Sponsored L-39 32 Hr Virtual Flight Live Blog

For more information about the flight click here for the event page.

Thanks to everyone for your support, the pilots, bloggers / tweeters and everyone else involved.

All of the tweets, blog updates and Facebook updates are now below along with a list of the live stream videos.

Live Stream Videos:
Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDbS63IgKsc
Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egMu1ayAF7E
Part 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgShK_BvKTY
Part 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A75DaWQ2SMo
Part 5 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI1f5IZF3Xg
Part 6 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuOk1XbRXN4
Part 7 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcsebk87J7w
 
22:08Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Finally finished flying, time for bed. I'll try to compile all the posts, tweets and blog entries into the blog page along with the live videos (little airshow at the end)

-Facebook

22:00Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

That's finally over!! 31 hrs 46 mins of flying. Systems...OFF Canopy...OPEN Sleep...NOW! pic.twitter.com/FRKRWSRSwQ

  -@GHaley13

20:21Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Bad weather in the Alps and it's dark but we've made it to Innsbruck and on target for the finish

-@GHaley13

18:35Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

And we're off. Leaving Lyon to Vodochody via Switzerland. ETA is 10:30Z (GMT) 11:30ish (BST)

-@GHaley13

18:09Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Final live stream to show my insanity, should be a good one as we go through the alps! youtu.be/kcsebk87J7w

  -@GHaley13

17:51Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

On the tarmac at Lyon, time for dinner.

-@GHaley13

16:01Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Making good progress, quick fuel and food stop at Southampton, will be on the way again soon. Watch at youtu.be/LuOk1XbRXN4

  -@GHaley13

15:02Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Touch down at Leeds Bradford for fuel! Soon departing for the Midlands and South West. Lots of flyovers so stay tuned

-@GHaley13

14:33Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Diverting to Newcastle due to bad weather at Edinburgh. Pushing south away from Scottish weather!

-@GHaley13

13:51Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Livestream up: youtu.be/LuOk1XbRXN4 departing in approx 5 minutes

-@GHaley13

13:01Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Touch down in sunny Scotland, time for lunch! Taking off for Birmingham at 14:50, check out the live stream at 80000ftandclimbing.blogspot.co.uk

-@GHaley13

12:05Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Last leg before lunch, Faroe Islands to Inverness! Less than 12 hours to go! Thanks for all the support!

-JB

12:03Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Just refuelled in the Faroe's. Taking off for lunch in Inverness, ETA 13:55 BST

-@GHaley13

11:01Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Just arriving in South East Iceland, picking up fuel and then heading to the Faroe Islands. Watch us on our live feed: youtu.be/mI1f5IZF3Xg

 -@GHaley13

10:30Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Flying across Iceland, slightly delayed due to a slight detour.

-@GHaley13

09:05Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Live stream part 5 is now up, departure minute 30 youtu.be/mI1f5IZF3Xg

  -@GHaley13

08:32Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Now in western Iceland! Time for breakfast then ready to depart at 10:30 BST

-@GHaley13

05:47Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Time to get moving again then, Iceland here we come!

-@GHaley13

04:49Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Planned Time of departure from Greenland 05:40Z (GMT)

-@GHaley13

04:48Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Finally in Greenland, time for a power nap before the next long leg to Iceland

-@GHaley13

02:09Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

As we get ready to leave Goose bay it's time for live stream part 4! youtu.be/A75DaWQ2SMo
 

-@GHaley13

02:05Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Long range tanks now fitted, time to push on from Goose Bay headed for Greenland.

-@GHaley13

00:48Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014
Goose Bay here we come!

-@GHaley13

00:00Z (GMT) 02nd August 2014

Some high level cruising has saved us some fuel so we're skipping Halifax and powering on at 33500ft!

-@GHaley13

23:58Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

@AirplaneGeeks I'm currently in the middle of this and thought you may be interested 80000ftandclimbing.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.ht…

-@GHaley13

23:55Z (GMT) 01st August 2014
Progress, darkness is coming though. Now approaching Nova Scotia! pic.twitter.com/6V6Os2XJq5

-@GHaley13

23:07Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Time to leave behind Logan International and head out towards Halifax in Canada

-JB

23:03Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

I started a live stream on @YouTube: youtu.be/cgShK_BvKTY?a
 

-@GHaley13

23:01Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Time for the flight sim marathon to continue. Goodbye Boston!

-@GHaley13

22:35Z (GMT) 01st August 2014
On second final into Logan International, first time we've been early. Great news!

-JB

22:32Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

On final for Logan International in Boston. Looks like we'll be on the ground early which is great to see

-@GHaley13

20:58Z (GMT) 01st August 2014
Refuelling at Toronto in thunder storms, time to head to Boston via Niagara falls! A pass under Rainbow Bridge to come!

-@GHaley13

19:18Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Thundering away from Thunder Bay in 5 L-39's and a 737!

-@GHaley13

19:02Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Time to roll out of Thunder Bay, keep track at 80000ftandclimbing.blogspot.co.uk

-@GHaley13

18:47Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Now for part 2 of the live stream youtu.be/egMu1ayAF7E take off as soon as I've eaten!

-@GHaley13

18:42Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Finally down at Thunder Bay, 40 mins behind schedule but making up for it with a short dinner break so we'll still be departing on the hour!

-@GHaley13

18:40Z (GMT) 01st August 2014
Finally landed at Thunder Bay, Canada. 40 Mins Behind Schedule but takeoff will be on time in 20 mins.

-GH

17:48Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Leaving behind Winnipeg now, heading down to Thunder Bay for a short dinner break. Thanks for your support again!

-@GHaley13

17:45Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Just left Winnipeg, hoping to make up some of lost time by running at full power all the way to Thunder Bay. Keep up to date on the live stream!

-JB

17:07Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

30 miles to Brandon for a low pass then onto Winnipeg Intl. Keep track of where we are on this live map: fsopen.co.uk/maps/index2.ph…

-LW

17:03Z (GMT) 01st August 2014
70 miles to Brandon for a low pass then onto Winnipeg Intl. Keep track of where we are on this live map: fsopen.co.uk/maps/index2.ph…

-@GHaley13

16:39Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

En route to Brandon Municipal Airport, taking off now, see you at the next stop

-LW

16:31Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Just landed in Regina Intl. Time to refuel and we'll be off! Keep following, we'll be heading to Brandon Municipal Airport next. Any donations greatly appreciated.

-LW

16:27Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Just about to land at Regina Intl. Quick fuel stop and we'll be airborne again!

-@GHaley13

15:58Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Making progress across Canada, just over 30 mins till next stop! Keep track on the live Youtube stream youtu.be/fDbS63IgKsc
 

-@GHaley13

15:30Z (GMT) 01st August 2014
First stop in Lethbridge done and aircraft fully refuelled. Time for wheels up in Lethbridge. Thanks for all your support. Remember to keep the donations coming in!

-JB

15:28Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Great to hear so many of you are following our epic trip across continents. Thanks for all your support!

-@GHaley13

15:27Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

On the ground in Lethbridge, a little behind schedule but planning to make up time on next leg.

-@GHaley13

15:24Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

@GHaley13 On final to Lethbridge for first stop of the 32 hour marathon! pic.twitter.com/dnESeteK9E

-@jamesrbaker

15:14Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Live updates available on the blog also 80000ftandclimbing.blogspot.co.uk

-@GHaley13

15:10Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Were 15 minutes out of our first stop at Lethbridge. Glad to see so many of you enjoying the live stream on youtube. Remember to keep up to date on twitter @GHaley13 and @jamesrbaker If you are able to donate, see the details on the event page. Thanks

-JB

15:02Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

We're making good progress across Canada. Expected into Lethbridge in approximately 25 minutes at 15:25Z/16:25GMT or 08:25 Local (UTC-07:00)

-@GHaley13

14:24Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Back online again! Back in the air in the next few minutes

-@GHaley13

14:19Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Some slight technical difficulties... will be back in the air ASAP

-@GHaley13

14:12Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Fundraising for @1206SqnATC new flight simulator with a 32 hour Flight Sim Flight from Vancouver to Vodochody, CZ. Keep donations coming in!

-@GHaley13

14:07Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

We're in the cruise now at 11,000ft and leaving Vancouver behind us.

-@GHaley13

14:03Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Airborne in the 32hour flight sim marathon. Watch online on youtube.com/watch?v=fDbS63… and follow live updates on the blog! 

-@GHaley13

14:00Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

We've got positive rate, and gear is up

-JB

14:00Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

And it's breaks off in Vancouver!

-JB

13:58Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

We're taxiing now! Live stream is up and ready. Pre-flight checks complete were ready for breaks off in 45 seconds

-JB

13:36Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Getting close to wheels up now. All set up and ready for you to watch online. Join us on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDbS63IgKs which is going live in just under 24 minutes!

-JB

10:23Z (GMT) 01st August 2014

Not long until takeoff now, 14:00Z (GMT) or 15:00 British Summer time for those in the UK.

Make sure you tune in a little before then as the takeoff roll will start at 14:00:00Z :)

-GH

18.45Z (GMT) 31st July 2014

For all the Tross pilots there is a new Aircraft package available from the downloads section of the events page.

-GH 

14:02Z (GMT) 31st July 2014

Wheels up at 14:00Z tomorrow as we depart Vancouver!

Final preparations are done and will be moving the computer this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

For those not familiar with military time codes Z (Zulu) is UTC/GMT so for those in the UK it's an hour behind local time.

-GH

 For more information about the flight click here for the event page.

Event Page

Hi Everyone,

Apologies it's taking me so long to get round to writing a post but I seem to be even busier on 'holiday' than when I was at Uni.

Anyway, the event page for my L-39 birthday flight is finally up so you can go and have a look at that while you wait for another post!

Event Page

Red Bull Air Race - Race 3 (Putrajaya)

The Malaysian round of the Red Bull Air Race has only just finished but the live stream is already up http://www.redbullairrace.com/en_GB/event/putrajaya

I'm watching it now so can't comment on results or flying but I'm sure it'll be worth it.

Graham Out.

Flight Sim

Hello Everybody,

Before I go rather quiet for a few weeks as I deal with the joy of exams, I thought I would try to get one more post out...

Firstly, thank you to everyone who is reading this as the view count on the blog has now reached over 4000 and for the first time ever there are consistent views on a daily basis :)

Secondly, the third round of the Red Bull Air Race is on tomorrow, Hannes Arch dominated qualifying today but I will be sure to post as soon as the catch up stream goes live.

Ok, so the actual reason for the post is that I'm sure my girlfriend is not the only one who wonders what enjoyment I get from Flight Sim. There are a few minor things and a few major reasons why I enjoy it, so here goes.

Some of the things are a simple as relaxing a little and simply not working but at the same time learning quite a lot. Other times there is a lot of work and learning involved (yes, you can learn on Flight Sim) but completing a challenging approach or a good arc is certainly rewarding.

Southend ILS
® Graham Haley

Shining Light
© Graham Haley

Firmly Attatched
© Graham Haley

Another thing is the social aspect of Flight Sim, many of my screenshots have other aircraft in, these are flown by other people who (in general) share a similar interest in aviation. I usually fly with a various group of people 2 or 3 times a week, we talk at the same time as flying, partly to prove that men can multitask but also to share stories, thoughts and experiences, but I think they would agree that we all have some fun. I think a lot of the fun comes from the world of aviation itself where people are respectful and professional, traits which have for the most part migrated to flight sim. Yes, we crash occasionally and our flying is not always brilliant but no one will tell you that you're crap. If you are pretty dire then there is always someone that will try to help, whether that be your flying, navigation, communication or all of it. A lot of the enjoyment comes from the shared experiences, whether that be flying through the Alps or Grand Canyon together, flying round the same navigation course or just cruising over the skies of the UK and Europe.

Rollin'
© Graham Haley

Duelling Helicopters
© Graham Haley

Cleared for Contact
© Graham Haley

Finally, where a lot of the enjoyment comes for me is the screenshots. As you may or may not know, when I have a reasonable camera I enjoy taking pictures, especially of aircraft. Flight Sim offers me the ability to take great air-to-air, air-to-ground and ground-to-air shots and it is something that many of us enjoy sharing with each other after a long evening of flying together. I have put a very small selection of my favourites in this post but I urge you all to go and look at my photobucket album (in full screen) so that you can see what I enjoy. 

Neon Fire
© Graham Haley

Warm and Wonderful
© Graham Haley

Noblemen
© Graham Haley

Again, thank you all for reading, please like subscribe and comment on both the blog and photos. For those with exams like me, good luck and I will be back in a few weeks.

Until then...
Graham Out.

Red Bull Air Race - Race 2 (Rovinj)

The video from the Red Bull Air Race in Rovinj a couple of weeks ago is up!

Well worth watching, Pylon hits galore!

http://bcove.me/uz3j08i9

Can't wait until Ascot in August now.

Graham Out.

Arduino Update

Well I said I'd be in touch with an update on my Arduino project so here it is...

Unfortunatly this is going to be rather a short post as the news is that the Arduino switch box doesn't work.
I've taken a few snaps for you all to look at so you can see the hours of soldering that's gone into it!

One day it will be finished but with exams coming up I don't expect to have any more news on it until late June.

I am working on a proper post which I hope to have finished by the end of the week.

Until then...
Graham Out.

28 Hours of Flight

Ok, so I'm sure you probably all noticed that I had a bit of an Easter break but I'm back in Sheffield now trying to prepare for exams in just over a month.

Anyway, I'm not trying to think too much about exams for now, instead my first Arduino switch box for Flight sim is nearly finished (a few more things I need to get tomorrow but then it should be done so I'll post about that soon). Now, I'm sure anyone that read my last post will remember my 'project', well the title of the post gives it away a bit...

 








I am planning to do a sponsored flight (on flight sim) from Vancouver to Vodochody airfield in the Czech Republic. Sound easy? Well it would be but the plan is to fly it in an L-39 Albatross jet trainer with no auto-pilot and a maximum range of around 700 miles. Fortunately 700 miles is just about enough to run the 'prop' route for the North Atlantic stopping in Northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland and then Scotland.

You may ask why I would do it in an aircraft that isn't really capable of the flight but the simple reason is that the 3rd of August this year will mark the 5th anniversary of the Lotus Simulations L-39, an aircraft often flown by the ATC Magic group of which I am a part. The aircraft has also been the basis of the route, I wanted the flight to be long and challenging, else why would anyone sponsor me to do it? The real aircraft was built by Aero Vodochody in the Czech Republic (No prizes for guessing where they are based) and the designer of the flight simulator X version lives in Vancouver.

 






 










So the final question is what am I fundraising for? Well my Air Cadet squadron (1206 (Mercian)) is currently fundraising for a flight simulator and what better way of fundraising for one by using my own to fly online with some friends (at least for parts) of a flight to celebrate an aircraft we all love.

That's it for now, like, comment, share, subscribe and generally interact in whatever way you choose.
I'll be back in about a week (fingers crossed) with a working Arduino switch box for flight sim.

MH370: The End (For Now)

Firstly, apologies from me for my sudden stop in reporting on MH370, I have a half written post that I meant to publish over a week ago and didn't finish it before it became fairly irrelevant. I've also started to work on a little 'project' which has been taking up plenty of time. I will probably give some details on in a few weeks when I have more than just a plan.

What happened to MH370?                    What is this 'project'?

Anyway, I stopped posting on MH370 because I was trying to formulate an opinion and disregard some conspiracies using 'fact'. I got to a point where I felt this was impossible because there has been very little in the way of fact on the incident. One would expect to get facts from people like the BBC, however they did what many other media sources decided to do and felt a need to report anything they could find. With the lack of actual facts this reporting was mainly conspiracies. I simply got tired of reading things and trying to post them and fit them into a scenario before they were denied the day after. I was also becoming irritated by the fact that many things that were reported were technically wrong anyway (more understandable by the majority of people but still wrong). In the past few weeks I have noticed that the aviation industry as a whole doesn't seem to think people will understand what is going on with a lot of things, so they use vague terms like 'technical fault' instead of explaining which for most people would be fairly quick and easy.

There has been plenty of media produced by plenty of people on MH370, I no longer feel that adding to it will be of much use. In the future I will try to revisit MH370, but only when there is some physical evidence (bits of plane!) that has been pulled from the ocean. As a final couple of notes on MH370, the arc that they are saying the aircraft had to be on was a truly extraordinary use of technology, I won't go into detail but someone was certainly doing a good job. Finally (actually the end of MH370 (from me)) my thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families and I can't imagine what they must be going through, but pointing fingers at Boeing isn't the way forward at the moment.

To conclude this quick(ish) post I will be in touch soon with details on my 'project' if it's going ahead, as well as a couple more posts if I ever get round to writing them.

Missing Flight MH370

I shall start this post with a bit of a disclaimer in that I shall say the following is my own opinion and by ncurrentlys fact. I shall reference the facts where I can in order to show what is fact.

Background
As I'm sure most of you have heard in the news, Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China went missing on Friday (7th March) evening/night. Neither the whole aircraft nor any wreckage has been found at the time of writing this ~23:00GMT 10th March 2014. (At least no confirmed wreckage.)
The Aircraft itself was a Boeing 777-2H6ER, Tail number 9M-MRO, powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines.
 

9M-MRO Departing Charlesconspiracyle Airport in Paris in 2011
Laurent Errera [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_777-200ER_Malaysia_AL_%28MAS%29_9M-MRO_-_MSN_28420_404_%289272090094%29.jpg]

My Opinions
With so many conspiracies floating around and news reporters getting things wrong I thought that I would try to shed a little light on some things. 

Firstly I feel I am being a little picky as in a state of slight irritation at the lack of journalists insight and research into these things I ended up contacting the BBC over one of their mistakes. In one of their short videos they were suggesting that modern aircraft can simply disappear from radar, whilst this is true, the example they use was the crash of Air France 447 in 2009. AF447 did disappear from radar, exactly as expected when the flew beyond the range of Brazilian radar out into the Atlantic.
Now it is possible that an aircraft can disappear from radar, however (and I apologise for the technical aspect of this) there are only a few ways to be invisible to radar. From the perspective of primary radar (radar that give a return from radio waves bounced off an object) you have to be a stealth aircraft, and unless this 777 was heavily modified (it wasn't) then that isn't going to happen. Of course I don't know enough about Malaysian radar to know whether they have both primary and secondary radar systems active but I would suspect that they would (secondary is actually the main radar type). From further reading it may well be the case that MH370 was out of primary radar range. Secondary radar (reliant on the transponder of the aircraft broadcasting information including a squawk code, altitude and other information) works over a longer range however, it can easily be disabled during a terrorist takeover by pulling the correct circuit breaker in the cockpit (a problem evident on 9/11 when the USA relied on only secondary radar). Of course you may be thinking this is similar to AF447 in that the aircraft flew beyond radar but judging by the cheap wall map in my room I would not expect that it was beyond radar range. A final system is ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System), this system is designed to send reports for maintenance crews for when the aircraft lands (a big factor in the AF447 crash). This article from The Guardian mentions ACARS but as yet I am unaware what information has been gained from the ACARS system installed on this 777.

A quick segway from radar to the possibility of a terrorist attack: I have at no time seen any information regarding the use of the international hijack squawk code 7500.

Looking at the available flight data on http://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/9MMRO/history/20140307/1635Z/WMKK/ZBAA/tracklog I would say that a mid air breakup of the aircraft due to a material seems unlikely due to the fact that the aircraft reached a cruising altitude of 35,000ft whereas most structural failures happen at around 17-18,000ft as this is the point at which there is often a large enough pressure difference between the inside and outside of the aircraft to cause failure. Of course a structural failure is possible at higher altitude if an increased force was required. Looking at the flight data this is a possibility as it would appear that the aircraft was just levelling off at the top of the climb. If there was a failure of the aircraft structure however, then I would suspect that it may well be a terrorist attack (though no-one has claimed responsibility). We will probably never know for sure unless the aircraft itself is found. There is of course some suspect to the fact that there were 2 people travelling on stolen passports aboard the aircraft though this is expected to be for immigration purposes. (As a quick side note, it sill amazes me that in this day and age we could not have a marker or something on a computer system to question 2 passports know to have been stolen.)

Continuing the terrorist theme, there was no radio call and no known cellular calls made (these may well have been out of range). Interestingly relatives of passenger are still reporting that mobile phones are ringing when called which is a possible reason for the suggestion of a hijack in which the aircraft has been flown to a remote airport. In my opinion it would be fairly difficult to hide a 777 and over 200 people that most of the world is concerned about finding. And again, as far as I am aware no-one has claimed responsibility and also no demands have been made.

Anyhow, it is all still a mystery to me, dual engine failure is highly unlikely and even so the aircraft would have had a fairly long glide range and enough time to start the auxiliary power unit and make radio contact. This means that if it were a dual engine failure then it would have been due to a lack of fuel which I would hope 2 pilots would notice within the first half hour of a flight. Whatever happened it must have been fast as there was no contact with air traffic control to declare an emergency or recover the plane in a way in which to fly it to safety.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26513506

I shall draw things to a close here and I shall try and make updates and amendments where I can so please let me know of your thoughts. My main issue at the moment is the mobile phones that are still ringing (possibly electronic survivors of a crash on land?).

Either way I am sure you will all join me in prayer and wishing the best for all involved in search efforts as well as all of the 239 people on board and their families.


 UPDATE 14:22 GMT 11/03/2014

Firstly as it says in the comments from last night: "There were no signals from ACARS from the time the aircraft disappeared," a source involved in the investigations said.

(and from now onwards my opinions are going to be in brackets just to separate things out)

An update from BBC News saying that Malaysian Air Force radar suggest that the aircraft mad a turn to the west away from its planned route. (Why has it taken so long to look at the old radar footage??) Due to this the search area has once again been widened. These zones now include more of the Malacca Straight as well as a large section of mainland Malaysia. (I don't know how remote some parts of Malaysia are, but if phones really are ringing and the aircraft had made a turn to the west, then I am starting to think that it may be possible that there may have been a mechanical failure that left the aircraft in a 'flyable' state to allow for a crash on land. Without the plane we won't know but it would have to be a very remote area as I would suspect that there was enough fuel on board to cause a fairly substantial fire. The problem would also have had to cause a major electrical fault in order to take out the transponder and radios.)

It also states the names of both the men travelling on stolen passports and neither have any links with terrorism. (As expected.)

Another article that I am reading says that US military satellites in the area that are designed to detect the flash of a missile launcher did not detect anything. (This in itself is not particularly useful until a wreckage is found but is at least comforting to know.) The same article also backs up my theory that an explosive decompression of the cabin is possible (though unlikely) as the aircraft had not long reached its cruising altitude, though it also says (and I agree with this) that it may well just be a coincidence.

Finally for this update I was listening to the #PaxEx podcast last night and I think that Mary Kirby raises an important issue of streaming black box data. (In the modern world we DO have the technology and capabilities to stream the data from black boxes that are often so hard to find or become damaged in fires. Airlines are claiming that this is too expensive and of course it would increase costs but in a situation like this we may be able to have more of an idea of what happened to the aircraft and also a better location for it. As Max Flight says we will most likely retrieve the information in the end but currently it would be of great comfort to families to have an idea of what happened and it would give investigators a lot more to work from than a radar track that simple stops.)

Please comment with your thoughts below and correct me on any mistakes you think I have.

And please continue to join me in prayer (or though) for all involved.


UPDATE 01:27 GMT 12/03/2014


After a little more research I am inclined to start agreeing with the views of Karlene Petitt. Karlene's views still hold true with the new 'evidence' from the Malaysian military who claim to have tracked an aircraft which is likely to be MH370 across the country to a point in the Malacca Straight at 1000ft. 

Further reading also suggests that the ringing mobile phones may only be ringing whilst the call is trying to connect and then end as the mobile at the far end is not found.

So to clarify things a little...

My current questions are:

-If the aircraft continued to fly back across the country why was no radio contact made with anyone?
-If this is an act of terrorism then why has nothing been said either by the pilots, the terrorists on board, communication from the cabin or a declaration by an organisation?
-If this is an act of terrorism a large number of people would have been required to take control of the aircraft without anyone broadcasting anything. Surely one of them would show up on a system like Interpol.

My current though on what happened:

Assuming that the radar data from the Malaysian military is true the aircraft made a turn to the west and made a flight over Malaysia descending to a very lo altitude over the sea at the end of the flight. The cause for turning must have been either an act of terrorism or a fault on the aircraft. The lack of communication suggests to me that a fault on the aircraft that resulted in a lack of power to the flight deck meant that no communications could be made by any system including the data and voice communication system on the aircraft. Whatever fault this was it left the aircraft in a flyable state and the pilots opted to turn back to try and land in Malaysia where it is likely the aircraft could be repaired (though this may take a time longer than a few hours). With no navigational systems the pilots felt lost and descended to a low altitude in order to navigate. From here on I am defiantly speculating with very little evidence but I suspect that the aircraft possibly struck the water at a shallow angle and low speed meaning that the aircraft was mainly in tact but quickly filled with water resulting in the aircraft sinking without any debris being released. This could have been cause by dual engine failure after the electrical failure. The lack of an Emergency Locator Transponder (ELT) also due to the electrical failure and in tact landing has meant that the aircraft is yet to be found.

Again, that is all my own opinion and is only loosely based on fact. I would hope that if my suggestion is correct they would have found the aircraft by now, but it may be evident that they are looking in the wrong place after days of searching.

I continue to wish the best for all involved, but it is also becoming more and more important for the aviation world that we find the aircraft in order to try and gain an understanding of what happened and why it took so long to find the aircraft in order to make sure this does not happen again in the future.

Update 12:21GMT 12/03/2014

The Malaysian military are now denying reports that they tracked MH370 across the country to the Malacca Straight which does beg the question of why people have been searching there for the past few days. With this information my 'prediction' from last night no longer holds too well and in my mind the aircraft is much more likely lost in the south China sea somewhere outside of the current search area. Even if the aircraft did crash within the search area I would have though by now that it is highly likely that any floating debris would have moved a reasonable distance. 

As I said at the very start of this post I am simply trying to shed a little light on the mess of conspiracies currently floating around. I was trying to do this by using the most credible sources I could for information, however it would seem that even the most credible of news agencies have not been able to report fact. For what reason I am not sure, but it is the job of organisations like the BBC to provide reliable, unbiased information to the public and in the case of MH370 they have failed. In my mind although these organisations are under pressure to provide us with news they would be better to say that they simply do not know. As many 'avgeeks' will know, what the media report is often based on their opinion anyway as, in general, reporters have very little understanding of the systems that they are talking about. (Radar for example is often thought of in a world war 2 sense where a pulse of energy is sent and a reflection of this is received. This is how primary radar works however, as mentioned earlier we are now heavily reliant on secondary radar systems.)

Currently I would suggest that the search is taking place in the wrong area, what we can do about this I don't know, the aircraft should be in a location where locating it should not be an issue, even AF447 was found in the middle of the pacific ocean faster (though I think that people should avoid comparison to other incidents as each is unique and are cause by different sets of circumstances). Until the aircraft is found we are unlikely to know what happened which is an issue for both the families of the passengers and crew, as well as the aviation community.

To finish this update I shall just say to be very careful of what you read regarding this situation, fact and fiction currently seem to have equal publicity which is not making things very clear. I think that the only useful news to hear now will be the discovery of the aircraft which will allow for some understanding of the truth.


Update 02:03 GMT 13/03/2014

So there is now a possible sighting from a Chinese satellite of large floating objects, supposedly accompanied by smoke. From what I can see these satellite images are from just outside the enlarged search area, I assume that the debris has floated away from the search area, explaining why it had not yet been found. 

For now I will leave it at that until this is investigated tomorrow and I will provide another update if physical evidence is found (or the ELT signals).

Health and safety gone mad

A very quick post before I go to bed.

Firstly the Redbull Air Race in Abu Dhabi from last weekend is now available to watch (and is well worth it) http://www.redbullairrace.com/en_GB/event/abu-dhabi#

Secondly, the health and safety bit...

How dangerous is litter picking??
Maybe a little, but enough to warrant 2 people using a litter picker whilst wearing a full set of high viz clothing... and hard hats!?!?
I'll let you make your own mind up about whether or not it's gone too far, but I think you can probably guess my opinion.

Red Bull Air Race - Race 1 (Abu Dhabi)

A quick post for you all now...

As I mentioned a couple of months ago, the Red Bull Air Race is back!!!

The first race took place over the last weekend in Abu Dhabi and Paul Bonhomme won (Woop!)
For more info on what happened and possibly an on demand catch up of the races then check out the website http://www.redbullairrace.com/en_GB/event/abu-dhabi 

http://www.redbullairrace.com/en_GB/article/bonhomme-takes-win

Tickets are also on sale for the UK race at Ascot in August!

Arduino Time

In my last post I said back to normal, though I'm not sure I know what normal is any more. Either way I'm just making excuses once again for my delay in posting.

On to what this is all about...

Just over 2 weeks ago I ordered myself an Arduino Mega, for those not familiar with the Arduino set-up, "Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software." (www.arduino.cc)

An Arduino Mega 2560 [http://store.arduino.cc/]

My plan for the Arduino is to make a cheap and easy 'cockpit' for flight sim. I say 'cockpit' as the plan is to have a small set-up with some main functions on flight sim. Although I'm sure I probably could make a full cockpit with a few Arduino's, (not quite sure of the plural there,) while I'm at uni I just need a small set-up that means I'm not trying to click on things in the screen whilst everything shakes around mid-flight.

The 'Cockpit'
The main things I plan to include are:
-Main Battery, Alternator/Generator and Avionics switches
-Light Switches
-Annunciator lights
-Gear & Flaps switches and indicators
-Clock (FSX time)
-Fuel %
-Com radios
-Nav Radios
-Other radios (ADF, Xpndr, DME)
-Basic Autopilot

Hopefully I can get all of that working. Currently I have the gear and flaps as well as a few other bits working and at this point I must say thanks to Jim for his 'link2fs multi' software (http://www.jimspage.co.nz/).

Aside from my personal cockpit build I have also written the code for and made a start on some F1 style starting lights for the Engineers Without Borders Pedal Powered Scalextric, a videos is attached below, I will put another one up in a separate post when I have finished it (currently waiting for a second arduino to arrive).

Anyway, that is all...

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Any comments or questions then post below!

Back to normal

Once again things have come up to prevent me from writing...

Hopefully everything is back to normal(ish) now so I can try and write a little more.

My first taste of university exams is done and seemed to go fairly well... phew.

Global Engineering Challenge week which I mentioned in my last post went fairly well, it was nice to do something a little different and I met some new people which is always good.
The project that we were working on was to 'design an affordable off-grid computer centre' for Codo village in East Timor. An interesting project although rather difficult as computers generally aren't affordable as well as the population of Codo not speaking English or having reliable electricity.
Our final design involved putting laptops into an old shipping container with some solar panels on the roof. Simple but effective. I would suggest having a quick look on google to see what some people have managed to do with shipping containers though, there are certainly some interesting projects.

40ft Clinic in a Can
http://www.clinicinacan.org/solar-clinic/

http://www.mobilenewsblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/house-awesome-small-blue-shipping-container-house-project-homes-made-from-shipping-containers.jpg

I'll keep it short so that is it however I shall start writing my next post in a minute meaning that i can post it fairly soon, a bonus for everyone.

CAD and Engineering drawing

Just a quick post following on from my last with my last drawing which is two isometric 3d drawings, as well as a few views of my CAD wing and engine.

Not the best wing and engine ever but if you want a closer look then just download the pdf from the link below. 
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28582440/Wing%2Bengine.PDF

Still Here

Hi all,

I thought I should just let you all know that I'm still alive and capable of typing.
I hope you all had a good Christmas and I wish you all the best for the new year.

As you may be able to tell from my lack of posts, uni is quite a lot of work and my spare time is generally spent sleeping rather than doing some more typing. If you want to know anything about uni then please feel free to comment and I will try to reply as soon as I can. 

As for the last week (this week) I have learnt how to use CAD (Computer Aided Design) Software, and also make engineering drawings which, although slightly tedious, definately gives a sense of achievement. Two of the engineering drawings can be seen below and I shall try to post the third along with my 3D CAD wing and engine soon.

My first engineering drawing: A landing gear strut

And the second: an assembly diagram of a machine casting supporting a fulcrum pin

Next week is rather busy with Global Engineering Challenge week. I will be working with a variety of other first year engineers in order to design an affordable, off-grid computer centre. I shall try and tell you a little more as well as how it goes towards the end of next week, though it may be slightly delayed with exams the week after, then again that should give me plenty of time to do some writing.

Anyway, hopefully I needn't to say more as I should be posting again soon. Just so you know what to expect alongside the above I also intend to tell you about a couple of little projects I'm working on, as well as some reviews of flight sim add-ons (not much hardware as I never received it).