Jaffna International Airport

Jaffna International Airport (; ) , formerly known as Palaly Airport and Jaffna Airport, is an international airport serving northern Sri Lanka. It is also a military airbase known as Sri Lanka Air Force Palaly or SLAF Palaly. The airport is located in the town of Palaly near Kankesanthurai, north of the city of Jaffna. It resides at an elevation of and has one runway designated 05/23 with an asphalt surface measuring .
The airport was originally built by the Royal Air Force during World War II, after which it functioned as the country's second international airport. It was taken over by the Sri Lanka Air Force during the Sri Lankan Civil War. Domestic civilian flights resumed in the mid 1990s and in 2019 it became Sri Lanka's third international airport.
History.
World War II.
During World War II the British Royal Air Force built an airfield on of land in Palaly near Kankesanthurai in northern Ceylon. The airfield's runway was around long. A number of RAF squadrons (160, 203, 292, 354) and air-sea rescue units were stationed at the airfield during and immediately after the war. The airfield was abandoned after the war and taken over by the Department of Civil Aviation.
Post-WWII.
The inaugural flight by Air Ceylon on 10 December 1947 was from Ratmalana Airport to Madras via Palaly. After independence the airport provided domestic flights to Colombo (Ratmalana) and Trincomalee, and international flights to south India (Madras and Tiruchirappalli). Locals used the airport when visiting south India for cultural, educational and religious reasons while local politicians and officials used the airport for travelling to Colombo. Each year government employees would request three railway warrants for journeys between Kankesanthurai and Galle, the longest and costliest rail journey possible, and exchange these for air tickets between Palaly and Ratmalana. Air Ceylon's Douglas DC-3, Avro HS-748 and Nord 262 planes operated out of the airport. The growth of Tamil militancy put an end to civilian flights at the airport.
Sri Lankan civil war.
A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) detachment moved onto the site around 1976. The site became an Air Field Unit in January 1982. The airport served as major facility for the Sri Lankan military during the civil war. The army forcibly seized of neighbouring land in 1985. Following the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in July 1987 the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) used Palaly to transport troops between India and Sri Lanka. On 5 October 1987 around a dozen members of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), whom the Sri Lankan military were going to fly to Colombo to face criminal charges related to killing rival Tamil militants, committed suicide on the tarmac at Palaly airport by consuming cyanide capsules. Among the dead were two senior LTTE commanders - Kumarappa (Jaffna commander) and Pulendran (Trincomalee commander). In 1989, as the IPKF were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, paramilitaries belonging to Indian backed groups such as the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front escaped to Colombo via Palaly airport. They were each charged Rs. 5,000 by the SLAF - a standard return flight cost only Rs. 3,000 at that time.
During the early 1990s the airport and surrounding areas were declared a High Security Zone and all the residents were expelled. Between 1990 and 1995 this High Security Zone was the only government controlled territory on the Valikamam region. After the Valikamam was recaptured by the Sri Lankan military in 1995 the airport served as a vital link to the rest of the country as the land route was controlled by the LTTE. The SLAF then started a regular service between Palaly and Colombo. The SLAF's Helitours arm provided civilian flights using aircraft and crew leased from the former Soviet Union.
Lionair started operating flights for civilians between Palaly and Ratmalana in August 1996, taking over from the SLAF, and doubled fares. Lionair had a profitable monopoly until March 1998 when Monara Airlines started flights on the same route. Monara suspended its services on 16 September 1998 after receiving threats from the LTTE for carrying military personnel. On 29 September 1998 Lionair Flight 602 left the airport around 1.48pm bound for Ratmalana Airport. At 2.10 pm it was reported missing. Locals reported seeing the plane plunge into the sea near Iranaitivu, north of Mannar. All 55 on board were killed. The LTTE was accused of shooting down the flight. Lionair suspended flights to Palaly immediately.
Following the Norwegian facilitated ceasefire, civilian flights resumed from Palaly in June 2002 when ExpoAir started operating flights between Palaly and Ratmalana. The flights became very popular and at its peak ExpoAir was operating four flights a day using two 52-seater Fokker F27-500 planes.
Post-civil war.
ExpoAir suspended services in 2010 due to a drop in demand but services resumed again in January 2012. The airline operated two return flights a day using a 12-seater Cessna Grand Caravan. A new passenger terminal was opened on 4 January 2013.
In 2014 Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Mavai Senathirajah, who is from nearby Maviddapuram, appealed to the Indian consul in Jaffna to upgrade Palaly Airport. The appeal was forwarded to the Government of India, and after approval by the Prime Minister of India, negotiations began with the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). In late 2015 GoSL gave approval for an agreement between the two countries to upgrade the airport. The agreement met with resistance from civil servants in Colombo who feared that any development of the north would be at the expense of the south. Some Tamil politicians also opposed the plans, claiming that any development of the airport would result in further acquisition of civilian land. However, with increasing pressure from the TNA, the Indian government decided to go ahead with the redevelopment.
Officials from Chennai International Airport arrived at Palaly in March 2016 to carry out technical and feasibility studies and concluded that the redevelopment could be carried out without any further acquisition of civilian land. Detailed plans were drawn up but the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAA), fearing that any direct international flights to Palaly would cause Bandaranaike International Airport's income to fall, denied permission. By late 2018 Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's minority government had become reliant on TNA support to stay in power. In return, the TNA demanded that Palaly be redeveloped into an international airport. In order to overcome communal objections from southern officials Wickremesinghe gave a commitment that Ratmalana Airport would become an international airport at the same time as Palaly Airport. The CAA agreed to give permission on condition that Palaly only serves as a regional airport (i.e. no long-haul flights) and that any Indian financial assistance would in the form of grants rather than loans. In the meantime civil society groups from eastern Sri Lanka complained to the Indian consul in Jaffna that Indian development work was only focussed on the north and ignored the east. The Indian government agreed to redevelop Batticaloa Airport and the Sri Lankan government agreed to make it an international airport as well.
Although Palaly Airport had a 2,300-metre runway only 950 metres had been refurbished to a suitable standard for passenger aircraft. Redevelopment of the airport began in July 2019 with the extension of the runway from 950 metres to 1,400 metres (phase 1), allowing it to handle aircraft with a seating capacity of up to 75. The Road Development Authority was given the task of constructing the new apron, taxiway and roads and overlaying the runway. The state-owned Airport and Aviation Services (AAS) were responsible for constructing the control tower, terminal building, fire brigade facilities, office complex and air navigation systems. The redevelopment was not welcomed by air force personnel serving at Palaly - they refused to provide even basic refreshments to Indian workers, complaining that the redevelopment would benefit local Tamils, and suggested that after the presidential election the airport would be closed down.
International airport.
In early October 2019 the airport was made a regional airport, renamed Jaffna International Airport and placed under the jurisdiction of the CAA. AAS were appointed operator of the civilian side of the airport. The renovated airport was opened by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe on 17 October 2019. The arrival of an Alliance Air ATR 72-600 aircraft from Chennai carrying airline officials and journalists signalled the inauguration of Sri Lanka's third international airport. This was also Alliance Air's first overseas flight. The renovations cost Rs 2.25 billion of which Rs 1.95 billion was funded by the Sri Lankan government and Rs 0.3 billion from the Indian government.
Alliance Air was expected to run scheduled flights from Chennai to Jaffna three times a week from 1 November 2019. However, on 1 November 2019 the CAA announced that the flights would begin on 10 November 2019. Alliance Air commenced thrice weekly flights from Chennai to Jaffna on 11 November 2019.
FitsAir had said that they would operate charter flights to Chennai from 8 November 2019 and charter flights to Tiruchirappalli International Airport from 10 November 2019. The Sri Lankan government has stated that the airport would also have flights to other Indian destinations - Bangalore, Cochin, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Flights to Maldives have also been mooted. The runway is expected to be extended to 2,300 metres in phase 2. This will allow the airport to handle 150-seater aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and Airbus A321, enabling flights to other parts of Asia and Europe. Phase 3 will see the runway extended to 3,200 metres, capable of accommodating 200-seater aircraft.
Airlines and destinations.
All passenger flights are currently suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic:


Fletcher Thompson

Standish Fletcher Thompson (born February 5, 1925) is an American lawyer, World War II veteran and Republican politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1967 to 1973 from the 5th Congressional District of Georgia.
Early life.
Thompson was born near Atlanta in College Park in Fulton County, Georgia. He graduated from Russell High School in East Point, Georgia. While at Russell High School, Thompson was the president of the Model Airplane Club.
Military service.
Thompson completed Basic Training with the 90th Infantry Division before he was transferred to the Aviation Cadet Training Program in Wichita Falls, Texas. Thompson qualified as both a pilot and as a navigator. A growing need for Army Air Corps navigators resulted in his assignment as a navigator within the 6th Emergency Air-sea Rescue Squadron. Over the next several years, Thompson would earn seven service stars along with an Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal. On demobilization, he attended the Methodist-affiliated Emory University in Atlanta, from which he graduated in 1949. During the Korean War, Thompson re-enlisted in the United States Air Force as a pilot.
Professional career.
On returning from South Korea, Thompson graduated in 1957 from the now-closed Woodrow Wilson College of Law in Atlanta. The following year he was admitted to the Georgia bar and established a law firm in East Point. He was also president of an aviation insurance firm.
Politics.
Georgia State Senate.
In the November 3, 1964 general election, in which Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona became the first Republican presidential nominee to win Georgia's electoral votes, Thompson defeated then senior Democratic State Senator Charlie Brown in District 34. Thompson was one of only four Republican members of the upper chamber of the legislature at the time. He was selected by the Democratic majority to represent Fulton County in the drafting and sponsorship of the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority Act.
U.S. House of Representatives.
Two years later, Thompson ran for Congress, becoming the first Republican since the Reconstruction era to represent Atlanta and the 5th Congressional District in the United States House. The Democratic Executive Committee chose Archie Lindsey, then the chairman of the Fulton County Commission. Lindsey had three weeks to mount a campaign. Thompson prevailed, 55,423 (60.1 percent) to Lindsey's 36,751 (39.9 percent). Thompson netted some 30 per cent of the black vote. Thompson voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Thompson was re-elected in 1968 and in 1970, when he defeated Andrew Young, who after the next election in 1972 in a revised district succeeded Thompson in the Fifth District.
U.S. Senate campaign.
In 1972, Thompson ran for the U.S. Senate. Sam Nunn defeated David Gambrell in the Democratic primary; Gambrell had been appointed by then Governor Jimmy Carter to succeed the late Richard B. Russell. Thompson lost to Nunn, 362,501 votes (46.5 percent) to 404,890 (52 percent).
Post-political career.
After leaving the U.S. House, Thompson returned to his law firm in Atlanta. In 1985, he was made a member of the Atlanta Regional Commission. From 2009 until 2011, Thompson served as the Commander of the Atlanta World War II Roundtable, an organization that was created in 1986 "to hear and record the war experiences of World War II and to pass on to posterity the knowledge of World War II and the price – human and material – that was paid by our nation for the preservation of freedom in the United States and the world".
References.
 Retrieved on 2008-01-24
External links.
 Retrieved on 2008-01-24


Woodgate Aviation

Woodgate Aviation is a British aircraft charter and management company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which specialises in medical flights.
Woodgate Aviation operate from a purpose built modern hangar at Belfast International Airport.


Robert J. Dixon

General Robert James Dixon, USAF (April 9, 1920 – March 21, 2003) was a United States Air Force four-star general and Command Pilot who served as Commander, Tactical Air Command (COMTAC) from 1973 to 1978. He also served simultaneously as commander in chief of U.S. Air Forces for both the U.S. Atlantic Command and U.S. Readiness Command.
Biography.
Dixon was born in New York City in 1920. He graduated from Dartmouth College in June 1941 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature. In 1941 he entered pilot training in the Royal Canadian Air Force and in November 1942 was commissioned a pilot officer (second lieutenant equivalent) in the RCAF. He then graduated with an additional navigator rating from the RCAF Astro Navigation School. After completing Spitfire training at Dyce, Scotland, he was assigned to the 541 Squadron Royal Air Force a photo reconnaissance squadron at RAF Benson, England.
World War II.
In September 1943, Dixon was transferred from the RCAF to the United States Army where he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces and assigned to the 7th Photographic Group, Eighth Air Force, European Theater of Operations. In 1944 Dixon assumed command of the 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Photographic Group, which had Mark XI Spitfires, P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs.
He flew missions in four different aircraft for a total of 235 combat flying hours in 65 missions. He was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire while doing reconnaissance of the oil refinery at Merseburg, Germany in 1944. He was captured and remained a prisoner of war until liberated by U.S. Forces in May 1945.
Korea.
After hospitalization, Dixon served at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Rapid City Army Air Field, South Dakota. He was an instructor at the West Point Preparatory School in 1947 and then was assigned as group and wing personnel officer for the 82d Fighter Wing, Grenier Field, New Hampshire.
From November 1948 to 1953, Dixon served in the Directorate of Personnel at Headquarters, Strategic Air Command. He next served 11 months in Korea with the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing as wing inspector and then as commander of the 335th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. He completed 28 combat missions before the Korean armistice.
Dixon returned to the United States in 1954. He was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force and subsequently served as assistant to the deputy chief of staff, plans and operations, for National Security Council affairs. In this capacity he was Air Force action officer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. Department of State and the National Security Council.
He graduated from the Air War College in 1959 and was assigned to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Paris, France, as staff missile planner. Reassigned to the Pentagon in 1962, he served as assistant deputy director for war plans and later as assistant for joint and National Security Council matters, deputy chief of staff, plans and operations. In this latter capacity, Dixon was the Air Force planner for Joint Chiefs of Staff matters.
In September 1965 Dixon was assigned to the 45th Air Division, Strategic Air Command, at Loring Air Force Base, Maine, as an air division commander responsible for B-52/KC-135 wings at Loring AFB, Dow AFB, Ernest Harmon AFB and Goose Air Base. From July 1967 until July 1969, he was assigned as assistant deputy chief of staff, personnel for military personnel, and Commander, Air Force Military Personnel Center, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. While in this assignment, he received the 1969 Eugene M. Zuckert Management Award.
Vietnam.
In July 1969 Dixon was transferred to the Republic of Vietnam as Vice Commander, Seventh Air Force. He flew 36 combat missions during this tour in Southeast Asia. On August 1, 1970, he was promoted to lieutenant general and assumed the duties of deputy chief of staff, personnel, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. He served in that position until October 1, 1973, at which time he was promoted to general and assumed command of Tactical Air Command (TAC).
During his tenure as COMTAC, General Robert Dixon revamped the way TAC personnel trained. It was under his command that the Red Flag training exercises were started at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in order to more realistically simulate the expected combat environment and to reduce the high casualty rate experienced during the early phases of offensive operations in the Vietnam War. Another driver was the lessons learned during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, where the use of Soviet-supplied integrated air defense systems by the Egyptians and the Syrians had severely restricted the capability of the Israeli Air Force to support the ground forces. Dixon developed a close friendship with the commander of the Israeli Air Force, Major General Benny Peled that facilitated the prompt supply of US replacement systems to Israel and also of Israeli-captured Soviet equipment to the US. Dixon also decentralized aircraft maintenance in order to improve aircraft availability and combat sortie rates.
Post-military.
Dixon retired from the military on May 1, 1978 and died on March 21, 2003.
Awards and decorations.
General Dixon was a Command Pilot with more than 6,000 flying hours. His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Air Medal with 11 oak leaf clusters, Purple Heart, British Distinguished Flying Cross and French Croix d'Officier de la Légion d'honneur.


Glomb

Glomb, from "glide bomb", was a project undertaken by the United States Navy during World War II to develop an unmanned aircraft for delivering bombs to high-value, well-protected targets without risk to aircrew. The project proceeded through the war, producing several prototype aircraft, but technical limitations meant no Glombs saw operational service and the program was cancelled at the end of the war.
Design history.
During late 1940, the United States Navy began studying the possibility of developing gliders that would be remotely controlled to carry bombs to a target, reducing the risk to aircrew. In 1941, the Joint Air Advisory Committee approved the creation of the Glomb project, recommending that the project be conducted as a joint effort between the War Department and Navy Department. On 19 April the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics officially initiated a project office at the Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) for development of an operational glide bomb.
In 1942, a defined specification was prepared for a series of glider aircraft capable of carrying either of explosives or of fuel in a tanker configuration; by 1944, when such an aircraft was able to be built, the course of the war meant that such a large aircraft was no longer needed. However a project for a smaller glide bomb, based on a modified production glider, was underway, with tests of radio command guidance being undertaken using modified training gliders, starting in September 1942.
The Taylorcraft XLNT-1, Piper XLNP-1, Aeronca XLNR-1, and Waco XLRW-1 were evaluated under Project George, with the Taylorcraft model, designated XLNT-2 in definitive Glomb form, being considered the most suitable. It was modified with a tricycle undercarriage to allow for ease of towing during takeoff, and television guidance was used, the only form of guidance that was sufficiently reliable given the state of the art at the time; a payload of up to could be carried.
The results of the trials were considered sufficiently satisfactory for specifications for a production Glomb to be produced by the Naval Aircraft Factory and released to manufacturers for proposals in August 1943.
Developmental testing.
The specifications produced by the NAF called for a payload of to be carried by the definitive Glomb, with a radius of action of ; the towing aircraft specified as a baseline was the Grumman F6F Hellcat. In September, contracts were awarded to Pratt-Read, Piper Aircraft, and Taylorcraft Aircraft for production of the LBE, LBP, and LBT, respectively, for 100 aircraft of each type.
In September 1944, the first full, expendable tests of the XLNT Glomb were conducted; three aircraft being authorized for use. While the aerodynamics and effects of the Glomb were considered satisfactory by the Navy, the guidance system was not, and work on an improved guidance system was undertaken. In addition, studies for the carriage of Glombs on aircraft carriers were carried out, but this concept was dropped as no longer needed by the fall of 1944.
Continued issues with the guidance system, difficulty of generating electricity to power the onboard systems of the glider, and the changing state of the war, combined with the overall low performance inherent in a glider, led to the program being reduced in 1944; the LBT was cancelled outright in October, after production of only 25 aircraft, while orders for the LBE and LBP were reduced first to 85 aircraft in November 1944, then to 35 each in February 1945. Handling issues while landing resulted in the cancellation of the LBP in June 1945, and on 14 August, an analysis of the project resulted in the termination of the LBE, the sole remaining Glomb, with only four aircraft having been delivered. Work on the LBD Gargoyle missile, which had been developed as an offshoot of the Glomb program, continued, as it was considered more suitable for use by carrier aircraft and required less disruption to incorporate into Navy operations.


Cordova Municipal Airport

Cordova Municipal Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located one nautical mile (1.8 km) east of the central business district of Cordova, a city in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on Eyak Lake on which it also has a landing area for seaplanes.
Cordova is also served by the Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport which offers scheduled commercial flights including Alaska Airlines jet service.
Formerly, the airport operated as Cordova Army Airfield.
Facilities and aircraft.
Cordova Municipal Airport has one runway (6/24) with a 1,800 by 60 ft (549 x 18 m) gravel surface. It also has one seaplane landing area (9W/27W) measuring 8,000 by 3,000 ft (2,438 x 914 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2005, the airport had 8,800 aircraft operations, an average of 24 per day: 60% general aviation and 40% air taxi.


Joseph Joel Hammond

Joseph Joel Hammond (1886 – 22 September 1918) was a pioneering New Zealand aviator. On 17 January 1914 at Epsom showgrounds he took New Zealand's first military plane, a Blériot XI-2, for its first flight.
Early life.
Born in Fielding in the Manawatu District of the North Island of New Zealand, on 19 July 1886. he grew up on his family's farm at Rangitikei. He attended Campbell Street School in Palmerston North, then, during 1899–1901, St Patrick's College, Wellington.
At the age of 18 he left New Zealand for Australia in late 1904. After briefly working on a sheep station, he travelled via Hawaii to work as a gold prospector on the Klondike in Canada.
When gold mining proved unprofitable he trapped animals in Alaska before heading south and spending much of 1905 working on a cattle ranch near Phoenix in Arizona.
He left the United States on 20 November, returning to New Zealand for a brief holiday before he returned to the United States via Sydney, Fiji and Hawaii, arriving in Vancouver, Canada on 9 April 1908. He traveled south to the United States and eventually joined William F. Cody, aka Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Cody's final European tour had ended in 1907 and, in 1908, he and Pawnee Bill, another showman, joined forces and created the "Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Pawnee Bill’s Great Far East, popularly known as the "Two Bill’s" show. After six months with the "Two Bill’s" show he left in 1908 and toured much of Europe, apparently using the East Sussex seaside town of Seaford as a base. It was while here that he married Ethelwyn Wilkinson, a local woman in 1909.
Enters aviation.
Excited by the development of aviation Hammond obtained some flying tuition from Léon Delagrange, probably at Reims. In July 1910 after attending the second of the famous annual Reims flying meetings, Hammond obtained further instruction from Henri Molla at the Sanchez-Besa school at Mourmelon (Camp de Châlons). As a result, shortly after his marriage Hammond was able to gain from the Aéro-Club de France his French Aviators Certificate (No.258) on 4 October 1910, flying a Sanchez-Besa Biplane. In so doing he became the first New Zealander to obtain a flying certificate.
Returning to England he was granted Royal Aero Club aviators certificate 32 on 22 November 1910, after demonstrating his skill flying a Bristol Boxkite at Salisbury Plain.
His new qualifications allowed him to obtain a position as a salesman and demonstration pilot with the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company) which was manufacturing the Bristol Boxkite.
Flights in Australia.
The company sent Hammond (accompanied by his wife, Sydney E. Smith, the company's manager, mechanic/pilot Leslie F. Macdonald and a staff of mechanics as well as two Boxkites to Australia in an attempt to interest the Australian government in purchasing aircraft for military reconnaissance. Had they were successful, the intention was to establish a factory in Melbourne to build the planes. They disembarked from the R.M.S. Omrah in Fremantle on 13 13 December 1910 and transferred to Perth.
After assembling machine No. 10 Hammond made the first aircraft flight in West Australia from Perth's Belmont Park Racecourse on 3 January 1911.
Hammond made the final of the seven flights he made in Perth on 12 January 1911, after which the aircraft was dismantled and shipped to Melbourne.
Setting up their flight headquarters in Altona, a suburb of Melbourne and reassembling an aircraft, Hammond on 18 February 1911, undertook the aircraft aloft for his first flight in Victoria. On 20 February 1911, he flew from Altona to Geelong and landed on the Geelong Racecourse, taking 55 minutes to cover 42 miles (67.6 km). The following day Hammond returned to Altona, having made the first cross-country flights in Australia.
On 23 February, also from Altona, Hammond made the first passenger flight in Australia, taking Frank Coles, one of the Bristol mechanics, for a 7½ minute flight.
Later that same day he took his wife, Ethelwyn for a 12½ minute flight, making her the first woman to fly in Australia.
On 2 March 1911, local businessman, M. H. Baillieu, paid to be taken for a flight. This 11.8 mile (19 km) circular journey was the first paid charter flight and also the first carrying an Australian citizen as a passenger. On 26 March 1911 Hammond flew with both Leslie McDonald and mechanic Coles as passengers to demonstrate the weight carrying performance of the Boxkite. This was the first multiple passenger flight in Australia. Hammond made a total of 40 flights in Melbourne before the team relocated to Sydney.
On 18 April 1911 Hammond made the first-ever flight in Sydney, flying from the site of what would become Sydney Airport.
This was the first of several aerial displays and flights for fee-paying passengers over in Sydney
While official observers from the Australian Army had observed these demonstrations and were also taken for flights, in a further attempt to obtain orders from the military Hammond with a Captain Niechy as passenger flew 20 miles on 3 May from Botany Bay at Sydney to a cavalry training camp at Liverpool. He landed in the presence of the governor general, Lord Dudley and Brigadier General J. M. Gordon. The following day he flew Lt Colonel Antill on an observation flight of the Liverpool camp.
During his five months in Australia Hammond flew over 65 flights (some of them with his wife as passenger). Leslie Macdonald gave further demonstration flights in Sydney before the Bristol tour finished on 9 May 1911.
While Hammond was not the first person to fly in Australia, prior to the arrival of the Bristol team the others had only made short hops or flew at very low heights. In comparison, the Boxkite flew higher, further, carried out display flying and took up passengers, all under the complete control of the pilot.
McDonald took a photographer from the "Daily Telegraph" for a 25-minute flight over Sydney on 6 May, making the first aerial photographs to be taken in Australia. By 19 May, 72 flights totalling 765 miles (1231 km) had been made by No. 10.
Machine No. 11, still in its crate, was sold to Parramatta dentist W.E. Hart who was given flying lessons by Leslie McDonald. Hart subsequently used the aircraft to become the first Australian to gain a aviator's certificate.
When the Bristol team left for home Hammond and his wife remained behind and travelled to New Zealand introducing his wife to family and friends. During the holiday Hammond was admitted to hospital, first with appendicitis, followed by a bout of pneumonia and then blood poisoning in the leg. It was six months before he was well enough to travel back to England.
Hammond and his wife returned in May 1912 to England by way of Sydney, Vancouver and New York.
Flights in New Zealand.
Upon his return to England, Hammond continued working for the British and Colonial Aeroplane Co. until August 1912, when he took a position as an instructor at the Eastbourne Aviation Company's school. On 26 February 1913, Hammond joined the Royal Flying Corps Military Wing with the rank of 2nd lieutenant.
In February 1913 the privately organised Imperial Air Fleet Committee (I.A.F.C.) presented the New Zealand government with a Blériot XI-2. Prior to being gifted to New Zealand, Hamel, with Frank Dupee as passenger, had already flown the aircraft from Dover to Cologne, covering the 340 miles in four hours and 18 minutes.
Thomas Mackenzie, the high commissioner for New Zealand, officially received the gift on behalf of Mew Zealand at Hendon on 22 May 1913 (during which it was christened "Britannia" by Baroness Ettie Desborough, the wife of the president of the I.A.F.C.). Immediately afterwards former New Zealand premier Joseph Ward, who was present at the presentation, to the disquietude of his wife and daughter was taken for a flight in the machine by Gustav Hamel, followed in a later flight by Baron Desborough before it was disassembled for shipping.
Hammond was subsequently hired on 12 November 1913 to travel to New Zealand and demonstrate the "Britannia". The airplane was shipped aboard the and arrived at Wellington, New Zealand, on 29 September without its propeller, which was still back in Hendon, England. Hammond had originally proposed to fly the aircraft to Auckland but was turned down, and instead the military shipped it by train. The propeller subsequently arrived in Wellington on 23 December 1913 on the SS "Tainui" but was not made available until 7 January 1914, when it was railed to Auckland and fitted to the aircraft.
Once the aircraft was ready Hammond flew a trial flight over Auckland on 18 January 1914 The following day Hammond, with the consent of the military, attempted to take a reporter for a flight, but he had to abort the takeoff and narrowly missed crashing the aircraft into a fence.
The next planned flight was to be over the city's Industrial, Agricultural and Mining exhibition on 29 January. However, on the evening of 28 January 1914, on the spur of the moment, he took Australian actress Esme McLennan of the Royal Pantomime Company on a 20-minute-long flight.
 "It was like just nothing I’ve ever experienced before, and so it’s quite hard to tell a real story about it. Mr Hammond is staying at the same hotel, and I expressed a wish to go up if ever he felt inclined to take a passenger. The aviator was not quite sure about the Britannia when it came to carrying a passenger, however, and he would make no promise. On Wednesday I went out with others of our party, after visiting the Exhibition, to see Mr Hammond fly. It was an absolute surprise to me when he said, ‘I’ll take a passenger; will you come?’ I didn’t wait to be asked twice, and at once got into the passenger’s seat. I honestly didn’t feel the least wee bit nervous. On the contrary, the feeling I was most conscious of was one of pleasurable excitement. And, do you know, the first feeling, once away, was how simple and safe it was. I’d somehow pictured aviators as having to be tied in, or having to hold on tight. On the Britannia I never even thought about being frightened, or of being anything else but comfortable and pleased. The machine left the ground so easily, and we mounted into the air so naturally, that it somehow seemed to inspire confidence. It is surprisingly difficult to analyse now what my sensations were. I only know that I was wonderfully elated, and that I just enjoyed every moment of it. From your volcanic cones I have often looked out over Auckland, and thought it the loveliest place in the world, but viewed from an aeroplane, at a height of nearly 2,000ft, it was like a glimpse of something almost unreal. The city itself looked big enough, but the houses, and the people seemed like those Gulliver must have met with on his famous travels. We were travelling faster than I have ever travelled in the fastest express trains, but there was not even the slightest vibration, nor was there any sensation that was other than entirely pleasant. When we can actually journey from one place to another without the fatigue of train travelling or the drawbacks of a sea voyage, how delightful it is going to be. When we descended it was all just equally simple, and apparently equally easy. Coming down the water chute two hours before, my friends had teased me because I was actually scared. Coming down to earth from the skies on the Britannia never gave me one nervous thought. We landed as skilfully and as easily as we went up. I’m sorry I can’t describe by experience in more graphic terms, but I’m a woman, and I can best express myself when I use a woman’s phrase, and simply say it was ‘just lovely’. I was more elated while in the air than I think I’ve ever been about any first-night success at the theatre, and I really think I’m more excited about it now, when it’s all over, than I was while actually in the air."
This unauthorised flight, and especially with an actress instead of a male dignitary, caused consternation among the male politicians and military officials. As a result, no further flights were permitted, and Hammond's contract was terminated for his lapse in protocol.
While the aircraft remained on display for the rest of the exhibition, it was later sent back to Wellington and placed in storage in the autumn of 1914. The New Zealand Government offered it for service in World War One, and it returned to the UK in October 1914 with the 1NZEF First Echelon. A replica was built by David Comrie at his home in Dunedin and is now on display in the Air Force Museum of New Zealand at Wigram in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Bleriot is displayed as it would have looked on its exhibition flight, with Hammond in the front and Esme McLennan as his passenger.
World War I.
Hammond returned to England arriving in mid-August 1914 and was attached to the Royal Flying Corp as an instructor.
He was posted from 1 Reserve Aeroplane Squadron to France with the Expeditionary Force on 26 February 1915. Less than two months later, on 21 April, he returned to 1 RAS. He also spent another two weeks in France before a posting to 4 RAS in May 1915. There are no records as to whether he saw any action during his time in France.
In March 1915 Hammond was confirmed in his rank of 2nd lieutenant, being promoted to lieutenant the next month, which was later backdated to 26 November 1914. In January 1916 he was promoted from flying officer to flight commander with the rank of captain.
In December 1915 Hammond was transferred to the Aeronautical Inspection Department and throughout 1916 was involved in testing and evaluating new aircraft, among them the Robey-Peters Gun-Carrier. While his maiden flight in the aircraft was successful, during a subsequent flight on 16 September 1916 the engine caught fire, and, unable to reach the airfield at Lincoln, he crash landed in a lunatic asylum. Many onlookers assumed that Hammond had died in the crash, but he was later found having a shave in a barber's shop in Lincoln. During the maiden flight of the second prototype the following year, the aircraft stalled on takeoff and flipped over as it hit the ground, Hammond's life being saved by the size of the tail section.
In 1918 he was attached to the British Aviation Mission which left from Liverpool on 27 March 19818 arrived in New York in April 1918 to advise and promote aviation in the United States. Believing he had a better job in England, Hammond was unhappy with the appointment as his work basically involved giving exhibition flights as part of a joint American-British Liberty Bonds team.
In late May 1918 Hammond had a narrow escape when evaluating a US-designed Standard M-Defence (prototype for the Standard E-I). The machine had previously been test-flown at Mineola, New York, on 21 May by, Lt. C.F Soulier a member of the French Military Mission, who suggested several minor modifications be made to the aircraft. After the modifications had been completed, Hammond attempted to fly the machine from Mineola Field to Washington, D.C., but the engine seized, resulting in it crashing in New Jersey. Hammond walked away from the crash with minor injuries. An investigation later found that Hammond had apparently taken off without checking the oil, and the flight had not been officially authorized.
After giving a flying display during the Fourth Liberty Loan War Bond Drive air display at Greenfield, Hammond was returning to the mission's base at an airfield in Indianapolis on 22 September 1918 in a Bristol Fighter F.2B. In return for the hospitality he had been shown at the air display, he offered a ride to Indianapolis to Lt Roy W. Pickett of the US Army Air Service (who was home on leave) and local businessman John Lawrence Kinder. As the aircraft approached the airfield at about 5:30 pm, it went into a right-hand spin from 600 feet (183 m), its left wing striking a tree before crashing in a cornfield of the Marion County Poor Farm near its boundary with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hammond and Kinder were killed on impact, while Pickett escaped with a broken right leg and a lacerated jaw and shock.
Hammond's funeral was held in Indianapolis with thousands, including a firing squad of American and British aviation officers, attending the ceremony, at which the bishop of Indianapolis officiated. Hammond was cremated and his remains were then stored in the family mausoleum of Carl Fisher, the founder of the Indianapolis speedway. Fisher had donated his own plot in the mausoleum in the expectation that Hammond's family could come and claim the remains after the war. Hammond's remains were never collected and still reside in Carl Fisher's mausoleum at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.
It is believed that by the time of his death he had accumulated over 6,000 flying hours.
Personal life.
On 19 November 1909 he married Ethelwyn Wilkinson (1887–1951) from Seaford. After Hammond's death she moved back home to live with her parents and did not remarry, dying at the age of 64 in Hailsham.
Legacy.
By the time of his death Hammond had 'become almost a legendary hero' according to the editor of "The Aeroplane".
A plaque unveiled on 15 April 2011 at Hammond Place, Mascot honours his 18 April 1911 flight over Sydney. The plaque reads:
"On the 18th April 1911, Captain Joseph Joel Hammond, a New Zealander, flew a Bristol box-kite biplane on a flight that lasted less than 10 minutes. Thousands of paying spectators crowded what was then the Ascot Racecourse to see one man in a flying contraption fly a course of about 10 kilometres."


Kevin W. Mangum

Kevin Wayne Mangum (born October 6, 1960) is a United States Army lieutenant general who serves as deputy commander and chief of staff, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). He is a 1982 graduate of the United States Military Academy. He previously commanded the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence.


List of defunct airlines of Norway

This is a list of defunct airlines of Norway.


Ivan Pavlov (aviator)

Ivan Fomich Pavlov (; 25 June 1922 - 12 October 1950) was a ground attack pilot of the Soviet Air Forces during the Second World War. He served as both a flight and squadron commander in 6th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment during the conflict, for which he was twice named a Hero of the Soviet Union.
Early life.
Pavlov was born into a Russian peasant family in the village of Boris-Romanovka in what is now Kostanay District in Kazakhstan. From 1931 to 1932 he lived in Terensai Stantsy, now in the Adamovsky District of Orenburg Oblast, moving in 1932 to the city of Magnitogorsk in Chelyabinsk Oblast. He completed a basic education and in 1940 finished 3 years of training in the Magnitogorsk Industrial Technical Academy and Magnitogorsk Aeroclub.
He joined the Red Army in December 1940, and in 1942 graduated from the Chkalov Military Pilots' School in Orenburg.
World War II.
Pavlov fought in the Second World War as a ground-attack pilot on the Kalinin and Baltic Fronts. For his courage and heroism in the completion of over 127 sorties by October 1943 he was awarded the gold star of the Hero of the Soviet Union award and the Order of Lenin in February 1944. When the news of the award reached his home area a collection was organized and funds were raised for the completion of four ground-attack aircraft, one of which was presented to Pavlov himself. The aircraft bore the inscription: "To our compatriot Hero of the Soviet Union I. Pavlov - from the workers of Kostanay"
Pavlov had completed another 77 sorties by October 1944, and was consequently awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for a second time. Altogether during the war he completed 237 sorties in the Ilyushin Il-2, in the course of which his crew downed one Me-109. He participated in the Rzhev-Sychev, Veliko-luki and Smolensk Operations, and the liberation of Belarus and the Baltic States as well as the liquidation of the Zemland group of enemy forces. He suffered a concussion during those operations.
Postwar.
In 1949 Pavlov graduated from the Frunze Military Academy and took command of the 947th Assault Regiment Aviation in the Prikarpatsky Military District.
He was killed in an plane crash on 12 October 1950. He was buried in Kostanay where a bronze bust was erected in his memory, and a street in the town was also named in his honour. His name is eternally included in the active service list (an honour often extended to former Heroes of the Soviet Union who died whilst on active duty) and is thus inscribed in gold in the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow. Two educational institutions in Moscow and a school in his home village of Boris-Romanovna are also named after Pavlov and host exhibitions devoted to his memory.


Elstree Aerodrome

London Elstree Aerodrome is an operational general aviation aerodrome located in Elstree, and is situated east of Watford, Hertfordshire, England.
Elstree Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P486) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Aldenham Aviation LLP).
The aerodrome has one runway aligned roughly east–west. The runway (08/26) is 2,136 feet in length making it suitable for most light aircraft up to the size of a King Air/Pilatus PC-12.
Operations.
The aerodrome was returned to civil aircraft operations in 1946 and has since been used by aero clubs and private pilot owners for the basing and operation of single and twin-engined light aircraft and helicopters. There is a large wartime built Bellman hangar and a number of smaller hangars.
Airport Information.
Elstree Aerodrome operates under a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P486). This certification contains public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Aldenham Aviation LLP). It is located 2.6 nautical miles (4.8 km; 3.0 mi) east of Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The aerodrome has one runway aligned roughly east–west. The runway (08/26) is 2,136 feet in length. Credits to flightsim.to
A flight information service for arriving, departing or transiting aircraft is provided by "Elstree Information" on a frequency of 122.405 MHz.
Flightsharing.
As of 20 November 2017 internet based cost sharing platforms are prohibited from operating at Elstree Aerodrome.
Pilot's Notice 04/17 – "Montclare Shipping Company Limited as the licensee of Elstree Aerodrome hereby serves notice that with immediate effect flights utilising internet based cost sharing platforms (for example Wingly) are prohibited at Elstree."


5th Air Support Operations Squadron

The United States Air Force's 5th Air Support Operations Squadron is a combat support unit located at Fort Lewis, Washington. The squadron provides tactical command and control of airpower assets to the Joint Forces Air Component Commander and Joint Forces Land Component Commander for combat operations.
History.
World War II.
The squadron was first activated in May 1942 as the 5th Communications Squadron. After training in the United States, it moved to Australia in May 1943, where it became an element of Fifth Air Force as the 5th Air Support Communication Squadron. It participated in combat, earning arrowhead devices for participation in amphibious landings in New Guinea, the Bismark Archipelago, and Leyte. Its air support parties served with United States Marines and United States and Australian Army forces, directing air support missions for the forces they served. After V-J Day, the squadron was inactivated in the Philippines in November 1945.
Reactivation.
The squadron was reactivated at Fort Lewis, Washington in July 1994 as the 5th Air Support Operations Squadron. It has supported combat operations during the Global War on Terror since 2001. The unit's Joint Terminal Attack Controllers are traditionally aligned with I Corps and the Joint Base Lewis-McChord based Stryker Brigades, but due to manning shortages and theater requirements, the unit's airmen have deployed with many different units during the past decade.


Bristol Blitz

The Bristol Blitz was the heavy bombing of Bristol, England, by the Nazi German "Luftwaffe" during the Second World War. Due to the presence of Bristol Harbour and the Bristol Aeroplane Company the city was a target for bombing, and was easily found as enemy bombers were able to trace a course up the River Avon from Avonmouth using reflected moonlight on the waters into the heart of the city. Bristol was the fifth most heavily bombed British city of World War II.
Between 24 November 1940 and 11 April 1941 there were six major bombing raids. In total Bristol received 548 air raid alerts and 77 air raids with:
First raids.
In a night raid on 2 November 1940, 5,000 incendiary and 10,000 high explosive bombs were dropped on the old city.
On 24 November 148 Luftflotte 3 bombers left Germany to bomb Bristol. The attack started at 6.30pm, with waves of two or three bombers passing over Bristol dropping around 12,000 incendiary bombs and 160 tons of high-explosive bombs; within an hour over 70 fires had started. Park Street was "smashed" and the Bristol Museum hit, 207 people were killed and thousands of houses were destroyed or damaged. The area that is now Castle Park was extensively damaged. The Jacobean St Peter's Hospital was destroyed, and the 17th century timber-framed Dutch House was damaged and subsequently demolished. Four of Bristol's ancient churches (St Peter's, the interior of St Nicholas, St Mary-le-Port and Temple Church) were also badly damaged. The St James' Presbyterian Church of England, Bristol was gutted.
The Lord Mayor of Bristol, Alderman Thomas Underwood, described the effect of the raids as "The City of Churches had in one night become the city of ruins."
Following raids.
On 3 – 4 January 1941 Bristol had its longest raid, lasting 12 hours; during which the "Luftwaffe" dropped their biggest bomb on the city. It was nicknamed "Satan", and weighed , measuring over long (without the tail), and in diameter. It did not explode, and was recovered in April 1943. The bomb disposal crew had to dig down to get to it. The bomb was later paraded through the streets of London during the VE Day Victory Parade.
Bristol Good Friday air raids.
The infamous Good Friday air raids caused further damage to the centre of the city, Knowle, Hotwells, Cotham and Filton, and caused the permanent closure of the Bristol Tramways. Winston Churchill visited the ruins on 12 April 1941. The last air raid of the Blitz on Bristol was on 25 April 1941, when Brislington, Bedminster and Knowle were bombed. It is speculated that these suburbs were not the targets themselves but that bombs intended for Filton's manufacturing areas were mistakenly dropped on other areas.
One of the common types of bomb dropped on the city was a canister containing many incendiaries (locally known as "Goering's Bread Basket" – from the Molotov bread basket device); these caused numerous fires and were designed to cause panic amongst the citizens, and stretch the fire services to their limits.
The last raid on Bristol was on 15 May 1944.
Bristol was in danger of being hit by V-1 flying bombs, and by the A4/V2 rockets, whose launching platforms had already been built on the Cotentin peninsula in France in 1944. However, the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944 saw these launching platforms on Cotentin being quickly overrun and consequently no V1 or V2s landed on Bristol.
Decoy sites.
In the early years of the Second World War following the bombing of Coventry in November 1940, many decoy sites were built with the intention of drawing enemy bombing raids away from the major cities. The main decoy for Bristol was at Black Down on the western end of the Mendip Hills, about southwest of Bristol. A smaller one was in the parish of Chew Magna. These were known as starfish sites, and were designed to simulate Bristol under blackout conditions, even to the extent of mimicking the flickering lights of railway marshalling yards.
In the event of an imminent air raid, beacons were lit at the decoy sites. Later archaeological research at the Black Down site has not found any evidence that it was bombed.


Herbert Olbrich

Herbert Olbrich (1 July 1897 in Friedheim – 29 October 1976 in München) was a Luftwaffe Generalleutnant during World War II, and a recipient of the Slovak victory cross order. He was captured in Flensburg on 12 May 1945 and became a British prisoner of war between 12 May 1945 and 17 May 1948. On 9 January 1946 he was transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11.


693d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group

The United States Air Force's 693d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group is an intelligence unit located at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
Mission.
The mission of the 693d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group is to lead theater Air Force ISR operations through effective planning, collection, analysis, and dissemination, enabling theater and national warfighters to secure global vigilance, reach, and power.


Departure control system

A departure control system (DCS) automates processing an airline's airport management operation, which includes managing the information required for airport check-in, printing boarding cards, baggage acceptance, boarding, load control and aircraft checks.
Today, DCS mostly (98%) manage e-tickets using interfaces from a number of devices, including check-in kiosks, online check-in, mobile boarding cards, and baggage handling. DCS are able to identify, capture and update reservations from an airline's computer reservation system for passengers stored in a so-called passenger name record (PNR). A DCS is used to update reservations, typically as checked-in, boarded, flown or another status.
Additionally and increasingly, a DCS for some city-pair sectors may also interface with immigration control (such as Advance Passenger Information System) for visa, immigration and passenger no-fly watchlists.
Historically, systems developed in North America have incorporated DCS functions as part of the reservations systems with check-in being initiated directly from the PNR. Load control (weight and balance) is then provided by a standalone application. Systems developed by airlines outside North America have traditionally had a separate database for DCS, requiring passenger data to be transferred from the PNR into DCS records. These systems have an integrated weight and balance capability.
"New generation" DCSs are being developed and deployed by vendors such as Amadeus and SITA as part of the overall re-engineering of airline Passenger Services Systems. These new systems typically use a common database and a services oriented architecture that allows reservations, check-in and other services to maintain a consistent view of passenger information.
Larger international airports will have a range of DCS or a single DCS which each particular airline carrier can integrate with for streamlined operations.


Lethbridge Aircraft Company


Itanagar Airport

Itanagar Airport is a greenfield airport project that will be constructed at Holongi, 14 kilometres south of State capital Itanagar, in the Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is being built by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) over an area of 320 hectares. The project entails construction of a new 2300 metre runway, a terminal building measuring 5100 square metres to handle 200 passengers during peak hour, Air Traffic Control Tower and Technical block and Fire station with provisions for commercial activities such as a hotel, convention centre. The apron will measure 115 metres by 106 metres, suitable for parking two Airbus A321 aircraft. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the project on 9 February 2019.
History.
In 2007, the State Government had chosen Banderdeva, 25 km from Itanagar, as a suitable location for the project. The then Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, laid the foundation stone on 20 February 2007 for the project. However, the technical committee of the AAI rejected the site and recommended Holongi as an alternative site for the project in 2011. AAI had recommended Holongi on grounds of operational safety, lower costs of construction and ease of future expansion. The Holongi site lay on flat ground, had better usability in poor weather and offered scope for easy construction and expansion. The Banderdeva site, on the other hand, was surrounded by hilly terrain and permitted operation of aircraft from only one direction. The cost of construction was estimated at Rs. 980 crore for Banderdeva, as against Rs. 650 crore for the Holongi site. The differences between AAI and the state government caused a dispute that resulted in the project getting delayed. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) eventually stepped in to put an end to the dispute in July 2012 and the Holongi site was finalised.


No. 59 Squadron RAF

No. 59 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force, based in Norfolk, England.
History.
No.59 Squadron was formed at Narborough Airfield in Norfolk on 1 August 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. On 13 February 1917, the Squadron crossed the English Channel, deploying to Saint-Omer in northern France to operate in the army co-operation role, equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8s.
During the Second World War it was attached to RAF Fighter Command (1937–1940), Bomber Command (taking part in the Millennium II raid on Bremen) and Coastal Command (1940–1945). After the war, No 59 Squadron was attached to Transport Command, flying troops to India from September 1945 until 15 June 1946, when the squadron was disbanded. On 1 December 1947 whilst at RAF Waterbeach, half the crew of No 51 Squadron were designated to reform as No 59 Squadron. At 0800 the move from RAF Waterbeach to RAF Abingdon commenced whereupon the arrival of their commanding officer, Squadron Leader E.V Best A.F.C at 1000, the squadron officially reformed, as a Long Range Transport Unit flying Avro Yorks. A detached flight would later take part in the Berlin Airlift (1948–49). The squadron disbanded again on 31 October 1950, then reformed at RAF Gutersloh, Germany in August 1956, when No. 102 Squadron was re-numbered No 59 Sqn flying English Electric Canberra B.2s and B(I).8s. No 59 Squadron was last disbanded in 1961, when it was re-numbered to No.3 Squadron.


List of airlines of Lebanon

This is a list of airlines currently operating in Lebanon.


Kelner Airways


Fishermans Bay/LPS Seaplane Base

Fishermans Bay/LPS Seaplane Base is a seaplane base located at Fishermans Bay on Lopez Island, in San Juan County, Washington, United States. It is owned by Lake Union Air Service, Inc.
Facilities.
Fishermans Bay/LPS Seaplane Base has seaplane landing areas: 5/23 is 4,000 by 200 feet (1,219 x 61 m) and 14/32 is 2,500 by 200 feet (762 x 61 m).


List of defunct airlines

This is a list of defunct airlines, arranged alphabetically by country within their respective continents.


Willie Read

Wing Commander William Ronald Read, (17 May 1885 − 1972) was a highly decorated Royal Air Force officer of World War I and the inter-war period. A pre-war member of the Royal Flying Corps (which became the RAF in 1918), he was one of only a handful of officers to ever receive a second bar to the Air Force Cross (i.e. he was awarded the AFC three times).
Early life and career.
Read came from a wealthy family and was the eldest son of W. T. Read of Hampstead. Both his parents died when he was twelve and he and his siblings were raised by guardians. He was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge.
Read was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Hampshire Carabiniers, a yeomanry (part-time volunteer cavalry) regiment, on 23 September 1906. On 6 March 1907, after leaving Cambridge, he transferred to the 1st (King's) Dragoon Guards, a regular regiment.
After obtaining his pilot's licence in April 1913, Read was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps as a pilot on 28 April 1914 and joined 3 Squadron. He was promoted lieutenant on 14 June 1914.
First World War.
Read accompanied his squadron to France in August 1914. He was wounded in December 1914. On 8 February 1915, he was appointed a flight commander in the Royal Flying Corps with the temporary rank of captain. In December 1915 he was sent home to organise 45 Squadron, returning to France in command in April 1916. He was awarded the Military Cross on 1 January 1916 and promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 19 August 1917. In April 1917, disillusioned with heavy losses and with his superiors, he requested and received a transfer back to his regiment. He did not much enjoy it, however, and returned to the RFC as the first commanding officer of 104 Squadron, a bomber unit, in September 1917 with the acting rank of major.
He was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) on 1 January 1919, and the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 3 June 1919 for services in France.
Post-war.
After the war he remained in the Royal Air Force with the rank of flight lieutenant, although technically still on attachment from his regiment. He served in Palestine with No. 216 Squadron from 1919 to 1921, and received a bar to his AFC on 12 July 1920. By October 1921, he had been promoted to squadron leader in the RAF, although still holding the rank of captain in the Army, and was in command of 216 Squadron.
On 17 November 1921, he finally transferred from the Army to a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force. He was awarded a second bar to his AFC in the 1922 New Year Honours.
He was promoted wing commander on 1 January 1924. Having previously been commander of an apprentices' wing at RAF Halton, in January 1928 he became station commander of RAF Upavon, and he was appointed first commander of RAF Boscombe Down in September 1930.
In March 1931, he was appointed Inspector of Recruiting for the RAF. He retired on 17 May 1932, his 47th birthday.
Personal life.
In December 1915, Read became engaged to Marjory Masters, daughter of an army chaplain. However, he seems to have never actually married. He was an amateur steeplechase rider, riding in many races, and tennis player.
Read's wartime diaries and papers are held by the Imperial War Museum.


Sergeant Deadhead

Sergeant Deadhead is a 1965 musical comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Frankie Avalon. It features many cast members who appeared in the "Beach Party" movies.
Plot.
Sergeant Deadhead is a bumbling soldier who is sent to the guardhouse for blowing up a model rocket on the parade ground of the air base where he is stationed. His fiancée, Airman Lucy Turner despairs of ever marrying him because of him being constantly disciplined for his antics. She is worried that she will have to marry him while he is in the guardhouse.
Together with Private McEvoy, Sergeant Deadhead escapes from the guardhouse. Private McEvoy decides to break back in, but Sergeant Deadhead hides in a nearby space rocket, not knowing it is set to blast off with a chimpanzee aboard. He falls asleep in the rocket's control room and is accidentally blasted into space, together with the chimpanzee.
When Sergeant Deadhead is discovered to be aboard the rocket, General Fogg decides to spin the facts and say that Sergeant Deadhead volunteered for the mission. He and Navy Captain Weiskopf also decide that Sergeant Deadhead and Airman Turner will have a well publicized wedding on the air base when Sergeant Deadhead returns to earth.
When Sergeant Deadhead returns home he is a national hero but has also developed a massive ego due to space travel causing his personality to blend with that of the chimpanzee, and the realization that he has become a media sensation.
A soldier who looks exactly like him, Sergeant Donovan, is found to take his place. When the smooth talking Sergeant Donovan is set to take Sergeant Deadhead's place at the altar, Sergeant Deadhead breaks out of the guardhouse, starts to recover his personality, and switches places with Sergeant Donovan. When the leadership realizes he has escaped the guardhouse, he runs away.
Sergeant Deadhead finds out about Sergeant Donovan, and goes to the hotel where the wedding reception and honeymoon are taking place. There he switches places with Sergeant Donovan to enjoy his honeymoon. However, General Fogg and the others find Donovan and take him back to the honeymoon suite, looking for Deadhead. Thinking Donovan is Deadhead, Airman Turner chases them out.
When Airman Turner is preparing a bath for Donovan, Deadhead sneaks in the window and coldcocks Donovan with a vase, knocking him out. Fogg, Weiskopf and the others show up again at the door, claiming to have a message from the President. Thinking that Deadhead is Donovan, Fogg and Weiskopf have two MP's escort Deadhead and Turner to the airport to fly to see the President. Donovan awakes alone in the closet, then goes back to base where Fogg and Weiskopf discover that Deadhead is with Turner and going to meet the President. Deadhead and Turner enjoy the rest of their honeymoon and their meeting with the President.
Two marines appear to arrest Deadhead but mistakenly arrest the President, who is trying on Deadhead's space helmet. Deadhead and Turner escape in a White House helicopter. Fogg, Weiskopf and the others end up in the guardhouse.
Production.
The film was the first in a two-picture deal AIP signed with Norman Taurog in 1964.
On 10 March 1965 it was announced that Tommy Kirk would star. However Frankie Avalon ended up taking the role instead. While making the film AIP would exercise its option on Avalon's services to make two films a year for them over four years.
Filming began in May 1965, following completion of "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini". Location work took place at the San Fernando Valley.
The script by Deke Heyward would not write in gags for Buster Keaton. It would simply say "Buster does a bit here" and Keaton would come up with something on his own and show it to the director.
Before the film came out, plans for a sequel (never actually produced) were announced – "Sergeant Deadhead Goes to Mars", meant to start 13 April 1966.
Reception.
Box Office.
AIP made the film hoping that military comedies would provide them with a genre as popular as the beach party movies but it proved a commercial disappointment, Samuel Z Arkoff claiming it "bombed out".
Norman Taurog's biographer claimed the film managed to recoup its costs and make a small profit for the studio.
Critical.
"Diabolique" magazine said the movie was the only one in AIP beach cycle where John Ashley did not play it straight; here he "put on glasses and plays a geeky soldier; it’s disconcerting – it feels as though the role was originally written for Jody McCrea – and helps sink what is already a poor movie."
Songs.
All the songs in the film were written by Guy Hemric and Jerry Styner:


Fursatganj Airfield

Fursatganj Airfield or Raebareli Airport is an airfield situated at Fursatganj of Amethi district (formerly in Raebareli district) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
"Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi" is a flight training school established in 1986 and co-located with the airfield under the government of India.
Airlines and destinations.
The airport/airstrip has only unscheduled chartered flights.
Consideration of a new world class civil aviation university.
Rahul Gandhi rather than any other of the civil aviation officials announced the much-awaited venue of the civil aviation university, which till date was a mystery. Addressing a public function at Fursatganj in Raebareli district, Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi surprised everyone by his announcement, proposing that Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University would be built at Fursatganj with an aim to give better training facilities to the pilots. He also announced the expansion of Fursatganj airport, so that farmers' produce can be exported. The announcement was made at a function to mark the 25th anniversary of Indira Gandhi National Aviation Academy (IGRUA), a premier academy of pilot training in India, where Vayalar Ravi was also present. On 17 October, during the International Civil Aviation Conference in Mumbai, Ravi had announced the plans for the university. Since then, he is believed to be pitching hard for the institution to come to his home turf. MiD DAY had reported ('Kerala to host world class aviation school', 19 October) that during discussions for the project, debates supported that the university should be located between northern and western India, but the aviation minister was of a view that the university must be established in Kerala.
Official confirmation.
Talking to MiD DAY, Nasim Zaidi, union civil aviation secretary, said, Yes, it has been decided that the university would be built at Fursatganj in UP and its campus will be close to IGRUA at Fursatganj airfield. Despite repeated attempts, Ravi remained unavailable for comment. In order to minimise the scarcity of aviation professionals in the country, the Civil Aviation Ministry mooted the idea of the first aviation university.
Proposed extension of the airport.
The aviation ministry has decided that Airports Authority of India will extend the 6,000-ft-long runway at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) at Raebareli to make it fit for bigger jets. And AAI will also construct a passenger terminal to have an airport to replace what is only a flying academy now.
Extension of runway.
The decision was taken at IGRUA in a meeting that Rahul had with then aviation minister Vayalar Ravi (Ajit Singh, also from UP, was sworn in as aviation minister on Sunday), aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi and other top officials. The runway is currently 6,000 ft which will be extended to 7,500 ft and then 9,000 ft in the second stage, said sources.
Estimated cost.
The estimated cost for the 7,500-ft runway and terminal is Rs 150 crore and it will cost another Rs 100 crore for expanding it, said sources. While a proposal for funding this would be sent to the Planning Commission, aviation authorities estimate that about 350 acres would be needed. The move is expected to lead to economic development - and rich political harvest - as Raebareli could become the fifth city in UP to have an airport after Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra and Kanpur.


Mark A. Ediger

Mark A. Ediger is a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force who was the twenty-second Surgeon General of the United States Air Force. Prior to that he served as the Deputy Surgeon General.
Assignments.
1. June 1986 – August 1988, Chief, Family Practice, Air Transportable Hospital Commander, 1st Medical Group, Langley AFB, Va.
2. August 1988 – July 1990, Flight Surgeon and Chief, Flight Medicine, 94th Fighter Squadron, Langley AFB, Va.
3. July 1990 – July 1992, Resident in Aerospace Medicine, USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, Texas
4. July 1992 – July 1994, Chief, Aeromedical Services, 325th Medical Group, Tyndall AFB, Fla.
5. July 1994 – July 1996, Chief, Aerospace Medicine Branch, and Chief, Professional Services Division, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Randolph AFB, Texas
6. July 1996 – July 1998, Chief, Aerospace Medicine Division, Air Force Medical Operations Agency, Bolling AFB, D.C.
7. July 1998 – July 2000, Command Surgeon, Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
8. July 2000 – June 2002, Commander, 16th Medical Group, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
9. June 2002 – July 2003, Commander, 363rd Expeditionary Medical Group, Southwest Asia
10. July 2003 – July 2007, Command Surgeon, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
11. July 2007 – September 2008, Command Surgeon, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Randolph AFB, Texas
12. September 2008 – July 2012, Commander, Air Force Medical Operations Agency, Lackland AFB, Texas
13. July 2012 – June 2015, Deputy Surgeon General, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
14. June 2015 – June 2018, Surgeon General, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.


Nippon Cargo


Business Aviation Center

Business Aviation Centre, Private Stock Company () was an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine. It operated charter and air taxi services in Ukraine, Europe and Asia, focusing on the VIP sector. Its bases were at Boryspil Airport and Kyiv Zhuliany Airport.
History.
Business Aviation Centre airline had been working in the Ukrainian aviation market, arranging and performing charter flights since 1996. The company operated its own fleet and constantly used the aircraft of its Ukrainian and foreign partners. Business Aviation Centre was a full member of the European Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and since 2003 was an official dealer for Jeppesen GmbH in Ukraine. Additionally, the company provided handling and airport services for Ukrainian and foreign companies at various airports in the country.
In November 2012, the BAC announced renewal of its "scheduled" passenger service from Kyiv Zhuliany International Airport to Uzhhorod International Airport, which was then the sole scheduled flight to Uzhhorod.
The Business Aviation Center ceased operations in July 2013.
Fleet.
The Business Aviation Centre fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of Dec 2012):


Princess Elisabeth Skiway


List of airlines of Greenland

This is a list of airlines of Greenland.


Georges Thenault

Lieutenant Colonel Georges Thenault () (15 December 1887 – 19 December 1948) was the commander of the Lafayette Escadrille – the famed branch of the French air force in World War I composed of American volunteer pilots. The Lafayette Escadrille was created before the United States gave up its neutrality and joined France and Britain in the war against Germany. Once the United States formally entered the war, the Lafayette Escadrille was absorbed into the U.S. Army.
Early life.
Born on 2 October 1887, in the small town of Celle-Lévescault, France (located on main highway between La Rochelle and Tours).
World War I.
Standing 5-ft, 8-in, he was a giant in the eyes of his fellow Frenchmen and a respected leader amongst the American volunteer pilots. Identified as N.124, the "Lafayette Escadrille" was assigned to "Groupe de Combat 13" under the overall command of Commandant Philippe Féquant. During 1916–1917, this "Groupe de Combat 13" took part in such engagements as the Battle of the Somme, the Second Battle of the Aisne, the Battle of Verdun, and in the Battle of Passchendaele. In early 1918, it operated in the region between Soissons and Reims.
Captain Georges Thenault credits Adjudant Norman Prince for conceiving in November 1914 the idea of bringing together his countrymen with some of those of the French Foreign Legion in a squadron of flyers. Support soon came about from civilian and military representatives of France and the United States. These representatives added expertise and government networking resolving over time the method of recruiting and financing, and successfully encountering the French officialdom. Five influential men instrumental in providing this organizational support included:
This team of five experts identified the many issues involved and the obstacles that had to be overcome, and helped the first American volunteers to develop a plan:
"There were Americans fighting in the Foreign Legion, but their identity was lost in this body; they were simply units in a tremendous group. Dr. Gros and his associates dreamed of some other form of service in which Americans might participate as Americans, even though the flag of the United States might not officially be carried into the war. The idea was constantly before them, and, when they found that among the Americans already in France and already anxious to help as best they might, were men who had learned the art of flying in this country, the plan for a special American flying corps was conceived and developed."
Final approval for this plan was given by Major General Auguste Edouard Hirschauer (16 June 1857, Saint-Avold, Moselle, Lorraine region of France – 27 December 1943, Versailles, Yvelines, region Ile-de-France) – Chief of French Military Aeronautics for the Ministry of War (1914–1915).
It started with a group of American volunteers (Norman Prince, William Thaw, Victor Chapman, Kiffin Rockwell, James McConnell, Clyde Balsley, Chouteau Johnson, Lawrence Rumsey, Paul Rockwell) in Paris, France, where they met to discuss how would one be able to enter the French Aviation Service to fly combat missions against the Germans. They met Monday evening, 17 April 1916, at a Paris restaurant to celebrate the final and definite organization of the "Escadrille Americaine".
They became the first group to enter the French Aviation Service under the guidance of a distinguished French pilot, Captain Georges Thenault. The Escadrille N.124, first called the "Escadrille Americaine", then the "Escadrille des Volontaires", and finally the "Escadrille Lafayette", was formed on Wednesday, 15 March 1916, under the command of Captain Georges Thenault. Into this squadron came more American volunteers who were at one time automobile mechanics, ambulance drivers, and members of the French Foreign Legion. They became an elite corps of volunteers administratively assigned to this squadron. Thus, began the association called the "Franco-American Flying Corps" – later to be known as the Lafayette Flying Corps.
The Lafayette Escadrille was from the beginning a chasse, or pursuit, squadron. Originally provided with the thirteen (square)-meter Nieuport 11, armed with a single Lewis gun on the top plane, it changed successively to the Vickers-armed fifteen (square)-meter Nieuport 17, SPAD S.VII with a single Vickers machinegun, and the SPAD S.XIII with the twin-Vickers machinegun.
Between 20 October 1917 to early February 1918, the process of releasing the American volunteers from the Lafayette Escadrille so that they could become commissioned pilots of the United States Army Air Service was slow. This was mainly due to the required bureaucratic civil and military endorsements that took place between the French Bureau of the Minister of War and to the American Expeditionary Force, Chief of Staff Major General James William McAndrew, U.S.A.
On Monday, 18 February 1918, under the provisions of a curious and interesting agreement between the French and American armies, the Lafayette Escadrille became the 103d Aero Squadron – originally known as "103d Pursuit Squadron" – United States Army Air Service. During its tenure, the Lafayette Escadrille had officially confirmed by the military authorities, 199 German aircraft. Of these volunteer pilots, five died of illness; six by accidents in the aviation schools; fifteen were taken prisoners; nineteen were wounded in combat; and, fifty-one were killed over the front lines. The French government recognized the American volunteers for their heroic achievements in the skies over France with the following: four Legions of Honor, seven Medailles Militaires, and thirty-one citations (each with a Croix de guerre).
After the disbandment of the LaFayettee Escadrille, Captain Thenault accepted orders as chief pilot at the French "School of Aerial Acrobacy & Combat" at Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, remaining there for the duration of the war.
Interwar years.
Following the end of World War I, Captain Thenault continued military service in the "Armée de l'Air" (ALA) – literally Air Army, and found time to compile his personal diary notes into a historical work pertaining to the famous "LaFayette Escadrille" published in Boston MA by the Small, Maynard & Company, Inc. Captain Thenault wrote his book at his home located in Vaux-en-Couhe Vienne France (Vaux, Vienne). Between 1919 and 1921, Thenault purposely wrote this book to place on record the exploits and sacrifices of those daring American volunteers who served under his command and who gave so noble a response to the "deed of LaFayette" whom they chose as their namesake.
Captain Thenault's book gained widespread American public recognition. In May 1922, he accepted an assignment that began an eleven-year diplomatic service in the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C.. This started with the position of "Assistant Military Attache for Aeronautics" and later evolved into the position of "Military Attache for Aeronautics" at the French Embassy in Washington DC (1922–1933). Thenault's travel to the United States began under a French diplomatic passport to the French embassy in Washington DC aboard SS France (1910) departing from Port of Le Havre, Saturday, 15 July 1922, and arriving Port of New York, Saturday, 22 July 1922.
Late fall 1922 plans were announced of Captain Georges Thenault to wed Mlle. Paule Dumont in Washington DC – daughter of the French embassy's "Military Attache for Aeronautics" Colonel George A. L. Dumont, French Air Army. The wedding was to have taken place in the fall of 1922.
Then in the fall of 1925, the engagement of Ms. Sarah Spencer to Commandant Georges Thenault was announced in Washington DC society circles. She was the daughter of Oliver Martin Spencer of Chicago (general solicitor of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad) and of Mrs. Katherine (Turner) "Danny" Spencer, and a grandniece of the Honorable William J. Stone of Ripley County, Missouri.
A number of U.S. Army Air Service and French Aviation Service aviators who won their spurs during the World War periodically made visits to the French embassy, attending conferences, luncheons and dinner engagements in Washington DC. One of the well-known visitors at the time was Captain René Fonck, French Aviation Service. He arrived in the United States at the Port of New York aboard the steamship RMS Olympic, on Tuesday, 6 October 1925. Captain Fonck was in Washington DC for two reasons: (1) upon the invitation from the defense attorney for Colonel Billy Mitchell, U.S. Army Air Service; and, (2) to attend the international air race at Mitchell Field, Long Island, for the Schneider Trophy. Colonel Mitchell invited Captain Fonck on his behalf to reveal the truth about French aviation against the Riffs, and to testify the French Aviation Service had broken down against the Riffs because the fliers were placed under the command of infantry and artillery officers who had no flying experience.
Promoted to commandant in 1923, Thenault completed his six-year tour as military attache in spring 1928, went to France and later returned to the United States reporting to the French embassy in Washington DC, Friday, 27 July 1928, as "Military Attache for Aeronautics" – replacing newly promoted Brigadier General Georges Armand Louis Dumont. In this assignment Commandant Thenault sought to strengthen bonds of friendship between the United States and France by traveling through a number of cities visiting aircraft factories, conferring with aeronautical experts, and inspecting Army air stations in order to keep his government informed of American progress in the aircraft industry.
Promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1933 following successful completion of duties as military attache for aeronautics at the French embassy in Washington DC, he returned
to France and continued his military services with the French Air Army.
World War II.
Lieutenant Colonel Thenault with his family (wife Sarah, children Catherine and Georges) were residing in France when World War II erupted. Their residence was 56 Rue Tahère Saint-Cloud – western suburb of Paris. Prior to the armistice and the cease-fire that went into effect on Tuesday, 25 June 1940, Georges Thenault had plans in place to remove his American wife, the two children, and mother-in-law Katherine "Danny" Spencer out of Europe. In mid-July 1940, using their U.S. passports as identification, Danny and Sarah with the two children were able to travel through Spain via train to reach the Port of Lisbon, Portugal, where they boarded SS "Exochorda" on Thursday, 25 July. Crossing at high speed over the steamship was able to successfully transit through the U-boat infested waters of the North Atlantic, to arrive at the Port of New York, Friday, 2 August 1940. With Katherine, Sarah and the two children eventually arrived at Harwich Port, Massachusetts, where they resided in the home of her mother during remainder of World War II.
During World War II, Thenault resided in the "Occupied Zone of France" (Military Administration in Belgium and North France) involved with personal business while his wife Sarah resided at Harwich Port, Massachusetts, with their two children: Georges Spencer and Catherine Bathilde.
Final years.
While on a hunting trip outside Paris, Thenault suffered a heart attack. He died in Paris, France, on Sunday, 19 December 1948. He was buried on Thursday, 30 December 1948, with all military rites in the presence of many French and American representatives in the crypt of the "LaFayette Escadrille Memorial Monument" in the park of Villeneuve L'etang, between the suburbs of Garches and Marnes-la-Coquette. Details of the burial services are obtained from a special article from "The New York Times":
COL. THENAULT IS BURIED. Rites for French Air Hero Held at Lafayette Escadrille Park. Special to The New York Times. PARIS, Dec. 30 – In the presence of many French and American aviation enthusiasts including fliers of both World Wars, Col. Georges Thenault, French pilot who commanded the Lafayette Escadrille in the first World War, was buried with military rites today. The burial was in the crypt of the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial in the park of Ville-neuve L'etang, between the suburbs of Garches and Marne la Coquette. The memorial, endowed by the generosity of the late William Nelson Cromwell, serves also as the tomb for pilots who were with the squadron and as a monument on which has been inscribed the names of all the American volunteers. Present at the ceremonies today were Jean Moreau, Secretary of State for Air; Col. Francis Valentine, air attache of the American Embassy; Vice Marshal Robert Allingham George, air attache of the British Embassy; representatives of the American Aero Club of France and delegates of veterans' organizations.
Family.
Thenault was the son of Monsieur and Madame Paul Thenault of Coulombiers, Vienne, France. His wife was the former Ms. Sarah Spencer, and from this union two children were raised: Georges "Tom" Spencer Thenault and Catherine Bathilde Thenault.
Of significant importance is the fact that the son of Colonel Georges & Sarah (Spencer) Thenault, PFC Georges Spencer Thenault, USA, married Ms. Beatrice Ashmead MacArthur on Saturday, 14 May 1955, in St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (Annapolis, Maryland). Details are derived from "The New York Times" special article released from Washington DC on 14 May 1955:
According to the morning edition of The Boston Globe, Tuesday, 12 January 2010, the son of Lieutenant Colonel Georges and Sarah (Spencer) Thenault, Georges "Tom" Spencer Thenault, of Harwich Port and Yarmouth Port died at his home on Saturday, 9 January 2010.
World War I Lafayette Escadrille N.124 Citations.
""The squadrilla, composed of American volunteers who have come to fight for France in the pure spirit of sacrifice, has fought incessantly under the command of Captain Georges Thenault, who formed it for an ardent flight against our enemies. In very severe combats it has paid for the price of serious losses, which, far from weakening, have increased its morale. The squadrilla has brought down twenty-eight enemy airplanes. It has aroused the profound admiration of commanders who have had it under their orders, and also of French squadrillas which are fighting beside it and have desired to rival it in valor"."
""Brilliant unit which has shown itself, during the course of operations in Flanders, worthy of its glorious past. In spite of losses which took away a third of its effectives, in a difficult sector, it has assured a perfect security to our Corps Observation airplanes, a complete service of reconnaissance at both high and low altitude, and the destruction, not only near the front lines but deep in the enemy's territory, of a great number of German airplanes and captive balloons"."
In popular culture.
The character of Georges Thenault was played by the French actor Jean Reno in the 2006 American movie "Flyboys".


Erich Mix

Erich Mix (27 June 1898 in Labuhnken (now Trzcińsk, Poland) in West Prussia (now Starogard Gdański) – 9 April 1971 in Wiesbaden) was a German flying ace during World War II, a politician, a member of the Nazi Party, and later a member of the Free Democratic Party.
Mix fought as an infantryman in World War I before he trained as a fighter pilot and posted to Jagdstaffel 54, where, as an "Unteroffizer" from June 1918 until the end of the war, he scored three aerial victories (and one unconfirmed balloon) of "Jasta" 54's total of 22 victories, for which he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross.
After the war, he studied law at the University of Greifswald and made a career as a leading administrative official. In 1934, he became Mayor of Tilsit (now Sovetsk, Russia) in 1934-37, later of Wiesbaden in 1937-45 and 1954-60. In his first term as mayor of Wiesbaden, most of the Jewish community of Wiesbaden, some 2,700 people in 1933, were murdered and their synagogues were burned, under Mix's leadership. (However, he was again elected mayor in 1954, and he is buried in the honorary section of the Wiesbaden graveyard.)
In 1935, he started flying again, training as an observer and then as a fighter pilot in 1937.
Serving as technical officer with I./JG 53 at the outbreak of World War II, Mix claimed three French Morane fighters over Saargemünd (now Sarreguemines, France) on 21 September 1939, and four more on 22 November 1939 over Saarbrücken. Appointed to command III./JG 2 in March 1940, he claimed three more Moranes on 21 May 1940, although Mix was shot down and forced to land in a field near Roye on 21 May in Bf 109E-3 W.Nr.1526. After being hospitalized, Mix returned to III./JG 2 on 19 June. He left France with his unit and relocated to Frankfurt/Rhein-Main on 1 July. On 27 July, the unit returned to Évreux-West until 4 August. Mix claimed a Hawker Hurricane on 4 September. Mix remained "Gruppenkommandeur" of III./JG 2 until 24 September 1940, when he became one of the older commanders dismissed by a frustrated Goering in favour of the younger, up-and-coming aces of 1940; in Mix's case, Hpt. Otto Bertram. Mix's final claim was a Bristol Blenheim over The Hague (Den Haag) in July 1941, while commanding JG 1. He later served as "Jafü Bretagne" ( Fighter Leader, Brittany) from April 1943 onwards.
During World War II, he claimed eight (potentially 13) aerial victories.


List of aircraft of the Army Air Corps (United Kingdom)

This is a list of aircraft of the Army Air Corps of the United Kingdom.
Aircraft.
From its founding in 1942:
Since its separation from the Royal Air Force in 1957


List of defunct airlines of Sweden

This is a list of defunct airlines of Sweden.


INS Baaz

INS Baaz is an Indian naval air station under the joint-services Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) of the Indian Armed Forces. It is located near Campbell Bay, on Great Nicobar island in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. It is the southernmost air station of the Indian Armed Forces. It overlooks the Strait of Malacca as well as the Six Degree channel between Great Nicobar and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
History.
INS Baaz was commissioned by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma on 31 July 2012. It is the first air station in the Nicobar Islands, situated on the Great Nicobar island in the remotest and southernmost part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and lies very close to the Six Degree channel, a vital choke point. The commissioning of the air station will facilitate positioning of maritime reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters of ANC and also facilitate the Civil Administration to operate regular intra-island sorties. The Naval air station will provide requisite logistic, communication and administrative support for various aircraft undertaking surveillance, patrolling missions and maritime air operations. The strategically located INS Baaz will enable India to extend its reach in the eastern Indian Ocean region.
Commander SK Singh Deo is the first commanding officer of INS Baaz. INS Baaz will initially be used as a base for the Indian Navy's Dornier 228 reconnaissance aircraft. It can also operate the Indian Air Force's C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft. Its runway measures and will be progressively lengthened to enable all heavy aircraft to operate from the base.
Modernization.
There are plans to extend the runway to 6,000 feet by 2016 and then to 10,000 feet. The Indian Navy has been flying new Boeing P8i Poseidon surveillance aircraft with anti-submarine capabilities from Mainland India to Port Blair but once the runway is at 6,000 feet they would also rotate through Campbell Bay from time to time.


Air One CityLiner


Moton Field


Berliner Helicopter

The Berliner Helicopters was a series of experimental helicopters built by Henry Berliner between 1922 and 1925. The helicopters had only limited controllability but were the most significant step forward in helicopter design in the USA, until the production of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 helicopter in 1940. The 1922 flights of the Berliner and the de Bothezat H1 were the first by manned helicopters.
Development.
Emile Berliner, an inventor famous for his invention of the flat gramaphone record, had experimented with intermeshing helicopters as early as 1907. The initial design was underpowered, and called for a lighter engine. Berliner developed a 36 hp five cylinder rotary engine with the Adams-Farwell Company from Dubuque, Iowa, producing the first rotary engine used for aircraft. Berliner later spun off the Gyro Motor Company from this work. A test rig was flown in 1908, followed by two other upgrades before Berliner focused on his other businesses.
In 1919, Emile Berliner's son, Henry Berliner, left the Army Air Service as an aerial photographer to work with his father on helicopter designs.
By 1922, Henry Berliner founded the Berliner Aircraft Company, with a focus on conventional aircraft. The Berliner Helicopter was successfully demonstrated throughout the 1920s, but interest was lost due to its limited controllability and engine-out abilities compared to the autogyro and conventional aircraft.
Design.
Emile Berliner named all his counter-rotating helicopters "gyrocopters" (gyrocopter was later used to describe a rotary-winged vehicle that operated on different principles). The first test rig was powered by two 30 hp Adams-Farwell rotary engines. The second example capable of lifting a person was powered by a single 60 hp engine. Emile initially intended his helicopter to have floats and to be used at low levels over water in case of an engine failure that would cause a forced landing. A "Popular Mechanics" article of the time supposed that his invention would be used as a "flying torpedo" more capable than an aeroplane at holding rich cities for ransom.
In 1918, Henry and Emile patented a single-rotor helicopter design that was not built. Henry Berliner's first effort was updating a new unmanned coaxial test rig. He followed on with a 570 lb, 80 hp Le Rhône engine powered, test rig that required assistants for stabilization. The rig could lift 900 lb. His test rig, with two wheels and handlebars, resembled a wheelbarrow with an engine mounted in it, with a tall vertical shaft driving two counter-rotating propellers.
In 1922, Henry Berliner developed a helicopter based on a surplus Nieuport 23 fuselage with a 220 hp radial engine driving two wing mounted counter-rotating rotors. The rotorshafts could tilt slightly forward and backward relative to each other to control yaw. The pitch of the aircraft was controlled by a small tail-mounted propeller with a variable pitch mechanism. Roll control was from a small set of adjustable wing-mounted louvers in the rotor slipstream. High-speed forward flight was also stabilized by a conventional rudder and elevator control at the rear of the aircraft. In 1923, the Helicopter incorporated triplane wings to allow for gliding in case of an engine failure. The last example built in 1924 featured a biplane configuration with rotors and a 1,850 lb gross weight.
Operational history.
In 1908, a test rig designed by John Newton Williams with coaxial propellers reached heights of 3 feet. Berliner used the historic College Park Airport in Maryland for most of his flight testing. A 1922 model with a single wing was able to hover at about 10 feet. The 1923 model was demonstrated at speeds up to 40 mph with poor roll control. On February 23, 1924 a test flight reached in altitude and 40 mph in forward speed. The next day, it was demonstrated in front of Navy officials and the press. That same year, testing of the Berliner Helicopter was moved to McCook Field, in Dayton, Ohio. McCook Field was the U.S. Army Signal Corps.' experimental test and development field. There it was flown by Air Service test pilot Harold R. Harris among others, achieving stable hovers of up to 15 feet. A helicopter hangar was constructed at the field for the craft, and is believed to be the world's first dedicated helicopter hangar.


Airstocks

Airstocks, Inc. (1929 "-" 1930) was an aviation investment firm which was short-lived because of poor financial conditions during the Great Depression. Founded in New York City in 1929, the business liquidated its assets in February 1930. It is important because it was an early financial concern exclusively pertaining to airlines and aviation.
The company was managed by White, Weld & Company, investment bankers, who were located in the tower of the Manhattan Company Building, 40 Wall Street (Manhattan). White, Weld & Company leased two and one-half floors in the edifice which was nearly completed in January 1930. Before mid April 1930 they were located in offices at 14 Wall Street.
Major Leslie MacDill, formerly head of the procurement section of the material division of the air corps, and commanding officer of Wright Field, in Dayton, Ohio, joined the staff of Airstocks, Inc., on August 1, 1929.
In December 1929 the corporation had assets of $4,235,598. The liquidating value of its capital stock was $46.34 per share. The trust directors voted a final liquidating dividend of
$47.17, payable after March 3, 1930. Remaining cash which amounted to $4,045,358, was distributed pro rata among stockholders.
References.


List of airlines of Niger

This is a list of airlines currently operating in Niger:


Rumdoodle Skiway


Eurocity Express


Air India fleet

Air India operates a fleet of both narrow body and widebody aircraft Airbus A320ceo family, Airbus A320neo, and widebody fleet is Boeing 747, Boeing 777 series and Boeing 787 making a total of 125 aircraft.
Current Fleet.
, the mainline Air India (excluding fleet of subsidiaries – Air India Express and Alliance Air) fleet consists of the following aircraft: