on the plane continuously throughout the 8-year project.

PR: Alto 100: All-Metal SLSA to Debut at Sun ’n Fun

Alto 100: All-Metal SLSA to Debut at Sun ’n Fun

Targeted at flight schools and serious cross-country LSA owners, the Alto 100 will make its US debut at Sun ’n Fun in Lakeland, Florida, starting on April 13. In this heavily-populated class, the Alto 100 needs to do a lot to stand out. So it does.

It hits the maximum values for the class in speed and weight, and it has all the best class features and components: a 100hp Rotax 912S engine and Sensenich carbon fiber ground adjustable prop; Matco wheels and brakes; a 7” Dynon Skyview EFIS/EMS glass; PS Engineering intercom; electric pitch and roll trim; and its all-metal construction features internal corrosion protection for long life – all in the base model, and all for $99,995. “Advanced” and IFR models are also available, ranging to $115,284. Options, including advanced Garmin navigation and comfort items like a bronze-tinted canopy and leather, are also available.

Ron Corbi, President of Corbi Air, the importers and US support for the Alto 100, said, “Dan Coffey and I knew that we had to bring more than just a high-quality, good-flying airplane to a field that already had so many entries. We have that with the Alto 100. It is a machine that distinguishes itself in its manners, its practicality, its capability, range -- and its level of attention to pilot/owner needs.”

What makes the Alto 100 better than the competition, other than its overall clean and robust design? Detail, like all Teflon-coated wiring, to withstand high temperatures, as certified aircraft use. Detail, like a glovebox on the passenger side on the Basic model that may be replaced by a second glass panel in the Advanced and IFR models – and note another detail: all Alto 100s are fully prewired utilizing Vertical Power’s VP-50 electronic switch and circuit breaker system and Fast Stack’s Pro-G Hub for painless upgrades at any time. Dozens of significant details all add up to result in an airplane that is “the class of the class,” without making a mockery of the spirit of affordable flight promised by the LSA movement.

Myriad practical items abound, from thoughtful connectors in the wiring harness, to cockpit layout and amenities, to dozens of other details that attendees at Sun ’n Fun will appreciate next week!

Corbi Air will be in Sun ’n Fun’s new hangar, in space EH41. The public and dealers are invited.

More:

CORBI AIR, INC.
www.CorbiAir.com
email: Ron@CorbiAir.com
1-330-337-1180
Salem, Ohio, USA

Hanadi Al-Hindi, one of the “100 Greatest Women in Aviation”

From the Saudi Gazette

A story of great courage and indeed heroism for Hanadi Zakaria Al-Hindi. In Saudia Arabia, women aren't allowed to drive a car, let alone pilot a plane. But Hanadi, like Bessie Coleman a little less than a century ago, did not let the naysayers stop her, and travelled to a different country to pursue her ambition. (And unlike Bessie Coleman, Hanadi's life could actually be in danger because of her refusal to conform to female stereotypes in Muslim countries like Saudi. Who knows when some fanatic Saudi might not decide Hanadi needs to be taught a lesson before she "infects" other Saudi women?

DREAMING of being able to drive a car was never enough to satisfy the high hopes of Hanadi Zakaria Al-Hindi, 33, who broke through the boundaries facing women in the Kingdom by becoming the first female Saudi commercial pilot.

The rules and restrictions preventing women in the Kingdom from undertaking what is considered to be a man’s job only served to encourage Al-Hindi to strive until she succeeded in the career that she had chosen.

“My father always dreamt of having one of his children becoming a pilot, so I decided to get a private jet license even though I knew that I would not receive any official support from my country when I studied to get the license in Jordan,” Al-Hindi said.

Born and raised in Makkah where people place great importance on following Islamic rules and the old customs, Al-Hindi faced rejection from her relatives after she decided to become a pilot.

“I lived a normal life in Makkah and studied at Umm Al-Qura University until 1998 when I discussed with my father the possibility of becoming a pilot. That was the real turning point in my life,” she said.

According to Al-Hindi, she gave up everything for the sake of making her father’s dream come true.

She left university where she was studying English literature in 2001 to study in Jordan’s Middle East Academy of Aviation.

“I spoke with the manager of the academy about the possibility of becoming a student, and he said that it was the first time he had had a request from a Saudi woman and, therefore, he insisted on speaking with my father to make sure that I had my family’s permission,” she said.

Al-Hindi described her first solo flight in 2004 as the beginning of her actual career. “Two days after my solo flight, I discovered that my name was all over the world and that I had become a celebrity. I had calls from my family and friends saying that everyone was talking about the first female Saudi pilot,” she said.
Getting a private pilot’s license was hard work and affected Al-Hindi’s life in ways that she had not expected. Some of her relatives did not want her to meet with their daughters out of fear that she would change their lifestyle and way of looking at the world.

However, she insisted on completing what she had started.

“After I came back from Jordan with a private pilot’s license, I felt that I wanted to make flying airplanes my career for which I needed to study to get a commercial pilot’s license. All of which made me realize that I needed to be sponsored by someone to get a scholarship,” she said.

People that Al-Hindi knew introduced her to Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, who offered his support.

“Prince Alwaleed gave me a scholarship, and with his support, I was not worried about the future,” Al-Hindi said. “Before I even received my commercial license, Prince Alwaleed offered me a job as a pilot in his Kingdom Holding Company,” she added.

However, what was difficult for Al-Hindi was not being able to do her job in her own country.

“I was not registered as a pilot with the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) which is why I was not able to fly in my country, and that was really difficult, being a pilot who cannot fly in her own country,” she said.

However, Al-Hindi can write her name proudly in history as she has been included in the book “The 100 Greatest Women in Aviation”, which contains biographies of famous female pilots from the dawn of aviation until today.

The book documents the story of the struggle of women to be allowed to fly airplanes from 1910 until 2009.

In the book, Hanadi Zakaria Al-Hindi was described as the first Saudi woman to get a pilot’s license, in a country where women are still not allowed to drive.

“Although I am grateful for being listed among the 100 greatest women in aviation, I still do not feel that I have fulfilled all my hopes and dreams and that I want to do more for my country,” Al-Hindi said.

After working for several years between Jordan and London, Al-Hindi in 2008 returned to the Kingdom due to her health problems.

“I discovered that I had a kidney stone and had surgery done in the United Kingdom, after which I developed several complications that affected my health and stopped me from flying,” she said.

Al-Hindi returned to the Kingdom and underwent several abdominal surgeries. “I feel better now and hope that I can fly again soon,” she said. “I feel lost without flying but will not return to my job until I feel completely healthy again,” she explained.

Al-Hindi is also thinking of undertaking a flight related job, such as flight dispatcher or flight instructor, which will allow her to be the first in her country for a second time. –SG

Video: Women in Aviation Conference - why aviation as a career?

From Aero-News Network:

WAI Conference Attendees Offer Their Perspectives on the Aviation Industry
On February 25th through February 27th, 2010, the Women in Aviation International organization held their 21st annual conference; over 3,000 women and men gathered at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort to celebrate the 2010 WAI Conference theme, "Aviation Its a Small World." Developed in 1990, Women in Aviation, International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the encouragement and advancement of women throughout aviation career sectors and interests.

WAI's year-round assistance provides networking, education, mentoring, and scholarship opportunities for all who seek careers in the aviation and aerospace industries, both women and men. Additionally, WAI strives to promote public education on historical contributions of women within the aviation industry. Looking towards the future, WAI remains fiercely dedicated to the further advancement of women in aviation. The organization's 8,000+ membership includes a wide-range of industry representatives including astronauts, corporate pilots, maintenance technicians, air traffic controllers, flight attendants, air show performers, educators and students; through this extensive international membership network, WAI offers a diverse base for both personal and career development opportunities, particularly for women within the industry.

In an effort to optimize these networking opportunities, Women in Aviation, International began annual WAI conferences, holding the first gathering in 1990. Now, twenty years later, the WAI conferences remain a crucial hub for both career advancement and education.

Warbirds at New Zealand Air Show

Just came across this article from a New Zealand paper. There was a German woman wing-walker involved...:

Warbirds over Wanaka exceeds expectations

Wanaka Airport, April 2 to 4.

A Japanese fighter was supposed to be the drawcard at the weekend's Warbirds Over Wanaka air show, but a bunch of Australians and a madcap Lithuanian stole the show.

The Japanese A6M3 Mitsubishi Zero was still an impressive sight. Piloted by former United States Marine flyer Colonel Stephen W Barber, it amply demonstrated how this agile and powerful warplane gave the Japanese a dog-fighting edge early in World War 2.

But the show-stopper routines came from four Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 Hornet multi-role jet fighters, which beat up the airfield with a series of mock-attack passes at almost 1000kmh.

Later, a single F/A-18 came back with All Black captain Richie McCaw in the co-pilot's seat. He declared via a radio transmission from the cockpit that he was having a ball.

Still later, the Australians returned for a display in which the 17-metre jets, with a wing span of 12.4m, performed precision aerobatics with as little as two metres between them.

Another crowd-pleaser was Lithuanian pilot Jurgis Kairys, the archetypal magnificent man in his flying machine – in this case the Juka stunt plane he designed himself. Kairys' aerial clowning was breathtaking, and culminated in a corkscrew roll around a low-flying DC3.

In such company, the distinctive sweet-sounding growl of the Mark IX Spitfire's Merlin engine seemed almost a sentimental distraction.

Belonging to the family of New Zealand Battle of Britain ace Alan Deere, and bearing his insignia, the Spitfire would usually have been worth a trip to Wanaka in itself. Here, flown by former RNZAF pilots Wing Commander John Lanham and Squadron Leader Sean Perrett, its relatively low billing served to underline the depth of quality in this year's air show.

The aeroplanes just kept coming, flying almost continuously for two hours in the morning and nearly three in the afternoon. When did we last get to see 11 Harvards in formation? Or seven Yaks?

And where in one place could you find all these, plus flying examples of Tiger Moths, two Kittyhawks, a Corsair, a de Havilland Vampire, an Aero L-39 Albatross, two Mustangs, a Catalina, and more, along with the aerial displays of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and two helicopters dancing a pas-de-deux?

For added novelty value, German wing-walker Peggy Krainz recreated the old barnstorming tradition by climbing on top of a Boeing Stearman, flown by her partner Friedrich Walentin, and then clambering her way out on to the wings.

One of the Australian pilots, Squadron Leader Grant Taylor, told reporters on the ground that Warbirds was "a nice little niche airshow", which is probably accurate in world terms.

However, it is firmly established as New Zealand's premier air show and one that delivers beyond all expectations.

Pam Ann Safety Video (hilarious comic videos from a stewardesses perspective)

I really, really dislike YouTube's new layout. It's supposed to make things easier - at least, I think that's what it's supposed to be, but of course now it's impossible to find anything.

Pam Ann is apparenlty a comedy series of skits on the aviation industry. Here are a few videos from it. That's all I know. Well, also that they're British (or maybe Australian????), and have a British sense of humor. (And they're very popular, if the amount of people who've watched them, most average over 100,000 hits.)

Four women in orbit will set a new record

NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson shares smiles with the three women on the shuttle Discovery's crew after their arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Naoko Yamazaki (a Japanase astronaut) and Stephanie Wilson are at left, and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger is at right. Another woman astronaut, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, is already on her way to the International Space Station.

Four women in orbit will set a new record
Men still outnumber women more than 2-to-1 aboard shuttle and station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space is about to have a female population explosion.

One woman already is circling Earth in a Russian capsule, bound for the International Space Station. Early Monday morning, NASA will attempt to launch three more women to the orbiting outpost — along with four men — aboard shuttle Discovery.

It will be the most women in space at the same time.

Men still will outnumber the women by more than 2-to-1 aboard the shuttle and station, but that won't take away from the remarkable achievement, coming 27 years after America's first female astronaut, Sally Ride, rocketed into space.

A former schoolteacher is among the four female astronauts about to make history, as well as a chemist who once worked as an electrician, and two aerospace engineers. Three are American; one is Japanese.

But it makes no difference to educator-astronaut Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger's 3-year-old daughter Cambria.

"To her, flying is cool. Running around is being cool. Just learning and growing up as a kid is cool. There aren't a lot of distinctions, and that's how I want it to be," said Metcalf-Lindenburger, 34, who used to teach high school science in Vancouver, Wash.

Indeed, the head of NASA's space operations was unaware of the imminent women-in-space record until a reporter brought it up last week. Three women have flown together in space before, but only a few times.

"Maybe that's a credit to the system, right? That I don't think of it as male or female," said space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier. "I just think of it as a talented group of people going to do their job in space."

Discovery's crew of seven will spend 13 days in space, hauling up big spare parts, experiments and other supplies to the nearly completed space station. It's one of four shuttle flights remaining. Monday's liftoff time is 6:21 a.m. ET.

Metcalf-Lindenburger and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, both rookies, will become the 53rd and 54th women to fly in space — and the 516th and 517th spacefarers, overall. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the world's first space traveler in 1961. The Soviet Union followed with the world's first spacewoman in 1963: Valentina Tereshkova.

"I'd love to have those numbers be higher," said astronaut Stephanie Wilson, 43, who will be making her third shuttle flight. "But I think that we have made a great start and have paved the way with women now being able to perform the same duties as men in spaceflight."

Wilson became the second black woman in space in 2006; one other has since followed her.

Yamazaki will become the second Japanese woman to fly in space. Dr. Chiaki Mukai was the first in 1994.

Perhaps even more astounding, at least in Japan, Yamazaki's husband quit his space station flight controller's job to follow her career and help care for their 7-year-old daughter.

"It is very rare. In Japan, it's general for men to work and for women to stay at home," Yamazaki, 39, said. Just as she was inspired by Mukai, "hopefully, I can inspire younger women as well."


Rounding out the foursome will be Tracy Caldwell Dyson, who was launched aboard a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan on Friday with two Russian men. They will arrive Sunday and settle in for a six-month stay.

Caldwell Dyson, 40, who has a doctorate in chemistry, grew up in Southern California assisting her electrician father. She wasn't sure what to do with her life until she learned that a schoolteacher was reaching for the stars. Christa McAuliffe died trying; she was killed along with six others aboard Challenger in 1986.

McAuliffe, a high school teacher, also inspired Metcalf-Lindenburger, who was 14 years old when she attended Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., several years after the Challenger launch accident.

Now it's Metcalf-Lindenburger's turn to ride a rocket.

"Of course, the shuttle has its risks. But we've tried to make it as safe as possible, and there are so many things that we gain from it and there are so many reasons to fly it," she said.

Metcalf-Lindenburger was a young earth-science and astronomy teacher when she stumbled onto NASA's want ad for astronaut-educator in 2003. A student had asked how astronauts go to the bathroom in space, and an embarrassed Metcalf-Lindenburger promised to look up the answer.

Today she's no longer fazed by toilet questions.

"My daughter is just potty training, and now I talk about it on a daily basis," she said with a chuckle.