Bicol International Airport

Bicol International Airport (Filipino: "Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Bikol", Bikol: "Pankinàban na Palayogan kan Bikol") is an under-construction international airport that will serve Legazpi, the capital city of Albay and the regional center of Bicol Region, in the Philippines. The airport will still have the IATA and ICAO code of the old Legazpi Airport, despite being located in nearby Daraga.
The airport is located in Daraga, an adjacent city of Legazpi. The ₱3.5 billion project is on a 200-hectare plateau 15 kilometers from Mayon Volcano. Some sources name the airport Southern Luzon International Airport (Filipino: "Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Katimogang Luzon"). It will replace the old Legazpi Airport, which is only 2 to 3 kilometers from the volcano.
Once opened, it will handle an estimated 2.2 million passengers every year.
Background.
Bicol International Airport was in planning since early 2006, when officials discussed the feasibility of an international airport in Legazpi. During March 4 and 5, 2006, officials in Daraga, where the airport would be constructed, discussed with the barangay captains and Leaders of barangays Alobo, Inarado, Kinawitan, Burgos, Martos territory, Velasco Hacienda, and Mabini over the conversion of agricultural lands into industrial lands for the airport. It is estimated to occupy at least 2 square kilometres of land, and many families could be displaced from the construction.
It will be the first international airport to be built in Bicolandia and, according to Daraga Mayor Gerry Rodrigueza Jaucian, would be a testament to economic growth in the region and of the dreams of Bicolanos, as shown in the following excerpt from the "Manila Times": "We’re grateful to the President for fulfilling the Bicolanos’ dream to have an international airport. This is the realization of our quest to become one of the booming regions in the country."
Construction.
In July 2007, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC; now simply Department of Transportation), to fast-track the paperwork on the planned new airport. President Macapagal-Arroyo released ₱85 million for its advance engineering study. Tourism secretary Ace Durano has assured the allotment of ₱250 million for the purchase of land. As of November 2007, pre-construction activities such as the feasibility study and site development plan have been completed. The construction contract has been bid for.
The airport was originally scheduled for completion in 2014. However, due to a construction delay, the project was expected to be finished at an unspecified date before 2016. In June 2015, it was reported that the construction is 47% done and would be finished in July 2017, but in July 2016 it was reported that the construction would be delayed further and would be finished in August 2018.
In September 2012, the Department of Budget and Management released ₱4.6 billion to support the public-private partnership (PPP) projects of the DoTC. Of the total, the airport will receive ₱2 billion to develop and fund the engineering of runways and taxiways.
On the night of September 28, 2017, people suspected to be members of the New People's Army committed arson to 11 heavy equipments that were used for the airport's construction.
After a delay in construction for more than a decade, Bicol International Airport was confirmed to be 50% complete in August 2018. The runway, taxi apron, and perimeter fence has been completed. Once the whole airport has been completed, it will handle about 2 million passengers. The airport will be completed on June 21, 2020 and will shortly start operations after. However, this completion target was not met.
In January 2020, the Department of Transportation confirmed that the airport is 62% complete and the construction to be complete in July 2020. The Terminal will open partially for the time being. They also started to hire 500 personnel. However, the July 2020 completion was also not met and construction works were delayed in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of May 2021, the airport is 82.22% complete. The airport is expected to be opened in December 2021.
The airport was also confirmed to have International Chartered flights from Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific to Major cities in Eastern Asia. Specifically Xiamen, Shanghai, and Taipei.


TADS/PNVS


Bertine Sutton

Air Marshal Sir Bertine Entwisle Sutton, (17 December 1886 – 28 September 1946) was a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War and a senior officer in the Royal Air Force from the 1920s to the 1940s.
Early life.
Bertine Sutton was born in Kensington, the son of the Reverend Alfred Sutton and his wife Bertha Frances Entwisle, and grandson of James Sutton of Shardlow. He was educated at Eton and University College, Oxford from where he gained his Bachelor of Arts in 1908.
After graduation, Sutton worked in a solicitor's office in London until he was employed by Hutchinson the publishing company. Sutton had aimed to become a lawyer but the outbreak of the First World War resulted in him entering the Army.
First World War.
Sutton had been an original members of the Oxford University mounted infantry and in 1914 when he joined the Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps as a private soldier. By October of that year, Sutton had been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry and was sent to France. In early 1916, Sutton was posted to No. 5 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, where he served as an observer flying officer. Later that year, Sutton was appointed an RFC wing adjutant and it is likely that he underwent flying training some time in the middle part of 1916.
In 1917, Sutton first served as a pilot and then flight commander on No. 9 Squadron flying RE8s on the Western Front. In October 1917, Sutton was promoted (temporarily) to the rank of major and appointed Officer Commanding No. 7 Squadron, a position he held for the remained of the War.
Sutton was transferred to the Royal Air Force on its establishment and subsequently relinquished his commission in Westmorland and Cumberland Territorial Force.
RAF service during the inter-war years.
In 1921 Sutton attended the British Army's Staff College at Camberley and he subsequently served on the directing staff of the newly established RAF Staff College, Andover for the next four years. After attending a refresher flying course at the Central Flying School, Sutton was appointed the Officer Commanding, No. 1 (Apprentices) Wing at No. 1 School of Technical Training in the summer of 1926. From late 1929 to 1932, Sutton served on the directing staff of the Imperial Defence College.
1932 saw Sutton posted to India as the Officer Commanding No. 1 (Indian) Group. In late 1934 Sutton took up the appointment of senior air staff office at the headquarters of RAF India.
With the pre-Second World War build up of the RAF, Sutton was recalled to Great Britain and served as Air Officer Commanding (AOC) No. 2 (Bomber) Group, the AOC No. 22 Group and then the AOC No. 21 (Training) Group.
Second World War.
At the start of the Second World War, Sutton was AOC No. 21 (Training) Group. In November 1940, Sutton continued in his training role when he was appointed AOC No. 24 (Training) Group. The next year Sutton returned to staff college work, this time as the Commandant of the RAF Staff College at Bulstrode Park.
In the summer of 1942 Sutton was appointed to the Air Council as the Air Member for Personnel (AMP). During his time as AMP, Sutton was required to deal with various manning problems, including the British Army's requirement for more personnel in anticipation of D-day and the Battle of Normandy.
Retirement.
Sutton retired from the RAF on 7 June 1945, just prior to the end of World War II. Sutton made Little Park Farm at Crookham Common, which is near Newbury in Berkshire, his home and he planned to enjoy his library, pictures, and garden. However, by this time Sutton was not in good health and he died just over a year later on 28 September 1946.


RAF Towyn

Royal Air Force Towyn or more simply RAF Towyn is a former Royal Air Force airfield located west of Machynlleth, Powys and north of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales.
It was operational from 1940 and closed in 1945.
History.
The camp was opened on 8 September 1940 as an Anti-Aircraft Co-operation unit for nearby Tonfanau under No.70 Group Army Co-operation Command (AACU). The main function of the Flights on the base was to tow targets for the AACU at Tonfanau.
In December 1943, No 1603 and 1628 Flights were disbanded and joined together to form No. 631 Squadron (RAF). This Squadron stayed at Towyn until May 1945 when it moved on to RAF Llanbedr and the base was closed to flying soon afterwards.
The base continued to be a military working environment being used periodically over the years.
The following units were here at some point:


AgustaWestland

AgustaWestland was a helicopter design and manufacturing company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leonardo S.p.A. (previously Finmeccanica). It was formed in July 2000 as an Anglo-Italian multinational company, when Finmeccanica and GKN merged their respective helicopter subsidiaries (Agusta and Westland Helicopters) to form AgustaWestland, with each holding a 50% share. Finmeccanica acquired GKN's stake in AgustaWestland in 2004.
In 2016, it merged into Leonardo where it became the company's helicopters division under the Leonardo Helicopters brand.
History.
The collaboration between Agusta and Westland dates back to 1981, when the two companies established the European Helicopter Industries joint venture with the aim of developing a new medium-size utility helicopter, the EH101.
In March 1999, Finmeccanica and GKN announced their intention to merge their respective helicopter subsidiaries. The two parties announced finalised terms for the merger in July 2000, which included a 50:50 ownership structure, and the payment of top-up fees to GKN to compensate for a disparity in profit levels between Agusta and Westland.
In January 2002, AgustaWestland announced that it would be cutting a total of 950 jobs in the United Kingdom and closing its factory in Weston-super-Mare, which carried out customer support work, as activity was concentrated at its main site in Yeovil.
On 26 May 2004, GKN confirmed that it had agreed to sell its share of AgustaWestland to Finmeccanica for £1.06 billion. The sale was approved by the British government in October 2004.
AgustaWestland opened offices in Philadelphia in 2005, and won a contract to build the new presidential helicopter Marine One over the U.S. manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft, but this program was canceled in 2009. In November 2005 it was announced that AgustaWestland had agreed to acquire Bell Helicopter's 25 per cent interest in the AB139 medium twin helicopter program, and to increase its interest in the BA609 civil tiltrotor aircraft from 25 per cent to 40 per cent.
In June 2008, AgustaWestland and the Russia-based helicopter manufacturer Russian Helicopters agreed to form a new joint venture company to assemble AW139 helicopters in Russia. Construction of a $50 million helicopter assembly facility in the town of Tomilino near Moscow began in June 2010.
In early 2010, AgustaWestland acquired PZL-Świdnik, a Polish helicopter manufacturer.
In September 2012, AgustaWestland and Northrop Grumman announced the signing of a comprehensive teaming agreement under which the companies would jointly bid for contracts to build the U.S. Air Force Combat Rescue helicopter and U.S. Navy's new "Marine One" presidential helicopter.
In March 2013, AgustaWestland announced its Project Zero hybrid tiltrotor/fan-in-wing technology demonstrator. The unmanned demonstrator made its first tethered flight in June 2011 at AgustaWestland's Cascina Costa, Italy facility. According to the company, the aircraft "employs no hydraulics, doesn't burn fossil fuel and generates zero emissions."
AgustaWestland AW101 order controversy.
India signed a contract to purchase 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters in February 2010 for the Communication Squadron of Indian Air Force to carry the president, PM and other VVIPs. Controversy over the contract came to light on 12 February 2013 with the arrest of Giuseppe Orsi, the CEO of Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland's parent company by Italian authorities; the following day Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony ordered a probe into the contract.
In January 2014, India cancelled the US$630 million deal with AgustaWestland for purchasing 12 AW101s meant for use by VIPs. Following this event, in June 2014 India recovered the entire sum of Rs 18.18 billion which it had paid to the company. The decision to annul the 2010 deal, being probed by the CBI for irregularities, came after a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister A.K. Antony in New Delhi. According to the Defence Ministry, the government cancelled the contract "on grounds of breach of the Pre-contract Integrity pact and the agreement by AWIL (AgustaWestland International Ltd)". The contract was frozen in February 2013 after allegations surfaced that US$60 million had been paid as a bribe.
Merger into Leonardo.
In 2016, following a corporate reorganization, AgustaWestland merged into Leonardo, Finmecannica's new name. With this reorganization AgustaWestland ceased to exist as a company, and become Leonardo's helicopter division.
See also.
Comparable major helicopter manufacturers:


Torrence Huffman

Torrence Huffman was a banker in Dayton, Ohio who loaned pasture land to the Wright brothers where they perfected their first airplanes and started the first pilot training school. "As their flights grew ever longer in September and October 1905, local citizens and area journalists finally realized that something extraordinary was taking place in the sky over Torrence Huffman’s pasture," notes aviation historian Tom Crouch. The 84-acre field has since been known as Huffman Prairie and is designated a National Historic Landmark and part of Ohio's Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.
Born on March 20, 1855 in Dayton, Huffman was a “scion of one of Dayton’s oldest families and Ohio financier and manufacturer," according to the "Dayton Daily News". His father was William P. Huffman, who had been the president of the Second and Third National Banks of Dayton.
Huffman joined the Fourth National Bank at its inception in 1888 and later served as its president for 30 years. He owned the Buckeye Iron and Brass Words and was involved in numerous other enterprises as an owner or director including the Dayton Street Railway and Columbia Insurance Company. He was also a director of Denison University and chairman of its finance committee.
Huffman died at his residence at 119 North Perry Street on January 6, 1928 after an illness of over a month.


Marion M. Magruder

Marion Milton Magruder (June 27, 1911 – June 27, 1997) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, and a pioneer in Radar Intercept Night Fighting. He was the first commanding officer of Marine aircraft squadron VMF(N)-533, then known as "Black Mac's Killers" , and led that squadron during the Battle of the Marshall Islands and Battle of Okinawa in World War II.
Biography.
Early years and beginning of military career.
Magruder was born to William Marion Magruder and Augusta Tong Magruder of 456 Rose Lane, Lexington, Kentucky. He was the third of four children; his siblings were Aliene, Eldon and Jane Magruder. He graduated with Honors from the University of Kentucky on May 22, 1936, with a B.A. in psychology. He was the undefeated Golden Gloves Welter Weight Boxing Champion of the University of Kentucky, a member of the Sword and Scabbard Military Fraternity and a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. The governor of Kentucky commissioned him a Kentucky colonel, and the mayor of Lexington presented him with the "Key to the City of Lexington".
After graduating from the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at the University of Kentucky, Magruder accepted an officer's commission in the United States Marine Corps on July 1, 1936, becoming a second lieutenant.
On July 5, 1938, Magruder reported for Flight School at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. After graduating as Naval Aviator #6008, he was promoted to first lieutenant. Magruder was assigned to squadron VMF-1 at Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Virginia. He was promoted to captain in 1940. In the spring of 1941 he became assistant material officer, Division of Aviation, Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C. In August 1942 Magruder was promoted to major.
World War II.
On February 6, 1943, Major Magruder was deployed to England for a 3-month stint to learn as much as possible about Radar Intercept Night Fighting from the Royal Air Force (RAF). The United States Navy critically needed to establish effective night fighting capabilities for the Pacific Campaign. Magruder was assigned to develop the U.S. Naval Radar Intercept Doctrine that entailed extensive modification of the British system into an almost totally different operational syllabus. Admiral John S. McCain Sr., then Director Aircraft Pacific, required a single-pilot, single-engine aircraft that was capable of operating from a carrier while the British utilized a two-seat fighter that employed an onboard radar operator. Magruder reconfigured the system to include a remote ground control intercept (GCI) radar operator to coordinate exclusively with his designated pilot, to give him a vector close enough to the target for the pilot's own shorter-range radar to locate the target. In June 1943 Magruder was assigned as Night Fighter Training Officer at the newly formed Marine Aircraft Group 53 (MAG-53) at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.
On October 1, 1943, Magruder became the commanding officer of the newly formed VMF(N)-533, which eventually took the nickname "Black Mac's Killers". VMF(N)-533 was the first Marine Corps squadron to receive the F6F-3(N) Hellcat night fighter. In November 1943 Magruder was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
After a difficult radar intercept training program, the squadron deployed to Enewetak Atoll on May 6, 1944, to take over the night defense of the area. On July 6, 1944, Magruder's squadron also set up a rotating contingent on Roi Island and Kwajalein Atoll for their night defense. On November 30, 1944, "Black Mac's Killers" moved its base of operations from Enewetak to Engebi.
On May 7, 1945, VMF(N)-533, with three days notice, was ordered to deploy to Yontan Airfield on Okinawa to shore up sagging night defenses during the Battle of Okinawa. With just a skeleton crew of fifteen pilots flying their fifteen Hellcats, and an extra thirteen officers (8 extra pilots, a flight surgeon, flight director and three key department heads), along with 57 enlisted men flying in 5 transport aircraft provided squadron VMR-252 with whatever spare parts and gear that could be squeezed on board; they departed on the longest over-water flight of single-engine fighters in World War II. The remainder of the squadron personnel and equipment followed by sea on LSTs and would not link up again with this skeleton crew for more than a month.
Arriving on May 14, 1945, at Yontan Field, the squadron was operational in 36 hours. Magruder's squadron scored its first night intercepts on May 18, 1945 when two of his pilots conducted five radar assisted night kils. On June 15, 1945, the squadron moved operations from Yontan Air Field to Charlie Air Strip, Ie Shima where they joined the rest of the squadron personnel and served out the remainder of the war. In spite of the fact that VMF(N)-533 arrived 40 days after the campaign for Okinawa began, with terrible weather throughout, "Black Mac's Killers" registered 35 enemy aircraft victories and 1 probable all Radar Intercepts, which was almost as many aircraft destroyed as all three other night fighter squadrons on Okinawa, combined. VMF(N)-533 was the top scoring Night Fighter Squadron of the Pacific Theater in World War II. VMF(N)-533 had the best safety record and the highest combat ready rate for any operational squadron in the Pacific. In 15 months of overseas deployments, the 'Killers' logged over 11,000 flight hours. For this action, the squadron were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. On July 8, 1945, Lieutenant Colonel Magruder transferred command of VMF(N)-533 to his executive officer and returned to the United States for a War Bond Tour.
Shortly after V-J Day, September 1945, Magruder became the commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 53 (a fully integrated Night Fighter Command) at Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake, Texas. The group consisted of seven tactical squadrons, one service and support squadron, one headquarters squadron, one ground control radar squadron and one ground control approach radar unit. This totalled nearly 2400 officers and men with 146 aircraft. At the time this was the largest aircraft group in Marine Aviation. In February 1946, MAG-53 moved operations back to MCAS Cherry Point. In August 1946 Magruder assumed command of Marine Aircraft Group 31.
Education and joint billets.
From July 1947 to July 1948, Lieutenant Colonel Magruder attended and graduated from the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He co-wrote the thesis "The Impact and Role of Missiles In a War During the Foreseeable Future 5–10 Years." From August 1948 to May 1950, Magruder was assigned as instructor to Senior Course, Aviation Section Marine Corps Schools, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.
In June 1950, Magruder was assigned to the chief of staff of Commander-in-Chief Europe, Heidelberg, Germany. Magruder was the only Marine officer assigned to this theater command. For this assignment Admiral Forrest Sherman, Chief of Naval Operations, after interviewing numerous senior Marine officers, personally selected Magruder for this special duty. Magruder became assistant head of the Plans Branch of the Operations, Plans, Organization and Training Division of the European Unified Combatant Command. Responsibilities included: Preparation and presentation of many U.S. "Eyes Only" plans to be placed into operation in the event of emergency and/or war, including "Operation Blast Proof". As a member of the senior U.S. Command in Europe, Magruder was responsible for coordinating complete plans with all other major commands in Europe as well as many high level civil authorities in Germany, France and England. On January 1, 1951, Magruder was promoted to colonel.
In July 1952, Colonel Magruder was assigned as Assistant Head of Plans and Operations Branch, Division of Aviation, Headquarters, Marine Corps. Responsibilities required preparation and presentation of many plans and staff studies for the training and operations of all Marine Corps Aviation, and determining operational requirements for aircraft and new aircraft characteristics in presentations to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and Chief of Naval Operations. Magruder participated in the planning, preparation and coordination of the Aviation portion of the Marine Corps overall budgets.
From July 1954 to June 1955, Magruder attended and graduated from the National War College. His thesis, "Nuclear Weapons – An Instrument of National Policy" was classified and, because of its strategic implications, was not released for publication.
Back to the Fleet.
From July 1955 through June 1956, Colonel Magruder commanded Marine Aircraft Group 11 at Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan. This was the largest Marine Aircraft Group in the Far East and consisted of five fighter attack squadrons, one GCI radar station, one air base squadron for the maintenance and operation of group facilities and heavy group-level aircraft maintenance, along with one headquarters squadron. The group consisted of 1,860 officers and men and 126 aircraft. MAG-11 conducted continuous round-the-clock air operations providing for the airborne defense of Japan, and maintained readiness for immediate movement of all aircraft, to include all classes of materiel and supplies to sustain the group for 90 days of combat to any area of the Far East. Duties included maintaining the on-site storing and employing of tactical nuclear weapons and conventional weapons in coordination with the commanding general, U.S. Air Forces, Japan. Magruder's MAG-11 also provided secure basing facilities for the Central Intelligence Agency's U-2 program.
From August 1956 to June 1958, he was assigned as assistant chief of staff G-4 (logistics), Fleet Marine Force, Pacific located at Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii. This encompassed the largest single command in the Marine Corps – 2 Marine Divisions, 1 brigade, and 2 aircraft wings consisting of a total of 65,000 officers and men and 800 aircraft, with units located on the West Coast, Hawaii, Japan and Okinawa. Soon thereafter Magruder became head of the General Staff Section, G-4. Magruder coordinated and supervised the continuous flow of all classes of material for the training and operations of all elements of the command.
His next assignment was from June 1958 through June 1960, as commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The Air Station encompassed the greater part of the Kaneohe Peninsula— of industrial and barracks buildings to include 5 large aircraft hangars, extensive bomb and ordnance storage, including tactical nuclear weapons and air-sea rescue facilities.
On June 12, 1960, Magruder prepared for and was host of President Eisenhower and his staff of 62 VIPs. (The President originally planned a three-day visit to MCAS Kaneohe Bay; however it was extended to five days when riots in Japan forced the cancellation of that State visit.)
In August 1960, Magruder was assigned as director, 12th Marine Corps Reserve, Recruitment District headquartered in San Francisco, California. This posting included responsibility for training, operational readiness, logistical support, preparation and justification of budgets and operation of district offices and branch offices, 42 reserve units of company and battalion size, 5 recruiting stations and 81 substations located throughout the district encompassing 9 Western States—400 officers and 10,000 men. This command ranked 6th out of 7 districts when Magruder assumed command. Within 8 months this district placed first among all U.S. Districts in recruiting and retention of Marine Corps personnel and force readiness.
On August 31, 1961, Colonel Magruder retired from active duty after 26 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Later life.
On January 1, 1962, Magruder began his civilian career, becoming the assistant to the president of Stanley Aviation in Aurora, Colorado. On August 1, 1963, Magruder became executive vice president of Peoples Bank and Trust in Aurora, and on April 29, 1964, he became president of his own corporation, The M's Inc., with the purchase of his first McDonald's franchise in Grand Junction, Colorado. Within 15 years, Magruder placed all five of his sons in McDonald's franchises in Colorado, Arizona and California.
Magruder continued to be involved in national affairs with communications and associations with military and civil authorities on the highest levels. Magruder served on a number of 'national policy boards' and organizations, and was a lifelong Rotarian. Magruder died on his 86th birthday, June 27, 1997 in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
Personal life.
On July 2, 1938, Magruder married Martha Ann Kelly of Lexington, Kentucky, at St. Paul's Catholic Church of Lexington. They had five children:
Recognition.
On November 11, 2017, Colonel Marion M. "Black Mac" Magruder, USMC, was inducted into the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame. His son, Mark A. Magruder, Phoenix, Arizona, gave the induction speech.


Boarding (transport)

Boarding is the entry of passengers onto a vehicle, usually in public transportation. Boarding starts with entering the vehicle and ends with the seating of each passenger and closing the doors. The term is used in road, rail, water and air transport (for example, passenger board a coach).
Aviation.
At commercial airports, a "boarding call" on the public announcement system asks travelers to proceed to the departure gate and board the aircraft. This can begin any time from an hour to thirty minutes before departure (depending on the size of the plane and number of passengers). For boarding an aircraft, airstairs or jetways are used. Small aircraft may carry their own stairs.
Airlines control the access to the aircraft by checking passengers' boarding passes and matching them with the list of passengers and their identification cards. Many airlines use the IATA standard "Bar Coded Boarding Passes" (BCBP) to automate this process. A 2D bar code is scanned and the data are sent to the airline's system to look up the list of passengers. If the passenger is entitled to board, a positive message is sent back to the airline agent.
Boarding in air travel is supervised by ground personnel. The pilot is responsible for the boarding as soon as the doors are closed because by law the aircraft is then "in flight".
After boarding, the taxiing and takeoff will follow in most cases.
Boarding patterns and efficiency.
Most North American airlines have assigned seating, but Southwest Airlines does not. Southwest boards passengers in A, B, and C groups depending on their ticket purchase date. Across North American airlines, it is standard to allow early boarding for passengers with mobility impairments, those with small children, and first class passengers. All airlines allow passengers in premium cabins or with elite status to board earlier, with some offering it to coach customers for a fee.
Several boarding patterns by seating location are possible:
Efficiency considerations to minimize overall boarding time include:
Competing considerations include:
Computer simulations indicate that the outside-in and reverse-pyramid patterns should be fastest, followed by block and random, followed by back-to-front and rotating zone. American Airlines found in a two-year study that randomized boarding was faster than outside-in. Despite this, most North American airlines use the back-to-front pattern.
Another proposed method to speed boarding is to have passengers sort themselves by row and seat while still standing in the waiting area.
Television series "MythBusters" examined various boarding techniques in their 2014 episode "Plane Boarding" and found the standard back-to-front system to be the slowest among the tested.
Pre-boarding.
As the process of controlling and verifying boarding passes and identity documents takes non-negligible amounts of time and as some airlines aim to reduce turnaround times, the process of "pre boarding" is increasingly employed. In this process, passengers enter a separate area after having their boarding pass inspected before the plane is ready to be boarded and once actual boarding commences passengers simply enter the plane.
Water transport.
In water transport a boarding onto a watercraft can be done while it is located in harbour or at sea.
Buses.
Passengers board buses in the United Kingdom by either indicating to the bus driver they want to board (by queueing at the bus stop or by holding out an arm) or by boarding when a bus has stopped at a bus station.
Once on board passengers can either purchase a ticket for their journey or they can show a travel pass (such as an Oyster card when passengers travel on London buses).
On long distance buses in Europe tickets are usually checked upon boarding whereas in Latin America fares or tickets are collected on the moving bus by an assistant to the driver.


Olga Bay Seaplane Base

Olga Bay Seaplane Base is a public use seaplane base located in Olga Bay, in the Kodiak Island Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is privately owned by the Alaska Packers Association.
Scheduled passenger service to Kodiak, Alaska, is subsidized by the United States Department of Transportation via the Essential Air Service program.
Facilities and aircraft.
Olga Bay Seaplane Base has one seaplane landing area designated ALL/WAY with a water surface measuring 10,000 by 1,000 feet (3,048 x 305 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 52 air taxi aircraft operations, an average of 4 per month.
Airline and destinations.
The following airline offers scheduled passenger service:


Perry H. Young Jr.

Perry Henry Young Jr. (March 12, 1919 – November 8, 1998) was an American aviator who helped train pilots during World War II and became the first African American pilot for a regularly scheduled airline in the United States.
Early life.
Born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, in 1919, Young moved with his family to Ohio in 1929.
After graduating from high school, he was accepted to Oberlin College. While a freshman at Oberlin, Young used the proceeds from part-time work to pursue a private pilot's license. He soloed in under four flight hours of instruction and earned his private pilot's license at 20 years old.
Young was so taken with flight, that he discontinued his college studies to attend the Coffey School of Aeronautics in Chicago, Illinois to earn his commercial pilot's license. Young attempted to find work as a commercial aviator for three subsequent years but, due to racial discrimination, he was unable to find work as a pilot.
Tuskegee Airmen instructor.
As America's entry into World War II approached, the US government enacted the Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1939 to fund pilot training at or near select colleges and universities. The program was expanded in 1941 and included some historically black colleges and universities. Most notably, this included Tuskegee University in Alabama where the famed Tuskegee Airmen were trained.
Young landed a job as one of the 40 African American flight instructors for the newly formed 99th Pursuit Squadron. He trained more than 150 Tuskegee Airmen pilots during his tenure. This included Lee Archer who was awestruck when he learned that some of the instructors in the program were Black:
"Very few of us knew anything about flying -- few blacks did -- and we thought our instructors were going to be white. When I saw men like Perry Young, I was surprised and proud. They were like minor gods to me."
Although he wanted to serve, Young was not allowed. The instructors were considered too valuable to potentially lose in combat and were forbidden to join deploying units. His wife was quoted as saying:
"He didn’t want to be an instructor who trained cadets. He wanted to be a cadet. He wanted to fly".
International work.
Even though Young was instrumental in training so many pilots for the war, he could not find employment as a pilot when the war ended. He briefly attended Howard University while working for the Public Building Administration's trucking service. But he soon began moving to wherever he could find aviation-related work. In 1946, he went to Haiti and established a small airline (Port-au-Prince Flying Service), but it soon closed. Young remained in Haiti, flying for the Société Haitienne-Américaine de Dévelopment Agricole until 1953. He worked for the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority as executive pilot from 1953-1955. On Baffin Island, Canada, Young worked as an aviation mechanic for Seaboard World Airlines. He then moved to the Virgin Islands to take a pilot position with KLM, ferrying passengers to the Dutch Islands. By December 1956, Young had 13,000 flight hours (with 200 of those hours in helicopters).
New York Airways.
New York Airways (NYA) was a helicopter airline which started carrying passengers in 1953. When they upgraded their aircraft to Sikorsky S-58s, they needed to hire additional aircrew as the S-58 required a co-pilot. Young had been rejected previously from NYA for not meeting their helicopter flight time minimums (he had 200 hours, they required 500 hours). However, NYA management had now decided to 'break the color line' in aviation to bring good publicity to their fledgling helicopter ferry service. They contacted Young in the Virgin Islands and hired him on December 17, 1956.
After weeks of training with the company, Perry Young took his first official flight as a copilot on February 5, 1957. In doing so, he became the first African American pilot of a regularly scheduled commercial airline in the United States. The "New York Mirror" reported on the flight:
With Perry Young as the co-pilot, the 12-passenger helicopter rose three feet from the ground, hovered gently for a moment, then, pointing its snub-nose down, soared straight up from LaGuardia Airport. In nine easy “bumpless” minutes we were at Idlewild... Perry Young is unique because he is the first Negro pilot hired by any scheduled airline in America.
Later career.
Young would fly for NYA for 23 years (until the company went out of business in 1979). Afterwards, he flew sightseeing helicopter tours in the New York area until he retired. He died at the Horton Medical Center in Middletown, New York on November 8, 1998.


Erich Bloedorn

Erich Bloedorn (6 July 1902 – 30 November 1975) was a German Luftwaffe bomber pilot and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
Life.
Bloedorn studied at the University of Königsberg and became a member of the Corps Masovia in summer 1921. In 1924 he gave up studying and joined the Reichswehr in Allenstein, Masuria. When he was lieutenant in the in Lötzen he made a bet: to reach Istanbul via Munich within 10 days, alone by motorcycle. He did and the German embassy gave a function.
He retired major from the Reichswehr in 1930 to serve on the General Staff of former "Generaloberst" Hans von Seeckt, who served as a military advisor to Chiang Kai-shek in Nanking and Shanghai. In 1936 Bloedorn joined the Luftwaffe and served as Hauptmann in Berlin. In 1940 he became Geschwaderkommodore of the Adler-Geschwader which flew air raids in France, the Netherlands, England, Scapa Flow and Norway and sank the Convoy PQ 17.
Having fought in the North African Campaign Bloedorn was promoted Oberstleutnant and assigned to Albert Kesselring in 1943. In Bucharest he witnessed the breakdown of the pro-German Romanian army and the coup of Michael I of Romania. As Oberst he returned to Kesselring until the end of the war. After the war Bloedorn built up a civil existence in publishing of scientific literature. He was married to Dr. med. "Ursula Bloedorn". Their daughter "Gisa" is living in Ansbach, their son "Arne" in Rheine.


343rd Training Squadron

The 343rd Training Squadron (343rd TRS), also called the Security Forces Academy is located at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX. It was established 30 April 1976 as the 3280th Technical Training Group, and re-designated twice more until 1 April 1994 when it received its current designation.
The majority of the permanent members of this squadron are training instructors. There are, on average, around 1300 students at any given time. The Staff also consists of 15 Military Training Leaders who are responsible for physical and military growth of all students assigned to the 343rd. Detachment One at Camp Bullis is responsible for expeditionary ground combat training.
Training.
The Security Forces Academy is a 65 day course of intense physical and mental training designed to ensure that new Defenders are mission ready upon graduation. Defenders are taught the basics of military law enforcement, as well as extensive training in weapons, air base defense, hand-to-hand combatives, infantry tactics, and combat convoy operations. At the end of the course, graduating students receive their blue beret and badge, earning the title “Defender”.


Hawthorne School of Aeronautics

Hawthorne School of Aeronautics was a flying school and airport located 5 miles south of Orangeburg, South Carolina. The school was closed in 1945. Today the land is being used for non-aviation purposes.
History.
The Hawthorne School of Aeronautics was a World War II civilian flying school, contracted by the United States Army Air Forces to conduct primary pilot training for aviation cadets. The school was under the supervision of the 58th Flying Training Detachment, Eastern Flight Training Center, Army Air Forces Training Command. The president of Hawthorne was Beverly "Bevo" Howard, who had learned to fly at the age of 16. The military designation of the Hawthorne school was the 2162nd Army Air Force Base Unit.
In order to conduct the flying training, the school built an airfield along with buildings and other support structures. The airfield was an all-way turf field, with four delineated runways (00/18; 05/23; 09/27; 14/32). A large aircraft parking ramp and two hangars was also constructed along with a control tower and operations building. The school structures consisted of a group of one and two-storied wooden buildings surrounding an oval-shaped grass area at the northern end of the property which served as a parade ground.
The primary trainer used was Boeing PT-17 Stearman. The flight school also operated several auxiliary airfields:
At the end of 1944, training of Free French pilots was transferred from Hargrove Van de Graaft Airport, Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Hawthorne. The unit was inactivated on 1 September 1945. During the Second World War, Hawthorne trained 5,924 military pilots, including more than 2,000 French Air Force students. For his leadership, Bevo Howard was presented the French Air Force Wings, the coveted French Médaille de L'Aéronautique, and later the Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur for his pilot training and accomplishments as an aerobatic flyer.
The Hawthorne School of Aeronautics ceased operations at Orangeburg with the end of the war, however it went on to continue operations at Jacksonville, Florida, and Moultrie, Georgia. The firm eventually became the large Piedmont-Hawthorne chain of aviation Fixed-Base Operators.
The airport was closed after the war, and was abandoned. The two hangars from the flying school were relocated at some point to the Orangeburg Municipal Airport at which there is also an excellent historical display of the activities of the Hawthorne school.


Georgi Benkunsky

Georgi Stanislavovich Benkunsky (, 1913—1995) was a Russian Soviet pilot, a war hero and an Honoured Pilot of the USSR.
Benkunsky was born in 1913 in Kasimov in what was then the Russian Empire. His father, Stanislav Gilyarievich Benkunsky (1880-1920), was from the nobility of Vilna Province and fought in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, where he won the Order of St. George. His mother, Varvara Semyonovna Yukawa (1884-1952), was graduated from the Medical Institute in Kharkov and worked as a pharmacist in Yegoryevsk. She was a recipient of the Order of Lenin.
Benkunsky was graduated from the Balashov Higher Military Aviation School in 1933, after which he was posted to Irkutsk with the Ninth Air Group; one of the unit's itineraries was Irkutsk-Yakutsk-Bodaibo which at this time was nicknamed "Route Courage".
From the beginning of the German-Soviet Campaign of World War II (called, in the Soviet Union, the Great Patriotic War), Benkunsky was part of the Special Purpose Transport Air Fleet of the Moscow Air Group, equipped with Lisunov Li-2s (license built Douglas DC-3s). In his aircraft the "Sky Snail" Benkunsky flew missions in defiance of German fighters in the skies over Moscow, then Leningrad, then Stalingrad, Sevastopol and the Caucasus – wherever the need and danger was greatest. During the war, Li-2s were used for transport, partisan supply, as ambulance aircraft, and even for bombing. Benkunsky was the only Aeroflot pilot to be awarded four Orders of Lenin. He also received other awards and medals including the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the Order of the Red Star.
On August 12, 1944, Benkunsky and his crew flew the Soviet diplomatic delegation for the development of the United Nations Charter, headed by Ambassador Andrei Gromyko, from Moscow to Washington, D. C.
After the war, Benkunsky flew a total of nearly thirty thousand hours. He flew to the United States over the North Pole, and to Africa, Western Europe, and Asia. He mastered several kinds of piston engine and turboprop civil aviation aircraft. For his many accomplishments and for his exemplary leadership and training of younger aviators, Benkunskogo was made an Honoured Pilot of the USSR in 1971.
Benkunsky died on February 10, 1995, and was buried in Moscow. The eighth Sukhoi Superjet 100 off the production line was named "Georgi Benkunsky" in his honor.


Mobile Naval Air Base

Mobile Operational Naval Air Bases (MONABs) were a series of mobile units first formed in 1944 to provide logistical support to the Fleet Air Arm aircraft of the Royal Navy's British Pacific Fleet towards the end of World War II.
Each unit was self-contained and designed to service and repair aircraft and engines. Each were initially assembled at the MONAB Headquarters at HMS Flycatcher (first at Ludham then Middle Wallop in the UK).
When the naval threat in the Atlantic was clearly vanishing, with the decline of Nazi Germany, proposals were made to involve the Royal Navy in the Pacific War. The United States Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Ernest King, did not welcome this, however. A well-known anglophobe, King preferred to exclude the British and, in addition, he laid down operating requirements that could not be met at the time. One of these was that the Royal Navy should be self-sustaining and independent of United States Navy (USN) logistical resources for extended periods of active service.
King was effectively overruled, however, and the Royal Navy set about establishing an adequate logistical infrastructure which included MONABs.
Units.
Ten MONABs were established, most based in Australia. The last unit was decommissioned in 1946.


List of defunct airlines of Belgium

This is a list of defunct airlines of Belgium.


William Harold Nelson Shakespeare

Wing Commander William Harold Nelson Shakespeare (24 August 1893 – 10 July 1976) was an English aviator who flew for the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force in World War I. He was awarded both the Air Force Cross and the Military Cross during his time in the military. Shakespeare later worked as a civilian pilot for Handley Page, captaining the first passenger flight from London to Athens, and eventually became president of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA). He also served as president of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, for whom he had earlier played first-class cricket.
Early years.
William Shakespeare was the eldest son of William and Barbara Shakespeare of Chadsworth, Barbourne, Worcester. He was educated at Worcester Royal Grammar School and joined the 1/8th Worcestershire Regiment (Territorial Force) at the commencement of World War I. He served with this unit at the front for over twelve months. He was given a commission and attached to the 6th Worcestershire Regiment, and afterwards transferred to the Royal Flying Corps .
As a pilot.
As a pilot, in July 1918 Shakespeare won the Military Cross. His medal was awarded after he successfully carried out two patrols, one in "very bad weather" and one under intense fire. The citation praised him as "a gallant and determined pilot".
A few months later, he gained the Air Force Cross.
"T./Capt. William Harold Nelson Shakespeare,R.F.C. was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He carried out a most successful contact patrol in very bad weather at a height of 400 feet and brought back very valuable information. Later, he carried out another successful contact patrol at a low altitude, his machine being subjected to intense rifle and machine-gun fire. He is a gallant and determined pilot and has set a fine example to his squadron." Supplement to the London Gazette. 5. July 1918.
He transferred across to the Royal Air Force when the organisation came into being on 1 Apr 1918, and was one of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard's first Wing Commanders. After the First World War, he became one of the pioneers of military and civil transport aviation. While still serving in the RAF, his services were employed by Handley Page to promote their new commercial passenger service in the Handley Page 0.400 series, which after the end of the First World War, had been converted from a bomber to a passenger aircraft. He was the captain of the first pan European flight from London to Athens, a flight which took place to promote Handley Page and prove the capability of the Aircraft.
As a cricketer.
Shakespeare played 26 first-class matches for Worcestershire between 1919 and 1931. He made his first-class debut in August 1919 against Warwickshire; this was a friendly match as Worcestershire did not enter the County Championship that season. Opening the batting with Alfred Cliff, he had a fine match, scoring 62 in the first innings and 67 not out (which was to remain his career best) in the second.
He played one further match that year and three in 1920 but could not replicate his initial form, with a top score of only 11 in six innings.
In 1924, Shakespeare finally returned to first-class cricket, scoring 62* against Glamorgan,
and this time — although he never made any really big scores — he contributed useful thirties and forties fairly often. From 1926 onwards, however, his powers left him and he passed 20 only once in his last 14 innings. His first-class career really ended in 1928, but he did make one final appearance three years later.
Although he never played at such a high level again, Shakespeare did appear for Worcestershire's second XI in the Minor Counties Championship as late as July 1949, when he was nearly 56.
He also umpired one first-class game, that between Worcestershire and Combined Services at New Road in May 1950.
Other activities.
In later life, Shakespeare became president of RAFA as well as President of Worcestershire County Cricket Club. He was instrumental in the organising of the Victory test matches versus Australia.


RAF Castle Combe

Royal Air Force Castle Combe or more simply RAF Castle Combe is a former Royal Air Force satellite airfield located southeast of Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England.
History.
The Castle Combe airfield opened in May 1941. The land which the airfield occupied belonged to the Castle Combe estate, which was owned by the Gorst family.
It was used as a practice landing ground by nearby RAF Hullavington, home of No. 9 Service Flying Training School RAF. Flying training expanded considerably and the facilities were upgraded. Waterlogging was a frequent problem for the grass surface, so two runways of Sommerfeld Tracking were laid and a tarmac perimeter track constructed around the field. There were five hangars on the eastern and south-eastern side of the site; the control tower is still extant.
No. 15 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit RAF and No. 3 Flying Instructors School RAF was also present at some point.
The airfield functioned for seven years before being decommissioned on 18 October 1948.
Current use.
The perimeter track of the airfield was opened to motor racing in 1950 as Castle Combe Circuit.


TAM Fidelidade


Georgia Nuclear Aircraft Laboratory

The Georgia Nuclear Aircraft Laboratory, also known as AFP No. 67, for Air Force Plant 67 was a United States Air Force test facility located in the Dawson Forest in Dawsonville, Georgia. It was the site of Lockheed's lab for investigating the feasibility of nuclear aircraft. The site was used for irradiating military equipment, as well as the forest to determine the effect of nuclear war, and its effects on wildlife. The area was closed in 1971 and acquired by the city of Atlanta for a second airport, but its topography was determined to be ill-suited for an airport. Documents explaining what went on at the site remain highly classified, and the entrance to the underground portion of the facility has been buried. The only objects left above ground were the concrete foundations on which the buildings and reactors were placed.


You and I (Celine Dion song)

"You and I" is a single taken from Celine Dion's album, "A New Day... Live in Las Vegas" (2004). It was released to radio on 24 May 2004.
Background and release.
The music video was filmed by an award-winning director Andrew MacNaughtan in July 2004 and was shot partly at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. It premiered two months later. The music video can be found on the "Ultimate Box", which was released in Japan in 2008. The music video was nominated for the MuchMoreMusic Award at the 2005 MuchMusic Video Awards.
In October 2004, it was announced that "You and I" would be the theme of Air Canada's new advertising campaign. At the same time the airline unveiled new in-flight service products and new aircraft livery. Dion also recorded a one-minute-long French version of the song called "Mes ailes à moi." Both versions were used in Air Canada's commercials.
The single was a radio hit, topping the Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart for five non-consecutive weeks in July and August 2004, and spending 34 weeks on the chart in total.
On 19 June 2007, US Senator Hillary Clinton announced that "You and I" would be her campaign song in her 2008 bid for the Democratic Party nomination for US president. The song was selected as a result of a month-long web campaign to select a theme song.
In October 2008, "You and I" was included on the European version of "" greatest hits.
Critical reception.
Chuck Taylor of "Billboard" magazine wrote about the song: "The plucky "You and I" is an ideal vehicle to launch a full-scale seasonal assault on the airwaves, with its love-my-man thematics and kinetic, summer-breeze tempo, akin to her signature "That's the Way It Is." Dion dispenses a joyful romp from the mic, sounding fresh and fully at ease, and she riffs just enough to stamp the song with a telltale trademark or two."
Formats and track listings.
European promotional CD single
Japanese promotional CD single


Sikorski Memorial

The Sikorski Memorial in Gibraltar commemorates the 1943 Gibraltar B-24 crash of 4 July 1943 which caused the death of General Władysław Sikorski, the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile. Fifteen other people also died in the crash, with only the pilot Eduard Prchal surviving. The present version of the memorial, unveiled on 4 July 2013, is the third, replacing two earlier memorials erected in 1945 and 2003 near the scene of the crash. It was designed and constructed by a Polish company, using sandstone from Poland brought across Europe to Gibraltar where it now comprises much of the wide memorial.
Earlier versions of the Sikorski Memorial.
The memorial originally consisted of a plaque, dedicated in January 1945, that was placed at the east end of the runway of what was then RAF North Front (and is now RAF Gibraltar / Gibraltar International Airport). The text of the plaque reads:
In 2003, the Royal Air Force donated the plaque to the Government of Gibraltar and a new memorial was erected near the airfield at Sir Herbert Miles Road, consisting of a plinth on which the plaque was mounted along with a propellor recovered from the crashed B-24. A second plaque was also installed, reading:
However, the location proved unsatisfactory. Although it was a popular destination for Polish visitors to Gibraltar, there was little space around the memorial and neither tour groups nor official delegations had much room to assemble in its vicinity. The Polish authorities lobbied for a number of years to have the memorial moved to a more spacious site elsewhere in Gibraltar.
Current memorial's location and design.
In 2013 the memorial was relocated to Europa Point, the southernmost tip of the Gibraltar peninsula, and was reinstalled with a new design at a site between Europa Point Lighthouse and Harding's Battery. Its design was based on a concept by the late Charles Caruana, Bishop of Gibraltar, who had a long-running interest in Gibraltar's connection with Poland and in Sikorski's history and memory.
The new design is a semi-circular structure with a diameter of and a maximum height of . The B-24's propellor from the previous memorial was remounted on a new, larger plinth weighing more than two tons. A disc of sandstone from Szydłów in Poland is set into the ground in the centre of the memorial, forming the plinth's base. In front of the disc, carved into the ground, are the words "General Władysław Sikorski 1881–1943". Behind the disc is a stone semi-circular wall which rises to a peak on which a carved Polish military eagle stands. The Polish naval pennant and air force emblem are embedded at opposite ends of the wall. Tablets name the other victims, in addition to Sikorski, and explain the events of the crash to visitors. The memorial was constructed by Furmanek Renewal, a company based in Daleszyce in south-central Poland, where it was first assembled to test that it all fitted together before it was driven to Gibraltar to be installed over a period of about two and a half weeks.
Dedication of the memorial.
The memorial was dedicated in a ceremony held on 4 July 2013, the 70th anniversary of the crash, in which British, Gibraltarian and Polish government officials participated alongside past and present members of the Polish Armed Forces. Two Polish government ministers, Jan Stanisław Ciechanowski of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression and Andrzej Krzysztof Kunert from the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites, led the Polish delegation. Polish and Gibraltarian clergy also attended, and the ceremony was hosted by the Governor of Gibraltar, Vice Admiral Sir Adrian Johns, and the Mayor of Gibraltar, Anthony Lima. The British military was represented by the Commander British Forces Gibraltar and the Commanding Officer of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment. Johns spoke in his address of "a man who lived and died as a fearless soldier and indomitable champion of the Polish cause," while Bronisław Komorowski, the President of Poland, said in an address read on his behalf at the ceremony that he wished for the memorial to "symbolically point at those highest values which are common to us: brotherhood and freedom."


KD Air

KD Air Corporation was an airline based in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Canada, offering both scheduled and charter service. The airline ceased operations in 2019 and according to Transport Canada the airline currently has no aircraft and no air operator's certificate.
Destinations.
KD Air operated daily flights between
Fleet.
The KD Air fleet consisted of:


CJG (airline)


AirTran Holdings

AirTran Holdings () was a Nevada corporation, based in Orlando, Florida, United States, that operated as an airline holding company. Its primary asset was AirTran Airways until Southwest Airlines acquired AirTran on May 2, 2011.
History.
After the large amount of negative publicity surrounding the Flight 592 disaster, ValuJet Airlines suffered serious financial problems. On July 10, 1997, ValuJet announced it would merge with the much smaller Airways Corporation, the owner of Orlando, Florida based AirTran Airways. In November 1997, AirTran Holdings announced it would move its headquarters to Airways' existing headquarters in Orlando from Atlanta;<ref name="AirTran-Holdings-Dec-1997-S-4/A"></ref> on November 17, 1997, Airways Corporation and ValuJet completed their merger and the name ValuJet was dropped.
On January 11, 1999, Joseph Leonard was elected as the chairman, president and chief executive officer of the company.
On August 15, 2001, AirTran stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Proposed AirTran Holding acquisition of Midwest Air Group.
In December 2006, AirTran Holdings made public that in December 2005 it had approached the board of directors of Midwest Air Group—owner of Midwest Airlines and Skyway Airlines which operates as Midwest Connect—and had asked the board negotiate a sale of the company. That AirTran offer in 2005 was rebuffed by Midwest's board, which also rebuffed a second offer in late 2006. In December 2006, AirTran disclosed the rejection of both offers in hopes of bringing shareholder pressure on Midwest's board to reconsider, which the board recommended that shareholders reject.
On December 13, 2006, AirTran announced that it had made an offer to acquire Midwest Airlines, another operator of the Boeing 717. The offer has since been rejected by the Midwest board. On January 11, 2007, AirTran sweetened its offer for Midwest to $13.25 a share from $11.25 a share, valued at US$290 million, or a 24% premium over Midwest's trading price at the time, and AirTran took its renewed bid directly to Midwest shareholders, bypassing Midwest's board of directors; with an offer that expires on April 11, 2007. On April 2, 2007 AirTran raised its bid to $15 a share, in what CEO Joe Leonard called AirTran's final bid.
In response to AirTran's overtures, Midwest Air Group has stated publicly that it believes that it can maximize shareholder value as a stand-alone company. Midwest Air Group has said that the latest AirTran proposal rejected by its board of directors significantly undervalued Midwest and did not reflect the long-term opportunity inherent in its strategic growth plan. The company also has reiterated that its strategic business plan will offer superior value to shareholders by capitalizing on current industry conditions while remaining true to Midwest's commitment to customer service excellence.
On January 11, 2007, AirTran Holdings increased its bid for Midwest to $345 million in cash and stock, an 18% increase from their previous offer.
On April 2, 2007, AirTran again raised its bid for Midwest to $389 million in cash and stock ($9 in cash and .5842 shares of AirTran stock totaling $15 a share). CEO Joe Leonard stated that this would be AirTran's final bid.
In May 2007, an independent securities expert William McGinnis, CFA, published an analysis of board of directors responsibilities related to hostile takeover offers. He utilized the AirTran offers for Midwest Airlines as the basis for this case study which is available here.
AirTran was successful in having its slate of 3 board members elected to the Midwest Air Group's board of directors in the election on June 14, 2007 at the Midwest annual meeting.
On August 12, 2007, it was announced that AirTran had lost the bid for Midwest. A private equity group, headed by TPG Capital and including Northwest Airlines, had purchased Midwest and will turn the airline into a privately funded company.
On August 14, 2007, it was announced that AirTran had renewed their bid for Midwest at a price slightly above that of the TPG Capital offer, in theory at the request of Midwest shareholders. Pequot Capital Management, which owns 8.8% of Midwest, had been unhappy with the TPG Capital offer, as they felt that AirTran's cash and stock offer would result in greater gains because they felt AirTran's stock would rise in value once the acquisition of Midwest was completed. An executive at another unnamed investment group also expressed similar misgivings about the TPG Capital offer. TPG Capital's offer had been $16/share in cash, where AirTran's latest offer is $10 cash plus 0.6056 share of AirTran stock for each share of Midwest, which at the close of trading on August 13 made the value of AirTran's new offer approximately $16.25/share in cash and stock.
However, Midwest announced TPG would increase its offer to $17 per share and a definitive agreement had been reached on August 16, 2007.
Acquisition by Southwest Airlines.
On September 27, 2010, Southwest Airlines announced it would acquire AirTran Holdings, along with its subsidiary AirTran Airways. The companies operated separately for a period of time until the absorption of the owned and leased aircraft within AirTran's fleet was completed. On May 2, 2011, AirTran Holdings was purchased by Southwest Airlines. As a result, AirTran Airways and AirTran Holdings both became fully owned subsidiaries of Southwest Airlines.
External links.


Ukkusissat Heliport

Ukkusissat Heliport is a heliport in Ukkusissat, a village in the Uummannaq Fjord system in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The heliport is considered a "helistop", and is served by Air Greenland as part of a government contract. There are no facilities at the helistop; check-in is administered in the Pilersuisoq communal store, the central point of the settlement.
On the way from Uummannaq Heliport, Air Greenland helicopters fly alongside the southern and western wall of Appat Island, to then pass above the narrow Appat Ikerat strait between Appat and the smaller Salleq Island, a high, standalone flooded mountain.
Airlines and destinations.
Air Greenland operates government contract flights to villages in the Uummannaq Fjord area. These mostly cargo flights are not featured in the timetable, although they can be pre-booked. Departure times for these flights as specified during booking are by definition approximate, with the settlement service optimized on the fly depending on local demand for a given day.


Airbus affair

The Airbus affair refers to allegations of secret commissions paid to members of the Government of Canada during the term of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (1984–93), in exchange for then-crown corporation Air Canada's purchase of a large number of Airbus jets. The Chairman of Airbus (a European consortium) at the time of the contract competition was Franz Josef Strauss (1915–1988), a high-profile German politician in Bavaria.
The order in question had long been pending, and both Boeing and Airbus had been competing heavily for the contract. Both offered shared production in Canada, and Boeing went so far as to buy de Havilland Canada to further strengthen their bargaining position, as well as gain access to the feederliner market where they, at that time, had no presence. The contract was eventually won by Airbus in 1988, with an order for 34 Airbus A320s, as well as the sale of some of Air Canada's existing Boeing 747 fleet. Boeing immediately put de Havilland up for sale, thereby putting that company in jeopardy, but the blame for this was generally placed on the government.
RCMP allegations.
In 1995, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) accused Mulroney and Frank Moores of accepting kickbacks from Karlheinz Schreiber on the sale of Airbus planes to the government-owned airline during Mulroney's term as Prime Minister of Canada. The allegations were made in a letter sent by the RCMP to the government of Switzerland seeking access to banking records. Schreiber had earlier raised money for Mulroney's successful 1983 bid to win the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party.
Mulroney denied the allegations, and launched a $50 million defamation suit against the Canadian government, alleging that the newly elected Liberal government of Jean Chrétien was engaging in a smear campaign against its predecessor. The government settled out of court in early 1997, and agreed to publicly apologize to Mulroney, as well as paying the former prime minister's $2.1 million legal fees.
Although there is no evidence that Mulroney accepted kickbacks while prime minister, he acknowledged in 2003 that shortly after stepping down in 1993 that he accepted $225,000 over 18 months from Schreiber, in three cash payments of $75,000 each. Mulroney was still a member of the House of Commons of Canada when one of the payments was made. Mulroney claims that this money was paid to him for consulting services he rendered to help promote a fresh pasta business, and to develop international contacts for Schreiber. Mulroney had previously not admitted accepting any commissions from Schreiber during his lawsuit against the Canadian government, and later under oath specifically denied any business dealings with him. Mulroney has not yet provided evidence of any work he performed for that money, and declared it as income to Revenue Canada only years later, when Schreiber had come under criminal investigation in Germany. Schreiber ridiculed their dealings in pasta-macaroni as nothing more than being sent a single flyer, and has stated that the three separate payments were actually $100,000 each in $1000 bills, a total of $300,000.
Media/journalistic coverage.
Journalist Stevie Cameron wrote about the scandal, and Schreiber's links to the Mulroney government, in her 1994 best-selling book "On the Take: Crime, Corruption and Greed in the Mulroney Years". The CBC's "The Fifth Estate" produced a documentary in March 1995 which revealed a secret side agreement between Airbus and a Liechtenstein shell company, International Aircraft Leasing (IAL), which received millions of dollars in secret commissions after the sale of Airbus aircraft to Air Canada. William Kaplan responded to Cameron and the CBC in his 1998 book "Presumed Guilty", criticizing journalists for lacking evidence.
In October 1999, "The Fifth Estate" obtained Swiss Bank Corporation records which revealed that Schreiber had set up a secret bank account in Zurich with the code-name "BRITAN," from which three cash withdrawals totaling $300,000 were made in 1993 and 1994. Two years later, Cameron and "Fifth Estate" producer Harvey Cashore, wrote a book about Schreiber called "The Last Amigo". In 2004, Kaplan clarified his position in a further book, "A Secret Trial", by criticizing Cameron for her role as a confidential RCMP informant on the Airbus matter, and Mulroney for not disclosing the fact that he had received the $300,000 from Schreiber.
On February 8, 2006, Schreiber stated in a "Fifth Estate" interview that the money from the "BRITAN" account came at the request of a Mulroney aide, who told him the former prime minister was short of funds. Schreiber mocked Mulroney's claim that the money was a consulting fee for help given in a pasta business Schreiber had invested in. The programme also reported there was no evidence that Mulroney knew of the source of the funds. The following year, "The Globe and Mail" and "The Fifth Estate" revealed that Brian Mulroney filed a voluntary disclosure with Revenue Canada several years after accepting the cash envelopes from Schreiber.
Cash payments.
"The Globe and Mail" reported on November 1, 2007 that Mulroney, who had by his own admission received $75,000 of Schreiber's stated $300,000 in cash in New York City in December 1994, should have declared those funds when he crossed the border into Canada several days later, if he had not already spent the money. The story quoted retired RCMP inspector Bruce Bowie, who played a role in preparing the original Canadian legislation requiring large cash transactions to be reported, which was passed during Mulroney's term. Internal United States rules also require that large cash transactions be recorded, and whether Mulroney did so for this transaction was an open question, according to the "Globe and Mail" article.
On November 8, 2007, an affidavit, including further allegations by Schreiber, was filed in court. Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that a third-party independent inquiry would be launched to review the dealings between Schreiber and Mulroney, to be headed by David Lloyd Johnston, president of the University of Waterloo. The RCMP announced on November 14 that they would also open a review process into those matters. In June 2008, the government established the "Commission of Inquiry into Certain Allegations Respecting Business and Financial Dealings Between Karlheinz Schreiber and the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney"
Schreiber lost his appeal of extradition to Germany on November 15, and he remained confined in the Toronto area. Extradition proceedings against Schreiber, launched by German authorities, began in 1999; Schreiber is wanted in Germany to answer for several criminal charges, including fraud and bribery, which had a role in bringing down a government there, and which damaged the legacy of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Schreiber stated that if extradited, he would not cooperate with the inquiry.
Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day said that the inquiry would be structured to allow witnesses to testify regardless of their location, and that Schreiber would have to testify. Opposition parties in the House of Commons of Canada called for Schreiber's extradition to be delayed, to allow him to take part in the inquiry. Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson promised to delay the extradition until at least December 1, 2007, to allow potential appeals to be filed by Schreiber's lawyer Edward Greenspan.
Ethics Committee testimony.
Schreiber was summoned from jail by a Speaker's Warrant issued by Commons Speaker Peter Milliken, and was transported from Toronto to Ottawa on November 28, 2007. He testified before the House of Commons Ethics Committee on November 29, December 4, and December 6, 2007. Schreiber obtained a stay of his extradition from the Ontario Court of Appeal on November 30, and obtained bail on December 4 by posting $1.3 million. Schreiber explained that the $300,000 he paid to Mulroney in three cash installments of $100,000 each, in 1993 and 1994, did not come directly from Airbus, but was drawn from 'success fees', money Schreiber earned in commissions for his lobbying work on behalf of Airbus, MBB, and Thyssen, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Airbus and MBB had concluded large contracts, for airplanes and helicopters respectively, with the Canadian government while Mulroney was prime minister. Thyssen's project, a prospective new factory for manufacturing light armoured vehicles, had gained initial government approval, but was never built. Schreiber explained further that the money he paid to Mulroney was not for any work Mulroney did while he was prime minister from 1984–1993, but was a retainer for future work Mulroney would do for Schreiber after he left political office, as well as a reward for Mulroney's support for German reunification, which was achieved in 1991. This amount was originally set for $500,000, but was reduced because Mulroney did not in fact perform the work, according to Schreiber, who is suing Mulroney to recover that money. Mulroney refused to comment in advance of his scheduled appearance before the Ethics Committee on December 13, 2007. However, six weeks following his appearance, Mulroney's lawyers submitted a letter to the Ethics Committee chairman, Paul Szabo, indicating that their client would not be willing to appear again before the committee because of the "unfair" treatment he encountered on December 13. On February 26, 2008, CTV News reported that Mr. Mulroney, through his lawyer, had reiterated his refusal to reappear before the Committee, scheduled for February 28. After mulling the possibility of issuing a subpoena, the committee decided the next day that it would wrap up this activity without further testimony. During the hearings, it was revealed that all the Mulroney children's university education was paid from the money that her father received from Schreiber.
On February 14, 2008, Mr. Schreiber's Swiss accountant told the Ethics Committee that he did in fact set up a Swiss account for Mr Mulroney. He denied knowing about transactions made on that account by or for the former Prime Minister.
Oliphant Commission Report.
In April and May 2009, the next episode ensued as the Oliphant Commission inquiry began. Chaired by Mr. Justice Jeffrey Oliphant, Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba, it was specifically mandated to focus on the dealings between Schreiber and Mulroney. While the inquisitors and their questions were different, the answers by Mr. Schreiber in April and Mr. Mulroney in May were essentially paraphrasings and expansions on those of the Ethics Committee proceedings. Notable new revelations in Mulroney's testimonies included his explanation for the delay in declaring the cash payments as income (he considered them as advances on future activities, to be declared only when drawn upon), and that his accountant, without his knowledge, had arranged to pay tax on only half the amount. This was in accordance with a Canada Revenue Agency amnesty incentive, now discontinued, that was intended to encourage delinquent taxpayers to submit late declarations, thus garnering funds which would otherwise have been lost or, at minimum, require costly legal action to be collected.
The Commission completed its hearings phase in the last week of July 2009. The following weekend Mr. Schreiber, after a last-ditch effort to find another means of avoiding extradition, was ordered to appear at the Toronto Detention Centre pending his return to Germany. Within three hours, he was escorted onto a Europe-bound aircraft by two RCMP officers, and designated "surrendered to Germany."
The Commission's report, released on May 31, 2010, included the following findings:
The report intentionally avoids "expressing any conclusions ... regarding civil or criminal liability" based on the Commission's mandate and Oliphant wrote that he was "careful not to use language that would even hint at such a finding".


Irving Farmer Kennedy

Irving Farmer 'Hap' Kennedy (4 February 19226 January 2011) was a Canadian fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during the Second World War. He was one of Canada's highest-scoring aces of the war, with 10 solo and 5 shared aircraft destroyed, and 1 probably destroyed.
Biography.
Born in Cumberland, Ontario in 1922 to Eva Farmer and Robert James Kennedy (a veteran of World War I, injured in 1917 at Vimy Ridge). The war started when he was 17 in his final year of high school in Ottawa, and he joined the RCAF in October 1940.
Service career.
He did his flight training in Canada at No.2 Initial Training School (ITS) in early 1941, and No.8 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) and No.10 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) to July 1941. As a Sergeant Pilot he was posted overseas to the UK in August 1941, flying Hawker Hurricane fighters at No.55 Operational Training Unit (OTU).
In September 1941 he was posted to No. 263 Squadron RAF, flying the Westland Whirlwind, based in the West Country and flying convoy protection and ground attack sorties into France. He was promoted to Flight Sergeant in January 1942 and commissioned as a Flight Lieutenant in March 1942. In June 1942 he was posted to the newly formed No. 421 Squadron RCAF flying the Spitfire Mk.V.
He then shipped out to Malta to join No. 249 Squadron RAF in October 1942, where he became an ace with seven confirmed victories. His first aerial victory came in February 1943 when he and another pilot downed a Junkers Ju 52 transport near Licata. He was awarded a quarter victory in shooting down a Junkers Ju 88 of KG 54 on 3 March 1943, a half victory on 22 March 1943 and a third on 16 April. In April he and American ace Squadron Leader J.J. Lynch caught and destroyed three Ju 52 transports off Sicily, and awarded two victories. Over Sicily and Italy he claimed five more victories, including a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 of SKG 10 on both 4 and 10 September and two Messerschmitt Bf 109Gs of JG 77 on 13 October.
In June he was posted to No. 185 Squadron RAF, flying a mixture of Spitfire Vs and IXs. On June 22 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Although tour-expired in July 1943, Kennedy stayed on operations, this time with No. 111 Squadron RAF until September 1943. A spell with No. 93 Squadron RAF followed until December 1943.
He then returned to the UK and began another tour on 15 June 1944 as Commanding Officer with No. 401 Squadron RAF. Kennedy downed two more German fighters for a total of 14 enemy aircraft destroyed, before he was shot down by flak on 26 July 1944. After parachuting into a field in occupied France, he initially hid in a hayloft and was cared for by a French family. With the aid of the French Maquis, Kennedy walked to Allied lines.
He returned to Canada in September 1944, and was released from the RCAF on 13 February 1945. He became a doctor and studied medicine at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1950. He was based in Cumberland, Ontario. Kennedy died on 6 January 2011.
Kennedy's brothers, Robert and Carleton, also served. Carleton died when his Halifax Mk III bomber crashed.


Sachs Harbour (David Nasogaluak Jr. Saaryuaq) Airport

Sachs Harbour (David Nasogaluak Jr. Saaryuaq) Airport is located at Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, Canada. Pilots will need to bring their own pump if they require 100LL fuel.


Starokostiantyniv Air Base

Starokostiantyniv is an air base in Ukraine, located east of Starokostiantyniv. It is a large military base, with numerous revetted areas on both sides of main runway. There are stands for over 35 large aircraft and about 30 small fighters.
Units stationed at Starokostiantyniv include:
In the early 1990s the airbase became home to the 7th Bomber Aviation Regiment flying Su-24M aircraft. During the Cold War the 85th Fighter Aviation Regiment was also located at the base.
On February 13, 1992, shortly after the USSR collapse, the pilots of this airbase hijacked 6 Su-24 airplanes to Russia. To avoid interception by the air defense systems of Ukraine, they flew to Russia through Belarus.
After the Regiment became a Ukrainian formation it was subordinate to the 35th Aviation Group.
Later, the Regiment was reorganized into a Bomber and Reconnaissance Brigade.
In May 2004 the 32 orae was formed from the former 48 BrTA at Kolomyia (air base). In October 2005 the former 32 Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron at Kolminyya joined the brigade as its reconnaissance aviation squadron.
In 2005-2006 the Brigade became first Air Force formation to be composed of professional soldiers and not conscripts.
In October 2018, exercise Clear Sky 2018 in collaboration with the California Air National Guard took place in Starokostiantyniv Air Base. During Clear Sky 2018, 120 sorties using tactical aircraft, 49 helicopter sorties and 20 cargo aircraft sorties were carried out.
The sole F-15D came from the 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath, UK, giving the Californian contingent a two-seat Eagle to provide backseat rides to their hosts. The Ukraine Air Force's two-seat aircraft were often used for familiarization sorties and exchange backseat rides during exercise.
Sadly, in the late afternoon on October 16, while carrying out one of these single-aircraft familiarization flights, a Su-27UB1M (‘70 Blue’) crashed resulting in the death of the two pilots, Colonel Ivan Nikolayevich Petrenko, deputy commander of Eastern Air Command/Ukrainian Air Force, and Lt. Colonel Seth ‘Jethro’ Nehring of the California ANG/144th Fighter Wing.


List of commanders-in-chief of the Royal Thai Air Force

The Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Air Force (), currently Air Chief Marshal Airbull Suttiwan, who is headquartered in Bangkok.
The following individuals have commanded the Royal Thai Air Force:


Arnold W. Braswell

Arnold Webb Braswell (born October 3, 1925) is a retired American Air Force lieutenant general and command pilot who was commander in chief of Pacific Air Forces, with headquarters at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. His command comprised more than 34,000 Air Force operational and support personnel stationed at eight major bases and more than 87 facilities principally located in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Hawaii.
Early life and education.
Braswell was born in 1925 to Claiborne and Marguerite Braswell in Minden, Louisiana, and graduated in 1942 from Minden High School. He attended Louisiana State University for two years and in 1944 entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He was appointed Cadet Brigade Commander, the "First Captain", of the corps of cadets in his final year and graduated in 1948 with honors and earned a commission as a second lieutenant in the newly established U.S. Air Force. After graduation Braswell married his high school sweetheart, Ione Davis. She gave birth to their son Jefferson in 1949 and daughter Sally in 1955.
Career.
After completing flying training at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona, he became in September 1949, a member of the 33rd Fighter Wing at Otis Air Force Base in Massachusetts, where he flew F-86 Sabrejets.
In 1951–1952, Braswell flew 155 combat missions in jet fighters as a member of the 49th Fighter Wing, Taegu Air Base, South Korea, and the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Kimpo Air Base, South Korea.
From September 1952 to September 1955, he was a flight commander and squadron operations officer in the 3600th Combat Crew Training Group at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. When the U.S. Air Force Academy opened in 1955 in temporary facilities at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado, Braswell was assigned as commander of one of the original four cadet squadrons and served in that capacity for three years.
In October 1958, he was again assigned to the 49th Fighter Wing, which had been relocated to Etain Air Base in France, where for a time he was deployed to supervise combat training of French, Danish and Turkish pilots in F-100 Super Sabre aircraft and then commanded the 7th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany.
Braswell returned to the United States in August 1961 to attend the Air Command and Staff College. He transferred to Washington, D.C., in July 1962 and was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force in the Directorate of Plans, where he prepared recommendations to the Air Force Chief of Staff on joint planning issues. In August 1966, Braswell entered the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C.. He graduated from the college and also completed his Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University in 1967.
He began a one-year tour of duty in the Vietnam War in July 1967 as director of plans at headquarters of the 7th Air Force, in Saigon. Though a staff officer and not required to fly, he voluntarily flew 40 combat missions, most of them in F-4 Phantoms.
Following his return from Southeast Asia in August 1968, Braswell became the director of operations for the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. He was again assigned to Air Force headquarters in August 1969 in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Operations, where he served initially as an Air Staff planning representative in Joint Staff planning conferences. In 1970 he was promoted to the grade of Brigadier General and assigned as deputy director for force development in the Directorate of Plans, and in February 1972, he became deputy director of plans. In February 1973, Braswell was promoted to the grade of major general and assumed command of United States Air Forces units based in Turkey, with headquarters in Ankara].
Braswell was assigned to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Belgium, as assistant chief of staff for operations from September 1974 to June 1977. In July 1977 he was promoted to Lt. General and returned to the United States as Director for Plans and Policy (J-5), Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. In June 1978, he became commander of Tactical Air Command's 9th Air Force with headquarters at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. In that position he also served as commander of the Air Force units assigned to the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force of the U.S. Readiness Command.
In June, 1981 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Pacific Air Forces, an Air Force major command, headquartered in Hawaii, which encompassed all of the tactical air combat units in the Pacific Theater.
The general in his Air Force career logged more than 5,500 flying hours, most of these in jet fighters.
He was promoted to lieutenant general July 1, 1977, with date of rank listed as June 28, 1977. He retired on October 1, 1983.
After retiring from the U.S. Air Force, Braswell served for ten years in Arlington, Virginia, as the President of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), the national trade association of companies involved in the manufacture of air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment. In this capacity he helped guide ground-breaking negotiations with major environmental groups to write and propose to Congress legislation establishing national mandatory efficiency standards for energy-consuming appliances. Both houses of the Congress passed the proposed legislation as written by unanimous vote, and it was signed into law by President Reagan. Under his guidance ARI also coordinated extensive research by industry companies to develop and employ new refrigerants that would not damage the protective ozone layer in the upper atmosphere.
Awards and recognitions.
His military decorations and awards include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters.
Personal life.
After retirement, Braswell served for six years as a member of the Volunteer Advisory Board for the public school technical training courses in Fairfax County, Virginia, and also for six years as the President of the Chesterbrook Woods Citizen's Association in McLean, Virginia. In 2009, he and Ione moved to Falcons Landing, a lifetime continuing care retirement facility in Potomac Falls, Virginia.


RAF Windrush

Royal Air Force Windrush or more simply RAF Windrush is a former Royal Air Force satellite station near Windrush, Gloucestershire, England. It was opened in 1940 and closed on 12 July 1945. Initially it was a Relief Landing Ground for RAF Chipping Norton, later coming under the control of RAF Little Rissington.
History.
The airfield consisted of two Sommerfeld tracking runways, a concrete perimeter track, 1 T1 building and 8 Blister Hangars amongst many others. Most of this infrastructure was added in 1942. Some of the original buildings remain in situ though the site has been returned to agricultural use. The Watch Tower was restored in the 1990s. The airfield is partly in the ownership of the National Trust.
The following units were here at some point:
Memorial.
A memorial at the church in Windrush village describes Sgt Pilot Bruce Hancock RAFVR who died on 18 August 1940 when downing a German Heinkel bomber by ramming it with his unarmed training Avro Anson aircraft.
Postwar.
Following closure in 1945 the airfield history has not been fully recorded but the then landowner Lord Sherborne purchased the airfield in 1969 back from the MOD and over time either demolished many of the hundred or so RAF buildings, or else established conifer plantations around them seeking to hide them from view. Many bomb shelters, ancillary buildings and concrete access tracks remain in these plantations. The Midland Parachuting Club was granted a lease of a strip of grass for use as a runway from 1992 until 1997 and used the Watch Tower as their base for Parachuting during that period.
Current Ownership.
The western portion of the airfield came under the ownership of the National Trust in March 1987 as part of the bequest of the Lodge Park and Sherborne Estate by the 7th Baron Sherborne. It is currently part of a let agricultural holding on the estate. Apart from two public bridleways there is currently no public access to the site.
The National Trust Estate Office is in the nearby village of Sherborne, Gloucestershire.


Associated Air Taxi