Airplane Geeks Podcast

We look at the Boeing Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System or MCAS for the 737 MAX, the Lockheed Martin X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology aircraft, an Aurora Flight Sciences high-altitude pseudo-satellite, Japan Airlines pilots and drinking, and the TSA’s Automated Security Lanes. Also, Launchpad Marzari reports on the Red Bull Air Race World Championship Finale in Fort Worth, Texas.

The FAA is focusing on the automated stabilizer trim system that Boeing added to the 737 MAX aircraft. It’s called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System or MCAS. Boeing may be required to design a fix for the system. Meanwhile, a Florida-based law firm has filed a lawsuit against Boeing claiming the system was an unsafe design and contributed to the Lion Air crash.

Earlier this year, NASA awarded Lockheed a contract worth nearly $250 million to develop a supersonic airplane that doesn’t create a loud sonic boom. The X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology aircraft is designed for a 55,000-foot cruise at about 940 miles per hour. NASA will flight-test the experimental QueSST aircraft by the end of 2021.

The Odysseus high-altitude pseudo-satellite from Boeing unit Aurora Flight Sciences has a 243-foot wingspan. Flight testing in Puerto Rico is to begin in April 2019.

The JAL co-pilot arrested at London’s Heathrow airport for being drunk took an in-house breathalyzer test but cheated. The breathalyzer used by JAL didn’t have a tube and it wasn’t noticed that the pilot was not blowing into the device.

Traditional airport security checkpoints in the U.S. process passengers serially. But now a different TSA checkpoint design is rolling out to additional airports. They are called “Automated Security Lanes” and passengers are processed in parallel.

Video: Travel Tips: Automated Screening Lanes

https://youtu.be/Ta9Wfc7ECwU

Launchpad Marzari attended the Red Bull Air Race World Championship Finale in Fort Worth, Texas.

Launchpad asked a great question during the live press conference, then interviewed racer Mike Goulian who took third place overall for the season.

PurpleAir.com  – An air quality monitoring network built on a new generation of “Internet of Things” sensors.

The Mobile Passport app speeds you through U.S. Customs and Border Protection at three cruise ports and 26 airports.

More listener-submitted YouTube channels:

• MojoGrip
• Quazi JG

Outtro by Bruno Misonne from The Sound of Flaps.