Malmsheim Airfield

Malmsheim Airfield is located in the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg, north-east of the city of Renningen's borough of Malmsheim. It consists of an air force base with a reserve concrete runway and a glider airfield.
History.
On 13 November 1936, the Luftwaffe announced its intention to build what it purported an emergency landing site. The runways were built, mostly at night, by 1937. Buildings were camouflaged as a farm, the site was connected by a standard gauge railway to the Black Forest Railway's Renningen station.
World War II.
During the Battle of France in 1940, Malmsheim was home base to Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Junkers Ju 88 aircraft. With the beginning of the Russian campaign in 1941, the Luftwaffe halted operations on the airfield and the site was converted into a Prisoner of war camp with POWs working on local farms. In 1944 and 1945, the site was used for military aviation once more, being home to the second group of the 53rd fighter squadron.
Post-war.
After the war, it was used briefly by US forces, then from 31 January 1946, ethnic German refugees (Heimatvertriebene) were accommodated. Initially, 1,500 people were brought to the site, via the railway link. The refugee camp's designed capacity was 11,000 people. Most of the refugees housed came from the Sudetenland. In 1949, the camp was assigned a new function as a transit station for returning German POWs. It was also used briefly to house displaced persons.
US forces again used the site from 1951. The Bundeswehr, the post-war West German armed forces, took over the site on its foundation in 1955. A planned deployment of German Army Aviation was not realized, nor was the proposed construction of a civilian airport.
Since about the end of the 1950s, civilian gliders have been leasing a part of the site.
In 1994, the automotive component manufacturer Bosch unveiled the electronic stability control (ESC) system on Malmsheim Airfield.
Bosch acquired a part of the site by 2010 in order to erect a "center for research and pre-development". An agreement containing these items had been signed on 3 September 2009. The complete area has a size of 94 hectares, of which Bosch was assigned to acquire 31 hectares on the north and 9 hectares on the south. Demolition work of the airfield buildings began in February 2011. Bosch plans to invest 160 million euros, the center is planned to become operative in 2013 with about 1200 employees. The state of Baden-Württemberg has acquired the central section, Bundeswehr and US forces are allowed to continue to use it until 2029. Usage by gliders for at least ten years has been agreed upon.
Equipment and use.
The northern section of the site is fenced. A Bell UH-1D (SAR command 46) of the Luftwaffe's search and rescue service has been deployed there ready for operations since 1998. In contrast to many civilian rescue helicopters, this aircraft is fitted with infrared equipment and has a rescue winch. Its service area covers Baden-Württemberg and parts of Bavaria, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, which are to be reached within 45 minutes.
Other buildings in the northern section were used by the army for storing equipment for the event of mobilization until about 2009. The Kommando Spezialkräfte special forces stationed in nearby Calw, and the US Special Operations Command Europe stationed at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, use the area for parachute training.
The runway, which is approximately long, is a concrete reserve runway the Bundeswehr leaves to car manufacturers for vehicle testing.
The civilian gliding center is operated by "Sportfliegerclub Leonberg" (”Leonberg sports flying club“). There are two roughly long grass runways lying side by side and used by different clubs. Winch-launching is the launch method in use. The runway direction is 08/26 (roughly east–west).
A kite festival in early October with an international competition on the gliding center's grounds has taken place annually since 2002.
The rail link is inoperative and partly built over by a 1990-constructed bypass road. The connecting switch at Renningen station is dismantled.


Sky Blu Skiway


Maxwell Air Force Base

Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. Occupying the site of the first Wright Flying School, it was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell, a native of Atmore, Alabama.
The base is the headquarters of Air University (AU), a major component of Air Education and Training Command (AETC), and is the U.S. Air Force's center for Joint Professional Military Education (PME). The host wing for Maxwell-Gunter is the 42d Air Base Wing (42 ABW).
The Air Force Reserve Command's 908th Airlift Wing (908 AW) is a tenant unit and the only operational flying unit at Maxwell. The 908 AW and its subordinate 357th Airlift Squadron (357 AS) operates eight C-130H Hercules aircraft for theater airlift in support of combatant commanders worldwide. As an AFRC airlift unit, the 908th is operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC).
Gunter Annex is a separate installation under the 42 ABW. Originally known as Gunter Field, it later became known as Gunter Air Force Station (Gunter AFS) when its runways were closed and its operational flying activity eliminated. It was later renamed Gunter Air Force Base (Gunter AFB) during the 1980s. As a hedge against future Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) closure actions, Gunter AFB was consolidated under Maxwell AFB in March 1992 to create a combined installation known as Maxwell/Gunter AFB.
Maxwell AFB is also the site of Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery, a minimum security facility for male inmates.
History.
Origins.
Toward the end of February 1910, the Wright Brothers decided to open one of the world's earliest flying schools at the site that would subsequently become Maxwell AFB. The Wrights taught the principles of flying, including take-offs, balancing, turns, and landings. The Wright Flying School closed on May 26, 1910.
The field served as a repair depot during World War I. In fact, the depot built the first plane made in Montgomery and exhibited it at the field on September 20, 1918. Repair activity at the depot was sharply curtailed at the end of the war.
Interwar years.
The Aviation Repair Depot's land was leased by the U.S. Army during World War I, and later purchased on January 11, 1920 for $34,327. Diminished postwar activity caused the U.S. War Department in 1919 to announce that it planned to close thirty-two facilities around the country, including the Aviation Repair Depot. In 1919, the Aviation Repair Depot had a $27,000 monthly civilian payroll, and was a vital part of the city's economy. The loss of the field would have been a serious blow to the local Montgomery economy. The field remained open into the early 1920s only because the War Department was slow in closing facilities. After this initial reprieve, the War Department announced in 1922 that facilities on the original closure list would indeed close in the very near future. City officials were not surprised to hear that Aviation Repair Depot remained on the list, because 350 civilian employees had been laid off in June 1921.
On November 8, 1922, the War Department redesignated the depot as Maxwell Field in honor of Atmore, Alabama native, Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell. On 12 August 1920, engine trouble forced Lieutenant Maxwell to attempt to land his DH-4 in a sugarcane field in the Philippines. Maneuvering to avoid a group of children playing below, he struck a flagpole hidden by the tall sugarcane and was killed instantly. On the recommendation of his former commanding officer, Major Roy C. Brown, the Montgomery Air Intermediate Depot, Montgomery, Alabama, was renamed Maxwell Field. In 1923, it was one of three U.S. Army Air Service aviation depots. Maxwell Field repaired aircraft engines in support of flying training missions such as those at Taylor Field, southeast of Montgomery.
Maxwell Field, as most Army air stations and depots developed during World War I, was on leased properties with temporary buildings being the mainstay of construction. These temporary buildings/shacks were built to last two to five years. By the mid-1920s, these dilapidated wartime buildings had become a national disgrace. Congressional investigations also showed that the manning strength of the U.S. Army's air arm was seriously deficient. These critical situations eventually led to the Air Corps Act of 1926 and the two major programs that dramatically transformed Army airfields. The Air Corps Act changed the name and status of the Army Air Service to the U.S. Army Air Corps and authorized a five-year expansion program. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, this program and its companion, the 1926 Army Housing Program, produced well-designed, substantial, permanent buildings and infrastructure at all Army airfields retained after World War I.
Taking up the cause of Maxwell Field was freshman Congressman J. Lister Hill, a World War I veteran who served with the 17th and 71st U.S. Infantry Regiments. He, as well as other Montgomery leaders, recognized the historical significance of the Wright Brother's first military flying school and the potential of Maxwell Field to the local economy. In 1925 Hill, a member of the House Military Affairs Committee, affixed an amendment to a military appropriations bill providing $200,000 for the construction of permanent buildings at Maxwell Field. This amendment did not have the approval of the War Department nor the Army Air Corps, but as a result of this massive spending on Maxwell Field, the War Department kept it open. Hill recognized that to keep Maxwell Field open, it needed to be fiscally or militarily valuable to the War Department.
In September 1927, Hill met with Major General Mason M. Patrick, chief of the Army Air Corps, and his assistant, Brigadier General James E. Fechet, to discuss the placement of an attack group at Maxwell Field. Both made it clear that Maxwell Field was too close to Montgomery and was not a suitable location for an attack group. In fact, they asked Hill as "a friend of the Air Corps" not to "embarrass" the Corps by asking that the group be placed there. They warned that if he persisted, they would "very much oppose" the effort. However, General Patrick not wanting to alienate the new and up and coming Congressman (who was also a member of the House Military Affairs Committee) sought to appease Hill by offering to create an observation squadron at Maxwell Field. Hill welcomed the gesture; however, the creation of an observation squadron fell short of the long term on-going mission sought by Hill for Maxwell Field.
Hill continued to argue for the attack group to be placed at Maxwell Field. He argued that because of the permanent buildings scheduled to be built, it would be fiscally advantageous for the placement of the attack group at Maxwell Field. Hill's arguments were an extension of ones that had been presented to him by Major Roy S. Brown, former commandant of Maxwell Field from 1922-1925. In 1927, Major Brown was the commander of the Air Corps Tactical School located at Langley Field, Virginia. Major Brown urged Hill to keep his name out of it because of the easily traceable insider information. Hill, frustrated with the lack of positive response from Generals Patrick and Fechet, moved up the chain of command and passed on the correspondence he had with General Fechet to Secretary of War Dwight Davis, Assistant Secretary of War for Air F. Trubee Davison, and Army Chief of Staff Charles P. Summerall. His request to them was given the answer: that they would give the matter "full consideration."
The depot's first official flying mission was carried out after that. Observation missions originated there in 1927–1929. Pilots from the field were also involved in completing the first leg of a test designed to establish an airmail route between the Gulf Coast and the northern Great Lakes area. The successful test played a major role in the eventual establishment of permanent airmail service in the Southeast.
By early 1928, the decision of basing a new Army Air Corps attack group had come down to Shreveport, Louisiana, and Montgomery. Both cities vied for the federal money to be spent in their respective local areas, but Shreveport the more economically developed city than its counterpart Montgomery won the day. In April 1928 Hill, via his contacts in the War Department, found out that Montgomery would not be getting the attack group. Flexing his congressional muscle, Hill persuaded Assistant Secretary Davidson and now chief of the Air Corps Major General Fechet to hold off the official announcement until Montgomery had a second look by the War Department. During the interim Montgomery leaders had set forth actions to acquire over for Maxwell Field's expansion in hopes of wooing the War Department into placing the attack group in Montgomery.
In May 1928 General Benjamin Foulois, General Fechet's assistant, during an inspection visit with Third Army commander General Frank Parker to Maxwell Field mentioned that the Air Corps Tactical School would be moving from Langley Field to a still undecided location. During his stay General Foulois met with local Chamber of Commerce chairman Jesse Hearin and Maxwell Field post commandant, Major Walter R. Weaver. Hearin and Weaver touted the feasibility of Maxwell Field and the Montgomery area for the placement of the attack group at Maxwell Field. However, General Foulois guided the conversation towards the impending movement of the Air Corps Tactical School and he favored Maxwell Field for the new home. Hearin immediately worked up an option on another one thousand acres (4 km²) for the Air Corps Tactical School should Montgomery not be favored with the attack group.
In July 1928, word "via rumor" of the decision for the establishment of an attack group came out that Shreveport was indeed the victor of the final decision. In December 1928, after much debate and political maneuvering it was announced officially by the Assistant Secretary of War that Shreveport would be getting the attack group and that the Army Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) would be coming to Maxwell Field. The move to Maxwell Field from Langley Field was initially expected to increase Maxwell Field's population by eighty officers and 300 enlisted. It was expected that the ACTS would be to the Army Air Corps what Fort Benning, Georgia was to the infantry.
On January 15, 1929, it was announced that the ACTS would be twice as large as originally planned. On February 11, it was announced that $1,644,298 had been allowed for ACTS construction. This was not including an additional $324,000 the Secretary of War had approved previously for non-commissioned officer barracks and a school building after a conference with Congressman Hill. On March 12, a conference between a Major Kennedy, Chief of Buildings and Grounds of the Army Air Corps and commandant of the ACTS, and Congressman Lister Hill to determine the locations of the buildings and types of construction. In March 1929, personnel at Maxwell provided flood relief to citizens of Montgomery. This was the first time at which food and supplies were airdropped by U.S. military forces during a major civilian emergency.
On July 9, 1929, Captain Walter J. Reed and a battery of attorneys checked titles for the land. The War Department also announced the same day that the plan had changed to where the ACTS would now be four times as large as originally planned with 200 officers and 1,000 enlisted men. At the time, this made Maxwell Field the largest (as far as personnel) Army Air Corps installation in the southeast. Approximately 300 signatures to the deed of the land occupied by the Air Corps Tactical School were signed, of which one was signed by a minor. Chairman of the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce James Hearin said, "...several cases had to be taken to court." Despite the obvious rush for signatures, by October 5, deeds to the land were signed and mailed to the War Department.
On December 17, 1929, Congressman Lister Hill introduced a bill to appropriate $320,000 for the acquiring of of land in Montgomery County as a part of an expansion program for Maxwell Field. This was a particularly bold move at the time by Hill because of the stock market crash. Effects of the crash had yet to take place; however, the panic caused by the crash had certainly captured Montgomery's attention.
On January 25, 1930, President Herbert Hoover asked Congress to re-appropriate an additional $100,000 for the main school building at Maxwell Field. President Hoover's policy was to speed public works to offset unemployment. In February 1930, Congressman Hill's resolution was passed in the House of Representatives and were to be added to Maxwell Field for expansion purposes. George B. Ford and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., were hired by the Army Quartermaster Corps and they designed the overall layout of ACTS at Maxwell. Ford used an approach that clustered similar functions together. This technique provided plenty of open space and gave each cluster a distinct appearance.
On September 17, 1931, the first ACTS training occurred at Maxwell Field. Forty-one students met at 8:40 a.m. in the operations office conference room for general instruction. Classes were divided into sections, with some pilots sent on check flights, while others were sent out to become familiar with the surrounding countryside to become familiar with emergency landing field locations.
On the morning of September 22, 1931, opening exercises of the Air Corps Tactical School were held. On September 24, the Air Corps Tactical School was officially launched. The address was made by Major General James E. Fechet, chief of the Army Air Corps also attending were Congressman Lister Hill and commandant of the Air Corps Tactical School, Major John F. Curry. General Fechet, along with announcing his impending retirement, declared that the forty-one student officers could be future generals of the Air Corps. At a later luncheon, General Fechet also lauded Montgomery's attitude toward the Air Corps.
The 1931-1932 faculty included Army Air Corps (AC), Army Infantry (Inf), Army Chemical Warfare Service (CWS), and Army Field Artillery (FA) instructors. Initially, the school's curriculum reflected the dominating influence of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. Mitchell was a strong believer in the importance of gaining and maintaining air superiority during a conflict. He argued strongly for pursuit (e.g., "fighter") aircraft in combination with bombers and regarded enemy pursuit forces as the most serious threat to successful bombing operations and felt that the task of American pursuit was not necessarily to escort bombers, but to also seek out and attack enemy fighters. During the first five years of the school's operation, Mitchell's beliefs formed the basis for instruction at the tactical school. However, by the mid-1930s the school's emphasis had shifted from pursuit to bombardment aviation.
On July 16, 1933, Congressman Lister Hill secured approval from the War Department for $1,650,075 for immediate spending at Maxwell Field. Hill's request was justified by increased enrollment at the Air Corps Tactical School and the desperate need for employment for the local Montgomery population. At the start of October 1933 bids opened for four construction projects that were to start immediately; 1933-1934 construction at Maxwell Field later employed an average of more than 500 workers.
The Air Corps Tactical School opened July 15, 1931. The school evolved into the Army Air Corps (later, U.S. Air Force's) first tactical center until the imminence of American involvement in World War II forced a suspension of classes in June 1940 that resulted in permanent closure of the school. One of the school's notable achievements was its development of two aerial acrobatic teams: the "Three Men on a Flying Trapeze", put together by then-Captain Claire L. Chennault in 1932, and the Skylarks in 1935.
World War II.
In 1940, it was announced that the installation was to be converted into a pilot-training center. On 8 July 1940 the Army Air Corps redesignated its training center at Maxwell Field, Alabama as the Southeast Air Corps Training Center. The Southeast Air Corps Training Center at Maxwell handled flying training (basic, primary and advanced) at airfields in the Eastern United States.
An Air Force Pilot School (preflight) was also activated which instructed Aviation Cadets in the mechanics and physics of flight and required the cadets to pass courses in mathematics and the hard sciences. Then the cadets were taught to apply their knowledge practically by teaching them aeronautics, deflection shooting, and thinking in three dimensions. In June 1941, the Army Air Corps became the U.S. Army Air Forces. On 8 January 1943, the War Department constituted and redesignated the school as the 74th Flying Training Wing handling pre-flight training.
During following years, Maxwell was home to six different schools that trained U.S. military aviators and their support teams for wartime service. As World War II progressed, the number of required pilot trainees declined, and the Army Air Forces decided not to send more aircrew trainees to Maxwell Field. The following known sub-bases and auxiliaries were constructed to support the flying school:
On 31 July 1943, the Southeast Air Corps Training Center was redesignated as the Eastern Flying Training Command. Also in July, the Army Air Forces announced a specialized school for pilots of four-engine aircraft. The first B-24 Liberator landed at the field later that month and in early 1945, B-29 Superfortress bomber training replaced the B-24 program.
Cold War.
Training at Maxwell continued until 15 December 1945, when the Eastern Flying Training Command was inactivated and was consolidated into the Central Flying Training Command at Randolph Field, Texas.
Air University, an institution providing continuing military education for Army Air Forces personnel, was established at Maxwell in 1946, prior to the U.S. Air Force becoming an independent service the following year. Today, it remains the main focus of base activities at Maxwell. In 1992, the 3800th Air Base Wing (3800 ABW) was disbanded and the 502d Air Base Wing (502 BW) took over as the host wing, which two years later gave way to the current 42d Air Base Wing.
As home of the Air University, Maxwell became the postgraduate academic center of the U.S. Air Force. Air University evolved first as an institution influenced by air power as shaped in World War II, then by the Cold War under the threat of nuclear annihilation, and by air power as applied during the Cold War's Korean and Vietnam conflicts. In the early twenty-first century, the emphasis shifted to air power's role in confronting international and transnational terrorism by both state-sponsored and non-state actors. AU grew materially from inadequate quarters, classrooms, and instructional technology into a campus that is as modern and up-to-date as those of any other in the U. S. armed forces. Construction of Maxwell's Academic Circle, Air University's primary education complex, began in the 1950s. Its centerpiece was the Air University Library, eventually one of several major libraries on a military installation.
Over the years, other activities were established or relocated to Maxwell AFB, to include Headquarters, Civil Air Patrol - USAF; the Air Force Reserve's 908th Tactical Air Support Group (908 TASG), which evolved into the present day 908th Airlift Wing; the Ira C. Eaker Center for Professional Development; the Air Force Financial Systems Operation office (SAF/FM); the Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education (CADRE); and the Air Force Historical Research Agency, a support organization and repository for air power scholars and AU students. In 1994, Air Force Officer Training School (OTS) was also relocated from Lackland AFB/Medina Annex, Texas to Maxwell AFB, joining the national headquarters of the Air Force's other non-Academy officer accession source, Air Force ROTC.
Based units.
Flying and notable non-flying units based at Maxwell Air Force Base.
United States Air Force.
Air Education and Training Command (AETC)
Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC)
Air Combat Command (ACC)
Department of the Air Force.
Field Operating Agencies
Future.
In November 2020, the Air Force announced that Maxwell AFB is its preferred choice for basing the MH-139A Grey Wolf Formal Training Unit. The Grey Wolf training mission will replace the 908th Airlift Wing’s C-130H Hercules mission, with the first of the new aircraft expected to arrive during 2023.
Popular culture.
Maxwell AFB appears in the video game "Tom Clancy's EndWar" as a possible battlefield.


John Murphy (Scottish footballer)

John Murphy, sometimes known as Basher Murphy, was a Scottish football left half who made over 290 appearances in the Scottish League for Queen of the South and Cowdenbeath.
Personal life.
Murphy served his National Service in the RAF.


The Phoenix (novel)

The Phoenix () () is a 2000 historical novel written by German author Henning Boëtius. Its central plot revolves around the 1937 "Hindenburg" disaster.
Henning Boëtius is the son of one of the ship's officers, and based his book on accounts his father gave of the disaster.
Plot summary.
Fact and fiction are combined to tell the stories of two fictitious people who were involved in the catastrophe; Birger Lund, a Swedish journalist and passenger on the airship, who apparently suffered horrific injuries in a car accident after the crash; and Edmond Boysen, a member of the crew, who was manning the controls at the time, and seems to have got away unscathed.
The book begins some years after the disaster has occurred, as Lund – now with a new identity due to a twist of fate – is searching for Boysen, who he hopes will provide him with some of the answers that might help him to come to terms with what happened, so that he can move on with his life. However, once the story has introduced Lund, it switches focus to Edmond Boysen, and much of the plot then unfolds against the backdrop of Nazi Germany, when the giant Zeppelin airships dominated the skies and their crew members enjoyed an almost celebrity-like lifestyle. Here the author spends a great deal of time describing the technical aspects of the airship, while its final journey and ultimate demise is told in intricate detail.
Birger Lund eventually catches up with Boysen towards the end of the story, and the two have a lengthy discussion as to why the disaster may have happened. They consider a number of theories, including a suggestion that the airship may have been sabotaged. Following this conversation, Lund feels he is able to get some closure and feels he can now start to rebuild his life.


Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base

Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base , also known as St. Thomas Seaplane Base, is located in the harbor by Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. This private-use airport is owned by the Virgin Islands Port Authority.
As per Federal Aviation Administration records, this seaplane base had 76,820 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2004 and 71,555 enplanements in 2005.
Facilities.
Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base covers an area of and has two seaplane landing areas:
Historical air service.
Historically, Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle operated scheduled passenger service during the 1980s from the Charlotte Amalie seaplane base with Grumman Mallard aircraft. These Grumman amphibious aircraft were powered either by piston engines or by turboprop engines via a powerplant conversion program. During the 1970s, Antilles Air Boats operated several different types of seaplanes in scheduled passenger service from the harbor as well including the Consolidated PBY Catalina (Super Catalina version), Grumman Goose, Grumman Mallard, Short Sandringham S-25 and Vought Sikorsky VS-44.
Renaming the seaplane terminal.
The terminal was named the Charles F. Blair, Jr. terminal in honor of Charles F. Blair, Jr., an aviation pioneer and the founder of the seaplane airline, Antilles Air Boats.


9th Air Refueling Squadron

The 9th Air Refueling Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit, stationed at Travis Air Force Base, California, where it operates the McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender as part of the 60th Operations Group.
The squadron was first active during World War II as the 9th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, serving in combat the China-Burma-India Theater from 1942 through 1945, primarily with Lockheed F-4 and F-5 Lightning reconnaissance aircraft.
The 9th Air Refueling Squadron was activated in 1951, and has operated the Boeing KB-29 Superfortress, Boeing KC-97, and Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, prior to its current air refueling equipment. It has been deployed worldwide, assisting in wartime, humanitarian, and peacekeeping efforts in often remote areas.
Mission.
The 9th Air Refueling Squadron mobilizes and deploys twelve KC-10 aircraft and over 140 personnel and equipment to worldwide forward operating locations. It generates 24-hour-a-day strategic airlift and air refueling sorties supporting U.S. and allied forces during contingency operations. It trains aircrews to support and sustain Joint Chiefs of Staff directed missions. The 9th executes an 8,000+ flying hour program and a $580,000 budget.
History.
World War II.
Training in the United States.
The first predecessor of the squadron was organized in February 1942 at Mitchell Field, New York, as the 9th Photographic Squadron and was assigned directly to First Air Force. The unit began an intensive period of training for early deployment overseas with Lockheed F-4 Lightning aircraft. By March, its destination had been settled as the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations and it was assigned to Tenth Air Force, which was moving to that theater. The support elements of the squadron departed from the Charleston, South Carolina Port of Embarkation on the in May.
The squadron's aircrews remained behind to receive additional training at Peterson Field. After The squadron's Lightnings went through modifications at Dallas, Texas, they were delivered to Newark Army Air Base, New Jersey for shipment to India. The pilots then boarded transport planes for flight to India.
Combat in China, Burma and India.
The squadron did not arrive in India until late July, by which time it had been renamed the 9th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron. Despite the haste with which it had been sent to Karachi, India and its long ocean voyage, it was an even longer voyage for its F-4 Lightnings, which only began to arrive in September. In the interim, the squadron's mechanics helped assemble Republic P-43 Lancer and Vultee P-66 Vanguard fighters for delivery to the Nationalist Chinese Air Force. However, this early in the war, techniques for sea transport of aircraft had not been developed and many of the squadron's aircraft had been damaged in preparing them for shipment. In particular, fuel tanks had not been fully drained causing severe deterioration of the self-sealing features, which resulted in the need for extensive work on the planes by the air depot at Agra.
In October, the squadron sent a detachment to Kunming Airport, China to build and operate a photographic processing laboratory for the China Air Task Force. The detachment was augmented by four Lightnings in November. The same month, the squadron moved to Chakulia Airfield, India, which was already the home of the 7th Bombardment Group, with the idea that the squadron could work with the 7th Group to provide prestrike and poststrike reconnaissance. On 12 December, nearly five months after its official arrival in theater, the squadron flew its first combat reconnaissance mission over Burma. Flights of squadron reconnaissance aircraft operated over a wide area of Burma, Thailand, and China until VJ Day, obtaining aerial photos and reconnaissance of enemy positions and targets for heavy bomber attacks in support of British and American forces.
In March 1943, a single Lightning and supporting personnel and equipment were detached to Dinjan Airfield, India. Combat attrition had seriously reduced the availability of the squadron's F-4s by this time, and two months later, the squadron began to fly a second type of plane, the North American B-25 Mitchell. The first Mitchell, formerly flown by the 7th Bombardment Group, arrived on 27 May. After modifying the B-25s to carry cameras the squadron flew its first combat mission with the B-25 on 10 June. Meanwhile, the squadron had begun receiving the newer F-5 reconnaissance version of the Lightning, and the first F-5 mission was flown later the same month. In July, the squadron transferred the personnel and equipment at its detachment at Kunming to the 21st Photographic Squadron, which had just arrived in the theater.
Tenth Air Force formed the provisional 5306th Photographic and Reconnaissance Group in October 1943 and attached the squadron to it. In December reconnaissance assets in India were centralized under Photo Reconnaissance Force, Eastern Air Command, a combined Army Air Forces and Royal Air Force headquarters. The provisional group was discontinued on 17 January 1944 and its components, including the 9th, returned to the control of Tenth Air Force.
In April 1944, the 8th Photographic Group arrived in theater and the squadron was assigned to it. Next month, the 20th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron took over the reconnaissance mission at Dinjan, which the 9th had maintained since March 1943 with a brief pause, and squadron assets at Dinjan rejoined the squadron at Barrackpore Airfield. However the squadron maintained detachments at other locations in India and Burma, including Tingkawk Sakan Airfield, Myitkyina Airfield and Chittagong Airport. The Chittagong detachment augmented No. 224 Group RAF. Responsibility for this augmentation began to be transferred to the 40th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron in November, and all 9th Squadron personnel had been withdrawn by the middle of December.
The squadron remained in India after the Japanese surrender, but left for the United States in mid-November 1945 aboard the . Upon its arrival at the Port of Embarkation in the United States in December 1945, it was inactivated.
Strategic Air Command.
The 9th Air Refueling Squadron was activated on 1 August 1951 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona and equipped with Boeing KB-29M Superfortress aircraft. It was assigned to the 9th Bombardment Group until June 1952, then to the 9th Bombardment Wing. These headquarters were located at Travis Air Force Base, California, so the squadron was attached to various units at Davis-Monthan, while it trained on air refueling techniques. In 1953, the wing and squadron were finally united, when both moved to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. In July, the squadron became nonoperational while the wing was becoming a Boeing B-47 Stratojet unit. By early 1954, both the wing and squadron were again operational. By September 1954, the squadron had fully converted to the Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker
From Mountain Home, the squadron supported Operation Reflex deploying as a unit to Ben Guerir Air Base, French Morocco for three months in 1955 and later to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska in 1956. It also deployed some of its personnel to Anderson Air Force Base, Guam. In 1965, as Strategic Air Command (SAC) began to phase its B-47s and KC-97s out of service, the squadron was inactivated and its planes transferred to storage, while its parent became the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing and moved on paper to Beale Air Force Base, where it took over the resources of the 4200th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, which was discontinued.
The squadron was reactivated on 1 January 1970, when it joined the 9th Wing at Beale Air Force Base, as the 456th Strategic Aerospace Wing expanded to include two tanker squadrons to support its own Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses and the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbirds of the 9th Wing. At Beale, the 9th flew the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Twelve years later, in January 1982, the squadron was again inactivated. Its planes and personnel were used to form the 350th Air Refueling Squadron, which was activated at Beale the next day.
The squadron began its current, and longest, active period a few months later, in August, at March Air Force Base, California, where it equipped with the McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender as part of the 22d Bombardment Wing. The following year, the squadron provided support for Operation Urgent Fury, the rescue of US students and replacement of the revolutionary government of Grenada with a constitutional one. On 19 September 1985, as part of a program to combine World War II combat units with those formed after the war, the 9th Air Refueling Squadron was consolidated with the 9th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron.
In 1989, squadron assets assisted in Operation Just Cause, the 1989 incursion into Panama that ended Manuel Noriega's rule. The squadron supported deployments to Southwest Asia from 1990 to 1991 in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In September 1991, SAC implemented the Objective Wing organizational model and the squadron was transferred from the 22d Wing to its newly activated 22d Operations Group.
Air Mobility Command.
In 1992, the Air Force reorganized its major commands, combining air refueling and airlift units under Air Mobility Command (AMC), with the 22d Air Refueling Wing becoming an element of the new command. Under AMC, the squadron flew humanitarian airlift missions to Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope during 1992–1993. The 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, meanwhile, recommended that March be transferred to Air Force Reserve Command. As the transfer of the base to the reserves was implemented, the 22d Air Refueling Wing moved without personnel or equipment to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, where it became a KC-135R wing. The 722d Air Refueling Wing was activated at March as a holding organization for the remaining regular Air Force units there on 1 January 1994, and the squadron became part of the 722d Wing until September 1994, when it moved to Travis Air Force Base, California and was assigned to the 60th Operations Group.
Although not deployed as a unit, crews and planes from the 9th supported Operation Southern Watch, enforcement of the no fly zone in southern Iraq through the 1990s by refueling marine aircraft deploying to Aviano Air Base, Italy. Its crews provided refueling for B-52s participating in Operation Desert Strike, cruise missile attacks on Iraqi forces in northern Iraq in September 1996 and Operation Desert Fox, later attacks on suspected Iraqi weapons sites. That same year, after terrorists sponsored by Libya struck a nightclub in Berlin, its crews supported Operation El Dorado Canyon, the retaliatory bombing of Libya. It aided Operation Allied Force, the NATO operation against Serbia in Kosovo in 1999 and Operation Deny Flight, enforcement of a no fly zone over Bosnia Herzegovina. It has provided airlift and refueling support for presidential travel.
In 1997, the 9th orchestrated the first sixteen-ship mixed-cell refueling formation in AMC history for Operation Centraz Bat, the longest airdrop mission in aviation history, in which eight Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs delivered 540 paratroopers and their supporting equipment over nearly 8,000 miles. Following the events of 9/11, the 9th supported Operation Noble Eagle. Starting in October 2001 and continuing to the present day, the unit has provided logistics support of Operation Enduring Freedom and undertaken support in Operation Iraqi Freedom of 2003. In 2015, the squadron's boom operators were awarded the Albert Evans Trophy as the best refueling section in the USAF.


List of airlines of Sierra Leone

This is a list of airlines currently operating in Sierra Leone.


Larry Siegert

Air Vice Marshal Cyril Laurence Siegert, (14 March 1923 – 17 September 2007) was an air officer of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, who served as a bomber pilot during the Second World War and rose to be Chief of the Air Staff, the most senior appointment in the RNZAF, from 1976 to 1979.
Early life and education.
Siegert was born in Fairlie, New Zealand, on 14 March 1923, the son of Lawrence Walter Siegert and his wife Juliet Ann (née Sheehan). He was educated at Fairlie District High School and St Kevin's College, Oamaru. He then attended the Victoria University of Wellington studying law, but quit his studies to enlist into Royal New Zealand Air Force on 8 March 1942, a few days before his 19th birthday.
Second World War.
Siegert received his elementary training in New Zealand, before being sent to Canada to qualify as a pilot under the Empire Training Scheme. He was eventually sent to England and served in Nos 299 and 190 Squadrons RAF, both airborne forces squadrons, flying the Stirling four-engined bomber in the troop transport and glider-towing role. In addition they also flew missions for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), dropping men and supplies into occupied Europe.
Early on 6 June 1944 Siegert saw action during Operation Tonga, the British airborne operation launched to precede the beach landings, his No. 190 Squadron aircraft towing a glider carrying men from the 5th Parachute Brigade.
In September 1944 No. 190 Squadron also supported the attempt to advance into the Netherlands, Operation Market Garden. Siegert's aircraft carried parachute troops on the opening day of the battle, then returned on subsequent days dropping supplies to the troops on the ground. On 21 September, the fifth day of the operation, Siegert's squadron was sent to air-drop supplies to the British troops encircled at Oosterbeek. Unfortunately their fighter escorts were largely grounded by fog over England, and the few that did manage to take off arrived late. As a result, the low-flying transports were an easy target for German Fw 190 fighters, and of the 117 transport aircraft that took part in operations that day, 23 were shot down and 38 severely damaged. Of the ten aircraft from No. 109 Squadron, seven were lost. Siegert's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire, then attacked by two enemy Fw 190's, one of which his rear-gunner shot down, before he evaded the other in a violent high-speed dive.
Siegert was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 17 November 1944, "in recognition of gallantry and devotion to duty in the execution of air operations". His full citation read:
Siegert continued to take part in No. 190 Squadron's special operations over France, Holland, Belgium, and Norway until the end of the war.
Post-war career.
In late 1945 Siegert was seconded to the British Overseas Airways Corporation, flying Dakota transport aircraft to Cairo and West Africa for the next two years. In 1948–1949 he was loaned to No. 24 (Commonwealth) Squadron RAF, flying in supplies during the Berlin Airlift.
In October 1953 Squadron Leader Siegert was the second pilot of the RNZAF Hastings transport aircraft that took part in the London-Christchurch air race. The Hastings competed in the Transport Handicap against a KLM DC-6A and a BEA Viscount, but was forced to land in Negombo, Ceylon, after its No. 2 engine failed during a rain storm. He was subsequently awarded the Air Force Cross in the 1954 New Year Honours, and also served as captain of the Queen's aircraft during the royal tour of New Zealand in December 1953 and January 1954, being made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order on 20 January 1954.
Siegert served as an air attaché at the New Zealand Embassy in Washington D.C. between 1954 and 1957, then attended the RAF Staff College in England. He served in Far East Command from 1963 to 1965 then commanded No. 3 Squadron RNZAF from January to November 1966.
He was served as Air Officer Commanding RNZAF Operations Group in 1969, and from 1971 to 1973 was chief of staff of the ANZUK forces stationed at Singapore. He was then appointed Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Policy), serving until 1976, being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1975 Queen's Birthday Honours.
He was promoted to air vice marshal and appointed Chief of the Air Staff in October 1976, serving until October 1979. In the 1979 New Year Honours, he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath.
Retirement.
Siegert retired from the RNZAF on 16 November 1979, and joined Marine–Air Systems, serving as General Manager and Director from 1980 to 1984. He was also the President of the Air Cadet League (1980–1985) and a Member of the Air Services Licensing Authority (1980–1986).
On 17 September 2007 Siegert died at Lower Hutt Hospital, aged 84, nine days after the death of his wife.
Personal life.
Siegert married Shirley Berenice Dick in Brisbane, Australia, on 31 July 1948, and they had four children.


Beaufort Palmer

Squadron Leader Beaufort Mosman Hunter "Beau" Palmer, (14 December 1919 – 22 November 2011) was an Australian aviator of the Second World War who was recognised as one of Australia's finest wartime pilot instructors.
Early life.
Beau was born in Toowong, Brisbane, the son of Carl Beaufort Hunter Palmer and Florence ("née" Robinson), and the grandson of Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer KCMG, an Irish-Australian politician and a Premier of Queensland. His name "Beaufort" was his father's middle name which was in turn a reference to the Beaufort pastoral station operated by grandfather Arthur Palmer. His middle name "Mosman" refers to his paternal grandmother Cecilia Jessie Mosman, who was the sister of Hugh Mosman who discovered gold in Charters Towers.
Beau was educated at Brisbane Boys' College, where he played in the 1st XV and also rowed in two Head of the River (Queensland) winning crews in 1937 and 1938. He learnt to fly while still at school gaining his pilots wings in 1937 at Archerfield Airport with the Royal Queensland Aero Club.
Military career.
Palmer joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1938, was commissioned and posted to the RAAF Base Point Cook, Victoria as a flying instructor in 1939.
In 1940, Palmer was the first pilot to land at the newly established RAAF Base Amberley near Ipswich.
Palmer "pulled every string he could to gain a battlefield posting" and in 1944 assumed command of No. 5 Squadron RAAF. The squadron was operating in Bougainville and Palmer flew over 100 sorties in 1944 and 1945.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on Bouganville where he led an operation that destroyed three or four Japanese tanks in a CAC Boomerang fighter. The tanks were sighted by a New Zealand Vought F4U Corsair pilot which returned to Piva Airfield. Squadron Leader Palmer then led other Corsairs to the target and directed the attack.
In other operations Palmer achieved a direct hit on a Japanese hut at the southern end of Bouganville Island and in February and March 1945 supported the attacks at the Battle of Tsimba Ridge.
Palmer's war ended in late May 1945 when he stepped on an old American anti-personnel mine. His leg was subsequently amputated.
Post-war career.
After two years of medical treatment, Palmer purchased Kareelah, a property at Warra in the Darling Downs. Almost 30 years later he regained his wings in the 1970s.
In later life Palmer was active with the Returned and Services League of Australia and contributed to saving Toowong Memorial Park from development. Aged 91, Palmer died on 22 November 2011.


RAF Goldsborough

Royal Air Force Goldsborough or more simply RAF Goldsborough is a former Royal Air Force station located in North Yorkshire, England.
History.
It was a radar station and part of the RAF ROTOR system. Originally staffed by army personnel, it was handed over to the RAF in March 1942. It was opened as Radar station M45 as part of the coastal defence/Chain Home Low (CD/CHL) system. It was later upgraded to the ROTOR system with a new operating block being built between 1951 and 1952. The guardroom was destroyed by fire in 1958.
In the early 1960s, elements of the bomb disposal flights based at RAF Stafford used RAF Goldsborough as a base whilst clearing land at Snod Hill in preparation for the building of RAF Fylingdales.
Current use.
The guard house has been damaged in a fire and it is now private property.


Aeros Still

The Aeros Still is a Ukrainian single-surface ultralight trike wing, designed and produced by Aeros of Kyiv. The wing is widely used on Aeros trikes as well as by other ultralight aircraft manufacturers.
Design and development.
The Still wing is a cable-braced, king post-equipped hang glider-style wing designed as a docile beginner and flight training wing for two-place trikes. It comes in one size, the Still-17, named for its metric wing area of .
The wing is made from bolted-together aluminum tubing, with its single surface wing covered in Dacron sailcloth. The wing's crosstube is exposed and is of a floating design. Its span wing has a nose angle of 122°, an aspect ratio of 6.1:1 and uses an "A" frame weight-shift control bar.


Albert Daniel Smith

Albert Daniel Smith (February 6, 1887 – January 20, 1970) was a pioneer aviator and later a Brigadier General.
Biography.
He was born on February 6, 1887. He trained to fly and was awarded Aero Club of America license #354.
Albert D. Smith won an American Hydroplane duration record on February 19, 1916
In March 1918 he crashed at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio and was injured.
He arranged the first transcontinental flight for the United States Army in 1918. Under his command the first transcontinental flight for the United States Army was made in 1918 using four JN-4 aircraft. On December 4, 1918 they left San Diego, California. They landed Jacksonville, Florida on December 22, 1918.
In 1919 he joined Henry H. Arnold's Northwestern Forest Fire Patrol and was released from service in 1923 because of his disability from his previous crash.
He died on January 20, 1970 in Newport Beach, California.


Vic Ferry

Victor Jasper "Vic" Ferry DFC (11 January 1922 – 29 July 2007) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1965 to 1987, representing South-West Province.
Ferry was born in Albany, Western Australia, to Mary Eva (née MacLeod) and Roland Jasper Ferry. He attended Hale School, Perth, and afterward worked as a manager with the National Bank of Australasia. Ferry enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1942, as a flight lieutenant. He later transferred to the British Royal Air Force (RAF), and saw service as a pilot in Western Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean, India, and Burma. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. After the war's end, Ferry returned to his job as a bank manager, living in Queensland for a time, and then in country Western Australia (including Boddington, Williams, and Manjimup). A member of the Liberal Party since 1949, he was elected to parliament at the 1965 state election, replacing the retiring James Murray in the Legislative Council. After the Liberals' victory at the 1974 election, Ferry was appointed government whip in the Legislative Council. In 1977, he was promoted to chairman of committees, serving in that position until his party's defeat at the 1983 election. Ferry left parliament in 1987, midway through his fourth six-year term. He retired to Perth, and lived in the RAAF retirement village at Merriwa until his death.


Xiangxi Airport

Xiangxi Airport () is an airport under construction to serve Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hunan Province, China. It is located in Huayuan County. The airport will be a dual-use general aviation and commercial aviation airport.
Construction of the airport started in 2020 with an investment of CNY 1.67 billion. The airport is expected to open for the first test flights in 2021.


List of airlines of Trinidad and Tobago

This is a list of airlines which have an air operator's certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Trinidad and Tobago.


Mid Point Skiway


344th Air Refueling Squadron

The 344th Air Refueling Squadron is a unit of the US Air Force, part of the 22d Air Refueling Wing Air Mobility Command at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. It operates the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus aircraft conducting aerial refueling missions.
History.
World War II.
Training in the United States.
The squadron was first activated at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the original three squadrons assigned to the 98th Bombardment Group. The 344th soon moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana, where it began to train as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber squadron under Third Air Force.
The squadron's training was short and it deployed to Egypt in July 1942 over the South Atlantic Ferrying Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean Sea to Brazil. It made the Atlantic crossing from Brazil to Liberia, then transited east across central Africa to Sudan. The air echelon of the group reformed with the ground echelon which traveled by the SS "Pasteur" around the Cape of Good Hope, joining with the air echelon of the squadron, the 343d Bombardment Squadron and group headquarters at St Jean d'Acre Airfield, in Palestine.
Combat in the Middle East.
Upon arrival in the Near East, the squadron became part of United States Army Middle East Air Force, which was replaced by Ninth Air Force in November. It entered combat in August, attacking shipping and harbor installations to cut Axis supply lines to North Africa. It also bombed airfields and rail transit lines in Sicily and mainland Italy. The squadron moved forward with Ninth Air Force to airfields in Egypt; Libya and Tunisia supporting the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert Campaign. Its support of this campaign earned the squadron the Distinguished Unit Citation.
On 1 August 1943, the squadron participated in Operation Tidal Wave, the low-level raid on oil refineries near Ploiești, Romania. Alerted to the vulnerability of the Ploiești refineries by a June 1942 raid by the HALPRO project, the area around Ploesti had become one of the most heavily defended targets in Europe. The squadron pressed its attack on the Asta Romana Refinery through smoke and fire from bombing by another group's earlier attack and heavy flak defenses. The squadron's actions in this engagement earned it a second Distinguished Unit Citation.
When the forces driving East from Egypt and Libya met up with those moving westward from Algeria and Morocco in Tunisia in September 1943, Ninth Air Force was transferred to England to become the tactical air force for the invasion of the European Continent. The squadron, along with all Army Air Forces units in North Africa became part of Twelfth Air Force. In November 1943, the squadron moved to Brindisi Airport, Italy, where it became part of Fifteenth Air Force, which assumed control of strategic operations in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, while Twelfth became a tactical air force.
Strategic operations in Italy.
The squadron continued strategic bombardment raids on targets in Occupied France, southern Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria and targets in the Balkans. These included industrial sites, airfields, harbors and lines of communication. Although focusing on strategic bombing, the squadron was sometimes diverted to tactical operations, supporting Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio and the Battle of Monte Cassino. In the summer of 1944, the squadron supported Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. The unit also assisted the Soviet advance into the Balkans, and supported Yugoslav Partisans and guerillas in neighboring countries.
Return to the United States.
The squadron returned to the United States in May 1945. Upon arrival it was redesignated as a very heavy Boeing B-29 Superfortress squadron and began training for deployment to the Pacific to conduct strategic bombardment raids on Japan. In November 1945, the 98th Group was inactivated and the squadron moved to Merced Army Air Field, California, where it was assigned to the 444th Bombardment Group, where it replaced the 678th Bombardment Squadron, which was converted into a reconnaissance unit. The squadron was inactivated at what was now Castle Field in March 1946.
Strategic Air Command.
Reactivation.
The squadron was reactivated in 1947 as a Strategic Air Command (SAC) Superfortress unit at Spokane Army Air Field, Washington. The squadron performed strategic bombardment training missions until the outbreak of the Korean War.
Korean War.
In the summer of 1950, when the Korean War began, the 19th Bombardment Wing was the only medium bomber unit available for combat in the Pacific. In August, SAC dispatched the squadron and other elements of the 98th Bombardment Group to Yokota Air Base, Japan to augment FEAF Bomber Command, Provisional. The group flew its first combat mission on 7 August against marshalling yards near Pyongyang, capital of North Korea. The squadron's missions focused on interdiction of enemy lines of communications, attacking rail lines, bridges and roads. The squadron also flew missions that supported United Nations ground forces.
SAC’s mobilization for the Korean War highlighted that SAC wing commanders were not sufficiently focused on combat operations. Under a plan implemented for most wings in February 1951 and finalized in June 1952, the wing commander focused primarily on the combat units and the maintenance necessary to support combat aircraft by having the combat and maintenance squadrons report directly to the wing and eliminating the intermediate group structures. This reorganization was implemented in April 1951 for the 98th Wing, when wing headquarters moved on paper to Japan, taking over the personnel and functions of the 98th Group, which became a paper organization, and the squadron began operating under wing control.
Starting in January 1952, the threat posed by enemy interceptors forced the squadron to fly only night missions. The unit flew its last mission, a propaganda leaflet drop, on the last day before the armistice was signed. The squadron remained in combat ready status in Japan until July 1954 when it moved to Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska.
Conversion to jet bombers.
The squadron disposed of its B-29s to storage at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. At Lincoln, the squadron was equipped with new Boeing B-47E Stratojets. it engaged in strategic bombardment training with the B-47 throughout the rest of the 1950s, into the early 1960s. From November 1955 through January 1966, the squadron deployed to RAF Lakenheath as part of Operation Reflex, standing alert at the forward deployment site.
From 1958, the 344th began to assume an alert posture at its home base, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases to meet General Thomas S. Power's initial goal of maintaining one third of SAC’s planes on fifteen minute ground alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. The alert commitment was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962.
Cuban Missile Crisis.
Soon after detection of Soviet missiles in Cuba, on 22 October 1962 the squadron's B-47s dispersed. On 24 October the 343d went to DEFCON 2, placing all its aircraft on alert. Most dispersal bases were civilian airfields with AF Reserve or Air National Guard units. The unit's B-47s were configured for execution of the Emergency War Order as soon as possible after dispersing. On 15 November 1/6 of the squadron's dispersed B-47s were recalled to Lincoln. The remaining B-47s and their supporting tankers were recalled on 24 November. On 27 November SAC returned its bomber units to normal alert posture.
The squadron was inactivated in June 1966 with the phaseout of the B-47 and closure of Lincoln.
Air refueling.
The squadron was redesignated the 344th Air Refueling Squadron and reactivated in May 1986 at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. The squadron was assigned to SAC's 68th Air Refueling Wing until the implementation of the objective wing organization, which called for one wing to control all units an each base. The 68th Wing was inactivated and the squadron transferred to the 4th Operations Group as the 4th Wing added the air refueling mission to its fighters. After the formation of Air Mobility Command (AMC) in 1992, the squadron moved to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas and became part of AMC's 22d Operations Group.
On 25 January 2019, McConnell received the first two ("15-46009" and "17-46031") of a planned 36 KC-46 Pegasus aircraft that will eventually replace the KC-135 as the primary Air Force tanker aircraft. June 4, 2019 the 334th performed the first KC-46 Pegasus IOT&E (initial operations testing and evaluation) flight, refueling two F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft four times with around 29,000lb of fuel.


London City Airport

London City Airport is an international airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the London Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and a shorter distance east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial industry, which is a major user of the airport. The airport was developed by the engineering company Mowlem in 1986–87. In 2016 it was bought by a Canadian-led consortium of Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), OMERS, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Wren House Infrastructure Management of the Kuwait Investment Authority.
London City Airport has a single long runway, and a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P728) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flight training (but only for training necessary for the operation of aircraft at the airport). Only multi-engine, fixed-wing aircraft up to Airbus A318 size with special aircraft and aircrew certification to fly 5.5° approaches are allowed to conduct operations at London City Airport.
London City had over 4.5 million passenger movements in 2017. It is the fifth-busiest airport by passengers and aircraft movements serving the London area — after Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton — and was the 14th-busiest in the UK in 2017. In 2019 the airport handled over 5 million passengers.
History.
Proposal and construction.
The airport was first proposed in 1981 by Reg Ward, who was Chief Executive of the newly formed London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) that was responsible for the regeneration of the area. He in turn discussed the proposal with chairman of John Mowlem & Co Sir Philip Beck and the idea of an airport for Docklands was born. By November of that year Mowlem and Bill Bryce of Brymon Airways had submitted an outline proposal to the LDDC for a Docklands STOLport city centre gateway.
On 27 June 1982 Brymon's Captain Harry Gee landed a de Havilland Canada Dash 7 turboprop aircraft on Heron Quays, in the nearby West India Docks, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the STOLport project. Later that year the LDDC published a feasibility study, an opinion poll amongst local residents showed a majority in favour of the development of the airport, and Mowlem submitted an application for planning permission.
A 63-day planning inquiry started on 6 June 1983. By the middle of the following year, Nicholas Ridley the Secretary of State for Transport had indicated that he was "disposed to agree the application", but asked for further details. The Greater London Council brought an action in the High Court of Justice to reopen the inquiry. After the High Court dismissed the action in March 1985, outline planning permission was granted in May of that year, followed by the grant of detailed planning permission in early 1986.
Construction began on the site shortly after permission was granted, with Charles, Prince of Wales laying the foundation stone of the terminal building, designed by R Seifert and Partners, on 2 May 1986. The first aircraft landed on 31 May 1987, with the first commercial services operating from 26 October 1987. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened London City Airport in November of the same year.
Opening and runway extension.
In 1988, the first full year of operation, the airport handled 133,000 passengers. The earliest scheduled flights were operated to and from Plymouth, Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. With a runway of only in length, and a slope of the glidepath of 7.5° (for noise abatement reasons), the airport could only be used by a very limited number of aircraft types, principally the Dash 7 and the smaller Dornier 228. In 1989, the airport submitted a planning application to extend the runway, allowing the use of a larger number of aircraft types.
In 1990, the airport handled 230,000 passengers, but the figures fell drastically after the Gulf War and did not recover until 1993, when 245,000 passengers were carried. By this time the extended runway had been approved and opened (on 5 March 1992). At the same time the glide path was reduced to 5.5°, still steep for a European airport (the slope of an airport glide path is normally 3.0°), but sufficient to allow a larger range of aircraft, including the BAe 146 regional jet liner and Airbus A318, to serve the airport.
By 1995, passenger numbers reached half a million, and Mowlem sold the airport to Irish businessman Dermot Desmond. Five years later passenger numbers had climbed to 1,580,000, and over 30,000 flights were operated. In 2002, a jet centre catering to corporate aviation was opened, as well as additional aircraft stands at the western end of the apron. In 2003, a new ground holding point was established at the eastern end of the runway, enabling aircraft awaiting takeoff to hold there whilst other aircraft landed.
Further expansion.
On 2 December 2005, London City Airport DLR station opened on a branch of the Docklands Light Railway, providing rail access to the airport for the first time, and providing fast rail links to Canary Wharf and the City of London. By 2006, more than 2.3 million passengers used London City Airport.
In October 2006, the airport was purchased from Dermot Desmond by a consortium comprising insurer AIG Financial Products and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). In the final quarter of 2008 GIP increased its stake in the airport to 75%, the remaining 25% belonging to Highstar Capital.
London City Airport was granted planning permission to construct an extended apron with four additional aircraft parking stands and four new gates to the east of the terminal in 2001; they became operational on 30 May 2008. They are carried on piles above the water of the King George V Dock.
British Airways commenced the first scheduled transatlantic flights from the airport in September 2009, with a twice a day service to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport using a specially configured Airbus A318 aircraft. The A318 is the smallest airliner to operate transatlantic since BA's corporate predecessor, BOAC, began transatlantic jet flights on 4 October 1958, with the De Havilland Comet 4.
The first day of the service, one week after Willie Walsh of British Airways pledged to the United Nations that aviation would deliver deep cuts in carbon emissions, was disrupted by activists from Plane Stupid and Fight the Flights dressed up in business suits.
London Olympics 2012.
Before the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, it was reported that over £7 million (in 2011) was invested in the terminal to extend the Central Search area and adding other improvements. During the Games, though, the airport operated only restricted hours and (for security), and the low capacity ramp and short runway excluded most long-range arrivals. However, it was the closest airport to Olympic Park, with normal scheduled travel by road of 15 minutes.
Current expansion.
In early 2013, work was expected to start on a £15m investment programme to refurbish the western pier with new departure gates and improved lounges and to redevelop the international arrivals hall and baggage handling areas. In response to the UK government white paper "The Future of Air Transport", the airport operators have produced a master plan outlining their vision for growth up to 2030. The plan was subject to public consultation during spring 2006, and has been republished incorporating comments from this consultation. The master plan shows a phased expansion of the airport, giving the capability of handling 8 million passengers per annum by 2030. It does not propose the addition of a second runway, or significant expansion of the airport boundaries. Phase 1 of this development would be undertaken by 2015. It would include the in-progress construction of the eastern apron extension and provision of a finger pier to the south of this apron to provide passenger access to aircraft using the new parking stands. The terminal building would also be extended to use the triangle of land between it and the railway station. The existing jet centre serving corporate aviation would be extended, a new hangar built to allow aircraft maintenance, and a replacement fire station provided.
Phases 2 and 3 would be undertaken between 2015 and 2030. Further aircraft parking stands would be built to the east of the terminal, and a taxiway would be constructed alongside and to the south of the runway, to avoid the need for aircraft to back-track on the runway. Both these developments would involve further reduction in the water area of the King George V Dock. The existing fuel farm would be relocated to a site at the east of the airport, where it could be supplied by barge, and linked to a hydrant based supply system, thus eliminating both road tanker deliveries and on-airport fuel bowser movements. The existing surface car park would be replaced by a multi-storey car park, allowing extension of the vehicle drop-off and pick up area. The jet centre and hangar facilities would be further extended. Finally the existing terminal building would be replaced.
In line with phase 1 of the master plan, London City Airport made a planning application to the London Borough of Newham in August 2007. This would allow it to increase the number of flights per year from 80,000 to 120,000 by 2010. In July 2008, the Planning Officer for Newham Council produced a report on the Planning Application, recommending that planning permission be granted. The decision was deferred by the council's Development Control Committee at their meeting on 30 July 2008, following a request from Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, that the decision be delayed until after a study by the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has been published.
Over 10,000 local residents were consulted by Newham Council over the plan of which 1,109 replied, 801 with objections and 308 in support. The 801 objections mainly concerned increase in noise, increase in air pollution, surface transport, socio-economics and regeneration. The 308 supporters mainly concerned the reduction of air pollution, an alternative London and 2012 Olympic gateway, additional jobs, and benefiting to the local economy. The residents campaign group "HACAN East" (formerly "Fight the Flights") is opposed to expansion due to noise and pollution issues.
On 29 September 2009, "Fight the Flights" took Newham Council to court in order to challenge their decision to allow a 50% increase from 76,000 to 120,000 flights. On 20 January 2010, the challenge was dismissed, and a deadline of 14 days to appeal was set. The plan was given the go-ahead in February 2015. However this was overturned by Boris Johnson in March 2015. On 27 July 2016 London City Airport was given approval by authorities for their £344m expansion plan.
Recent developments.
In October 2015, Global Infrastructure Partners which owned 75% of the facility, put it up for sale, with the agreement of Oaktree Capital Management which holds the remaining 25%. A sale to a Canadian-led consortium of Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), OMERS, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Wren House Infrastructure Management of the Kuwait Investment Authority for £2 billion was confirmed in February 2016. The sale was completed on 10 March 2016.
In September 2016, British Airways announced the termination of one of its two daily long-haul all-business class services from the airport to New York City, citing economic reasons.
The decision was taken to relocate the control tower to a site away at Swanwick, Hampshire, utilising three cable links providing live video which will be a UK first by relocating air traffic controllers to a remotely operated digital control room.
Airport opposition.
Green Party candidate for the 2016 London mayoral election and member of the London Assembly Siân Berry has been vocal in calling for the closure of London City Airport and subsequent redevelopment of the area it occupies. She has cited that the relatively low profit from such a large amount of land, high demand for housing in Greater London, and "untold health and environmental problems to thousands of local residents".
Caroline Russell, the leader of the Green Party on the London Assembly and Scott Ainslie, former Green MEP for London and councillor on Lambeth Council have both called for its closure.
Operations.
Served destinations.
Owing to London City Airport's proximity to London's Docklands and financial district, the airport's primary users are business travellers with destinations such as Luxembourg and Frankfurt, although the number of leisure destinations served like Palma de Mallorca, Málaga or Chambéry has increased in recent years. London City is at its busiest during the winter months, when a number of airlines, most notably British Airways and Swissair (later Swiss International Air Lines), fly to ski resort gateway destinations. Zürich, Geneva, and Milan are among the destinations popular among winter sports enthusiasts.
In July 2020, British Airways announced the termination of its all-business-class flights between City and New York-JFK, which had been operated since 2009.
Facilities and utilized aircraft.
Due to the airport's proximity to Central London, it has stringent rules imposed to limit the noise impact from aircraft operations. This, together with the physical dimensions of the long runway and the steep glideslope, limits the aircraft types that can use London City Airport. The size and layout of the airport and overall complexity caused by the lack of taxiways mean that the airport gets very busy during peak hours. The air traffic controllers have to deal with over 38 flights an hour on a runway requiring a lengthy backtrack for each aircraft needing to depart from runway 27 or land on runway 09. Operations are restricted to 06:30 to 22:30 Monday to Friday, 06:30 to 13:00 on Saturdays and 12:30 to 22:30 on Sundays. These restrictions are related to noise.
Mid-range airliners seen at London City include the ATR 42 (both −300 and −500 variants), ATR 72, Airbus A318, Bombardier Q400, BAe 146/Avro RJ, Dornier 328, Embraer ERJ 135, Embraer 170, Embraer 190 and Fokker 50. On 30 January 2009, trials were completed successfully with the ATR 72–500, leading to its approval for use at the airport. The Embraer 190SR underwent trials from 28 March 2009, and thereafter gained approval. The Fokker 70, BAe Jetstream 41, Saab 340 and Saab 2000 also have approval for scheduled operations at the airport. A number of airlines including Swiss and Odyssey have ordered the Airbus A220 with the intention of operating it from London City once delivered and approved. A220-100 operations for Swiss from City commenced in late 2017.
On 22–23 March 2017, the A220-100 completed tests for the 5.5-degree approach in Wichita and Salina, Kansas. The A220-100 was certified for the steep approach landing for London City in April 2017. Corporate aircraft such as the Beechcraft Super King Air, Cessna CitationJet series, Hawker 400, Hawker 800, Piaggio Avanti and variants of the Dassault Falcon business jets are increasingly common. The airport is not available for use by single-engine aircraft or helicopters; recreational flights and single-pilot operations are also not permitted.
The size of the airport, constrained by the water-filled Royal Albert and King George V docks to the north and south respectively, also means that there are no covered maintenance facilities for aircraft. The airport was envisaged for use as a seaplane base by AirSea Lines.
Terminal.
With space limited in the London Docklands area, and comparatively low passenger volumes, London City Airport is small compared with several other airports serving London, such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton. The airport has a single, two-storey passenger terminal building. The ground floor contains the check-in desks and some service facilities as well as a staircase leading to the security control on the upper level, after which the airside waiting area and several more shops can be found. The waiting area is connected to piers on both sides where corridors on the upper floor lead to the departure gates on the ground level. As the airport has no jet bridges, walk-boarding is used on all stands.
Airlines and destinations.
The following airlines operate regular services to and from London City Airport:
Statistics.
Passengers.
Passenger numbers at London City Airport saw rapid growth between 2003 and 2008, doubling from around 1.5 million per year to over 3 million. Totals declined in 2009 and 2010, but have since recovered and in 2019 over 5,1 million passengers passed through London City.
Ground transport.
Docklands Light Railway.
London City Airport is served by London City Airport DLR station, which is an elevated station adjoining the terminal building. The station is on a branch of the Docklands Light Railway, which links the airport to Canary Wharf and the City of London as well as to and stations with interchanges to London Underground, London Overground, TfL Rail, Abellio Greater Anglia, c2c Thameslink and Southeastern High Speed train services.
Elizabeth line.
Until 2006, Silvertown railway station on the North London line served the airport, but it was closed during the construction of Crossrail. When the new Elizabeth line comes into service in 2021, its route will pass very close to London City Airport but there are no plans for a station at the airport. Proposals have been put forward that a new station should be opened on the new Elizabeth line to serve the airport; TfL has not included a City Airport station in its plans.
Road access.
The airport is served by the A1020 road and the A112 road. These give fast links to Canning Town, the City of London and Stratford, as well as connecting to the A13 and the North Circular Road (A406). Also the A13 provides easy access to the M25 motorway, as with the A406 connecting to the M11 motorway.
The airport has both a short-term and a long-term car park, both within walking distance of the terminal and a taxi rank outside the terminal door.
Local buses.
The airport is served by London Buses services:
The express shuttle buses, which formerly ran to various destinations, were withdrawn after the DLR line was built.
Riverboat.
MBNA Thames Clippers services will call to a new wharf being built at nearby residential development Royal Wharf, allowing travel into Central London using an Oyster card or contactless smart card.


List of airlines of El Salvador

This is a list of airlines operating in El Salvador. Taca Airlines was the major airline and flag Carrier of El Salvador. In 2013 Taca Airlines merged with Colombian flag carrier Avianca. Comalapa International Airport is still one of Avianca's hubs connecting North America, South America, the Caribbean and parts of Europe like Spain.


List of airlines of Belgium

This is a list of airlines currently operating in Belgium.


Ridge Landing Airpark

Ridge Landing Airpark , also known as Ridge Landing Airport, is a private use airpark located four nautical miles (7 km) west of the central business district of Frostproof, a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Ridge Landing is an airpark community located between Lake Wales and Sebring, Ridge Landing offers pilots airport homes with private airstrips. Ridge Landing is centrally located between Orlando and Tampa and equidistant to Miami and Jacksonville. It is privately owned by John Fazzini.
Facilities.
Ridge Landing covers an area of at an elevation of 140 feet (43 m) above mean sea level. It has one asphalt paved runway designated 15/33 which measures 3,000 by 60 feet (914 x 18 m).
Ridge Landing is a gated community with grass taxiways and all roadways separate. The runway has pilot controlled lighting and is controlled by the Ridge Landing Home Owner's Association.
Nearest airports.
Public use airports located in the vicinity include:


No. 8 Air Experience Flight RAF

No. 8 Air Experience Flight (8 AEF) is an Air Experience Flight based at RAF Cosford.
History.
8 AEF was formed in October 1958 at Cosford, later moving to RAF Shawbury in 1960. It then returned to Cosford in 1978, moved again to Shawbury in 1979 and finally back to Cosford, where it has remained since April 1996. From 1 April 1996, it has been parented by the University of Birmingham Air Squadron, and they are equipped with 5 civil registered, Grob Tutor 115EA Mk 1s which are provided and maintained by Babcock, formally VT Aerospace.
Background.
No. 8 Air Experience Flight is one of twelve Air Experience Flights run by the Air Cadet Organisation of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in the 1950s, along with the other AEFs, with the aim of teaching basic flying to members of the Air Training Corps, Combined Cadet Force (RAF Section) and occasionally, the Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets and the Air Scouts. It is based at DCAE Cosford and is used primarily and is parented by the University of Birmingham Air Squadron (UBAS).


305th Air Refueling Squadron

The 305th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 305th Air Refueling Wing at Grissom Air Force Base, Indiana, where it was inactivated on 20 August 1993.
The first predecessor of the squadron was the 605th Bombardment Squadron which served as a training unit for heavy bomber aircrews during World War II until it was disbanded in a major reorganization of Army Air Forces training units in 1944.
The 305th Squadron was activated in 1953 in 1953 with Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter aircraft. It converted to the Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers and continued in the refueling role until inactivated. The two squadrons were consolidated into a single unit in 1985.
History.
Bombardment training.
The squadron's first predecessor was the 605th Bombardment Squadron, which was activated at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona on 1 March 1943, but made two moves the following month, arriving at Wendover Field, Utah on 17 April. The squadron was one of the four original squadrons of the 399th Bombardment Group. At Wendover, it served as an Operational Training Unit (OTU) for Consolidated B-24 Liberator units until August. The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups"
The squadron became a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). Like OTUs, RTUs were oversize units, however their mission was to train individual pilots and aircrews. Following this mission change, the 399th Group and its components were reassigned from Second Air Force to Fourth Air Force, then moved to March Field, California in December.
However, the Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units like the 605th, which were assigned personnel and equipment based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit, which was manned and equipped based on the station's requirements. The 605th Squadron was disbanded, and along with operational and supporting units at March was used to form the 420th AAF Base Unit (Bombardment Replacement Training Unit-Heavy).
Air refueling.
The 305th Air Refueling Squadron was originally attached to the 305th Air Bombardment Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida on 2 July 1951. At that time the squadron operated Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighters that were a variant of the C-97 Stratofreighter (which was itself based on the B-50 Superfortress bomber), greatly modified with all the necessary tanks, plumbing, and "flying boom."
When the 305th Bombardment Wing moved in June 1959 to operate Bunker Hill Air Force Base (which was renamed Grissom Air Force Base in 1968), Indiana, the 305th was not part of the Wing. Later that same year, the first KC-135 Stratotankers were assigned to the Wing. At this time the 68th Air Refueling Squadron was assigned to Bunker Hill. Two years later in 1961, B-58s began replacing the B-47s for the bomber squadrons.
On 25 March 1965 the 305th replacing the 68th as the refueling unit for the 305th Wing at Bunker Hill where it remained until it was inactivated. The 305th Wing lost all of its bomber units in 1970 when Strategic Air Command (SAC) underwent a major reorganization. Thereafter the Wing concentrated on air refueling and post attack command and control support and was redesignated the 305th Air Refueling Wing. Throughout the 1970s until the 1990s, the 305th's operational units were the 70th and 305th Air Refueling Squadron and the 3d Airborne Command and Control Squadron.
From the early 1970s, the 305th supported worldwide tanker task forces and military operations by deploying KC-135 aircraft to Europe (e. g. Torrejon AB, Spain), Alaska, Greenland, Southeast Asia (e.g. U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, Thailand) and the Pacific (e.g. Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam and Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii). The unit along with many others provided refuelling support for Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Arc Light in Southest Asia from 1965 to 1973. The unit later provided tanker support to units involved in the invasion of Grenada (October 1983) and the invasion of Panama (December 1989). Later in the 1990s the unit deployed personnel and aircraft to provide refuelling support for air operations to and in Southwest Asia and the Middle East. The squadron also delivered food to Kurdish Northern Iraq.
In the 1970s and 1980s Grissom was one of the largest tanker bases in the country. The 305th aircraft and crew participated every day in sustained alerts for SAC not only at Grissom but in support of bomber squadrons assigned to other SAC bases throughout the USA and Canada, e.g. Goose Bay Airport, McConnell Air Force Base, Ellsworth Air Force Base, Grand Forks Air Force Base and others. Its crews provided the primary refueling support for 3d Airborne Command and Control Squadron Operation Looking Glass missions.
The typical crew consisted of a set pilot, co-pilot, navigator (officers) and boom operator (enlisted). Typical missions included refuelling for B-52s, EC-135s, F-4s, RF-4s, RC-135s, SR-71s, U-2s, F-104s, and F-105s. Missions oftentimes included passenger runs and cargo runs.
Grissom was realigned under Air Mobility Command (AMC) in 1992 following the inactivation of SAC. The Wing moved to McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey in 1994, but the 305th did not move with the Wing and became inactive.
Lineage.
605th Bombardment Squadron
305th Air Refueling Squadron


Minerve Canada


Arkhip Lyulka

Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyul'ka ("Russian": Архи́п Миха́йлович Лю́лька, "Ukrainian": Архип Михайлович Люлька) (1908–1984), was a Soviet scientist and designer of jet engines, head of the OKB Lyulka, member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Biography.
Arkhip Lyulka was born on March 23, 1908, in Savarka village in the Kiev Guberniya of Russian Empire (new name: Savarka village, Kiev Oblast of Ukraine ) . He was educated in the Savarka village school and graduated from the Kiev Polytechnic Institute in 1931 (Mikhail Kravchuk was his teacher and mentor in both institutions). He then worked for two years in the Kharkiv turbogen factory.
 Lyul'ka was a USSR aero-engine design bureau / manufacturer from 1938 to the 1990s when manufacturing and design elements were integrated as NPO Saturn based at Rybinsk. The Lyul'ka design bureau had its roots in the Kharkiv Aviation Institute ( Ukrainian SSR ) where Arkhip M. Lyul'ka was working with a team designing the "ATsN" (Agregat Tsentralnovo Nadduva - Centralised supercharger) installation on the Petlyakov Pe-8 bomber. Lyul'ka was responsible for designing the first Soviet gas turbine engines, preferring to steer away from copying captured German equipment, he succeeded in producing home grown engines.
In 1939-1941 Arkhip Lyul'ka elaborated the design for the World's first turbofan engine, and acquired a patent for this new invention on April 22, 1941. Although several prototypes were built and ready for state tests, Lyulka was forced to abandon his research and evacuate to the Ural mountains as the Great Patriotic War began with the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.
In 1941-42, Lyul'ka worked in a tank factory in Chelyabinsk as a Diesel-engine engineer. However, after the failure of the Soviet rocket engine project of 1942, Joseph Stalin recalled Arkhip Lyul'ka among other scientists working on jet engines to resume their work in Moscow.
From 1945 onwards, the Soviet jet engine project split into two: the OKB MiG based their development on indigenous technology combined with German trophy aircraft and Western technology. Lyul'ka, however, refused any foreign influence and continued his own research. In 1945-47 he designed the first Soviet jet engine, TR-1, which passed the whole cycle of state tests with success. Pavel Sukhoy (head of the OKB Sukhoy) immediately proposed to install the new engine on his Su-11 jets, starting a long collaborative work with Lyulka. He later designed the AL-5, AL-7, AL-21 turbojet engines which were installed on the Su-7, Su-17, Su-20, Su-24, MiG-23 and other Soviet military aircraft. Lyulka also designed the upper stage engines for the Soviet moon rocket N1.
In the 1970s, Pavel Sukhoy asked Arkhip Lyul'ka to design a new engine with unorthodox characteristics for installation on the projected Su-27. The challenge was taken up, and although Pavel Sukhoy died in 1974, his work was carried on by his successors and colleagues, including Lyulka. The primary difficulty in designing this aircraft appeared to be in the engines, which had to be constantly redesigned and upgraded. As a result of the intensive work of Arkhip Lyul'ka and his team, the work on the new engine, AL-31F, was finally accomplished in the early 1980s, . Unfortunately, Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyul'ka died on June 2, 1984, .
Achievements.
Overall, the achievements of Arkhip Lyulka have become decisive for Russia and its allies. To this day, the patent for double jet turbofan engines widely used in all sectors of the world's aviation belongs to him. The AL-31 alone has become the cornerstone for various international developments in both civilian and military sectors, now undertaken by NPO Saturn, the heir to Lyulka's OKB.


Walter Wellman

Walter E. Wellman (November 3, 1858 – January 31, 1934) was an American journalist, explorer, and aëronaut.
Biographical background.
Walter Wellman was born in Mentor, Ohio, in 1858. He was the sixth son of Alonzo Wellman and the fourth by his second wife Minerva Sibilla (Graves) Wellman. Walter's father, Alonzo, served three years in the American Civil War while Walter was young. He was initially with Company D of the 105th Ohio Infantry before becoming a ship-carpenter with the Mississippi River Squadron. When he returned from the war, he took his family west from Ohio to become pioneer settlers of York County, Nebraska.
At age 14 Walter established a weekly newspaper in Sutton, Nebraska. At age 21 Walter returned to Ohio to establish the Cincinnati "Evening Post" and married Laura McCann in Canton, Ohio on 24 December 1879. They had five daughters. In 1884 he became political and Washington DC correspondent for the Chicago "Herald" and "Record-Herald".
Early exploration.
San Salvador.
For a news story, Wellman was asked by the "Chicago Herald" to visit and assess various candidates for the initial landing place of Christopher Columbus in the Americas. He marked the presumed location on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas with a monument in 1892.
Svalbard.
In 1894, Wellman led a polar expedition. He chartered the Norwegian ice steamer "Ragnvald Jarl" from Ålesund and assembled a team of 14 expedition members, mostly from the US and Norway. After an easy passage to the north of Svalbard, the ship reached the ice pack at Waldenøya. With sledges and aluminium boats, the expedition made their way to Martensøya from where they intended to continue to the pole when the "Ragnwald Jarl" lying at Waldenøya was pierced by ice and sank. Wellman gave up his polar ambitions and instead explored the northeast of Svalbard, reaching a latitude of 81° N. The exploring party and the ship's crew then retreated to Lågøya, where they were found by the Norwegian seal-hunting ship "Berntine". Wellman offered the captain 800 $ for taking the whole expedition back immediately.
Franz Josef Land.
Wellman made another attempt on the North Pole in 1898. was his second-in-command. Two more Americans and five Norwegians, among them Paul Bjørvig and , completed the expedition.
They sailed from Tromsø in the chartered ice steamer "Frithjof". After arriving at Cape Flora, they gathered supplies left by the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, before sailing east, in an attempt to find a navigable path northward. Due to the extent of the ice, Wellman was finally forced to erect his base camp, "Harmsworth House", at Cape Tegetthoff on Hall Island. The ship then left the expedition, without Wellman having made any arrangements for a relief ship to bring them home again. He left that to his agent Andreas Aagaard in Tromsø.
On 5 August, he sent Baldwin and three Norwegians to establish an advance camp further north, preferably at Cape Fligely. With inadequate equipment and untrained dogs, the party made very slow progress, hauling and rowing much of the equipment by hand. They eventually reached Cape Heller on Wilczek Land where Baldwin had the Norwegians construct a hut he named "Fort McKinley". On 22 October Baldwin left Bjørvig and Bentsen for the winter to guard their northern outpost with minimal supplies. They were left with no medicine, were to use no fuel for heating and consume no food other than walrus and polar bears. Bentsen soon fell ill and became delirious. He died on 2 January 1899. Bjørvig continued to share his sleeping bag with Bentsen's corpse throughout the winter so as not to attract polar bears.
The other expedition members had been wintering in relative comfort at Harmsworth House. Wellman, who had fallen out with Baldwin over the bad leadership of the sledge expedition, made his way to Fort McKinley in February 1899 with the remaining three Norwegians. Together they buried Bentsen, before continuing north with their sledges. This effort was cut short when Wellman broke his leg after slipping on the ice on 21 March at 81°40' N. The next day, a storm broke up the piece of ice they were camping on. As a result, the expedition lost 14 dogs and nearly all of their provisions and equipment. The Norwegians managed to drag Wellman back to the safety of Harmsworth House on a sledge.
With Wellman himself out of action, he instructed Baldwin to return with the four Norwegians to the farily unexplored Wilczek Land, in the hopes of finding some new geographical features. The discovery of Graham Bell Island proved to be the expedition's greatest success. Wellman named the island after Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor and president of the National Geographical Society which had sponsored the expedition. He also named many bays, islets and other geographical features after prominent American figures.
The expedition was taken home on 27 July 1899 by the sealing ship "Capella".
Airships.
On December 31, 1905, Wellman announced he would make an attempt to reach the North Pole, but this time with an airship. His newspaper provided funds of US$250,000, and he had an airship built in Paris for the Wellman Chicago Record-Herald Polar Expedition. Wellman established expedition headquarters on Dane's Island, Svalbard, in the summer of 1906. The hangar was not completed until August 1906, and the airship's engines self-destructed when tested. Wellman rebuilt the airship in Paris that winter and attempted an aerial voyage to the North Pole in September, 1907. He made a second attempt without financial assistance in 1909, but mechanical failures forced him to turn back 60 miles (100 km.) north of Svalbard.
In the northern autumn of 1910, Wellman expanded his airship "America" to 345,000 cubic feet (9,760 cubic metres) and launched from Atlantic City, New Jersey on 15 October 1910. The engineer Melvin Vaniman sent one of the first aerial radio transmissions when he urged the launch boat to "come and get this goddam cat!" - the cat Kiddo who was (at first) not happy about being airborne. After 38 hours the engine failed and the airship drifted until they were rescued by the Royal Mail steamship "Trent" not far from Bermuda. A second airship, the "Akron", was built the next year. It exploded during its first test flight. Killed were the crew of five, including its captain, the same Melvin Vaniman who was a survivor of the "America". Almost a century later its submerged remains were located. These fragments, along with the airship's lifeboat, which Goodyear Tire and Rubber had stored since 1912, were then donated to the Smithsonian Institution.
Legacy.
In 1902, Wellman wrote "A Tragedy of the Far North" published in "The White World". Wellman's book "The Aerial Age: A Thousand Miles by Airship over the Atlantic Ocean" was published in 1911. "The German Republic" was published in 1916. "The Force Supreme" was published in 1918.
He spent his final years in New York City, where he died of liver cancer in 1934. The Liberty ship "Walter Wellman" was launched 29 September 1944 from Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corporation of Houston, Texas.