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I’m rarely sure what I’m going to write here until the moment comes and this time is no exception so I’ll start with a re-cap of recent events in our news section.  Coinciding with lost souls happy to discover UKD is back up and running again - Rob, Aaron, Lorne among others, you know who you are :) - I have received a few requests for some of the older repaints from our former website, luckily a few of these survived on dusty old harddrives and have been made available again.  I did uncover a whole fleet of FS98 and FS2000 aircraft which I’ll provide for anyone interested.

 A couple of our pilots have got in touch with their creative side and produced  new paint schemes and useful add-on files for improving our flightsim experience. In Gareth 117’s case he did a fantastic job of painting the PMDG Beech 1900D obviously putting a lot of effort into it and John May UKD182 has been burning the midnight oil to produce a UKD callsign and AI update for the Voice Edit (flight sim ATC) software. 

Unfortunately we can't always escape the real world and I was saddened to hear about the passing of Barry Blaisdell, Barry was one of the members of Premier Aircraft Design, some of whose planes feature in our fleet. Barry had been a prolific creator of flight simulator models for years and his passing is a big loss to the flightsim community. If you haven’t heard his name before then a quick search on any of the flightsim file hosting sites will reveal a wealth of his work and a more personal obituary appears below.

I’ve uploaded a selection of screenshots taken by UKD Pilots and myself, on the Gallery page under Crew Resources. There is a Flash slideshow and a manual ‘click the thumbnail’ selection to view. I also put some submission tips on the page, please make any you submit at least 900x600 for the gallery and I’ll edit them if your not comfortable doing it yourself. All submissions will be most gratefully received.

As usual you'll find all the regular features are here - pilots screenshot’s, a mix of real-world aviation and flight-sim news, fleet updates,  competition and humour. Look out for the next Directions around Christmas time and keep the blue side up!

Newshound aka Mark UKD171

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UKD B737-800 by Ruud

PSS Boeing 737-800 taken by Ruud UKD104

Do you have a screen shot you are proud of? Please send it in and share it with us.
To enter in the next e-magazine send your entries to Newshound: mark[at]planecrazy.me.uk

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Since the last Directions the fleet has been filled out with several Payware repaints ie. PMDG MD-11F, Beech 1900D & 737-800, Level-D 767-300, Flight 1 ATR 72, and the PSS Dash-8. I’m working on a freeware version of the Dash-8 Q400 which will appear on the newspage when ready.
 

PMDG B1900D 'Alderney Queen'

Gareth UKD117 took out his paintbrush and did a great job on the PMDG Beech 1900D.

B767 at St Maarten

Gareth also provided the screenshots for this Level-D B767 and a PSS Dash 8, both painted by Dean UKD121

PMDG MD11F UKWC livery

The long awaited PMDG MD11F made it - this time with the correct engine livery and all the finishing touches finished :)

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ASN ACCIDENT DIGEST   http://aviation-safety.net/index.php
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09 JUL 2012 13:34   DHC-6 Twin Otter 300   Trans Maldivian Airways   8Q-TMT   C/n / msn: 454   First flight: 1975-03-27 (37 years 4 months)

The aircraft, a Trans Maldivian Airways de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300, 8Q-TMT, experienced a left hand float collapse after striking the dock at Conrad Maldivian Resort, Rangali Island, while on taxi and became partially submerged.
The aircraft sustained substantial damage and the 3 crew and 14 passengers escaped uninjured.
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31 JUL 2012   Boeing 737-924ER (WL) United Airlines   N37420    C/n: 33457/2535   First flight: ?

A United Boeing 737-900, registration N37420 performing flight UA1475 from Dallas Ft. Worth,TX to Denver,CO (USA) was at 12,000 feet during the descent towards Denver when a bird impacted the nose cone of the aircraft causing a large dent and hole underneath the left hand windshield. The crew reported a loud noise from the forward fuselage, the captain had no airspeed indication at all, the first officer's air speed indication was unreliable and the crew requested emergency services at the runway and radar based ground speed readings for cross checks. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on runway 26 about 10 minutes later.
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09 AUG 2012   Boeing 777-2H6ER   Malaysia Airlines   9M-MRO   C/n: 28420  First flight: ?
A taxiing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 passenger plane (9M-MRO), flight MH389, contaced the tail of a China Eastern Airlines A340 plane, B-6050, waiting on the taxiway at Pudong International Airport. No one was injured. The tip of the wing of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was broken off and hung on the tail of the China Eastern Airbus 340-600, according to pictures posted by passengers on the Internet.
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19 AUG 2012   Antonov 26-100   Alfa Airlines   ST-ARL   C/n: 2606   First flight: 1974

A Sudanese Antonov 26 aircraft was destroyed in an accident near Talodi, Sudan. All 32 on board were killed.
The airplane carried Sudanese government officials to attend a function marking the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday. The victims included Ghazi al-Sadiq, the head of the Ministry of Guidance and Endowments and Issa Deif Allah, the state Minister for the Environment. The airplane flew into the side of a mountain while on approach to Talodi. Visibility was limited due to a dust storm.
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08 SEP 2012   de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide   Classic Wings   G-AIYR   C/n: 6676  First flight: ?

No.2 engine caught fire on start up. Passengers evacuated successfully and there was damage to the right wing leading edge.
This aircraft suffered a similar incident July 9, 2005: http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=1030
Photo of previous incident: http://www.airliners.net/photo/De-Havilland-DH-89A/1624176/ .
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11SEP 2012   Boeing 747-200F   Southern Air   N783SA   C/n: 23919  First flight: ?

A cargo-carrying jumbo jet flying with only backup power landed in Anchorage early Tuesday, blowing out most of its tires in the process.
Of the jet's 18 tires, 14 blew out when it landed about 2 a.m.  A couple hours outside of Anchorage, the plane had a complete electrical failure.
The crew decided to make an emergency landing in Anchorage.  No one was hurt in the incident.
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28 SEP 2012   Dornier 228-202   Sita Air   9N-AHA   C/n: 8123  First flight: 1987-04-08 (25 years 6 months)

A Dornier 228-202 passenger plane, operated by Sita Air, was destroyed when it crashed shortly after takeoff from Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM), Nepal. All 19 on board were killed.  The airplane took off at 06:17, bound for Lukla Airport (LUA). Shortly after takeoff from runway 20, while at an altitude of 50 feet agl, the airplane suffered a bird strike. According to the Nepali CAA (CAAN) a vulture struck the right hand engine of the aircraft. Last radio contact with the flight was at 06:18 when the crew reported the bird strike. The pilot initiated a left hand turn in order to return to the airport.
Crashed immediately after take off. Rumours about a bird strike are unconfirmed. CAAN believes the airplane stalled east of the airfield. It struck the ground and burst into flames.
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11 OCT 2012    Boeing 737-800   Corendon Airlines   TC-TJK   C/n: 35794   First flight: 2009-04-29 (3 years 6 months)

A Boeing 737-8KN (WL) passenger plane, TC-TJK, sustained substantial fire damage to the cockpit at Antalya Airport (AYT), Turkey. There were 189 passengers and 7 crew on board; 27 passengers were hospitalized, with 2 serious injuries reported.
Corendon Airlines flight CAI 773 experienced smoke/fire in cockpit during push-back from the gate. The captain ordered an emergency evacuation, and the aircraft was evacuated via the emergency slides.

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R.I.P.  BARRY BLAISDELL


Barry passed away on 3rd October 2012 after a long battle with heart disease and diabetes. Aviation played a large part in Barry’s life from an early age. He joined The Air National Guard as a cadet and as soon as he was able he joined the U.S.A.F.  He flew F-100 Super Sabres and F-105 Thunder-chiefs on combat missions in Vietnam.  He was invalided out of the USAF after being seriously wounded when his F-105 was shot down by a SAM missile.  He evaded capture and after recuperation he joined the US Army and trained as an observation and gun ship pilot flying both helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.  He returned to the front line in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. During his time in the Army he also acquired his airborne wings.

When his flying career was ended by a heart attack Barry took up virtual aviation as a hobby and started to design models for FS5.   Barry’s design period spanned seven versions of MSFS from FS5 through to FSX and on the flightsim.com web site there are over 1,100 model files bearing his name.   Barry founded Premier Aircraft Design in 1995 and led the team until 2008 when poor health forced him to take a back seat.   As well as the sheer volume of his work Barry will be remembered for the kind and patient way he encouraged new designers and painters who asked him for help and advice.

http://www.premaircraft.com/

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Something a little different this time - not a You Tube video!  Channel 4 recently screened a program entitled ‘The Plane Crash’.  An international team of scientists, experts and elite pilots deliberately crash land a 170-seat Boeing 727 passenger jet to study the mechanics of a plane crash in real time.
Apart from the experiment itself It is also interesting to see some of the inner workings of an airliner and the preparation involved to set up such a crash as well as the results. You can book into the flight, select a seat and see what your chances of survival would have been!
If you ever plan to fly again, this is the must see film for you!

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-plane-crash/articles/online-check-in

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Time to get that grey matter working!. Email answers to ukd “at” planecrazy.me.uk or use the message facility on FS Airlines.  Answers will be posted in the next Directions but if you email me your guesses I will reply straight away (in confidence - so no need to worry about embarrassment.

    1> The force that opposes the forward motion of the plane is called ____________.
     

            thrust
     
            lift
     
            drag
     
            gravity


    2> When flying with FSAirlines which statement is true:

    a) Max Taxi speed is 25kts, landing lights must be switched on before take-off, max indicated speed is 250kts below 10,000ft.

    b) Max Taxi speed is 30kts, landing lights must be switched off before passing 10,000ft, max indicated speed is 250kts below 10,000ft.

    c) Max Taxi speed is 30kts, landing lights must be switched on before take-off, max indicated speed is 200kts below 1,000ft.


    3> Concorde was the first supersonic passenger plane, but in what year did it first fly?

    a: 1968

    b: 1969

    c: 1970
     

Answers to last Directions quiz:

  1. The 3 axes of motion are vertical,longitudinal and horizontal.
    Movement about the vertical axis is yaw.
    Movement about the longitudinal axis is bank or roll.
    Movement about the horizontal axis is pitch
  2. A left turn of the control will result in the left aileron going up and the right aileron going down. The aerodynamic effect will cause more lift on the right wing and thus a roll to the left.
  3. Navigation lights are the small lights located on each wingtip of an aeroplane. There is a red light on the left(port) wingtip, and a green light on the right(starboard) wingtip.
    In low visiblity these can help determine an aircrafts position and direction.

 

EditVoicepack

EditVoicepack offers a simple interface to edit the file containing the ATC communication used in Microsoft Flight Simulator. It is possible to change the phraseology as well as add airline callsigns, airports, and aircraft types. EditVoicepack already contains thousands of ready made entries and it allows you to accelerate the existing voices for a more realistic experience and better handling of traffic dense environments.”

This software was brought to my attention by John May UKD182 when he sent me a file that he’d been working on.  John created the callsign “UK Deltic” (‘Deltic’ because it was the closest he could get to ‘Direct’) for use in flight sim, because it sounds better than Midland which all our planes default to. Now I can hear some of the long time pilots are shouting its “UNICORN” at their monitors (I’ve got good hearing!) right now but firstly he wasn't to know that and secondly I agree with him - it does sound much better than Midland and you know the controller is talking to you!
John not only created the callsign but also went the extra mile and edited all the AI planes (from the AI package on the Fleet page) to use it.

For those who have seen or heard about the software but not been interested in it before I have something that I found interesting to point out.   If you’ve ever flown with the default ATC and use addon AI programs you probably spend a lot of time waiting for the inordinately slow controller to get through their messages and find a gap to jump in with your request, well you can install this for no other reason than to speed up the default ATC.  That’s a result definitely worth the time installing the program for but while you’re at it give John’s addition a go, it makes a big difference, makes the experience a bit more immersive and it gets a big thumbs up from me! :)

I have put Johns files in the Fleet page with the AI file for now; it may be moved later to Crew Resources.
Edit Voicepack software is free, easy to install and use and available at their website: http://www.editvoicepack.com/
 

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Some of these are that bad they belong in Christmas crackers!

I never wanted to believe that my Dad was stealing from his job as a road worker. But when I got home, all the signs were there.


What do you call a Frenchman wearing sandals?
Philippe Philoppe.


What did the buddhist monk say to the hot dog vendor?
 “Make me one with everything.”


Two guys were out walking their dogs on a hot day, when they pass by a pub. The first guy says “Let’s go in there for a pint.” Second guy, says, “They won’t let us in with our dogs.” First guy: “Sure they will, just follow my lead.”
He goes up to the pub, and sure enough the doorman says, “I can’t let you in here with that dog.” He replies, “Oh, I’m blind and this is my guide dog.” The doorman says, “Ok then, come on in.”
The second guy sees this and does the same thing. He goes up to the pub, and the doorman says, “You can’t come in here with a dog.” He replies, “I’m blind and this is my guide dog.” The doorman responds, “You have a chihuahua for a guide dog?” The second guy stops for a second, and exclaims, “They gave me a chihuahua?”


What do you call an alligator wearing a vest?
An investigator.


 A higgs-boson particle walks up to a Catholic church.
The priest stops him at the door and says “I’m sorry, you can’t participate in our service today.”
The higgs-boson particle says “What?! You can’t have mass without me!”


What is the difference between toilet paper and a shower curtain?
So, you’re the one.


I visited the National Air and Space Museum. I believe the title is misleading because it is actually full of stuff.


How do you spot a vegan at a party? Don’t worry they’ll tell you.


Who is the roundest knight at King Arthurs table?
Sir Cumfrence
 

Landing-The-Plane

The latest UKD recruits being put through their paces!

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