Airplane Geeks Podcast

Interviews and observations from the Great British Fly-In at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum celebrating the 100th anniversary of Great Britain’s Royal Air Force. Also, a review of Li-ion thermal runaway containment products for use on airplanes, Sun ‘n Fun, a deal to resolve the subsidy dispute between some U.S. and Gulf airlines, the F-35 reaches a developmental test flight milestone, Allegiant Air is criticized in a CBS investigation, a standoff missile makes its operational debut, and 787 Dreamliners with the Trent 1000 Package C engines get a reduced ETOPS rating.

Reportedly, discussions are progressing that would resolve the subsidy dispute between some U.S. airlines and those in the Middle East. Emirates and Etihad Airways would make their accounting books available and would assert that they have no current plans to add additional flights to the United States.

The F-35 Joint Program Office says the program “has accomplished the final developmental test flight of the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the program.” The program operated for more than 11, conducting more than 9,200 sorties, accumulating over 17,000 flight hours, and executing more than 65,000 test points to verify the design, durability, software, sensors, weapons capability and performance for all three F-35 variants.

During its 60 Minutes television program, CBS presented their findings after a 7-month investigation of Allegiant Air.  They call the airline the “most dangerous” airline in the U.S. and found “serious mechanical incidents, including mid-air engine failures, smoke and fumes in the cabin, rapid descents, flight control malfunctions, hydraulic leaks and aborted take-offs.” Allegiant issued a statement calling the report “grossly misleading.”

The United States and its French and British allies launched strikes against Syrian government facilities supporting chemical weapons. Striking the Barzah Research Center in Damascus were 57 Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAM) and 19 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) missiles.

Video: JASSM Reliability

David attended The Great British Fly-In at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, April 15, 2018. The event was conducted in partnership with Great Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) as part of the 100th-anniversary celebration of the RAF, the oldest air force in the world. The event featured many former RAF and other military aircraft, flown in for one day only.

Interviews [with approximate start times]:

• Assistant Air Attache Steve Richards [36:39]
• Doug Burkey from WideWings.net [41:47]
• RAF Flight Lt Sarah Cole [44:38]
• Dr. Peter Jakab, chief curator of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. [50:50]

Listener Nick undertook a study of products that are designed to contain the Li-on batteries in personal electronic devices when they experience thermal runaway on aircraft. Nick looked at the available products from:

• Aircare
• AvSax
• Baker Aviation
• Brimstone Fire Protection
• CellBlock Fire Containment Systems
• Fire Containment Concepts
• Flight Fire Containment Systems
• Highwater Innovations
• Newtex

Airplane Geeks Reporter-at-Large Launchpad Marzari reports from Sun ‘n Fun 2018 with a quick pilot report and an interview with Chief Foreign Officer Charles Villanida. GoArmy.com.

Air Force One: The Aircraft of the Modern U.S. Presidency [Amazon.com link]

Air New Zealand passengers face more disruption as Dreamliners hit by further Rolls-Royce engine problems

FAA limits flights by Boeing 787 Dreamliners with Rolls-Royce engine problems

Outtro by Bruno Misonne from The Sound of Flaps.