PAF Base Nur Khan

Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan (founded as RAF Station Chaklala and previously known as PAF Base Chaklala) is an active Pakistan Air Force airbase located in Chaklala, Rawalpindi, Punjab province, Pakistan. The former Benazir Bhutto International Airport forms part of this airbase. Fazaia Intermediate College, Nur Khan is also located in the base.
History.
The base was originally operated by the Royal Air Force as RAF Chaklala and, during the Second World War, parachute training flights were conducted.
Once transferred to the then Royal Pakistan Air Force the base came into use as a transport hub, with the PAF's fleet of various transport aircraft operating from it.
After the Pakistan earthquake of 2005, 300 U.S. troops as well as U.S. aircraft were deployed to Chaklala to aid in relief efforts. According to an anonymous 2013 source, the U.S. had maintained a permanent military presence at Chaklala since late 2001 for handling logistics efforts and other movements in relation to the war in Afghanistan.
In 2009 the PAF's first of four Il-78 aerial refuelling tanker aircraft was delivered to PAF Base Chaklala and the No. 10 MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) squadron was established there.
The name of the base was changed in 2012 from PAF Base Chaklala to PAF Base Nur Khan in remembrance of its first Base Commander, Air Marshal Nur Khan. Nur Khan was also the second Pakistani chief of the Pakistan Air Force and a veteran of several conflicts fought by Pakistan.
Squadrons.
The squadrons at the base are Nos 6, 10, 12, and 41.
No. 6 Squadron was formed without any aircraft or equipment on 14 August 1947 at Maripur, Karachi, under its first commanding officer, Flight Lieutenant M. J. Khan. On 16 August 1947, Air Officer Commanding Air Vice Marshal visited the squadron and commissioned it for heavy airlifting and airborne operations. The PAF acquired a Douglas DC-3 Dakota aircraft on 22 October 1947 and later obtained Bristol Freighter, Tiger Moth, and Auster AOP.9 aircraft. On 29 June 1948, a detachment of the squadron provided a guard of honour at Mauripur for Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah on his arrival from Quetta. On 9 September 1948, three Dakota aircraft performed a flypast at the Quaid-e-Azam's funeral ceremony
In the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War the Antelopes dropped parachute commandos into Indian territory in a night-time mission involving three C-130B transports. Just before the 1965 war started, the squadron's commanding officer, Wing Commander Eric Gordan Hall, had the idea of making up for the PAF's deficiency in heavy bombers by modifying the Hercules to carry bombs.[2] It was converted to carry 10,000 kg of bombs, which were rolled out on pallets from the rear ramp, and over 21 night-time bombing raids were flown against Indian forces approaching for the Battles of Chawinda and Pul Kanjari. Support missions for troops in the Northern Areas were continued after the war.
With the unstable political situation at the end of 1970 and the resulting civil unrest, the Antelopes moved a large number of troops to East Pakistan and assisted in flood relief operations there. India stopped the PAF flying over its territory in 1971, and the squadron had to fly to East Pakistan via Sri Lanka. Two of the unit's C-130 transports were deployed to Dhaka from March 71 until the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War began on 3 December 1971. They were used to evacuate soldiers and civilians from hostile areas of East Pakistan – in one sortie a single C-130 evacuated 365 people from Sylhet to Dhaka. During the 1971 war, No. 6 Squadron flew bombing missions from West Pakistan in the same manner as those flown during the 1961 war, and no transport aircraft were lost during these sorties
No. 12 Composite Squadron in September 1953, the Squadron Consists of PAF's Elite Air Crafts amongst which includes Phenom 100 and Gulf Stream IV.
No. 10 Squadron was established as the Tanker Transport (MRTT) Squadron ("Bulls") with delivery of the PAF's first Il-78 in December 2009 and operating from PAF Base Chaklala.
41 Squadron PAF, which consists of Cessna, Beech, and Y-12 amongst other aircraft.
Achievements.
The base has had many achievements since 1947. Amongst these some worth mentioning are the outstanding performances at the Royal International Air Tattoo. In 2006 the C130 Hercules of No 6 Squadron under the command of then Wing Commander and now Air Commodore Haseeb Gul won the Concours d’Elegance competition, also lifting the Page Aerospace Trophy as well as the BAE Systems’ Trophy for winning the Spirit of the Meet competition. A decade later the No 6 Squadron C130 Hercules under the command of Wing Commander Teymoor Hussain participated in Royal International Air Tattoo 2016 where it won the Concours d’Elegance competition.
Location.
The base has surrounding facilities including the Frontier Works Organization Headquarters, Chaklala Railway Station and the Joint Services Headquarters (JSHQ). Two housing schemes Askaris VIII and IX are also located alongside Nur Khan road that extends to the main entrance of the base from Airport Road. The Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies, a research think tank founded by the Pakistan Air Force, is located next to Nur Khan Base.


Lualdi-Tassotti ES 53

The Lualdi-Tassotti ES 53 was an Italian experimental helicopter designed by Carlo Lualdi around a Hiller-designed rotor system and a gyro stabiliser of his own design. It first flew at Campoformido in September 1953.
The helicopter was powered by a single 63.4 kW (85 hp) Continental C85 engine and proved so promising that Lualdi purchased a licence to produce the Hiller rotor system in Italy, and formed a new company, Aer Lualdi to develop and market his designs as the Aer Lualdi L.55.


Tail-chase engagement

A tail-chase engagement (or rear-aspect engagement) is one where a surface-to-air missile system or jet aircraft engages another aircraft while the target aircraft is flying away from the attacker. This makes engagement with cannons or infrared homing missiles easier because of the minimal lateral target movement relative to the attacker and the fact that the hot engine exhaust nozzle(s) are pointing directly at the attacker, making the infra-red seeker's task of tracking the target much easier.
Missiles typically have a very high chance of hitting a target in a tail-chase engagement because of the much reduced closure rate. If the missile is travelling at Mach 2.5 and the aircraft at Mach 1, the combined overtake rate of Mach 1.5 means that the missile should be easily able to respond to any evasive maneuvers the aircraft might perform. Missiles can typically maneuver faster than aircraft and in a tail-chase engagement the target has no real advantage over the missile. Its only real hope is to fly away from the missile fast enough that the overtake rate is reduced to virtually nil, and then force the missile to follow it through several turns, bleeding off its residual energy and causing it to fall away.
It has the disadvantage, however, of meaning that any missiles or cannon rounds fired at the target must be able to reach and overtake it despite the speed at which the target is moving away. This greatly reduces the effective range at which these munitions can be used. Many missiles have an effective range in a tail-chase engagement on the order of one-third or one-quarter of that in a head-on engagement. In addition, in the case of an engagement between two aircraft, the attacking aircraft will probably have to engage afterburner and chase the target down, using up a lot of fuel in the process.


African Airlines Association

The African Airlines Association (French: "Association des Compagnies Aériennes Africaines"), abbreviated AFRAA, is a trade association of airlines which hail from Africa. AFRAA was founded in Accra, Ghana in 1968, and is, as of February 2021, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. The primary purpose of AFRAA is to establish and facilitate co-operation between African airlines.
The formation of the African Airlines Association was the result of historic developments and economic imperatives. In the early 1960s, a great number of African States acceded to independence and created their own national airlines. Most of these airlines became members of the International Air Transport Association.
AFRAA has its conceptual beginning in 1963, when a number of African airlines, taking the opportunity provided by the IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) began holding consultation meetings prior to the IATA AGMs to discuss matters of interest to African airlines and to adopt common positions. This was the first step towards the creation of AFRAA. From that first step in Rome in 1963, the establishment in 1968 in Accra, of a regional organisation for the articulation of regional views and promotion of co-operation was undertaken by 14 founding members.
Objectives.
AFRAA as an association has the following strategic objectives:
Promote the industry best practices to support safe, secure and reliable air transport in Africa
Advocate for the reduction of costs of air transport services in Africa by reducing taxes, fees and charges
Strive for the implementation of cost-effective Human Resource Development
Lobby for market access to increase revenues and enhance connectivity for the aviation sector in Africa
Undertake the implementation of joint initiatives aimed at reducing operating costs for airlines, increase revenues and market share
Facilitate and encourage partnership among African airlines
Become a hub for data, intelligence and expertise on the African Aviation Industry
Organs.
The highest policy making body of the Association is the Annual General Assembly composed of Chief Executives of member airlines. The Annual General Assembly is presided over by the President of the Association. The President of the Association rotates annually.
The Executive Committee, composed of 11 members elected on a sub-regional basis among Chief Executives and ex-officio members with voting rights who are members of the IATA Board of Governors, exercises executive authority. Its function is to ensure supervision of the affairs, funds and property of the Association and formulation and determination of policies within the framework of Articles of Association, By-Laws and Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly.
The Secretariat serves as the administrative, co-ordination and research centre for the association. It is headed by a secretary general who is responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of the association. The current Secretary General is Mr. Abderahmane Berthe.
Steering Committees and Projects.
AFRAA provides a forum through which member airlines meet to develop and consolidate common approach to key issues in the aviation industry.
AFRAA members.
Any African Airline operating air services in the carriage of passengers and or cargo and meets the eligibility criteria may apply for membership as an Active or Associate member. The following is a list of the current AFRAA members.
AFRAA partners.
Besides membership contributions to the association, AFRAA has partners, who also support the activities of the association through financial contributions and sponsorship of specific projects and programmes. Currently there are a number of companies including aircraft and engine manufacturers and other airlines service providers registered under the partnership programme. The aim of the partnership programme is to pool together the much needed additional support from industry-related organizations whilst enabling the partners to benefit from a relationship with an efficient, knowledgeable and influential air transport trade association in Africa.
The AFRAA Partnership programme is open to all industry-related organisations that are interested in participating in the development of air transport in Africa. The programme aims to pool together resources and support from industry service providers while enabling partners to benefit from a relationship with a continental air transport trade organisation. Interested companies may apply for either full partnership or associate partnership of AFRAA.


628th Air Base Wing

The United States Air Force's 628th Air Base Wing is an administrative unit located at Joint Base Charleston, in North Charleston, South Carolina. The 628 ABW was activated on 8 January 2010 as Charleston Air Force Base was merged with Naval Weapons Station Charleston as a result of changes after Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations.
Naval Support Activity Charleston was reorganized as an "Embedded Military Unit" within the Joint Base Charleston 628 ABW. NSA Charleston Navy personnel are embedded into the Air Base Wing installation support squadrons to carry out their functions. After the creation of the Joint Base, the Naval Support Activity Charleston Commanding Officer became the Deputy Commander of the 628th Air Base Wing, responsible to the Wing Commander for base installation support.
The wing provides support services such as housing and facilities maintenance, security, childcare, public works, safety, communications, finance, logistics, medical support, personnel, public affairs, legal, food service, contracts, and recreation.
The 628th Air Base Wing's primary duties are to provide installation support to 53 Department of Defense and Federal agencies, supporting a total force of over 79,000 airmen, sailors, soldiers, marines, coast guardsmen, civilians, dependents and retirees on Charleston AFB and Naval Weapons Station Charleston. It maintains $2.0 billion worth of physical infrastructure across 23,000 non-contiguous acres. They also provide expeditionary airmen to combatant commanders in support of joint and combined operations.


Coventry Blitz

The Coventry Blitz (blitz: from the German word "Blitzkrieg" meaning "lightning war" ) was a series of bombing raids that took place on the English city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Second World War by the German Air Force ("Luftwaffe"). The most devastating of these attacks occurred on the evening of 14 November 1940 and continued into the morning of 15 November.
Background.
At the start of the Second World War, Coventry was an industrial city of around 238,000 people which, like much of the industrial West Midlands, contained metal and wood-working industries. In Coventry's case, these included cars, bicycles, aeroplane engines and, since 1900, munitions factories. In the words of the historian Frederick Taylor, "Coventry was therefore, in terms of what little law existed on the subject, a legitimate target for aerial bombing".
During the First World War, the advanced state of the mechanical tooling industry in the city meant that pre-war production could quickly be turned to war production purposes, with industries such as the Coventry Ordnance Works assuming the role of one of the leading munition centres in the UK, manufacturing 25% of all British aircraft produced during the war.
Like many of the industrial towns of the English West Midlands region that had been industrialised during the Industrial Revolution, many of the small and medium-sized factories in the city were woven into the same streets as the workers' houses and the shops of the city centre. However, it developed many large interwar suburbs of both private and council housing, which were relatively isolated from industrial buildings. The city was also at the centre of Britain's car industry, with many carmakers being based at different locations in Coventry, although many of these factories had switched to help supply the war effort.
Air raids.
August to October 1940.
There were 17 small raids on Coventry by the "Luftwaffe" during the Battle of Britain between August and October 1940 during which around 198 tons of bombs fell. Together, the raids killed 176 people and injured around 680. The most notable damage was to the new Rex Cinema which had been opened in February 1937 and had already been closed by an earlier bombing raid in September.
On 17 October 1940, Second Lieutenant Sandy Campbell of the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Company was called upon to deal with an unexploded bomb that had fallen at the Triumph Engineering Company's works in Canley. War production in two factories had ceased on a temporary basis because of it, and the evacuation of many nearby residents. Campbell found that the bomb was fitted with a delayed action fuse that was impossible to remove, so he transported it to a safe place. That was done by lorry, and he lay alongside the bomb so that he could hear if it started ticking and could warn the driver to stop and run for cover. Having taken it a safe distance, he disposed of the bomb successfully but was killed whilst dealing with another bomb the next day. Campbell was posthumously awarded a George Cross for his actions on 17 October 1940.
One notable casualty of the October raids was Ernest Hugh Snell FRSE, a retired local Medical Officer of Health.
14 November 1940.
The raid that began on the evening of 14 November 1940 was the most severe to hit Coventry during the war. It was carried out by 515 German bombers, from "Luftflotte 3" and from the pathfinders of "Kampfgruppe 100". The attack, code-named "Operation Mondscheinsonate" of the city, including monuments and residential areas, would be considerable. The initial wave of 13 specially modified aircraft of "Kampfgruppe 100", which were equipped with "X-Gerät" navigational devices, accurately dropped marker flares at 19:20.The British and the Germans were fighting the Battle of the Beams and on this night the British failed to disrupt the "X-Gerät" signals.
The first wave of follow-up bombers dropped high explosive bombs, knocking out the utilities (the water supply, electricity network, telephones and gas mains) and cratering the roads, making it difficult for the fire engines to reach fires started by the later waves of bombers. These later waves dropped a combination of high explosive and incendiary bombs. There were two types of incendiary bomb: Those made of magnesium and those made of petroleum. The high explosive bombs and the larger air-mines not only hindered the Coventry fire brigade, they were also intended to damage roofs, making it easier for the incendiary bombs to fall into buildings and ignite them.
Coventry's air defences consisted of twenty-four 3.7 inch AA guns and twelve 40 mm Bofors. The AA Defence Commander of 95th (Birmingham) Heavy Anti–Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, had prepared a series of concentrations to be fired using sound-locators and GL Mk. I gun-laying radar, and 128 concentrations were fired before the bombing severed all lines of communication and the noise drowned out sound-location. The anti-aircraft batteries then fought on in isolation. Some gun positions were able to fire at searchlight beam intersections, glimpsed through the smoke and guessing the range. Although the Coventry guns fired 10 rounds a minute for the whole 10 hour raid (a total of over 6,700 rounds), only one German bomber was shot down.
At around 20:00, Coventry Cathedral (dedicated to Saint Michael), was set on fire by incendiaries for the first time. The volunteer firefighters managed to put out the first fire but other direct hits followed and soon new fires broke out in the cathedral; accelerated by a firestorm, the flames quickly spread out of control. During the same period, more than 200 other fires were started across the city, most of which were concentrated in the city-centre area, setting the area ablaze and overwhelming the firefighters. The telephone network was crippled, hampering the fire service's command and control and making it difficult to send firefighters to the most dangerous blazes first; as the Germans had intended, the water mains were damaged by high explosives, meaning there was not enough water available to tackle many of the fires. The raid reached its climax around midnight with the final all clear sounding at 06:15 on the morning of 15 November.
In one night, more than 4,300 homes in Coventry were destroyed and around two-thirds of the city's buildings were damaged. The raid was heavily concentrated on the city centre, most of which was destroyed. Two hospitals, two churches and a police station were also damaged. The local police force lost no fewer than nine constables or messengers in the blitz. Approximately one third of the city's factories were completely destroyed or severely damaged, another third were badly damaged, and the rest suffered slight damage. Among the destroyed factories were the main Daimler factory, the Humber Hillman factory, the Alfred Herbert Ltd machine tool works, nine aircraft factories, and two naval ordnance stores. However, the effects on war production were only temporary, as much essential war production had already been moved to 'shadow factories' on the city outskirts. Also, many of the damaged factories were quickly repaired and had recovered to full production within a few months.
An estimated 568 people were killed in the raid (the exact figure was never precisely confirmed), with another 863 badly injured and 393 sustaining lesser injuries. Given the intensity of the raid, casualties were limited by the fact that a large number of Coventrians "trekked" out of the city at night to sleep in nearby towns or villages following the earlier air raids. Also, people who took to air raid shelters suffered very little death or injury. Out of 79 public air raid shelters holding 33,000 people, very few had been destroyed.
Although the city centre suffered the heaviest raids, districts of the city including Stoke Heath, Foleshill and Wyken were also heavily bombed.
The raid reached such a new and severe level of destruction that Joseph Goebbels later used the term "coventriert" ("coventried") when describing similar levels of destruction of other enemy towns. During the raid, the Germans dropped about 500 tonnes of high explosives, including 50 parachute air-mines, of which 20 were incendiary petroleum mines, and 36,000 incendiary bombs.
The raid of 14 November combined several innovations which influenced all future strategic bomber raids during the war. These were:
In the Allied raids later in the war, 500 or more heavy four-engine bombers all delivered their bomb loads in a concentrated wave lasting only a few minutes. But at Coventry, the German twin-engined bombers carried smaller bomb loads (), and attacked in smaller multiple waves. Each bomber flew several sorties over the target, returning to base in France to rearm. Thus the attack was spread over several hours, and there were lulls in the raid when firefighters and rescuers could reorganise and evacuate civilians. As Arthur Harris, commander of RAF Bomber Command, wrote after the war: "Coventry was adequately concentrated in point of space [to start a firestorm], but all the same there was little concentration in point of time."
The British used the opportunity given them by the attack on Coventry to try a new tactic against Germany, which was carried out on 16 December 1940 as part of Operation Abigail Rachel against Mannheim. The British had been waiting for the opportunity to experiment with an incendiary-intensive raid, considering it a kind of retaliation for the German raid on Coventry. This was the start of a British drift away from precision attacks on military targets and towards area bombing attacks on whole cities.
Coventry and Ultra.
In his 1974 book "The Ultra Secret", Group Captain F. W. Winterbotham asserted that the British government had advance warning of the attack from "Ultra": intercepted German radio messages encrypted with the Enigma cipher machine and decoded by British cryptanalysts at Bletchley Park. He further claimed that Winston Churchill ordered that no defensive measures should be taken to protect Coventry, lest the Germans suspect that their cipher had been broken. Winterbotham was a key figure for Ultra and supervised the "Special Liaison Officers" who delivered Ultra material to field commanders.
However, Winterbotham's claim has been rejected by other Ultra participants and by historians. They state that while Churchill was indeed aware that a major bombing raid would take place, no one knew what the target would be.
Peter Calvocoressi was head of the Air Section at Bletchley Park which translated and analysed all deciphered "Luftwaffe" messages. He wrote: "Ultra never mentioned Coventry. ... Churchill, so far from pondering whether to save Coventry or safeguard Ultra, was under the impression that the raid was to be on London".
Scientist Reginald Victor Jones, who led the British side in the Battle of the Beams, wrote that "Enigma signals to the X-beam stations were not broken in time" and that he was unaware that Coventry was the intended target. Furthermore, a technical mistake caused jamming countermeasures to be ineffective. Jones also noted that Churchill returned to London that afternoon, which indicated that Churchill believed that London was the likely target for the raid.
Since 1996, the Ultra decrypts for the relevant period have been available in the UK National Archives. Between 07:35 GMT on 10 November 1940 and 05:00 on 11 November a German signal was deciphered and given the serial number CX/JQ/444, paragraph 4. The message set out code words to be used by aircraft on an operation named "Mondschein Sonate" but did not give Coventry as the target or a date. It said that transmission of a figure 9 would denote "KORN", and hindsight has recognised that to be the code name for Coventry. This was not realised at the time however, even though PAULA had been identified as Paris and LOGE as London. Indeed, the word KORN was used in two reports from an aircraft taking part in a raid on Southampton on 30 November, two weeks after the Coventry Blitz. Another decrypt on 11 November or early on 12 November gave navigational beam settings for Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Coventry but no dates. There was a hiatus in Ultra decrypts from 01:15 GMT on 13 November until 02:40 on 15 November by which time the raid was well underway: Churchill could not have received new Ultra intelligence on the afternoon or evening of the attack because there was none to give him. Intelligence from captured airmen and documents did not offer an unambiguous picture either.
April 1941.
On the night of 8/9 April 1941 Coventry was subject to another large air raid when 230 bombers attacked the city, dropping 315 tons of high explosive and 25,000 incendiaries. In this and another raid two nights later on 10/11 April about 451 people were killed and over 700 seriously injured. Damage was caused to many buildings including some factories, the central police station, the Coventry & Warwickshire Hospital, King Henry VIII School, and St. Mary's Hall. The main architectural casualty of the raid was Christ Church, most of which was destroyed, leaving only the spire. It was after this raid that the then-Mayor of Coventry, Alfred Robert Grindlay, led the early reconstruction of much of the city centre.
August 1942.
The final air raid on Coventry came on 3 August 1942, in the Stoke Heath district approximately one mile to the east of the city centre. Six people were killed. By the time of this air raid, some 1,236 people had been killed by air raids on Coventry; of these, 808 rest in the mass grave in London Road Cemetery. Around 80 per cent of them had been killed in the raids of 14/15 November 1940 and 8–10 April 1941.
Aftermath.
Immediate reconstruction was undertaken by a committee headed by motor-industry magnate William Rootes. In the aftermath of the war, Coventry city centre was extensively rebuilt according to the Gibson Plan compiled by the town planner Donald Gibson: a then innovative scheme which created a pedestrianised shopping precinct.
Coventry Cathedral was left as a ruin, and is today still the principal reminder of the bombing. A new cathedral was constructed alongside the ruin in the 1950s, designed by the architect Basil Spence. Spence (later knighted for this work) insisted that instead of re-building the old cathedral it should be kept in ruins as a garden of remembrance and that the new cathedral should be built alongside, the two buildings together effectively forming one church. The use of Hollington sandstone for the new Coventry Cathedral provides an element of unity between the buildings.
The foundation stone of the new cathedral was laid by the Queen on 23 March 1956. It was consecrated on 25 May 1962, and Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem", composed for the occasion, was premièred in the new cathedral on 30 May to mark its consecration.
Spon Street was one of the few areas of the city centre to survive the blitz largely intact, and during the post-war redevelopment of Coventry, several surviving mediaeval buildings from across the city were relocated to Spon Street. The 14th century St. Mary's Guildhall in Bayley Lane opposite the ruined cathedral also survived and stands to this day. However, in addition to destroying many historic buildings, the bombing revealed a mediaeval stone building on Much Park Street, thought to date from the 13th or 14th century.
External links.
Archive audio recordings.
The devastating raid on the night of 14/15 November 1940, and its aftermath, were vividly described by several civilians interviewed by the BBC several days later. The speakers included Mr. E. Letts, Muriel Drewe, Miss G. M. Ellis and the Very Reverend R. T. Howard. These archive 1940 recordings feature on "The Blitz", an audiobook CD issued in 2007.


Dick Wilson

Riccardo DiGuglielmo (30 July 1916 – 18 November 2007), better known as Dick Wilson was an English-born American character actor who was best known as grocery store manager Mr. George Whipple in more than 500 Charmin toilet paper television commercials (1965–89, 1999–2000).
Biography.
Dick Wilson was born in Preston, Lancashire. In 1916 his father moved the family to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He got his start in show business with a part-time job at CHML radio in Hamilton at age fifteen.
Wilson graduated from the Ontario College of Art & Design. Paid in dance lessons, he became a comedic acrobatic dancer and performed in vaudeville for 20 years, according to Procter & Gamble. After the war he moved to the United States and became an American citizen in 1954. He headed to California in 1954 for film and television work.
Wilson made numerous appearances on "Bewitched", playing "various" drunks. He also appeared on "Tabitha" and "McHale's Navy". He also appeared on "The Donna Reed Show", "Hogan's Heroes", and "The Bob Newhart Show".
Wilson was quoted as saying, "I've done thirty-eight pictures and nobody remembers any of them, but they all remember me selling toilet paper." He made 504 commercials as Mr. Whipple, earning U.S. $300,000 annually and working only 12–16 days a year.
In an interview with ABC News on 22 April 1983, he mentioned that the first series of commercials for Charmin toilet paper he appeared in were filmed in, appropriately enough, Flushing, New York City. He described acting in commercials as "the hardest thing to do in the entire acting realm. You've got 24 seconds to introduce yourself, introduce the product, say something nice about it and get off gracefully."
Death.
Wilson died 18 November 2007, at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 91. He was survived by his wife, Meg; his children, stunt coordinator Stuart F. Wilson, Wendy, and actress Melanie Wilson; and five grandchildren. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, in Los Angeles.


Airports Corporation of Vietnam

Airports Corporation of Vietnam - JSC () is a Vietnamese joint-stock company with 95.4% state-owned shares, based in Ho Chi Minh City. The company, operated under the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam, was founded on January 8, 2012 when three companies operating airports in the north, the middle, and the south of Vietnam were merged on February 28, 2012 The company manages and operates 21 all civil airports in Vietnam, including eight international and thirteen domestic airports. The company headquarters is located at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the busiest airport in Vietnam.


Roger Kimpton

Roger Charles MacDonald Kimpton, DFC (21 September 1916 – 30 November 1999) was an Australian
first-class cricketer who played 62 first-class games, mostly in the late 1930s. The majority of his appearances were for Oxford University and Worcestershire, although he appeared for the Gentlemen in both 1936 and 1937 (only the latter game being played at Lord's) and for an England XI in 1937.
Unusually, he alternated somewhat between keeping wicket and bowling, although his success with the ball was limited.
Aged 18, Kimpton made his first-class debut for Oxford against his future county, Worcestershire, at The Parks in early May 1935, a game which the university won by an innings. Kimpton showed his versatility by scoring 38, bowling five (admittedly wicketless) overs and claiming a catch and a stumping (even though Norman Knight was Oxford's named keeper).
In his second match, Kimpton made what was to remain his career best innings when he hit 160 versus Gloucestershire; these runs were hit in 155 minutes, and included a whirlwind hour in which he added 138 with Sandy Singleton.
His seven further games for Oxford that summer were relatively uneventful.
In early May 1936 Kimpton again punished Gloucestershire, scoring a century in each innings.
Later that same month he hit a second-innings 102 (from number eight) in 70 minutes – despite needing a runner — against Lancashire,
then followed that up with 110 not out and 85 against Free Foresters; in the latter game he also took a career best 4–42.
He was picked for the Gentlemen v Players game at Folkestone at the end of the summer, and scored 115.
Kimpton's hundred against Lancashire had put him on course for that season's Walter Lawrence Trophy, but Leslie Ames pipped him to the title by two minutes in the final match of the year.
1937 saw Kimpton make his debut in county cricket, although he continued to turn out for Oxford. He had by some distance his most productive season, scoring 1,568 runs in all first-class cricket at an average of 34.84, although despite a dozen innings between 50 and 99 he only managed one century. This, the only three-figure score he ever made for Worcestershire, came against Derbyshire in late August.
In July he made his second appearance for the Gentlemen, this time at Lord's, and struck 59 in the first innings,
while at the end of the summer he represented an England XI against the New Zealanders at Folkestone.
Kimpton played ten games in 1938, including two on the joint Oxford and Cambridge Universities tour of Jamaica in August, but found little success, making only two half-centuries and averaging under 24. He played no cricket in 1939, and with the outbreak of the Second World War he returned to Australia to join the RAAF as a fighter pilot. In this role he won the DFC, the citation noting his "aggressive and determined leadership" during 140 sorties over the Pacific Ocean.
After the war Kimpton played little, being largely occupied with the family business in Melbourne,
but he did make three further first-class appearances. There was a one-off game for Worcestershire in 1949, in which he showed his continuing ability by taking 93* off Nottinghamshire;
and in 1955-56 he accepted an invitation from E. W. Swanton to join his tour to the West Indies, playing his final two matches at the age of 39.
As well as cricket, Kimpton was an accomplished tennis player, winning the freshmen's tournament; he also achieved a blue at golf.
His brother Stephen played four matches for Oxford University in 1935, appearing alongside Roger in two of them.


Ryanair racism incident

On 19 October 2018, an incident occurred on a Ryanair flight FR9015 from Barcelona to London Stansted. During the incident, David Mesher, a 70 year old white man from Birmingham, racially abused Delsie Gayle, a 77 year old black woman from East London, who was seated next to him. After she was slow to move from her seat, he became abusive, using expletives against her and referring to her as a "stupid ugly cow" and an "ugly black bastard". Various passengers and staff asked Mesher to desist from his behaviour. Staff ultimately decided that he should remain in his seat rather than being removed from the plane, with Gayle being asked to move seats instead.
Another passenger, David Lawrence, filmed the incident and posted the footage to social media; he commented that he wanted to raise wider public awareness of the racist incidents that black Caribbean people experience. There it gained widespread attention; international mainstream media coverage followed. A number of prominent politicians condemned the incident and Ryanair's response to it. Ryanair were criticised for not removing Mesher from the plane and handing him over to Spanish police; for moving Gayle rather than Mesher; and for failing to appropriately apologise to her after the incident.
Several days later, police revealed that they had discovered Mesher's identity and gave the information to the Spanish authorities. Barcelona City Council announced that it had instructed its public prosecutor to determine whether his actions constituted a hate crime under Spanish law. A week after the incident, Mesher publicly apologised to Gayle on the ITV Breakfast television show "Good Morning Britain" and rejected the idea that he was racist. Gayle did not accept the apology; her daughter rejected his claims to not be racist.
Background.
At the time of the incident, David Mesher was seventy years old. A former railway worker, he was once employed by British Rail at the ticket office of London Waterloo railway station and later by London Midland Railway as a train announcer. He formerly lived in Barking, East London with his mother, but after her death had moved to Birmingham, where by 2018 he was living in a sheltered accommodation housing block in the Yardley Wood area of the city.
One former colleague expressed surprise at Mesher's actions during the incident, noting that when "was in the ticket office at Waterloo station[…] [he] was always so polite. He would not be rude to anyone, otherwise he would not have been dealing with the public. It was a real shock to see him and the vile language that he used". While in Yardley Wood, he had had problems with various neighbours; reporters found one who called him "a racist pig and bully", while another said "no one really likes him. He keeps himself to himself and we don't know much about him". One resident living adjacent to him called him a "strange man" and noted that they "had problems" with him in the past. One related that Mesher had "no respect for other people", and that in one incident Mesher had been "driving me mad by playing music loudly and continuously on a loop. I banged on his door to ask him to turn it down and he wasn't even in. How inconsiderate is that?"
At the time living in East London, Delsie Gayle was seventy-seven years old and was a retired care assistant; she had moved to Britain from Jamaica during the 1960s as part of the "Windrush generation". In late 2017, her husband—to whom she had been married for over fifty years—died. Her daughter observed that she was "feeling really down and depressed" and decided to take her on a holiday to Spain so that it might "raise her spirits".
Incident.
The incident took place on 19 October 2018 on the Ryanair flight FR9015 from Barcelona to London Stansted; it occurred before take-off, while the plane was still on Spanish territory.
In the incident, Mesher sought to get past Gayle, who was in the aisle seat, to access his window seat. Gayle, whose mobility was affected by arthritis, was slow to move out of his way. At this point, Gayle's daughter explained to Mesher that her mother was disabled. Mesher's response was that "I don't care whether she's fucking disabled or not - if I tell her to get out then she gets out." A flight attendant appeared and asked Gayle if she would like to move; she responded that she wanted to remain close to her daughter. At this, Mesher stated: "Move her to another seat... I can't get in while she's sat there." Gayle responded with: "You smell. You need a wash", to which Mesher followed with "If you don't go to another seat, I'll push you to another seat." The argument continued. After she spoke to him in English with a Jamaican accent, Mesher said: "Don't talk to me in a fucking foreign language you stupid ugly cow." Another passenger intervened, asking Mesher to stop being abusive. His response was that "I will carry on as far as I can with this ugly black bastard."
Several passengers called for Mesher to be removed from the plane. A flight attendant told him that he was being "super rude" and asked him to calm down before stating that he would have to ask his supervisor what course of action should be taken. Ultimately, Mesher was not removed from the flight. He was allowed to remain in his seat while Gayle was asked to move from hers, which she did; Mesher then told staff that "I'm alright, now she's gone". Gayle's daughter subsequently related that the cabin crew denied hearing Mesher use racial slurs and told her to call Ryanair customer services on 22 October.
A fellow passenger, David Lawrence—who like Gayle was of Caribbean heritage—filmed the incident and posted it to social media. He explained that "for many years a lot of the West Indian community have gone through these types of incidents in Britain, but have never been able to share it with the public or the world. So I decided that I had the opportunity to film this, as difficult as it was". In his view, it was important that the public be made aware "that these incidents take place" and that this was something that could now be achieved through "the power of social media".
He noted that one fellow passenger called him "childish" for filming the incident. Lawrence criticised the response of both fellow passengers and the plane's staff, adding that he had seen individuals escorted off of planes before for less serious actions. After being uploaded on the 20 October, the footage was widely circulated on social media and attracted the attention of mainstream media in both the UK and abroad. Within several days, it had been viewed millions of times.
Response.
Various politicians spoke out at what they regarded as Ryanair's lack of appropriate action in the incident. Chris Grayling, the Secretary of State for Transport, appeared on the BBC's "Today" programme, where he stated that the incident was "totally unacceptable" and expressed the hope that "police would want to take action in such an extraordinarily unacceptable case". Karl Turner, the Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East, tweeted that Mesher "should have been removed from the flight and handed over to the police". Turner added that if the plane was in the UK at the time of the incident then a criminal offence had definitely been committed. Later speaking to BBC Radio 4's "World at One", Turner expressed concern that Mesher would escape criminal prosecution because there was no extradition arrangement for events of this nature and thus Mesher might not face Spanish prosecutors unless he handed himself over willingly; "I doubt whether he's going to do that."
Stuart McMillan, the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Greenock and Inverclyde, tweeted to state that "This is really appalling Ryanair. You will know the identity of the man and the level of training given to your staff." The MSP Margaret Ferrier tweeted that the footage was "utterly disgusting" and that the flight attendant was "incapable of responding appropriately" to the "racist male passenger". Ferrier later tweeted that Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary should personally call Gayle to "apologise profusely for the incompetence of his flight attendant in handling this racial abuse incident properly." The MP Dawn Butler wrote a letter to Ryanair, accusing them of "empowering a racist" by failing to act against Mesher at the time of the incident. She added the view that it was "particularly sad" that this occurred during Black History Month. Gayle's local MP, John Cryer, stated he would raise the issue through an early day motion in the House of Commons. Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, expressed his intention of contacting Gayle about the incident.
After the footage appeared online, various calls were made to boycott Ryanair over their response; among those endorsing such a boycott was the MP David Lammy. A Change.org petition was launched calling on Ryanair to apologise and compensate Gayle for her experience.
On 21 October, Ryanair tweeted that it had reported the issue to Essex Police and that "As this is now a police matter, we cannot comment further". This public statement did not include an apology to Gayle. Ryanair stated that they contacted Gayle on that same day, with a letter sent both by post and email.
Reporter Jeremy Vine tweeted his criticism of Ryanair, stating that "they need to explain how this man's disgusting racial abuse of the black lady in the seat next to him ends up with HER being asked to move. It is beyond belief."
Writing in "The Independent", Helen Coffey noted that the incident raised questions regarding "the rules of jurisdiction" when it comes to aviation, highlighting that it was often a "grey area".
Also in an op-ed for "The Independent", Biba Kang highlighted the fact that the incident came to light on the same day that the "Doctor Who" episode "Rosa"—featuring an encounter with the African-American civil rights activist Rosa Parks in 1950s Alabama—was first screened on British television. For Kang, the two occurrences reflected "how far we've come since the inception of the civil rights movement, while also reminding us how far we have left to go." Kang saw both the "Doctor Who" episode and the Ryanair incident as evidence that "black people are treated as aggressors in scenarios where they are really the victim"; in Gayle's example because staff treated her as if she was equally guilty as Mesher in the argument and was asked to move seats. He linked this to the "racist stereotype that black people are innately confrontational or aggressive", so that when they are faced with racial abuse their angry responses are regarded as "evidence that the abuse was provoked" in the first place.
Writing for "The Huffington Post", Nadine White and Lucy Pasha-Robinson noted that for many black British people, the footage about the incident was "shocking, but not surprising." White and Pasha-Robinson noted that many of the black Britons they talked to could relate experiences of "everyday racism" that they had encountered in their lives, such as being referred to as "golliwogs" or "niggers" by strangers or neighbours, being followed by store security when entering shops, and encountering racial abuse on social media.
In an op-ed for "The Guardian", Hugh Muir cautioned that Mesher "may not be able to take responsibility for his actions. If he is, he is damned by them, by the knowledge that his show of inhumanity was seen by millions, by the terrible certainty that his dark side is forever transparent." He praised Lawrence for filming the incident and thus ensuring that it "became a cause celebre" but criticised other passengers on the plane who "sat by – keener to get home perhaps than to stand up for an elderly woman being racially abused". Ultimately, he described the incident as being "like the Rosa Parks story enacted in reverse".
Police investigation.
On 23 October, Essex Police revealed that they had ascertained the identity of the man and had passed his details on to the Spanish authorities. West Midlands Police co-operated with their Essex counterpart and spoke to Mesher at his home. Also on 23 October, the "Daily Mail" publicly revealed Mesher's identity, which before then had not been known to the public. Reporters from the "Daily Mail" tried to talk to him; he responded by locking himself in his flat and telling them: "Go away, there's nothing to say". Reporters assembled outside the housing block in which Mesher lived. A spokesperson for Optivo, the company which manages the block, stated that "we do not condone abusive behaviour in any form. As this matter is now being handled by the police we are unable to make any further comment at this stage."
Barcelona's city council stated that it would treat the incident as a potential hate crime, with its deputy mayor Jaume Asens stating that they had passed the information to the public prosecutor to determine if criminal charges could be brought. On Twitter, he tweeted that "Barcelona is a welcoming and anti-racist city. All support to the victim." The Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, called the footage "unbearable" and said that Barcelona "wouldn't take this lying down". She praised the man responsible for filming the incident, stating that by doing so he had "brought to public attention an event that can't go unpunished".
A spokesperson for Spain's Civil Guard stated that the issue was a matter for the British police because the plane had been bound for the UK. Spain's Aviation Safety and Security Agency stated: "We think what happened, and the racist comments made, were terrible... But our responsibility is aircraft safety and we're looking into whether or not this comes under our responsibility."
Responses from the Gayles and Mesher.
On 22 October, Gayle and her daughter were interviewed by ITV News. Commenting on the incident, Gayle related that she was "shocked, nobody ever said those words to me [before]... I travel a lot, I go to Canada... and no-one has ever said those words to me". She explained that the abuse made her "feel very low. He paid a fare to go on holiday, I've paid mine so why does he abuse me for that due to the colour of my skin?" She added the view that if Mesher "gets away" with the incident, then he would "do it to somebody else". Gayle stated that she had not been contacted by Ryanair since the incident and would not use the company again. Her daughter told ITV News that Ryanair's response had been poor; "on the plane it was unprofessional, and after it was unprofessional... It's all wrong, I just believe they need more training". She also expressed the view that aboard the plane, "nothing was done and I know if that was a black person racially abusing an elderly woman the police would have been called. When I saw the video I felt [Ryanair staff behaved as if] he was the victim - that's the way RyanAir was treating it."
On 25 October, Carol Gayle told journalists from "The Huffington Post" that "Both mum and I are emotionally and mentally drained... Mum hasn't been able to eat much since this all happened and she had something today. She's keen to raise awareness about what happened to her, so it doesn't happen to anyone else". She added that "I hope that some justice will be done because people can't go around racially abusing people – no way", and thanked "everyone who has supported us, shared articles about it and got behind the cause. I didn’t expect the scale of this, at all. It’s worldwide! The love and support is so nice."
On 26 October, Mesher appeared on the ITV Breakfast television show "Good Morning Britain", where he stated that he "absolutely" regretted his behaviour in the incident. He added: "I probably lost my temper a bit and ordered her to get up. I'm not a racist person by any means and it's just a fit of temper at the time, I think. I apologise for all the distress you've had there and since." Gayle refused to accept his apology. She stated that "You must forget and forgive but it's going to take a long time for me to get over what he has done to me". Gayle's daughter rejected Mesher's protestation that he was not racist, stating that "if he wasn't racist" then he would not have used the words he used during the incident. Mesher's views on this point were also critiqued by Stephen Bush in the "New Statesman". Bush felt that Mesher's claim to not being a racist was "a perfect illustration of the widespread delusion that being racist is a moral condition, only practiced by the immoral, rather than a specific pattern of behaviour." He noted that Mesher's statement that Gayle was a "black bastard" and his claim that she was speaking in a "foreign language" when she spoke English with her Jamaican accent were "palpably" racist but that he, like many British people, continued to believe that only totally immoral people could be "racist". He added that Mesher's public comments were a "non-apology", for Mesher had only apologised for the "distress" Gayle experienced and not for his original comments.
Also on 26 October, the Gayles stated that Ryanair's staff had not apologised to them and that the company's claims that it had done so were "lies". In response, Ryanair publicly stated that "Our customer care team contacted the Gayle family on Sunday." The company added: "We again extend our very sincere apologies to this passenger for the regrettable, and unacceptable remarks that were made to her by an adjacent passenger, and we believe that by reporting this matter immediately to the Essex Police and by apologising in writing to this customer early on Sunday morning, Ryanair treated it with the urgency and seriousness it warranted."
It stipulated that the staff aboard the flight had been aware of the argument when it happened but only learned that Mesher had used racist language when they were shown footage of the incident once landed at London Stansted. It noted that at the time of the incident, "the cabin crew believed they were dealing with an argument between two passengers" and thus "followed company procedure, to defuse the argument," through separating "the passengers by offering to move one to alternative seating".


Lloyd Crouse

Lloyd Roseville Crouse, (November 19, 1918 – April 28, 2007) was a Canadian businessman, politician and the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.
Early life.
Crouse was born in 1918 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. In his youth, Crouse established three fishing companies. During World War II, he served as a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Political career.
Crouse entered politics winning a seat in the House of Commons of Canada as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Queens—Lunenburg, and was re-elected on ten successive occasions. (Beginning with the 1968 election his riding changed to South Shore.)
He chose not to run in the 1988 election, and a few months later was appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. He retired from the position in 1994.
Awards and recognition.
In 1985, in honour of his long political service, he was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, entitling him to use the prenominal title "The Honourable". He received the Order of Nova Scotia in 2002.
Death.
In 2007, he died at the age of 88 in his hometown of Lunenburg.


Sofia Airport Metro Station

Sofia Airport Metro Station () is a station on the Sofia Metro in Bulgaria. It started operation on April 2, 2015.
Location and architectural design.
Sofia Airport Metro Station is the final station of Line M4 of the Sofia Metro and serves the airport directly, being located in close proximity to Terminal 2. The station is located on a reinforced concrete bridge structure. By positioning it at ground level next to the passenger terminal, direct pedestrian access to it is provided at the nearest possible point to the check-in hall.
The station itself rises 16 meters from the ground. The lifting was carried out with the help of massive reinforced concrete foundations by round piles with a diameter of 1200 mm and a length of 16 m, united in groups with reinforced concrete beams. A total of 96 reinforced concrete piles have been made under the 6 foundations. The upper load-bearing structure consists of longitudinal and transverse beams with a connecting plate, on which the load-bearing steel vault structure of the coating is mounted.
The station is 5-8 meters high and 143 meters long. It is formed by a vestibule in its northern part and a centrally located island platform, 123 meters long. The airport is a high-tech site where everything happens in the air, and this is embedded in the design concept of the station - air, light, space, speed and dynamics. The steel cladding of the station is open and harmoniously combined with the side windows, from which light streams all day long. Flowers in huge pots create the feeling of life and continuous rebirth of nature. Above each green corner on the ceiling there is an artificial sky.
The attraction of the station is the impressive figure of the ancient Thracian singer Orpheus, an iconic figure for the Bulgarian lands. The bronze figure of the famous Thracian, who lived in ancient times in the Bulgarian lands, rises 3.5 meters in the center of the entrance hall and weighs an impressive 1000 kilograms. It is the work of the prominent sculptor Krum Damyanov and in a short time it became a favorite place for photos of all guests of the capital.


RAF Deversoir


Allan Kilavuka

Allan Kilavuka is a Kenyan businessman and corporate executive, who has served as the chief executive officer of Kenya Airways, the national airline of Kenya, since 1 April 2020. He previously served as the CEO of Jambojet, a low-cost carrier wholly owned by Kenya Airways, from January 2019 to 31 March 2020.
Background and education.
Kilavuka was born in Kenya and attended local primary and secondary schools. He studied at the University of Nairobi, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce. He then went on to obtain a Certificate in Psychology from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. He has also attended courses in advanced management, executive leadership and financial management at Crotonville Leadership Institute, in Westchester County, New York, United States, owned by General Electric.
Career.
Before he took up his assignment with Jambojet, where his appointment was announced in November 2018, he was the head of General Electric (GE) in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to that, he served in various capacities at GE and at Deloitte, in their sub-Saharan African businesses.
At Kenya Airways, he replaced Sebastian Mickosz, the Polish former chief executive, who resigned for personal reasons, before the expiry of his three-year contract. Kilavuka will now sit on all the boards of Kenya Airways subsidiary companies. He will remain at the board of Jambojet, initially as the CEO and as a representative of Kenya Airways, starting on 1 April 2020.
One of his first initiatives at KQ was to order a 25 percent executive pay cut for all top managers at the airline, beginning on 1 April 2020. The measure is aimed at conserving cash at the limping airline during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the same exercise, the company's board of directors will forego their board allowances during the same period.


List of Japanese World War II navy bombs

This is a complete list of all aerial bombs used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War.
Types.
The Japanese navy produced a large number of different types of bombs, these were sub-divided into three main categories:
Bombs.
Rocket bombs.
The Japanese produced a number of bombs with rocket motors installed, intended for air-to-air use against bomber formations, or as armor-piercing weapons. Only two saw service, the Type 3 No.25 Mk 4 armor-piercing rocket bomb, and the Type 3 No.6 Mk.27 air-to-air rocket bomb.
Incendiary bombs.
~ Type 45 No.44 Mk 6 bomb model 1
Fuzes.
Japanese Navy bomb fuzes designation system was unknown to the Allies until after the end of the Second World War. As a result, a designation system was created to describe the fuzes as follows. It consists of a capital letter, a numeral and a lower-case parenthetical letter.
The capital letter designates the fuzes type as follows:
The numeral approximates the order in which the fuzes were captured by the allies. Finally the lower-case letter in parentheses indicates the different but similar designs.
Where possible the original Japanese designation is given.


Mather Field


Armin Faber

Oberleutnant Armin Faber was a German "Luftwaffe" pilot in World War II who mistook the Bristol Channel for the English Channel and landed his Focke-Wulf 190 (Fw 190) intact at RAF Pembrey in South Wales. His plane was the first Fw 190 to be captured by the Allies and was tested to reveal any weaknesses that could be exploited.
23 June 1942.
In June 1942, "Oberleutnant" (highest lieutenant officer rank) Armin Faber was "Gruppen-Adjutant" (performing administrative and personnel paperwork duties as well as flight duties) to the commander of the III fighter "Gruppe" of "Jagdgeschwader 2" (JG 2, Second Fighter Wing) based in Morlaix in Brittany. On 23 June, he was given special permission to fly a combat mission with 7th "Staffel" (squadron); a unit that flew Focke-Wulf 190 (Fw 190) fighters.
The Fw 190 had only recently arrived with front line units at this time and its superior performance had caused the Allies so many problems that they were considering mounting a commando raid on a French airfield to capture one for evaluation.
7th "Staffel" (squadron) was scrambled to intercept a force of six Boston light bombers returning from a bombing mission; the Bostons were escorted by three Czechoslovak-manned RAF squadrons, 310 Squadron, 312 Squadron and 313 Squadron commanded by Alois Vašátko. All the Bostons returned safely while a fight developed over the English Channel with the escorting Spitfires, which resulted in the loss of two Fw 190s and seven Spitfires, including that of Alois Vašátko, who was killed when he collided with an Fw 190 (the German pilot bailed out and was captured).
During the combat, Faber became disorientated and separated from the other German aircraft. He was attacked by Sergeant of 310 Squadron. In his efforts to shake off the Spitfire, Faber flew north over Exeter in Devon. After much high-speed manoeuvring, Faber, with only one cannon working, pulled an Immelmann turn into the sun and shot down his pursuer in a head-on attack.
Trejtnar bailed out safely, although he had a shrapnel wound in his arm and sustained a broken leg on landing; his Spitfire crashed near the village of Black Dog, Devon. Meanwhile, the disorientated Faber now mistook the Bristol Channel for the English Channel and flew north instead of south. Thinking South Wales was France, he turned towards the nearest airfieldRAF Pembrey. Observers on the ground could not believe their eyes as Faber waggled his wings in a victory celebration, lowered the Focke-Wulf's undercarriage and landed.
The Pembrey Duty Pilot, Sergeant Jeffreys, identified the aircraft as German while it was landing and he ordered his men to signal it to park in the dispersal area. As the Fw 190 slowed, he jumped onto its wing and took Faber prisoner with a flare gun; as Pembrey was a training station, Jeffreys had no other weapon to hand. Faber was "so despondent that he attempted suicide" unsuccessfully.
Faber was later driven to RAF Fairwood Common for interrogation under the escort of Group Captain David Atcherley (twin brother of Richard Atcherley). Atcherley, fearful of an escape attempt, aimed his revolver at Faber for the entire journey. At one point the car hit a pothole, causing the weapon to fire; the shot only narrowly missed Faber.
As a prisoner of war, Faber was sent to Canada where he attempted to escape from the prisoner camp. He was repatriated just before the end of the war due to ill health.
Focke-Wulf 190A-3.
Faber's plane was a Fw 190A-3 with the "Werknummer" 313. It was the only Fw 190 fighter to be captured intact by the Allies during the war. All other captured Fw 190s were either of the long-range bomber or fighter-bomber types.
Group Captain Hugh Wilson, the pilot mainly responsible for test flying captured enemy aircraft, was asked to fly "313" from RAF Pembrey to RAF Farnborough under the guarantee not to crash. This was an impossible guarantee to give, so the aircraft was dismantled and transported via lorry instead.
At Farnborough, the Fw 190 was repainted in RAF colours and given the RAF serial number "MP499" and a 'P' for prototype. Testing and evaluation commenced on 3 July 1942 at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at RAF Farnborough. Roughly nine flying hours were recorded, providing the Allies with extremely valuable intelligence.
After 10 days it was transferred to the Air Fighting Development Unit at RAF Duxford for tactical assessment, where it was flown in mock combat trials against the new Spitfire Mk.IX, providing the RAF with methods to best fight the Fw 190A with their new fighter. The Fw 190 was then transferred to No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight. The Fw 190 was flown 29 times between 3 July 1942 and 29 January 1943. It was then partially dismantled and tests were carried out on its engine's performance at Farnborough. It was "struck off charge" on 18 September 1943 and scrapped.
Surviving relics.
The Shoreham Aircraft Museum displays the armoured-glass windscreen of Faber's Fw 190, together with part of its control panel. The museum also holds some wreckage fragments of František Trejtnar's Spitfire. In 1991, Armin Faber visited the museum and presented it with his officer's dagger and pilot's badge. The quick release buckle of the parachute František Trejtnar used that day is owned by an aviation-themed cafe at The Moravian Museum in Brno, in the Czech Republic.


Kawasaki Ki-5

The was an experimental low-wing monoplane fighter aircraft designed for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. It first flew in February 1934, but was never produced for actual use. It was the last Japanese design led by Richard Vogt before he returned to Germany.
Design & Development.
The Ki-5 was initially produced by Kawasaki Kōkūki Kōgyō K.K. in response to Japanese army specifications for a high-performance fighter to replace the existing Type 92. It was the first all-metal, cantilever monoplane fighter aircraft to be built in Japan. It was designed around the Kawasaki Ha-9, a Japanese development of the BMW IX aircraft engine, itself a development from the BMW VII A 7.3 liquid-cooled engine, with a nominal rating of . It also had the innovation of using an inverted gull wing design, to improve downward visibility for the pilot and to be able to use a simple, short undercarriage.
However, the Ki-5 design quickly proved unsatisfactory in flight testing. Test pilots complained of stability and handling problems, and the engine was never able to produce enough power for the Ki-5 to attain its design speed parameter of .
The project was cancelled on 9 September 1934, after a total of four units were produced. However, the design effort on the Ki-4 later paid off dividends with the designs for the future Ki-28, Ki-60 and Ki-61.


Gary Coward

Lieutenant General Sir Gary Robert Coward, (born 26 August 1955) is a retired senior British Army officer, who served as Chief of Materiél (Land) and Quartermaster-General to the Forces from September 2009 until his retirement in May 2012.
Military career.
Coward was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1974, but transferred to the Army Air Corps in 1983. In 1995 he was deployed to the Bosnia and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his service there. He provided daily briefings on television from Sarajevo during the conflict.
He was appointed Director of Equipment Capability at the Ministry of Defence in 2003, and then moved on to be Commander Joint Helicopter Command in 2005. In 2007 he moved on again to be Chief of Staff at Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours.
In September 2009 he was made Chief of Materiel (Land) and Quartermaster-General.
He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours.


TBI plc

TBI Limited was an airport owner and operator, incorporated in the United Kingdom in 1972. It was a subsidiary of Airport Concessions and Development Limited (ACDL), owned by Spanish companies Abertis Infraestructuras S.A. (90%) and AENA Desarrollo Internacional S.A. (10%).
History.
The company was founded as a property broker named Markheath plc. It was bought out by Thomas Bailey Investments plc. The company changed its name to TBI plc in March, 1994 and to TBI Limited in 2009.
TBI bought Cardiff Airport in 1995, and sold it to the Welsh Government in 2013.
In 2004 the company was acquired by Airport Concessions and Development Limited (ACDL), owned by Spanish companies Abertis Infraestructuras S.A. (90%) and AENA Desarrollo Internacional S.A. (10%).
In 2013, the Bolivian government led by Evo Morales nationalized the airports in Bolivia for which the company owned concessions through its subsidiary Sabsa (the three biggest airports in the country: El Alto International Airport, Jorge Wilstermann International Airport and Viru Viru International Airport).
TBI airports.
United States.
Additionally, TBI provides airport management services at Atlanta and Macon, Georgia and Burbank, California in the US.


Peace River Air Services


50th Air Refueling Squadron

The 50th Air Refueling Squadron is a unit of the US Air Force, assigned to the 6th Operations Group, 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It operates the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
It is a former USAF C-130H squadron that was inactivated in April 2016. It was previously one of four operational flying Air Mobility Command squadrons stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas under the 19th Airlift Wing. The Fightin' 5-0 along with sister squadrons, the 41st, 53d and 61st Airlift Squadrons, was assigned to the 19th Operations Group.
History.
World War II.
Activated in the summer of 1942 under I Troop Carrier Command and equipped with Douglas C-47 Skytrains at Drew Field, FL. Trained in various parts of the eastern United States until the end of 1943. Deployed to French Morocco in May 1943 and assigned to Twelfth Air Force to support combat operations in the North African Campaign. Remained with Twelfth Air Force, moving to Tunisia and Sicily providing transport and resupply operations as well as casualty evacuation of wounded personnel in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO). Reassigned to IX Troop Carrier Command in England during early 1944 as part of the build-up of Allied forces prior to Operation Overlord, the invasion of France.
Began operations by dropping paratroops into Normandy on D-Day (6 June 1944) and releasing gliders with reinforcements on the following day. The unit received a Distinguished Unit Citation for these missions.
After the Normandy invasion the squadron ferried supplies in the United Kingdom. The squadron also hauled food, clothing, medicine, gasoline, ordnance equipment, and other supplies to the front lines and evacuated patients to rear zone hospitals. It dropped paratroops near Nijmegen and towed gliders carrying reinforcements during the Operation Market Garden, the airborne attack on the Netherlands. In December, it participated in the Battle of the Bulge by releasing gliders with supplies for the 101st Airborne Division near Bastogne.
Moved to Belgium in early 1945, and participated in the Western Allied invasion of Germany, participating in the air assault across the Rhine River in March 1945, each aircraft towed two gliders with troops of the 17th Airborne Division and released them near Wesel.
After V-E Day, became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe, and was part of the USAFE European Air Transport System (EATS), supporting the occupation forces in Germany as well as carrying supplies and personnel between various stations in Western Europe. Inactivated in early 1946 while stationed in France, unit inactivated later that year as an administrative unit.
Tactical Air Command.
Reactivated as part of Tactical Air Command (TAC) in 1949 with Fairchild C-82 Packets and various gliders as an assault squadron. Deployed to Japan for combat operations in 1950 for the Korean War. Furnished airlift between Japan and Korea and airdropped paratroops and supplies at Sukchon/Sunchon and Munsan-ni. Moved to the Philippines in 1954 after the armistice and was inactivated.
Reactivated in 1957 by TAC as one of the first Lockheed C-130 Hercules squadrons when the aircraft came into operational service. The squadron has been involved in major engagements around the world to include the Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, and the current Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
The 50th is also known for humanitarian relief. During the 2004 Asian tsunami crisis, the 50th sent several crews and tons of food rations to Thailand to help those in need. Following the horrors of Hurricane Katrina, 50th aircrews helped relocate survivors from the New Orleans, Louisiana and Biloxi, Mississippi areas to Little Rock, Arkansas. Humanitarian missions were flown in and out of Haiti following a major earthquake in December 2010.
In 2012, elements of the 50th celebrated 70 years of history with members deployed to the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in Afghanistan.
The squadron was inactivated on 1 April 2016 as part of the 19th Airlift Wings transition to the Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules.
Air refueling mission.
A ceremony marking the reactivation of the squadron was held at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida on 2 October 2017. The squadron was redesignated the 50th Air Refueling Squadron, and will fly the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker as part of the 6th Air Refueling Wing.


Latham Island Airways


Ferdinand Budicki

Ferdinand Budicki (11 April 1871 – 25 June 1951) was a Croatian pioneer of car, bicycle and airplane culture. A resident of Zagreb, Croatia, Budicki was reportedly the first to drive a car in his home city, and the first to open a car dealership and repair shop in Croatia. In April 1901, he drove from Vienna, Austria to Zagreb in an 1899 Opel, stirring up a commotion, as people and horses that drove carriages at the time were not used to motor vehicles, even though the car's top speed was, according to Budicki, a mere .
Early life.
Ferdinand Budicki was born on 11 April 1871 in Zagreb to Marija (née Panian) and Ferdinand Budicki. His parents were renowned craftspeople.
Having completed two grades of Realschule, Budicki first trained for a locksmith, then studied mechanics abroad. He assembled his own bicycle while living in Vienna. He subsequently used it in 1897 to travel throughout Europe and northern Africa, reportedly traversing .
Career.
In 1901, Budicki purchased a used car from Opel & Beyschlag factory in Vienna for 4,000 Austro-Hungarian crowns. He was taught to drive by Otto Beyschlag and received extra training in the form of observing an electric tram driver at work. He subsequently drove the car from Vienna to Zagreb, while traveling the same route by motorcycle the following year.
Whether he was the first car driver in Zagreb is disputed, as an "Obzor" article claims Count Marko Bombelles Jr. from Varaždin drove to Zagreb in a Benz & Cie. car on 17 August 1899.
On 28 August 1901, Budicki received his driving licence in Vienna. In 1910 Zagreb started to issue its own driving licences. Budicki's license was not recognised, so he took a driving examination on 27 July 1910 and received the licence with serial number 1. However, as none of the examination committee members knew how to drive, Budicki had to teach them before the examination. Budicki was also the first to receive a traffic ticket for speeding on 6 June 1901 in Mavrova Street (today's Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Street). In 1905 he flew in a hot air balloon, landing near Velika Gorica.
Budicki entered the business of new vehicles by opening a bicycle and sewing machine shop called "K touristu" ("At the Tourist's") at Mavrova Street 24 in 1899. In the early 1900s, the shop began selling cars and motorcycles as well. On 1 June 1906, Budicki founded the first Croatian Automobile Society, which opened with 14 members. From 1910 to 1928 he was the general distributor for Ford in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. In 1929, he started a taxicab and a bus line from Zagreb to Sv. Ivan Zelina. Later that year he had to exit the automobile business due to the stock market crash of 1929, retaining only a car repair shop.
Budicki died on 25 June 1951 at the age of 80.
Legacy.
On 4 July 2013, the Ferdinand Budicki Automobile Museum was opened in Zagreb, honouring Budicki's pioneering legacy in its name.
In Zagreb, there is a Ferdinand Budicki Street in the neighbourhood of Jarun.
Budicki is also remembered as the founder of Zagreb Fair and .


Mel Vojvodich

Mele Vojvodich Jr. (March 28, 1929 – November 3, 2003) was an American aviator and major general in the United States Air Force. He was one of the initial five pilots who flew reconnaissance missions in the Lockheed A-12 surveillance aircraft over North Vietnam for the CIA.
Biography.
Early life.
Mele Vojvodich Jr. was born in Steubenville, Ohio, to Mele Vojvodic who was Serbian. He graduated from Wintersville High School in Wintersville, Ohio. In June 1947, he joined the US Air Force.
Korean War.
Vojvodich earned his pilot wings in 1950 at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
He would see action in the Korean War flying the Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star and the North American F-86. Vojvodich flew a reconnaissance mission 300 miles into communist China to detect the presence of Soviet-made bombers. Vojvodich completed a total of 125 combat missions.
Career highlights.
After returning from Korea, Vojvodich served as Republic F-84 pilot and aircraft commander in the early 1950s at Turner Air Force Base in Georgia. He completed Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama six years after earning his wings.
CIA career.
Vojvodich volunteered and was selected to fly the Lockheed A-12 for the CIA. He was transferred out of the USAF and "sheep dipped" into the CIA to fly as Government service employee. He would later be reinstated in the USAF.
Later career.
In 1971 he completed studies at the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington DC.
Vojvodich was promoted to major general on May 1, 1980. He accumulated 6,000 flying hours in his career and retired in March 1983.
Death.
Vojvodich died in Schertz, Texas from leukemia in his home on November 3, 2003.
Military awards.
Distinguished Service Cross citation.
The President of the United States of America, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Air Force) to Captain Mele Vojvodich, Jr., United States Air Force, "for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving as a Pilot with the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, FIFTH Air Force, in action against enemy forces in the Republic of Korea on 3 January 1953. On that date Captain Vojvodich volunteered to fly an unarmed RF-86 type aircraft on an extremely hazardous mission of greatest importance to United Nations forces. Captain Vojvodich, exhibiting outstanding personal courage and skill, flew his unarmed aircraft deep into heavily defended enemy territory despite constant attacks from enemy aircraft. On his way to the target complex, he experienced a complete radio failure, and in addition, his drop tanks failed to jettison. Notwithstanding these obstacles, Captain Vojvodich, recognizing the vital importance of his assigned mission, elected to complete the photograph runs on his targets, exposing himself to firing passes from enemy aircraft. In order to insure complete coverage, Captain Vojvodich returned to re-photograph his first target, despite the presence of numerous enemy aircraft in the area. The intelligence data Captain Vojvodich obtained at great personal risk was of immeasurable value to subsequent United Nations operation in Korea."
General Orders: Headquarters, Far East Air Forces: General Orders No. 216 (May 2, 1953)


Aste Airfield

Asta (Estonian: Aste) was a Soviet air base in Estonia located near the town of Aste, north of Kuressaare. It is on Saaremaa Island, and was listed on the 1974 Department of Defense Global Navigation Chart No. 3 as having jet facilities. It was probably a front-line interceptor or dispersal base. In the 1980s or 1990s it was plowed under. Very little of the base remains.


Stanley Tanger

Stanley K. Tanger (April 13, 1923 – October 23, 2010) was an American businessman, philanthropist and pioneer of the outlet shopping industry. Tanger founded Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, which began with a single location in Burlington, North Carolina in 1981, and now has 45 shopping centers throughout the United States and Canada as of April 2015. In doing so, he invented "the very concept of the outlet mall", according to the "News & Record" of Greensboro, North Carolina. Tanger Outlets grossed $270 million in 2009.
Biography.
Tanger was the son of Harriette and Moe Tanger, who were from Wallingford, Connecticut. Tanger served as a pilot during World War II. After World War II, Tanger began to run Creighton Shirtmakers, the family business in New Haven, Connecticut. Under Tanger, Creighton Shirtmakers expanded to five outlet stores. Tanger soon organized other similar businesses and manufacturer outlets into a small, brand name outlet strip mall in Burlington, North Carolina in the early 1981.
The company, now known as Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, had since expanded to more than forty-one outlet centers in twenty-five U.S. states and four in Canada, as of April 2015. In 1993, Tanger Factory Outlet Centers became the first outlet developer to be publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
"Real Estate by Inc. Magazine" named Tanger as "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 1994. Tanger remained chairman of Tanger's board of directors until his retirement from a daily role with the company on August 7, 2009. He resigned as chairman of the board in September 2009, but remained a member of Tanger's board of directors until his death in 2010.
Tanger and his wife, Doris Tanger, a breast cancer survivor,
 were local, North Carolina philanthropists. Much of Tanger's philanthropy focused on breast cancer awareness, including a one-million-dollar contribution to Moses Cone Health System's Regional Cancer Center in Greensboro. Tanger also funded a variety of beautification projects throughout the city of Greensboro, including the creation and preservation of city parks, including the Bicentennial Gardens.
Stanley Tanger, a resident of Greensboro, died of pneumonia on October 23, 2010, aged 87. He was survived by his wife of sixty-three years, Doris Tanger, and his children and grandchildren. Tanger's funeral was held at Temple Emanuel, a Reform Judaism congregation in Greensboro. His son, Steven, was named president and CEO of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers in January 2010.


Izmir Air Station

Izmir Air Station is a United States Air Force facility in Izmir, Turkey. It is located SSW of Istanbul, on the western coast of Turkey.
U.S. responsibilities in the Izmir area began on September 8, 1952 with the activation of Allied Land Forces South-Eastern Europe and the arrival on October 14, 1953 of the Sixth Allied Tactical Air Force at Sirinyer Garrison south of Izmir. The United States Navy supported these and other Allied Forces Southern Europe organizations, while Detachment 2, 7206th Air Base Squadron, supported USAF installations in the area after April 1, 1954.
The United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) assumed support responsibility for U.S. and NATO entities in the Izmir area on January 1, 1956. USAFE assumed support responsibility for all U.S. and NATO units based at Çiğli Air Base and off-base installations of Çiğli situated throughout the Izmir area on July 6, 1962.
Improvements to Çiğli AB consisted of concrete roofs of jet fuel tanks repaired and new water lines, fire hydrants and electric power lines installed during 1962, and a reinforced concrete pad for wing-tank loading built at the north hangar and air conditioning installed in dependent quarters during 1963. Cigli AB gained control of all support activities in and around Izmir on April 1, 1966.
The Turkish Air Force assumed control of Cigli AB on July 1, 1970, and Izmir AS then assumed support responsibility for U.S. and USAF units in the Izmir area, with Cigli relegated to standby base status. Following a shooting of a Turkish national border policeman in 1983, NATO was asked to coordinate all activities more closely with command.
Allied Air Command İzmir was activated at General Vecihi Akin Garrison (GVAG), Sirinyer, in 2004.
Allied Air Command İzmir was succeeded by Allied Land Command, also at Izmir, from December 2012.


3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School

3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (3 CFFTS; ) is located at the Southport Aerospace Centre just south of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada.
3 CFFTS conducts Primary Flight Training on the Grob G 120A. Helicopter training is done on the Bell CH-139 Jet Ranger and the Bell 412 helicopter (retired Bell CH-146 Griffons). Multi-engine training is conducted on the Beechcraft King Air C-90B.
The school is based at the Portage la Prairie Southport Airport (formerly Canadian Forces Base Portage la Prairie) and operates as part of 15 Wing Moose Jaw. The service companies of KF Defence Programs and Southport Aerospace Centre provide all support services for 3 CFFTS, including aircraft maintenance and airfield operations.
3 CFFTS uses civilian pilots to teach primary pilot training and the air navigator courses. Military pilots are employed to teach the helicopter and multi-engine aircraft courses.
History.
Portage la Prairie has been the site of military primary flight training since World War II, when it was home to No. 14 Elementary Flying Training School, part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Following the war the base was retained as the home of the 3 Flying Training School (3 FTS) Royal Canadian Air Force, the direct ancestor of 3 CFFTS.
3 CFFTS was first formed on 1 July 1970 at CFB Portage la Prairie. It was made up of personnel and equipment drawn from 1 Primary Flying School, CFB Borden who flew the de Havilland Canada CT-120 Chipmunk trainers, 4 Flying Training School, CFB Rivers who flew Hiller CH-112 Nomad helicopters and 3 Flying Training School, Portage la Prairie who flew the Beech CT-128 Expeditor multi-engine trainer.
During 1971 the Chipmunks were replaced with the Beechcraft CT-134 Musketeers and the Nomads were replaced by Bell CH-136 Kiowas.
During the 1970s the school created two air demonstration teams, staffed by instructors, the Dragonflies, flying the CH-136 Kiowa and the Musket Gold with CT-134 Musketeer.
During 1981 the CT-134 Musketeers were in need of replacement and a newer version, the Beechcraft C23 Sundowners was procured as the CT-134A Musketeer. At the same time the CH-136 Kiowas were returned to the tactical helicopter squadrons that they had come from and were replaced by new-purchase CH-139 Jet Rangers.
During 1992 CFB Portage la Prairie was closed and the base facilities turned over to a new civil organization, the Southport Aerospace Centre. All previous support functions, including the provision of aircraft and their maintenance and the running of the airport, was contacted out to civilian companies.
This new "Contracted Flight Training and Support Program" resulted in the Musketeers being replaced with Slingsby T-67C Firefly trainers. The military instructors who had taught the Primary Flying Course were replaced by contract civilian instructors.
Multi-engine and helicopter training was conducted by military instructors using the Beech C90A King Air and the CH-139 Jet Rangers.
In 2005 a $1.77 billion, 20-year "Contracted Flying Training and Support Contract" was awarded to Allied Wings, now called KF Defence Programs to continue the program to 2025. This resulted in the following equipment changes:


Global Load Control

Global Load Control is a subsidiary company of the Lufthansa Group, and was established in Cape Town, South Africa in 2004. The company provides remote weight and balance and load control services to its parent company Lufthansa as well as other airlines. Global Load Control operates from its three centers in Cape Town, Brno and Istanbul. These three centers handle more than 140 Lufthansa stations and process some 1800 flights a day. Global Load Control's operations center in Cape Town became Lufthansa's first load control center outside of Germany. Before this, Lufthansa maintained two centralized load control centers in Munich and Frankfurt.
Controversy.
Lufthansa's decision to open a centralized load control center outside of Germany was unpopular with Lufthansa load controllers based in Frankfurt and Munich as they feared the loss of their jobs. Union involvement for a time prevented long haul flights departing from Germany to be processed by the new load control center in Cape Town.
Lufthansa's move to outsource its load controlling needs to its centers in Cape Town, Istanbul and Brno where motivated by more affordable operations costs. The cost of processing flights outside of Germany are around 30 percent cheaper. Another motivating factor that influenced Lufthansa to outsource its load controlling to Cape Town, Brno and Istanbul was due to the high number of German expatriates and local inhabitants with a good knowledge of German living in these cities.
In 2008 concerns were raised as to the quality of work the Global Load Control center in Cape Town was able to deliver, with one client airline calling for Lufthansa's load control operations for Frankfurt airport to be moved back to Frankfurt. In response to this criticism, Lufthansa has stated that a move towards remote centralized load controlling and from manual loadsheets to electronic loadsheets was in the airlines best interest, and that steps have been taken to address the concerns about quality. Since then, Global Load Control has received its Dekra ISO 9001:2008 certification, and states on its corporate website that it is committed to ..."producing a quality service by focusing on the principles of safety, punctuality and economy"..., and that its quality management systems are continually reviewed and improved.


List of defunct airlines of Argentina

This is a list of defunct airlines of Argentina.


AerCap

AerCap is the world's largest aircraft leasing company after acquiring International Lease Finance Corporation in 2014. , AerCap had 1,035 owned, managed aircraft in its portfolio. AerCap serves over 200 customers in approximately 80 countries with comprehensive fleet services. AerCap is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AER) and has its headquarters in Dublin, and further offices in Shannon, Los Angeles, Singapore, Amsterdam, Shanghai and Abu Dhabi. It also has representative offices at the world's largest aircraft manufacturers, Boeing in Seattle and Airbus in Toulouse.
On December 16, 2013, AerCap bought International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) for around $5.4 billion, $3 billion of which was paid by cash and the rest with newly issued AerCap common shares. The deal gave AerCap $43 billion in total assets and a fleet of over 1,300 aircraft, compared to GE Capital Aviation Services with a fleet of 1,800+ aircraft.
2015.
In June 2015, AerCap signed an agreement with Boeing for an order of 100 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft with deliveries starting in 2019.
In June 2015, AIG sold about 71.2 million shares in a public offering and AerCap purchased an additional 15.7 million of its shares from AIG. In August 2015, AIG completed its departure from the airplane-leasing business with the sale of the additional 10.7 million shares.
As of December 31, 2015, AerCap's portfolio consisted of 1,697 aircraft that were owned, on order, under contract or managed (including aircraft owned by AerDragon, a non-consolidated joint venture). The average age of the owned fleet as of December 31, 2015 was 7.7 years and the average remaining contracted lease term was 5.9 years. In 2015, AerCap leased, purchased and sold 405 aircraft. The company signed lease agreements for 276 aircraft and purchased 46 new aircraft. AerCap executed sale and part-out transactions for 83 aircraft and signed financing transactions for US$7.3 billion.
On February 23, 2016, AerCap reported record 2015 financial results and authorized a share repurchase program of $400 million.
2016.
In January 2016, "Airline Economics" recognized the company with "Lessor of the Year" and "Treasury Team of the Year" awards.
In 2016, AerCap signed lease agreements for 279 aircraft, purchased 38 and sold 141 aircraft, and signed financing transactions for $4.6 billion; as of December 31, 2016, it has 1,566 owned, managed or on order aircraft in its portfolio.
2017.
In June 2017, Aercap placed an order for 30 Boeing 787-9s, valued at $8.1 billion at list prices at the Paris Air Show.
AerCap announced on 28 December that it exercised options to purchase 50 A320neo Family aircraft to be delivered from 2022, bringing its A320neo Family portfolio to 270 owned and on order.
2021.
In March 2021, Aercap announced they had reached a deal with GE to acquire GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) for US$24 billion in cash, US$1 billion of AerCap notes and approximately 46% of the combined business in shares.


203d RED HORSE Squadron

The United States Air Force's 203d RED HORSE squadron is an Air National Guard unit located at Camp Pendleton, Virginia. RED HORSE is an acronym formed from "Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers"


List of highway strips in North Korea

North Korea has built dozens of reserve airstrips along highways and ordinary roads. These airfields are little more than widened sections of pavement that appear to be for emergency or backup use only and may not normally support operations. They are listed as "Highway" or "Highway Strip".


Hawthorn Hill

Hawthorn Hill in Oakwood, Ohio, USA, was the post-1914 home of Orville, Milton and Katharine Wright. Wilbur and Orville Wright intended for it to be their joint home, but Wilbur died in 1912, before the home's 1914 completion. The brothers hired the prominent Dayton architectural firm of Schenck and Williams to realize their plans. Orville and his father Milton and sister Katharine occupied the home in 1914.
Though the property now comprises three acres (1.2 ha), the mansion originally sat on . The Wrights named the property after the hawthorn trees found on the property. There are at least 150 hawthorn trees on the site.
Orville Wright designed some of the mechanical features of the house such as the water storage tank used to collect and recycle rainwater, and the central vacuum system; these features reflect his creative genius. For 34 years, this house was the gathering place for the greats and near-greats in the history of American aviation.
The home was owned by the NCR Corporation after Orville's death until August 18, 2006, when the company donated the historic home to the Wright Family Foundation in honor of Orville's 135th birthday and National Aviation Day. NCR used it as a guesthouse for corporate VIPs and for corporate functions. On occasion they opened the home to the general public.
In September 2007, Dayton History, in cooperation with the Wright Family Foundation, began offering scheduled public tours of Hawthorn Hill.
NCR extensively redecorated the mansion's interior after Orville's death. Only Orville's study approximates its pre-1948 appearance. However, Edward A. Deeds, then-chairman of the National Cash Register Company sent a photographer to the home immediately following Orville's death to visually record the interior of the house at that time.
The U.S. Secretary of the Interior designated Hawthorn Hill a National Historic Landmark in 1991 and added it to the U.S. World Heritage Tentative List in January 2008 as a part of the Dayton Aviation Sites listing. It is a component of the National Aviation Heritage Area.


Redback Buzzard

The Redback Buzzard is an Australian helicopter that was designed and produced by Redback Aviation of Hoppers Crossing, Victoria. The aircraft was intended to be supplied as a kit for amateur construction, but only one prototype was ever completed and development ended.
Design and development.
The Buzzard was based on the second generation Star Aviation LoneStar helicopter to which Redback own the rights. The Buzzard was designed to be a minimalist helicopter, using a maximum of off-the-shelf parts and to comply with the homebuilt aircraft rules. It features a single main rotor, a single-seat open cockpit without a windshield, skid-type landing gear and a Suzuki four stroke engine.
The aircraft fuselage is made from bolted-together aluminum tubing, with the tailboom built from carbon fibre. Its diameter two-bladed rotor has a chord of , with anti-torque handled by a conventional two-bladed tail rotor. The main rotor transmission uses a combination of V-belts and toothed belts. Pitch link controls are mounted inside the hollow rotor mast tube. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload is .
The company indicates that only one prototype was built and that it was sold, ending development of the aircraft, in favour of a new design, the Redback Aviation Spider.


Cheridah de Beauvoir Stocks

Cheridah de Beauvoir Stocks (1887–1971) was the second British woman to gain a Royal Aero Club aviator's licence, in 1911.
Early life.
Cheridah was born Cheridah Annie Ernst on 6 November 1887 in Evercreech, Somerset, England, the daughter of Henry Ernst, a magistrate, and his wife Annie (née Waring). In the 1901 Census Cheridah was living at the Hotel Metropole on Northumberland Avenue, Strand, London with her sister Bessie and her widowed mother.
She married David de Beauvoir Stocks in London in 1909. On 7 November 1911 she became only the second woman to gain a Royal Aero Club aviators certificate, passing her test using a Farman biplane at Hendon. Following a crash during an airshow at Hendon in 1913 she was unconscious for six weeks and her recovery was closely followed by the newspapers of the day. Stocks never flew again.
Her husband David, a Commander in the Royal Navy, died on 31 January 1918 when the submarine was lost in an accident.
Stocks went on to study at Oxford and gained a BSc in Social Anthropology. She died on 1 May 1971 in Northampton aged 83.