10 Top Choices for Aerial Approachs by British Daily Mail

Okay, I just thought I'd throw these out here so I can look at the sites when I so desire.....call me selfish..But, I like them .....  .lakotahope

Window seat please! Las Vegas airport among the world's top 10 most stunning aerial approaches

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:20 PM on 22nd November 2010

Las Vegas' McCarran airport is among the world's top 10 most stunning aerial approaches in a list published today.
'The aerial approach to Las Vegas is a truly spectacular one, offering the contrast of desert with a sudden metropolis, unrivalled for sheer size and glamour – even in daylight (though it’s even more dramatic at night),' travel website PrivateFly.com, which drew up the list, stated.
'If you are in a private jet you’ll have a panoramic view of Las Vegas and, on the left-hand side of the plane, the world-famous Strip stretches from the Stratosphere at one end to Mandalay Bay at the other.

What happens in Vegas... Las Vegas' McCarran Airport was in ninth place, making the list for its striking contrast of desert and metropolis, as well as the sheer scope and glamour of its setting

Princess Juliana Airport in St Maarten, Caribbean makes second place on the list due to its close proximity to the beach, with aircraft skimming over the heads of holidaymakers

Third is St Bart's Airport in the Caribbean, which is described as having a "thrilling" approach with angles, hills, unusual wind conditions and a short runway

IF YOU LOOK OUT OF YOUR    WINDOW NOW .... THE TOP TEN

 1. Sion, Switzerland
2. Princess Juliana Airport, St Maarten, Caribbean
3. St Barts, Caribbean
4. Gibraltar
5. St Gallen-Altenrhein, Switzerland

6. Funchal, Madeira

7. London City

8. Lukla, Nepal

9. McCarran Airport, Las Vegas, USA

10. Barra, Outer Hebrides, UK

'Red Rock canyon is another highlight, just to the West on the approach.'
Two British airports also made the list.
London City Airport provides 'a highly scenic approach over world-famous London landmarks', according to PrivateFly.com.
The other UK entry in the top 10 was Barra airport in Outer Hebrides where planes land on the beach and flight times vary according to the tide.
London City was described as providing 'amazing views' of the 02 arena in Greenwich, with the runway described by pilots as 'an aircraft carrier' for being relatively short and surrounded by water.
Although some passengers have described the approach as 'stomach-churning', pilots have said that it gives them a 'fairground-ride like buzz'.
And the route over such other landmarks as Big Ben and Canary Wharf tower has earned the airport its place on the list.
At Barra, meanwhile, 'visitors and cockle-pickers share the use of the beach', with planes landing on the shore and flight times varying according to the tide.

At number four, Gibraltar Airport, whose runway is intersected by a main road which is closed every time a plane takes off or lands

Sixth on the list is Funchal Airport in Madeira, which has a runway bordered by water on one side and hills on the other

Number seven on the list is London City Airport, whose steep approach is described by pilots as offering "a fairground-like buzz"

At number eight is Nepal's Lukla Airport, which has a ten-minute approach down a steep valley, followed by a sharp turn and uphill landing

The airport's three runways, which are on Traigh Mhor beach, are marked out with wooden poles in the sand.
'If you arrive in late afternoon on a gloomy day, cars may have their lights on to provide pilots with added visibility, since the airport has no artificial lighting,' said Privatefly.com chief Adam Twidell.
Gibraltar Airport, which is fourth on the list, rivals Barra when it comes to the quirkiness of its runway.
The approach is bisected by a main road which has to be closed to traffic every time a plane takes off or lands.

In tenth place was the unusual Barra Airport in the Outer Hebrides, where planes land on the beach and drivers may switch on their lights to provide extra visibility

The list was topped by Switzerland's Sion Airport, in the heart of the Alps, which offers a spectacular approach over the Rhone Valley.
A second Swiss airport, St Altenrhein, was in fifth place.
Twidell, who is an experienced pilot, said most of the airports chosen were ones which could be accessed only by smaller planes.
'In fact, a private jet or propeller aircraft charter brings back the glamour of flying - a reminder that a journey by air can be a life-enhancing experience in itself,' he explained.

Top of the list was Sion Airport in the heart of the Swiss Alps, which provides passengers with a stunning approach through the Rhone Valley

Swiss St Gallen-Altenrhein finished in fifth place, and was praised for its idyllic setting between Lake Constance and the foothills of the Appenzell region

Instructor and Two Students Die in Night Flight Training

Crash in early evening flight.  The official spokesman on site mentioned that it was unbelievable how much carnage this accident produced.  It has been estimated the aircraft impacted at a 45 degree angle.  Flying low, at night and looking for a place to land-engine problems?  Or, maybe vertigo set in and they lost their ground references--assuming there were sufficient references available.  

Damned shame and tragedy anyway you look at it!

I remember years ago, I was on my second night training flight with my instructor and I was hands on with this takeoff.  The time was August and we had 5 miles visibility during the day and the conditions were typical in Virginia during August.  Hot and muggy.

Well, right after rotation, above the treetops at around 800 agl, I noticed lights in the top of my windscreen and mentioned this to my instructor.  I told her that an aircraft was paralleling us in the opposite direction.  As soon, this announcement left my lips is when I looked at my artificial horizon and noticed it wasn't showing climb or wings level.  The lights were actually ground lights from a nearby house.  We were in a left bank, nose down.  This was an eye opener and just the beginning of 1 1/2 hours of night instruction.

No night flight is a routine flight in my book.  My instructor in those days didn't really trust our aircraft enough as to not be able to glide to a runway if the engine gave out.  There really were no references on the horizon like in day flight.  I'll never forget these flights.  Now, my instructor was extraordinarily beautiful, from Sweden and she was here gaining time to graduate to the airlines.

She was very professional and I was quite happy to fly with her as she didn't take up near the amount of space a male instructor would and I much appreciated her help when I felt somewhat lost on those night flights.

The ending of my last training flight for my required minimum night hours, I parked the aircraft and crawled out to tie it down.  Remember, August in Virginia is like being in the deep dark tropical jungle of one's nightmares. Hot, Muggy and Miserable.  As I was walking around and came up to her, I told her that she was the first woman to ever make me sweat so much without having kissed me first.  She just gave me me my logbook and a funny grin, figuring that maybe all American men were a little crazy. ... lakotahope

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• By Bernie O'Neill
• Nov 19, 2010 - 2:16 PM
• 2

Plane crash victims identified

The investigation continues. Wreckage of an aircraft can be seen in a farmer’s field northeast of the village of Whitevale west of Concession 24, south of Hwy. 407. The plane crashed Thursday night killed a Seneca College flight instructor and two students. Staff Photo/Sjoerd Witteveen

Plans are underway for a private memorial for the two Seneca students and their flight instructor who died in a crash just east of Markham last night. 

Flight instructor, 26-year-old Azizullah Yoosufani and two third-year students, 20-year-old Cynthia Hoi-Mei Tsang and 20-year old Lloyd Myles Cripps were returning to Buttonville airport from a routine flight training exercise when, around 7 p.m., Pearson International Airport notified Durham Regional Police they lost the plane on radar.
Meanwhile, the school is in mourning.
“It is with great sadness that I inform you of the death of two students and a flight instructor during a routine night flying exercise last night,” David Agnew, president of Seneca College, posted this morning on the college’s home page. “Our deepest condolences go to the families, and we extend our sympathies to the students, faculty and staff of the aviation school who have lost friends and colleagues. Out of respect, our flags will fly at half-mast and we will cancel Seneca Week activities scheduled for next week.”

Meanwhile, a representative from the airplane’s manufacturer was flying to Toronto today to inspect the wreckage of a plane crash that took the life of the young Seneca College flight school instructor and two students.

Inspector Peter Machete of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said a Beechcraft aircraft representative expected to arrive from Wichita, Kansas, will help as they try to figure out why the training flight went down in a farm field just south of Hwy. 407, killing all on board.
Mr. Machete said observations from the scene suggest the plane hit the ground at about a 45-degree angle. “It was quite an impact,” he said of the crash, which left debris from the small plane strewn across a wide area.

Mr. Machete said he could not speculate on if unsettled weather played a factor in the crash or if the pilot was attempting to make an emergency landing on the nearby highway, something another pilot had done successfully earlier this year.

Durham police received a call from Pearson airport around 7 p.m. about a flight controllers had lost radio contact with, Inspector Jamie Grant told reporters gathered near the rural crash site.
A police helicopter searched the area and located the downed plane scattered in several pieces in a farmer’s field north of Sideline 24 and Concession 5, near Hwy. 407, in Whitevale, he said.
“It’s devastating,” Insp. Grant said, describing the crash scene. “It’s just unbelievable how much carnage there is there. It’s a sad sight.”

The three victims  were believed killed instantly.
“We don’t know the cause of the crash at this point,” Insp. Grant said.
Transport Canada was on scene conducting an investigation, assisted by Durham police.
“It’s really sad to see that ... three young people have lost their lives in this tragic accident,” Insp. Grant said.
About 10 flight school students from Seneca College were at the scene late Thursday night.
One of the young men, who would not give his name, said Mr. Yoosufani was very competent.
“He was a confident instructor, a very great guy,” the student said.
The plane had been returning to Buttonville Airport when it lost contact with air traffic control.
“They had been cleared to return and land at Buttonville,” Insp. Grant said.
Pieces of the single-engine plane, which Insp. Grant said he believed was a Beechcraft, were scattered widely over a massive plowed field, he said.

Local fire services, the police forensic identification unit and the coroner were on scene. Police used all-terrain vehicles to navigate over the soft ground.
There are five Beech F33A models registered to Seneca College in North York. All of the one-engine models are based out of Buttonville airport.

Seneca College has the only aviation technology-based degree in Canada, according to the website of the college, which has a flight program that grants a bachelor of applied technology.

F22 Missing On Training Flight In Alaska

This is the first time I've heard of an F22 fighter going missing anywhere. Sadly, this happened in Alaska which consistently swallows aircraft and never reveals their location again.  I don't know what kind of beacons or electronics the military employs to announce a crashed plane's whereabouts, but I hope the pilot is found sooner than immediately. ....lakotahope

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NBC News and news services

updated 1 hour 44 minutes ago 2010-11-17T14:37:43

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Search and rescue teams are looking for a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor and its pilot that went missing during a flight over Alaska late Tuesday, military officials told NBC News.

The officials said the advanced stealth fighter jet was about 90 miles northeast of Elmendorf Air Force Base when it "dropped off the radar."
There was no mayday or any other communication from the pilot that would have indicated the plane was in trouble, the officials told NBC News. There have been no distress calls from the pilot since the plane went missing.


U.S. military helicopters and at least one C-130 have so far failed to turn up any sign of the missing fighter jet, according to NBC News.
Base spokeswoman Corinna Jones told The Associated Press Tuesday night that the pilot was the only person in the craft, which was on a training mission. Air traffic control lost contact with the jet at 7:40 p.m. Alaska time, she added.
Jones declined to identify the pilot, but noted the aircraft is assigned to Elmendorf's 3rd Wing.


Weather conditions in nearby Anchorage at the time the jet lost contact were fair, The Weather Channel reported.

Unexplained Missile Launch Off Los Angeles--But, There Is Better Information

As I find more  diverse sources to add to my information on this possible missile launch off of California last week, I am leaning in the direction of the naysayers and say, that this is probably a commercial jet.  Some blog sites even list the possible Commercial Carrier and Plane ID number.  Given the military has capabilities that Martians don't know of, why couldn't they come up with this type of data from ATC within the first 48 hours.  After one day and a half, all they could say was it wasn't a threat to the United States, but we still aren't sure what it is....The military did go so far as to say, this contrail didn't belong to them.  Okay.

Now we have here a plethora of data from a guy that has his website geared primarily towards deciphering contrails.  So, in the middle of this episode, he has a diagram detailing the effects of an optical illusion, as what this episode is being labeled by the specialists that know rockets and airplanes. 

I will modify his diagram with one launch trajectory in red that would also show this as a rocket launch and not an optical illusion (just for kicks--playing the devil's advocate here).  Most of the experts say this object was much too slow for a missile, but with this trajectory I laid out, it would give the reason of being slow to an observer, yet still be a missile

...lakotahope

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FROM CONTRAIL SCIENCE


[This post was originally from Jan 19th, 2010.  I've updated it with information about the "Mystery Missile" contrail of Nov 8, 2010, at the bottom of this post.  Clearly it's the same thing]
An interesting contrail cropped up off the coast of San Clemente, Orange County, California on December 31st 2009. The curious shape led some people to think it’s a missile launch, which it does kind of look like (all taken from San Clemente)

"Missile-like" contrail. Note this is the Dec 31st contrail, not the Nov 8th CBS one. That's at the bottom of the post.

This kind of contrail confusion is nothing new. This article appeared in The San Mateo Times, Jan 12, 1950:

Here’s some more shots of the same contrail. Click these for larger images:


The idea that it’s a missile launch comes from three misconceptions. Firstly that the trail is vertical – it’s not, it’s a horizontal trail, at around 32,000 feet (about six miles). It’s the same as this:

This contrail is no more vertical than the road is, and nor are the power lines at 45 degrees. Everything is horizontal – it’s the just the angle you are viewing it from. All of these show horizontal contrails.
Secondly there’s the misconception of direction, that it’s flying away from the viewer, when it’s actually flying towards the viewer. This is because the “base” of the contrail seems wider than the tip. Perspective tells the brain that this mean the base is closer. But actually you can see the base has been greatly spread by the wind. Since it’s so far away the effects of perspective are greatly diminished, meaning the actual width of the contrail is what is creating the illusion. Imagine if a plane with a 100 mile long spreading contrail were coming towards you; what would it look like? It would look exactly like this.
Thirdly there’s the idea that it goes all the way down to the ground. Now that might be true if the Earth was flat, but the Earth is round, and things go beneath the horizon eventually, no matter how high they are. A plane 200 miles away but five miles up is always below the horizon. If the horizon is raised (as it is here, with Catalina Island), then the distance is less. Here’s some math:



--------------------------------

Given the same parameters as in the previous diagram, the observer would still see this object going slowly, yet moving away at a speed consistent with a missile/ rocket  The plume near the horizon is closer to the observer and according to the average logical layman, is supposed to be larger.  Object closer to observer, bottom of contrail, is bigger.  While the object further away, top of contrail with moving object, IS further away and therefore, smaller!  ....lakotahope

 

This was definitely a failed rocket launch from the Russians.  When they fail, they are spectacular. My point is look at the contrail as it is showing the corkscrew effect of rotation.  Burn through of the rocket housing? I dunno, but one specialist said this is typically what it would look like.  In the newest video, there is a partial corkscrew trail.

For you Mathematically Inclined Folks, Contrail Science will provide the Following:
This diagram is not to scale, but the math is the same regardless. The solid curved line is the surface of the earth. The dot at the top is San Clemente. The little triangle is Catalina. “d” is the distance to Catalina (d=35 miles). “c” the amount of Catalina that is visible above the horizon (c=0.05 miles, really a bit more, but let’s be conservative). “a” is the altitude of the plane, (a = 6 miles). “r” is the radius of the earth (r=3963 miles).
The green wavy line is the contrail. Notice it’s at a fixed height above the surface of the earth, and is going directly towards the OC.
The point labeled (0,0) is the center of the earth. (0,0) means X=0, Y=0, where X is horizontal and Y is vertical. What we want to know is how far away the plane is, the value x. We do this with cartesian geometry, noting that the lowest visible point of the trail is at the intersection of the dotted line, which is a circle of radius (r+a), hence the equation x^2 + y^2 = (r+a)^2 and the line labeled “sight line”, which is has the equation y=r+x*c/d. Combining these equations to solve for x yields a quadratic equation, which we can solve with Wolfram Alpha:
intersection of (y=r+x*c/d) and (x^2+y^2 = (r+a)^2)
and with the real numbers:
intersection of (y=r+x*c/d) and (x^2+y^2 = (r+a)^2) where a=6 and d=35 and c=0.05 and r=3963
Which gives x = 212, meaning that the bottom of the contrail is around 200 miles away. So if the front of the contrail (the actual aircraft) is somewhere above and behind catalina, then that means the contrail is over 100 miles long. At 500 mph, that means it could have formed in 12-15 minutes, which seems consistent with the descriptions in the discussion above. (feel free to play around with the numbers there to see the affect of various assumptions)
Looking at the satellite image for noon on that day (12/31/2009) and the next day (1/1/2010), we see contrails in approximately the same position, and around 100 miles long, showing it’s quite possible, given the right weather.


Really what makes this odd looking is the position of the people taking the photo. Obviously the same contrail would be visible all the way up the coast, however the only people who though it was really odd were those who were lined up with it, in OC. People in LA would see a dramatic looking contrail, but more obviously just a contrail, so less worthy of writing to the newspaper about. I actually saw it myself, but was in a car, and could only get a poor cell-phone snapshot:


And here’s some excellent points from a real rocket scientist, posting as “Michael”:

I’d like to add to all the evidence above that it was just a jet, because the plume is nothing like a rocket plume to the trained eye. I was a rocket safety inspector for 3 years, have seen countless launches and failures, and have a master’s degree in Astronautical Engineering. Here’s why it’s not a rocket:
It’s too slow (<— biggest reason).
There's no engine flare.
There's no expansion of the plume (as the chamber pressure exceeds the atmospheric pressure more and more during flight).
There's no staging event.
There's no sunset striations across the plume (which would look like this: http://tinyurl.com/2vklwu5).
In the wide shot there's two contrails (off each wing!) instead of one.
The plume at the plane is twirling in different directions (very un-rocket-like).
The plume at the plane is twirling too much — that only happens in the case of a motor burn-through, which is a failure mode, meaning it would be seconds from exploding if it were a rocket.
The wind-blown plume is all wrong, vertical plumes go through several different wind shear layers, which makes it look very different than what the video shows.

There is much more from this WEBSITE.
http://contrailscience.com/
For a complete and very informative presentation on this contrail episode and other contrail phenomenon, go to this site.  You will not be disappointed.   lakotahope