Telstar Logistics

747 Supertanker Has Red Hot Firefighting Debut

Aviation history was made today as a Boeing 747 Supertanker made its debut drop on a live wildfire.

Tanker 979 is a specially modified Evergreen 747 configured to carry 20,500 gallons of retardant, enabling it to lay down a fire line as much as three miles long from an altitude of 300 to 600 feet. (There's a handy FAQ, here.) After years of development, testing, certification, and bureaucratic wrangling, Tanker 979 went into battle for the first time today to help fight the Station Fire that's currently burning in the mountains near Los Angeles.

The Wikipedia explains how the system works:

Unique technology is used on the Evergreen Supertanker in order to allow an aircraft as large as a 747 to carry out aerial fire fighting.

Current fire fighting aircraft use a gravity drop system. Doors in the underside of the aircraft open, allowing the contents of the tanks to discharge. This type of system requires an aircraft to fly very low, typically 200ft above ground level.

The Evergreen Supertanker has a pressurized system. This can disperse retardant under high pressure, for an overwhelming response, or drop retardant equivalent to the speed of falling rain. This system allows the aircraft to operate within its design criteria.

Using the pressurized system, the aircraft can deliver retardant to the scene of a fire whilst flying at a height of 400 to 800ft, at approximately 140kts(160mph) (260kph), configured as if it were on approach for landing. 

The local Fox affiliate in LA captured some vivid video footage of Tanker 979 in action today, so enjoy the view as a very unique 747 gets its first true trial by fire. It looks like CGI animation, but it's very real:

PHOTO:
Top, by photojournalist Jonathan Alcorn, Below, Wikipedia.

PREVIOUSLY:
DC-10 Fire Tanker Joins the Fight Against SoCal Blazes; Supertanker 747 Remains Unemployed

DC-10 Airliner Attacks Big California Wildfires

UPDATE: DC-10 Water Bomber Saves Cupertino (and iPhones, iPods)

Flying Car Completes Successful Test Flight

Well, it's not quite as cute as an Taylor Aerocar, but it does seem to work as advertised. Terrafugia's Transition, a crossbreed of a car and an airplane, successfully completed its first test flight this week, taking to the air for 37 seconds. As MSNBC reports:

Transition's aerial debut followed six months of road tests and years of design. The goal is to create an airplane that can be driven to and from a runway and parked in the family garage at night.

Transition runs on regular unleaded gasoline and can travel up to 500 miles on a single tank of gas. It takes less than 30 seconds for the vehicle's wings to fold up or extend to transform from plane to car or vice-versa.

"The point of the test was to prove that this could both fly and drive," Deitrich said.

Information from the test flight will be used to tweak the Transition's design for a second prototype. The company plans to begin selling the vehicles, which cost $194,000, in 2010, said Richard Gersh, Terrafugia's vice president of business development.

Per usual, the folks from AVWeb have pulled together an excellent and informative video that shows the Transition's first flight, and highlights some of its technical features"

LINKS:
Terrafugia Transition (official website)

PREVIOUSLY:
For Sale: One Aerocar; Half Car, Half Airplane

It's an Amphicar! It's an Amphicar!

(IMAGES: Photos from Terrafugia)

The Joy of Space Travel at SFO

 

Telstar Logistics flew to Chicago this week to meet with a new client, but as we were departing from San Francisco International Airport we took note of yet another superb museum display curated by the airport's museum staff. We've written about them before, so as you may recall: SFO is not just a transportation hub — the airport is also a fully accredited museum, which helps explain why the displays there are so consistently excellent.

The show currently on display in the United Airlines concourse at Terminal 3 is called Out of this World! The Twentieth-Century Space Invasion of American Pop Culture. As the exhibit summary explains:

From elaborate toy play sets and space operas of the 1930s and 1940s, to robots and rocket ships of the space age and beyond, each generation presented its own notions about what the future would bring, both here on Earth and in the mysterious worlds beyond our atmosphere. The artifacts exhibited in Out of this World! The Twentieth-Century Space Invasion of American Pop Culture are reminders of a period when our collective infatuation with space resulted in products that ranged from fantastically silly to truly visionary, objects that may have inspired the conquest of space as much as they reflected it.

Count us among the infatuated. The show is up through through March 2009 (we think), so if you happen to find yourself flying United in or out of SFO, take a few minutes and enjoy a little bit of retro-futuristic space appreciation. It's worth the trip.

LINKS:
Out of this World! The Twentieth-Century Space Invasion of American Pop Culture (Official exhibition page)

Out of this World exhibition brochure (Downloadable pdf file)

PREVIOUSLY:
Backstage at the San Francisco Airport Museum

Will Eastern Airlines Fly Again?

Will Eastern Airlines return to the skies again?  It's hard to imagine how anyone could pull that off in the current economic environment — never mind the question of why they would want to — but plans are indeed afoot to revive Eastern, which folded in 1991 after almost 70 years in the aviation business. According to Triopso's Charlie Leocha, the Eastern resurrection effort is being led by veteran airline industry exec Ed Wegel.  Leocha writes:

In a letter circulated to former Eastern Airlines employees, an investor group announced that they have “concluded a deal with the Eastern Airlines estate to acquire the name, trademarks and affiliate names (including Eastern Express and Eastern Shuttle) for the purpose of re-starting the airline as a scheduled airline.”

Ed Wegel, a veteran of the airline world and current CEO of Eastern Airlines, Inc., told former Eastern Airlines employees, “We have developed a business plan for the re-start of Eastern which leverages off of Eastern’s core strengths while using all of the lessons we have learned from all of the start up airlines and the restructuring of all of the legacy carriers over the past 18 years.”

According to this letter, the new airline management will break new ground with contracts with the new Eastern’s crew members and a stock ownership plan that will completely align everyone’s interest in the new company.

Will it happen? Seems unlikely, but here's to hoping. Closer to home, however, it seems our recent donation of a vintage baggage-handler's coat to the permanent collection at the San Francisco Airport Museum may have been a bit premature:

The Coast Guard's New Cutter Settles in San Francisco

The US Coast Guard base in Alameda, California recently became homeport for the newest cutter to enter the fleet: the USCG Bertholf (WMSL-752). Built to support the Coast Guard's national security mission, the 418' Bertholf is the first of the USCG's Legend Class cutters, part of a long overdue (and delayed) effort to replace the Hamilton-class cutters that were built during the 1960s.

Bertolf, and the the rest of the Legend Class ships, were designed to operate in the new post-Cold War global environment. Based on a Pentagon contract issued in 2002, Bertholf is a product of the post 9/11 emphasis on maritime homeland defense -- with all the delays and cost overruns that have come to typify that effort. That said, her list of features includes:

* Automated weapons systems
* A 57 mm deck gun capable of stopping rogue merchant vessels
* Helicopter launch and recovery pad with hangar capacity for two aircraft
* A stern boat well for small boat launch and recovery
* Bow thrusters, for enhanced maneuverability
* State-of-the-art communications systems to enhance interoperability between Coast Guard and the the Department of Defense
* Detection and defense capabilities against chemical, biological, or radiological attack
* Advanced sensors for intelligence collection and sharing
* An advanced Ships Integrated Control System to improve automation and reduce manpower requirements.

After shakedown voyages and commissioning, Bertholf has settled her new home in Alameda, and this week the ship returned from an eight-week cruise to complete Combat System Ship Qualification Trials -- a series of exercises to evaluate weapons systems, test the propulsion system, and practice fueling at sea. We'll be keeping an eye out for her on San Francisco Bay in the years ahead. In the meantime, this Pentagon-produced video provides an overview of the Bertholf's features and how the ship fits into the new defense procurement landscape:

USAir Flight 1549 Detours Through New Jersey Town

We don't know who took these photos, but the strange journey of USAirways Flight 1549 continues... this time through the downtown wilds of suburban New Jersey.

You remember Flight 1549, of course -- that was the Airbus A320, that took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport and then landed unexpectedly (if fortuitously) in the Hudson River. After the aircraft was recovered from the drink, it was hauled to the Garden State on a barge. And after it was removed from the barge, it was partially disassembled and transported by truck through the narrow streets of  East Rutherford, NJ -- a town best known as the home of the Meadowlands sports arena complex.

Why the strange detour?  East Rutherford's local newspaper, The Leader, explains:

 The infamous US Airways jet that plunged from the sky into the Hudson River last month took another trip recently — this time down Park Avenue in East Rutherford.

“I was in complete shock when I saw the jet coming down the street,” said North Arlington resident Jessica Cates.

Since the accident last month, the airplane had been stationed at a barge in Jersey City, after being plucked from the icy Hudson River. Moving to a more permanent home, the jet was transported via a police motorcade and flat-bed truck to its long-term resting place in Harrison.

“It was moved to a salvage facility for storage and further evaluation,” said Ted Lopatkiewicz, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is in charge of the investigation. “Up until now, it was sitting on a barge.”

A direct route from Jersey City to Harrison hit a snag Jan. 31 when an overpass along the way detoured the plane into East Rutherford, according to East Rutherford Deputy Police Chief Anthony Krupocin.

From Park Avenue, the plane traveled to Orient Way and then to Route 17 South. “Our officers assisted because the truck was moving slowly, but there were no delays on the roadway,” East Rutherford Police Chief Larry Minda said.

Recalling the unusual experience, Cates said she was dining at the Blarney Station on Park Avenue, when she exited the establishment and saw a number of motorcycles and police cars flashing their emergency lights.

At first, Cates said she thought there was an accident, but to her surprise, she ended up seeing the jet — missing the wings and tail — slowly passing by her eyes on a flat-bed truck.

“It was just so big,” Cates said. “It begs the question how they got (the plane) on the street.”

The plane will remain at the facility until the NTSB’s investigation is complete, which Lopatkiewicz estimated would take between nine and 12 months.

(Tip of the captain's hat: Paul Saffo)

PREVIOUSLY:

Hear the Cockpit Recording: "We're gonna be in the Hudson"

Science Reveals the Key to Happiness: Growing Up in New Jersey

Countdown: Telstar 11N Ready for Liftoff

As those of you who have been following along at home no doubt know, Telstar Logistics is named in honor of Telstar 1, the worlds first telecommunications satellite, launched in 1962.  But Telstar 1 was not the last of the orbital Telstars, not at all. Many more satellites in the Telstar series have been launched during the last 45+ years, and if all goes according to plan, the newest Telstar satellite, Telstar 11N, will hurl into space at 10:30 am Pacific Time (18:30 GMT) today, February 26, 2009, from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. Here are the details of about Telstar 11N's mission:

Preparations are underway for the launch of the Telstar 11N satellite on the Land Launch system on February 26, at 18:30 GMT. Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) built this satellite for Telesat, one of the world's leading fixed satellite services operators, to provide high powered, state-of-the-art satellite capacity for a broad range of video and data applications. With 39 high-power Ku-band transponders, Telstar 11N, weighing about 4,012 kg (8,845 lb), is based on the SS/L 1300 platform which provides flexibility for a broad range of applications. The spacecraft also has a unique Atlantic Ocean beam, which will support growing demand for mobile broadband from maritime and aeronautical markets. Following launch, Telstar 11N will operate from 37.5 degrees West Longitude and will connect the continents of North America, Europe and Africa.

 

Want to watch the launch live? Pour yourself a cup of coffee, put on your pocket protector and horn-rim glasses, and tune into the live webcast from Baikonur, here.

UPDATE 26 Feb, 2009, 20:55

Liftoff! Trajectory! Orbit! Today's launch of Telstar 11N was at rocket-fueled success. Spaceflight Now reports:

The Zenit 3SLB booster launched at 1830 GMT (1:30 p.m. EST) Thursday from pad 45 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, beginning the second mission of a Sea Launch spinoff program aimed serving the market for medium-class communications satellites.

Propelled by a four-nozzle RD-171 engine, the 192-foot-tall launcher darted into the night sky and flew to an altitude of 52 miles before jettisoning the first stage about two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff.

The Zenit's second stage ignited for a six-minute firing, during which the rocket shed its nose cone after it transited the dense lower layers of the atmosphere.

The Block DM-SLB upper stage continued the push toward orbit moments after separating from the second stage. The kerosene-fueled stage first placed the rocket and the Telstar 11N satellite into a temporary low-altitude parking orbit, then gradually raised the craft's altitude and lowered its inclination.

The upper stage released the 8,840-pound satellite a few seconds before 0026 GMT Friday (7:26 p.m. EST Thursday), completing the Land Launch consortium's second mission since beginning services in April 2008.

A ground station in Australia acquired radio signals from Telstar 11N a few minutes later, confirming the craft survived the trip to space.

LINK:

Telstar 11 Mission Page (by Sea Launch)

PREVIOUSLY:

A Brief History of All Telstars

Happy 45th Anniversary, Telstar 1!

RIP: Ed Grothus, Creator of the Post-Apocalyptic "Black Hole" Surplus Store

Sad news: Ed Grothus, founder and proprietor of the post-apocalyptic surplus store the "Black Hole," has passed away at age 86.

Telstar Logistics toured the Black Hole in Los Alamos, New Mexico during 2006, and we're grateful we had the chance to meet Ed during our visit. To give you a sense of what the Black Hole was all about, here are a few photos we took while wandering the aisles:

This is how we described our meeting with Ed:

Ed is a former employee of the Los Alamos National Laboratory -- America's R&D facility for nuclear weapons -- and The Black Hole is his masterpiece; an improbable combination military surplus outlet, pacifist shrine, and "museum of nuclear waste."

Ed was on hand when we stopped by, so we had the opportunity to talk with him and watch his presentation on the perils of atomic warfare.  Though he's clearly spent a lot of time in the desert sun, he's a very likable character -- articulate, thoughtful, and passionate about his cause.

This most remarkable and unusual gentleman is gone, but not forgotten.

LINKS:
The Black Hole of Los Alamos (photos by Telstar Logistics)

Ed Grothus (Wikipedia entry)

Ed Grothus and the Doomsday Stones (Esquire magazine, March 20060

PREVIOUSLY:
Ed Grothus and the Black Hole of Los Alamos

(IMAGES: All photos by Telstar Logistics)

Video: Cross the Panama Canal in Less Than Two Minutes

For any dedicated Infrastructuralist --  a subculture that includes **cough cough** us! -- the Panama Canal is a must-see attraction. An artery of commerce that quite literally reshaped the world after it opened in 1914, the Panama Canal is a stunning monument to mankind's desire to get from here to there as efficiently as possible.

 

Unfortunately, the canal is also difficult to experience first hand. The problem is that it is a) in Panama and; b) accessible only by ship. Here's an alternative: This nicely edited video spans the entire Panama Canal in just 1:56, and as an added bonus it even comes with a trance-inducing soundtrack.

(IMAGE: The Panama Canal Miraflores Locks, photo by Scott Ableman)

Our Point-and-Shoot Camera Shootout

In today's New York Times, Telstar Logistics Fleet Management Officer Todd Lappin takes eight pocket-friendly point-and-shoot cameras for a test drive... so you don't have to.

Our review proceeds from three key assumptions:

1) Because "photos always turn out much better when you have a camera on hand to take the picture," pocket-friendly cameras offer significant advantages over bigger DSLRs; and

2) These days, most point-and-shoots offer pretty good image quality; and

3) The most significant differentiator between point-and-shoot cameras is ease-of-use, as dictated by the design of the camera's user interface (tactile feel, switch positioning, screen menus, etc).

So which camera won our point-and-shoot shootout? Read all about it!

LINK:
Finding the Right Point-and-Shoot Camera (New York Times camera review by Todd Lappin.)

Hear the Cockpit Recording: "We're gonna be in the Hudson"

Today the Federal Aviation Administration released cockpit and air traffic control recordings from the incident involving USAirways flight 1549, the Airbus A320 that ditched in the Hudson River on January 15 after the aircraft suffered bird strikes in both engines. The recording is amazing, not least because of the incredible poise demonstrated by Captain Chesley Sullenberger as he struggled to bring the crippled jet down safely. 

As we now know, all the passengers and crew survived the water landing. But at the time, that outcome hardly seemed likely. Listen in, while also watching some newly released video that shows just how smoothly Sullenberger executed his water landing. That dude is one exceptionally cool cat:

PREVIOUSLY:

Video: How to Land a 747 at San Francisco International Airport

Photos and Video of a Crashed B-2 Stealth Bomber

Audio: A Tough Day Inside the Kennedy Airport Control Tower

The "Gimli Glider" 767 Retires Peacefully, at Last

Vintage Illustration from "The Big Book of Real Trucks"

At San Francisco's Alemany flea market, we recently picked up a clean copy of "The Big Book of Real Trucks," a children's book published in 1950, with superb illustrations by George J. Zaffo. We didn't have this book when we were kids -- the pictures seemed familiar, but we're a '67 model, so this would have been a few years before our time. Nevertheless, Zaffo's illustration work is timeless, both as a fine example of his craft, and as a window on midcentury industrial design.

We've scanned the whole book for your viewing pleasure.

LINK:
The Big Book of Real Trucks (1950)

PREVIOUSLY:
"Flight thru Instruments" and the Fine Art of Instructional Illustration

The Intimate Industrial Illustrations of Frank Soltesz

Anatomy of a Presidential Motorcade

Our friend Eddie Codel is in Washington DC this week to watch the Obama inauguration festivities that will begin on January 20. But as a preview, he happened to catch a presidential motorcade yesterday as it was streaming through town. 

What's the composition of a presidential motorcade?  It entails dozens of vehicles, in a very specific configuration. The Wikipedia sayeth:

A police presence precedes the beginning of the presidential motorcade. These cars and motorcycles usually drive ahead to clear the way and block traffic.

The motorcade for the president is made up of two parts, the first being the "secure package." In the event of an emergency, the secure package breaks off from the rest of the group. It includes two limousines, is heavily guarded by local law enforcement and Secret Service, and all cars are driven by professional drivers.

The second part is made up of vans that transport White House staff members and selected members of the press. In the rear is a communications van that records the president's movements, an ambulance, and additional police vehicles.

To see how all those disparate elements come together, take a look at this tidy video of the presidential motorcade that Eddie shot from his curbside vantage point:

PREVIOUSLY:
Is This Obama's New Presidential Limo?

(Image, top, Chris Christner via Wikipedia)

Japanese Electric Car has Eight Wheels, Big Ambitions

Okay, this may be the best-looking car we've seen since Lady Penelope's six-wheeled FAB-1 Rolls-Royce in the Thunderbirds. The Eliica is an electric-powered vehicle developed by a team at Japan's Keio University in 2004. Apart from being fun to look at, the Eliica is also fast, having already hit a top speed of 230 mph, with 250 mph  in the crosshairs. The Wikipedia explaineth:

The Eliica weighs in at 2,400 kg (5,300 lb) and seats the driver and three passengers. The body was tested in a wind tunnel. The front doors open forward and the rear doors open upward like wings. The car's platform contains 4 tracks of 80 batteries, which make up one third of the vehicle's cost. They currently require about 10 hours of recharging from empty to full charge, and can be easily charged off a residential power grid.

The car has eight wheels enabling it to be closer to the ground for better traction. Each of the wheels has a 60 kW (80 hp) electric motor, giving a 480 kW (640 hp) eight wheel drive which can tackle all kinds of road surfaces. The four front wheels steer. The electric motors mean that the Eliica can deliver a smooth acceleration free from gear shifts of about 0.8 g. Each wheel contains a disc brake and employs a regenerative brake system to recover energy. 

There are currently (as of 2005) two versions of the Eliica: a Speed model and an Acceleration model. The Speed model is made to challenge gasoline-based records and has a top speed of 370 km/h (230 mph) with a range of 200 km (120 mi). The Acceleration model is made for the street and has a top speed of 190 km/h (120 mph) with a range of 320 km (200 mi).

The Internets have been abuzz with rumors that renewed interest in the Eliica project on the part of the Japanese government may lead to a limited production run. It's not clear exactly if that's true -- we haven't found any confirmation of that chatter. But after watching this propaganda video, we sure hope so:

(Tip of the hat to Allen over at Mission Mission)

LINKS:
Eliica (Official website, Japanese only)

Eliica (Wikipedia page)

PREVIOUSLY:

Crash Test: Smart Minicar vs. Concrete Wall

Photos from a Somali Pirate Attack

Our maritime friends over at gCaptain recently spotted a vivid collection of photos detailing the November hijacking of the tanker M/V Biscaglia by Somali pirates. The images, of provenance unknown, were published in the British tabloid The Mirror. The pirates approached the Biscaglia in this high-powered skiff:

The Biscaglia was reasonably well prepared. Following a long string of pirate attacks in the waters off Somalia, the ship had been equipped with water cannon, acoustic deterrents, and a small detachment of British security guards. Here are the water cannons, hard at work:

None of these defenses proved effective, however, and the Biscaglia was quickly seized. The British security guards -- ex-military, one and all -- retreated to the roof of the ship. Outgunned and outnumbered, they eventually jumped into the sea, where they were rescued by a French navy helicopter. In breathless tabloid prose, the Mirror tells the tale:

The Biscaglia and 18 other cargo vessels at first sailed with a French frigate for protection. But two days out of Oman, 300 miles off the Somali coast,  it fell behind. [Former British paratrooper Mike Kelly], from Dublin, said: “We noticed a skiff about three miles off our port side – and knew it was pirates.”

The Biscaglia sent a distress signal to the frigate as the skiff circled the tanker staying well out of range of water cannons.

Mike said: “We used our makeshift bazooka but it was wildly inaccurate and the pirates started firing rocket-propelled grenades.”

While two pirates stayed in the skiff, six scrambled on board, firing AK-47s at the bridge where the three men were masterminding the defence.

[ex-Royal Marine Carl “Rocky” Mason], from Poole, said: “They started shooting at me and I ran with them coming after me. They were only about 18, skinny and looked high on the local drug, called khat. They were spraying bullets everywhere.”

The men decided to use the sonic weapon, called an L-RAD.

Mike said: “We thought it would make the pirates back off, but they just laughed. It was a total waste of time.”

 

The trio locked all the hatches and doors and retreated to the roof of the bridge. Half an hour after the attack had begun, a helicopter from the French warship appeared.

Although it was armed, it is against maritime laws in the area to board a vessel by force after it has been taken by pirates. So the helicopter crew were forced to hover and photograph events from above.

LINKS:

Heroic Brit Trio Take on Somali Pirates Before Escaping into Sea (UK Mirror article)

Pirate Attack Photos (gCaptain blog post)

PREVIOUSLY:

Aaarrrr! The US Navy Battles Modern Pirates to Save North Koreans off the Coast of Africa

(Images from www.mirror.co.uk)