Nigeria: Air Force decorates first female pilot

From Business Day: Air Force decorates first female pilot
The Nigerian Air Force on Friday in Abuja decorated its first female pilot, Flying Officer Blessing Liman, along with 29 other male pilots.

Decorating the officers in Abuja, the Minister of Defence, Dr Bello Mohammed, said that the Air Force had justified the vision of its founding fathers as a veritable tool for nation building.

Represented by the Minister of State, Defence, Mrs Erelu Obada, Mohammed said ``the contributions of the Air Force to national development had been attested to beyond our shores.''

He said that ``the business of ensuring adequate security in the country today cannot be left to any single service of organisation, it is a collective effort. ``I need to reiterate here that the ultimate aim of President Goodluck Jonathan's Transformation Agenda is to guarantee the security and welfare of the entire citizenry.'' The minister urged the armed forces to focus more on security and safety of every Nigerian, regardless of tribe, religion or creed.

He commended the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Umar and his team for maintaining consistent and significant strides in the pursuit of greater heights for the Air Force. Mohammed called on the new pilots to strive for hard work and improved service. ``For the female pilot in your midst, as well as every woman serving in the Armed Forces of Nigeria, let me state that you represent independence, power, equal rights and obligations. ``I want to add that you are a significant part of the success story of Nigeria since the advent of the current democratic dispensation. I, therefore, urge you to remain an outstanding example.''

Earlier, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Umar, had said that the decoration was another milestone in the policy thrust of the current leadership of the Air Force.

This, he said, was to position, transform and strategise toward making the service relevant in the nation’s quest for stability and development. Umar noted that as part of the President's Transformation Agenda, the armed forces were directed to produce female combatants in order to give impetus to the 35 per cent affirmative action for women.

In the Air Force, women are welcomed to serve in any capacity where they can serve and contribute to operational activities. ``In this regard, I am pleased to announce that the first female pilot in the Nigerian Air Force, the first female military-pilot in West Africa is part of the new pilots that will be winged. ``To the young pilots, I want to state unequivocally that you have every reason to be proud of your accomplishments. ``By earning your wings today, you are inheriting a tradition of excellence and in fact, privileged to be joining `men of wings’ who have committed themselves to the service of their fatherland not only within our shores but internationally.''

The chief of air staff, however, told the new pilots that ``the nation looks upon you as combatant-pilots to measure up to the high expectations and confidence it has on you.'' In an interview with newsmen, Flying Officer Blessing Liman said she was happy that the Air Force was encouraging women to enlist ``because it believes that women too can contribute their quota to nation building.''

She said that joining the force was a way of serving the nation, noting that although it had been challenging, she had always maintained hard work as her watchward.

1st female to fly globe solo to get statue in Ohio

From LancasterEagleGazette: 1st female to fly globe solo to get statue in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WTW) — Admirers of the first woman to fly solo around the world are raising money to install a bronze, life-sized statue of her in her central Ohio hometown.

Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock's historic flight ended in Columbus 48 years ago, and supporters plan to honor her with the statue at a history center in Newark.

Mock, 86, told The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/IKjeT6 ) she's surprised by the plan.

"I guess I don't think about women and statues," she said. "They're for generals or Lincoln."

Mock now lives in Quincy, Fla., but her sister Susan Reid remains in Newark and believes that people had largely forgotten about Mock's accomplishment and that the local honor is overdue.

"I never gave it a thought that she wouldn't be successful," Reid said. "We knew she was a great pilot, lots of guts. And this was a pretty gutsy thing to do."

Media in the 1960s had described Mock, who first flew at age 12, as a "petite Bexley housewife" as her adventure was tracked by people around the world who wanted to see if she could accomplish the feat Amelia Earhart attempted as she disappeared over the ocean.

Upper Arlington resident John Ross said he remembers following the end of Mock's journey in Columbus when he was a 9-year-old would-be journalist.

"I was there when her plane taxied in," Ross recalled. "It was a great event."

Mock said despite the Vietnam War, she thinks "the world was very safe" in that era compared with today, and she believes a modern-day solo flight would be more difficult.

Her single-engine Cessna — flown nearly 23,000 miles — hangs in Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., and her trip is commemorated with a plaque on the Tallahassee Regional Airport's Aviation Wall of Fame in Florida.

Reid said supporters have raised about half of the $45,000 needed for the Ohio statue project. She's hopeful Mock could visit Ohio for the unveiling but said Mock wouldn't fly into town on a commercial airline.

"She wants to know the pilot," Reid said

Emotions high as blast-hit Qantas plane returns

From the Himalayan: Emotions high as blast-hit Qantas plane returns

SYDNEY: Qantas chief Alan Joyce said it was an emotional moment to see an Airbus A380 that lost an engine in a mid-air blast off Singapore in 2010 finally back in Australia.

More than 500 days after the incident that led to the temporary grounding of the Australian flag carrier's entire fleet of A380 super jumbos, the plane touched down at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport.

Joyce said seeing the jet, which was the first double-decker superjumbo to join the Qantas fleet and named Nancy Bird-Walton in honour of Australia's first female commercial pilot, back on home base was special.

"It's very emotional," he told Australian Associated Press on board the plane, which flew from Singapore after repairs that cost Aus$139 million ($144 million) and involved the replacement of all four engines.

"It shouldn't be -- it is only an aircraft, as somebody said to me -- but I think it is more than an aircraft. It's our reputation, our history.

"Anybody that knew Nancy Bird-Walton knew what an amazing aviation legend she was.

"She was there for the naming of the aircraft, so for us I suppose it was very emotional getting this fixed, getting Qantas's flagship back in the air."

After an engine exploded over the Indonesian island of Batam in November 2010, pilots managed to guide the plane back to Singapore's Changi airport, where it landed trailing a plume of smoke.

Australian safety investigators have said an oil leak in a turbine caused the blast, which left debris scattered over Batam.

All four engines were replaced as advised by Rolls-Royce. The repairs, which involved 170 Airbus staff from eight nations, were carried out at the hangar of SIA Engineering, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.

Joining Joyce on the journey to Sydney were pilots Captain Richard de Crespigny and Captain Dave Evans, who were on the blast-hit flight, as well as 16 of the 22 cabin crew from that flight.

AAP said there were cheers and tears on board as the plane landed and passed through a water cannon salute on its way to the arrival gate.

The plane will make its first commercial flight on April 28 from Sydney to Hong Kong.

"I have absolute, complete confidence in this aircraft," said de Crespigny.

PLA female army aviation maintenance soldiers make debut

From the People Daily, China: PLA female army aviation maintenance soldiers make debut

The emerge of the first batch of female army aviation maintenance soldiers not only meets the real needs for the improvement of the structure of army aviation maintenance talents and the army aviation maintenance support capability, but also is an important attempt for the Army Aviation Institute in the aspect of talent cultivation. By Tao Binglan, president of the Army Aviation Institute of the PLA

In the early spring, the first batch of female army aviation maintenance soldiers joined the training group for technical soldiers at the Army Aviation Institute of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and began their half-year-long professional training on army aviation maintenance.

The tasks of the maintenance soldiers, also known as the "nurse" of helicopters bearing significant responsibility, are elaborate and complex. In light of the female's meticulous-thinking characteristics, the Army Aviation Institute recruited female maintenance soldiers for training for the first time in a bid to actively explore channels for talent cultivation.

90% are college graduates or above

The Army Aviation Institute also selected the trainees from the female army aviation soldiers with at least one-year service time in the army aviation troops. These female maintenance soldiers are currently 21 years old on average, and 90 percent of them are college graduates or above and one third of them are in service for over one year in the military.

Casting off effeminacy and practicing skills hard Besides the nearly ten theory courses including "Introduction to aviation", "Electrical engineering" and "Fundamentals of Electronic Technology", the trainees have to undergo an hour of physical training per day, an intensified training per week and a comprehensive examination and assessment per month. Moreover, one third of their courses are field practice ones.

It can be predicted that an excellent team of female maintenance soldiers will rise soon in the future helicopter-maintenance frontline.

Wine and Cheese Party at the IWASM, May 4, 2012

May 4, 2012
6 pm

Enjoy an evening of wine and cheese at the International Womens' Air and Space Museum
Burke Lakefront Airport
1501 N. Marginal Road
Cleveland, Ohio
216-623-1111
www.iwasm.org

Come take a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum. IWASM Collections Manager Cris Takacs will be showing some of the museum's treasures not on display.

Tickets are $15 for members, $13 for non-members.
RSVP by April 27, 2012

This is your chance to explore the museum, learn about what we do and find out what's tucked away in the boxes.

Learn about the collection, meet new people, and enjoy wine and cheese.

Spitfires buried in Burma during war to be returned to UK

From the Telegraph: Spitfires buried in Burma during war to be returned to UK
The Prime Minister secured a historic deal that will see the fighter aircraft dug up and shipped back to the UK almost 67 years after they were hidden more than 40-feet below ground amid fears of a Japanese occupation.

The gesture came as Mr Cameron became the first Western leader to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy campaigner held under house arrest for 22 years by the military regime, and invited her to visit London in her first trip abroad for 24 years.

He called on Europe to suspend its ban on trade with Burma now that it was showing “prospects for change” following Miss Suu Kyi’s election to parliament in a sweeping electoral victory earlier this year.

The plight of the buried aircraft came to Mr Cameron’s attention at the behest of a farmer from Scunthorpe, North Lincs, who is responsible for locating them at a former RAF base using radar imaging technology.

David Cundall, 62, spent 15 years doggedly searching for the Mk II planes, an exercise that involved 12 trips to Burma and cost him more than £130,000.

When he finally managed to locate them in February, he was told Mr Cameron “loved” the project and would intervene to secure their repatriation.

Mr Cundall told the Daily Telegraph: “I’m only a small farmer, I’m not a multi-millionaire and it has been a struggle. It took me more than 15 years but I finally found them.

”Spitfires are beautiful aeroplanes and should not be rotting away in a foreign land. They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be preserved.”

He said the Spitfires, of which there are only around 35 flying left in the world, were shipped to Burma and then transported by rail to the British RAF base during the war.

However, advances in technology and the emergence of more agile jets meant they were never used and in July 1945, officials fearing a Japanese occupation abandoned them on the orders of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the head of South East Asia Command, two weeks before the atom bombs were dropped, ending the conflict.

“They were just buried there in transport crates,” Mr Cundall said. “They were waxed, wrapped in greased paper and their joints tarred. They will be in near perfect condition.”

The married father of three, an avid plane enthusiast, embarked on his voyage of discovery in 1996 after being told of their existence by a friend who had met some American veterans who described digging a trench for the aircraft during the Allied withdrawal of Burma.

He spent years appealing for information on their whereabouts from eye witnesses, scouring public records and placing advertisements in specialist magazines.

Several early trips to Burma were unsuccessful and were hampered by the political climate.

He eventually met one eyewitness who drew maps and an outline of where the aircraft were buried and took him out to the scene.

“Unfortunately, he got his north, south, east and west muddled up and we were searching at the wrong end of the runway,” he said.

“We also realised that we were not searching deep enough as they had filled in all of these bomb craters which were 20-feet to start with.

“I hired another machine in the UK that went down to 40-feet and after going back surveying the land many times, I eventually found them.

“I have been in touch with British officials in Burma and in London and was told that David Cameron would negotiate on my behalf to make the recovery happen.”

Mr Cundall said sanctions preventing the removal of military tools from Burma were due to be lifted at midnight last night (FRI).

A team from the UK is already in place and is expecting to begin the excavation, estimated to cost around £500,000, imminently. It is being funded by the Chichester-based Boultbee Flight Acadamy.

Mr Cundall said the government had promised him it would be making no claim on the aircraft, of which 21,000 were originally produced, and that he would be entitled to a share in them.

“It’s been a financial nightmare but hopefully I’ll get my money back,” he said.

“I’m hoping the discovery will generate some jobs. They will need to be stripped down and re-riveted but it must be done. My dream is to have a flying squadron at air shows.”

IWASM Raffle: Win two Southwest tickets to anywhere they fly!

Support the International Women's Air and Space Museum- Buy a raffle Ticket!

Call 216-623-1111 or visit their website: http://womensairandspacemuseum.com/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=31&products_id=522

IWASM is raffling off 2 round-trip tickets courtesy of Southwest Airlines to ANYWHERE they fly!

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling IWASM. (Only 300 tickets will be sold, so buy yours today!)

Drawing will be held June 29th, 2012 at the Mary Feik/ Patricia Hange Dinner.

You have a 1 in 300 chance of winning!

Tickets are valid through April 30, 2013. There is a $1 processing charge for online orders. You may also purchase in person at the gift shop for $20.00.