This day in Aviation

[PeteC]

A lot of photos and some video. Best read and viewed at link.

These American mercenaries were the heroes of China

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/21/asia ... l-hnk-scli

Consider this job offer:

A one-year contract to live and work in China, flying, repairing and making airplanes. Pay is as much as $13,700 a month with 30 days off a year. Housing is included and you'll get an extra $550 a month for food. On top of that, there's an extra $9,000 for every Japanese airplane you destroy -- no limit.

That's the deal -- in inflation-adjusted 2020 dollars -- that a few hundred Americans took in 1941 to become the heroes, and some would even say the saviors, of China.

Those American pilots, mechanics and support personnel became members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), later known as the Flying Tigers.

The group's American-made warplanes featured the gaping, tooth-filled mouth of a shark on their nose, a fearsome symbol still used on the US Air Force's A-10 ground-attack jets to this day. (Continued at link)

[pharvey]

I lived in Chongqing for a fair few years from the early noughties. Chongqing (then Chungking) was the wartime capital of China and there was a "Flying Tigers" base there. The China-Burma-India chief of staff General Joseph Warren Stilwell was based there and his residence still exists and houses the Flying Tigers Museum.

[PeteC]

US plane scatters engine debris over Denver homes

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56141673

A Boeing jet has scattered debris over a residential area near Denver after one of its engines failed on take-off.

The Boeing 777, with 231 passengers and 10 crew on board, was able to return safely and land at Denver airport. No injuries were reported.

Police in the town of Broomfield posted pictures of what appears to be the front of an engine casing in the front garden of a home.

Passengers onboard described a "large explosion" shortly after take-off.....

Continued at link with photos, passenger interviews etc. Some amazing photos of the entire engine cowling coming down between a house and a truck parked in the driveway and it didn't hit anything apparently!

EDIT: More reporting and video at this AP link: https://apnews.com/article/police-color ... a15ea11da7

[PeteC]

More coverage and photos/video, and a really good one of the blown up engine from inside the plane while still in the air.
https://us.cnn.com/2021/02/20/us/united ... index.html

210220221724-united-jet-in-flight-0220-exlarge-169.jpg (32.67 KiB) Viewed 778 times

[PeteC]

I really wouldn't be surprised if we see more similar incidents (hopefully none worse) as the world's aircraft fleets come out of Covid mothballs and begin flying again.

[Dannie Boy]

I really wouldn't be surprised if we see more similar incidents (hopefully none worse) as the world's aircraft fleets come out of Covid mothballs and begin flying again.

Especially some of the less “reputable” airlines - choose your next flight carefully!!

[hhinner]

Not only the planes. Many pilots will be"rusty" as well.

[PeteC]

To follow up on this, and to close it out more or less, the problem seems to be with the Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 engine fan blade design.

https://apnews.com/article/us-news-0c08 ... 0cdd26c543

[PeteC]

Small quiz. What model aircraft is this, Manufacturer and number. The fact that it is currently in USAF livery isn't significant. I think it will take SteveG a nano-second to get it.

Surveillance-mission.jpg (85.78 KiB) Viewed 675 times

[Dannie Boy]

Looks a bit like a Boeing 707?

[Thailightzone]

Well commercially it appears to a Boeing 707, but the quiz would be too easy, so I am going to quess the 707's slightly more sleeker sister, the Boeing 720?

Depicted here is a USAF Elint version RC-135, looks like that model they used during gulf war to side-scan terrain continuously to form a repeatedly updated profile image that acted somewhat like a radar. It doesn't have the high-bypass fans fitted so I am guessing it is an older image. Boeing didn't use the 707 number for the aircraft built for the USAF, it was another 700 series of numbers that I don't recall.

[Thailightzone]

Actually no, it must be a recent photo. They are all wearing masks. I didn't think they still flew the older engined models anymore.

[STEVE G]

Yes, it's a basically a Boeing 707, I worked on a few of them back in the nineties and even then they were old ratty freighters from Africa. I think that one in the picture is the JSTARS military variant with a side scan radar, that's what that long bulge is under the forward fuselage, it scanned ground targets by flying in orbits and was used for detecting build ups of tank formations and the suchlike.
I know aircraft like that had large crews but I hope some of that lot stayed on the ground!

[PeteC]

Yes, the JSTARS version of the Boeing 707. Manufactured 1957-1979.

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/0 ... 614022764/ (Video)

Edit: I think the 33 people are the onboard flight crew.

[STEVE G]

Actually no, it must be a recent photo. They are all wearing masks. I didn't think they still flew the older engined models anymore.

I've just looked this up and I was a bit shocked to see that those things are still in service with old Pratt & Whitney JT3's, engines that make so much noise that you feel like your fillings are going to fall out if you're any where near one taking off!