NATCA Deal Guaranteed

A collective agreement covering the FAA's air traffic controllers could be in place in early June. The National Association of Air Traffic Controllers announced Tuesday that formal mediated talks between the union and the agency began Monday. Former FAA Administrator Jane Garvey will lead the mediation panel, which also includes Richard Bloch and George Cohen, both experienced mediators. "One of my highest priorities, since coming to DOT, has been to resolve this issue," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said when he announced Garvey's appointment. An agreement will be reached one way or another because the mediation panel has been directed by both sides to make binding recommendations on any issues not settled in negotiations. A media blackout has been imposed for the duration of the talks.

First Solar-Powered Aircraft to Fly Around the World

The Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist, Bertrand Piccard, is currently working on the development of his latest invention - world's first airplane that will be able to fly around the globe using only solar power.

His grandfather was Auguste Piccard and his father was Jacques Piccard. Both were famous balloonists and inventors. Auguste Piccard was the one to create the pressurized cabin and the stratospheric balloon, which was able to fly up to 16,201 meters, when launched back in 1932. He was also the one to invent the Bathyscaphe, a submarine that in 1952 managed to dive to 3150 meters.

Jacques Piccard, Bertrand's father, broke the world record with deepest-ever dive. He went down 7 miles to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. In addition, he was the one to create the first passenger submarine in the world.

As for Bertrand, than it is worth mentioning that the balloonist managed to make the first non-stop trip around the globe in a balloon, registering the longest flight in the history of aviation. Now the inventor works on Solar Impulse project, a solar-powered aircraft. Together with his team Bertrand wants to promote renewable energies. The inventor hopes Solar Impulse will succeed in making a tour around the world without fuel.

At the moment engineers are working on the first prototype of the plane at Dubendorf, Switzerland. One of the main goals is to create a new-generation aircraft that will boast a low weight, smart energy management systems as well as high performance storage elements.

Its wingspan will be 80 metres, which is wider than that of an Airbus A380. This will minimize drag and provide more space for solar cells. Engineers will install a layer of ultra-thin solar cells, which will be flexible enough to resist deformations and vibrations.

It is hoped that the aircraft will be tested later this year and the second prototype will be built in 2010. The Solar Impulse team hopes to real flight around the world will take place in 2011. The main funding for the project comes from Solvay, Omega, and Deutsche Bank.

Technical help comes from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), a Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Dassault, a French group of firms under the management of Serge Dassault.

C-5 Galaxy

The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large, military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It was designed to provide strategic heavy airlift over intercontinental distances and to carry outsize and oversize cargo. The C-5 Galaxy has been operated by the United States Air Force since 1969 and is one of the largest military aircraft in the world.

In 1961, several aircraft companies began studying heavy jet transport designs that would replace the C-133 transport and complement C-141 Starlifters. In addition to higher overall performance, the US Army wanted a transport with a larger cargo bay than the C-141, whose interior was too small to carry a variety of their outsized equipment. These studies led to the "CX-4" design concept, but in 1962 the proposed six-engine design was rejected, because it was not viewed as a significant advance over the C-141.^[2]

By late 1963, the next conceptual design was named CX-X. It was equipped with four engines, instead of six engines in the earlier CX-4 concept. The CX-X had a gross weight of 550,000 pounds (249,000 kg), a maximum payload of 180,000 pounds (81,600 kg) and a speed of Mach 0.75 (500 mph/805 km/h). The cargo compartment was 17.2 feet (5.24 m) wide by 13.5 feet (4.11 m) high and 100 feet (30.5 m) long with front and rear access doors.^[2] In order to provide the required power and range with only four engines, a new engine with dramatically improved fuel efficiency would be needed.

The criteria were finalized and an official Request for Proposal was sent out in April 1964 for the "Heavy Logistics System" (CX-HLS) (previously CX-X). In May 1964, proposals for aircraft were received from Boeing, Douglas, General Dynamics, Lockheed, and Martin Marietta. Proposals for engines were received from General Electric, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, and Pratt & Whitney. After a downselect, Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed were given additional study contracts for the airframe, along with General Electric and Pratt and Whitney for the engines.

All three of the designs shared a number of features. In particular, all three placed the cockpit well above the cargo area so that in a crash the cargo would not crush the crew as it moved forward. The Boeing and Douglas designs used a "pod" on the top of the fuselage containing the cockpit, while the Lockheed design extended the cockpit line the length of the fuselage, giving it an egg-shaped cross section. All of the designs featured swept wings and front and rear cargo doors allowing simultaneous loading and unloading. Lockheed's design featured a T-tail, while the designs by Boeing and Douglas had conventional tails.^[3]

In 1965, Lockheed's aircraft design and General Electric's engine design were selected for the new transport.

C-141 Starlifter

The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter was a military strategic airlifter in service with the Air Mobility Command (AMC) of the United States Air Force. The aircraft also served with AMC-gained airlift wings and air mobility wings of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and the Air National Guard (ANG) and, in later years, one air mobility wing of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) dedicated to C-141, C-5, C-17 and KC-135 training.

Introduced to replace slower piston-engined cargo planes such as the C-124 Globemaster II, the C-141 was designed to requirements set in 1960 and first flew in 1963. Production deliveries of an eventual 285 planes began in 1965: 284 for the Air Force, and one for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA} for use as an airborne observatory. The aircraft remained in service for almost 40 years until the USAF withdrew the C-141 from service on 5 May 2006, replacing the aircraft with the C-17 Globemaster III.

A-10 Thunderbolt II

The A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American single-seat, twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic for the United States Air Force to provide close air support (CAS) of ground forces by attacking tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets, with a limited air interdiction capability. It is the first U.S. Air Force aircraft designed exclusively for close air support.

The A-10's official name comes from the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt of World War II, a fighter that was particularly effective at close air support. However, the A-10 is more commonly known by its nickname "Warthog" or simply "Hog".^[3] As a secondary mission, it provides airborne forward air control, guiding other aircraft against ground targets. A-10s used primarily in this role are designated OA-10.

Criticism that the U.S. Air Force did not take close air support seriously prompted a few service members to seek a specialized attack aircraft.^[5] In the Vietnam War, large numbers of ground-attack aircraft were shot down by small arms, surface-to-air missiles, and low-level anti-aircraft gunfire, prompting the development of an aircraft better able to survive such weapons. In addition, the UH-1 Iroquois and AH-1 Cobra helicopters of the day, which USAF commanders had said should handle close air support, were ill-suited for use against armor, carrying only anti-personnel machine guns and unguided rockets meant for soft targets. The F-4 Phantom II was pressed into close air support, but usually in emergencies, as its high cruising speed and fuel consumption hindered its ability to loiter. The lack of a gun on most F-4 variants, coupled with the relative ineffectiveness of the standard 20 mm round on M61 Vulcan-equipped F-4Es against hard targets, made strafing runs either impossible or ineffective.

KC-135 Stratotanker

The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is a United States aerial refueling tanker aircraft. It has been in service with the United States Air Force since 1957.

The KC-135 is derived from the original Boeing jet transport "proof of concept" demonstrator, the Boeing 367-80 (commonly called the "Dash-80"). As such, it has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the Boeing 707 jetliner. Boeing gave the tanker the designation of Model 717.^[1] The 367-80 was the basic design for the commercial Boeing 707 passenger aircraft as well as the KC-135A Stratotanker.

In 1954 the USAF's Strategic Air Command ordered the first 29 of its future fleet of 732. The first aircraft flew in August 1956 and the initial production Stratotanker was delivered to Castle Air Force Base, California, in June 1957. The last KC-135 was delivered to the Air Force in 1965.

Developed in the late 1950s, the basic airframe is characterized by swept wings and tail, four underwing mounted engine pods, a horizontal stabilizer mounted on the fuselage near the bottom of the vertical stabilizer with positive dihedral on the two horizontal planes and a hi-frequency radio antenna which protrudes forward from the top of the vertical fin or stabilizer. These basic features make it strongly resemble the commercial Boeing 707 and 720 aircraft, although it is actually a different aircraft.

The Strategic Air Command (SAC) had the KC-135 Stratotanker in service with Regular Air Force SAC units from 1957 through 1992 and with SAC-gained Air National Guard (ANG) and Air Force Reserve (AFRES) units from 1975 through 1992. In 1992, most KC-135s were re-assigned to the newly-created Air Mobility Command (AMC). As AMC gained the preponderance of the aerial refueling mission, a small number of KC-135s were also assigned to directly United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) and the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). Reconnaissance and command post variants, including the RC-135 Rivet Joint and EC-135 Looking Glass Post Attack Command & Control Systems were operated by SAC from 1963 through 1992, when they were re-assigned to the Air Combat Command (ACC).

C-130 Hercules

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It is the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over 40 models and variants of the Hercules serve with more than 50 nations. In December 2006 the C-130 became the fifth aircraft—after the English Electric Canberra, B-52 Stratofortress, Tupolev Tu-95, and KC-135 Stratotanker—to mark 50 years of continuous use with its original primary customer, in this case the United States Air Force. The C-130 remains in production as the updated C-130J Super Hercules.

Capable of takeoffs and landings from unprepared runways, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport aircraft. The versatile airframe has found uses in a variety of other roles, including as a gunship, for airborne assault, search and rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refueling and aerial firefighting. The Hercules family has the longest continuous production run of any military aircraft in history. During more than 50 years of service the family has participated in countless military, civilian and humanitarian aid operations.