Due to ongoing work commitments and real life getting in the way all of this year Direction’s has been a little sporadic and even this edition of Directions is a brief affair. In fact I've been bailed out this time by Simon UKD239 (again!) but if I didn't release this now it would become six months between the last newsletter and the Christmas/End of year one. I’d like to thank all our managers for helping to keep UKD ticking over, your doing a great job.

So in this pamphlet edition of Directions the News page is brought up to date with events from the real world, sim world and UKD world! You'll notice there's  some videos to watch on You Tube as well as the regular quiz. However the veneer coating this dribble come’s from Simon UKD239 who has been acting as the eyes and ears of UKDirect and while he was out and about he popped over to RAS Cosford and to his suprise noticed a little show of interest.

Mike Cremonini UKD189 has left to pursue his own VA and I would like to thank him for the work he put in and wish him luck - except where his planes land at the same airports as ours! :)

The next edition will be our usual Christmas edition and hopefully back to full-fat tabloid size :)   And finally a plea from myself - I have lots of my own Flight sim screenshots but I’d like to include other people’s efforts as much as possible so please send yours in (see ‘Screenshot’ for details).


Newshound aka Mark UKD171
Live now. Make now always the most precious time.
Now will never come again.

    -- Captain Jean-Luc Picard, U.S.S. Enterprise
Taken at face value it sounds like good advice however I can think of more than one episode where ’now’ does come again! :p

UK Direct B737-900  G-UKEV ”Jasper” ready for push back at Stansted, screenshot by Simon Pal UKD239

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 

Don't worry about editing pictures, sending them as a full size bmp is best and I’ll edit them for Directions

The Boeing fleet has been expanded upon with a couple of B777 models. Two Boeing 777’s are joining the UKDirect and UKWorld Cargo fleets;  B777-200ER G-UKIG “Silver Jubilee” and B777F G-UKIG “Merchant of  Venice”. Both are updated V.2 Project Opensky models with virtual  cockpits, feature packed 2D panels, extra camera views and a very good  pdf file - only tested in FSX but I would expect they work in FS2004.  The models have small but significant detail differences - the 200ER has Rolls Royce Trent engines and the model includes a full suite of ground vehicles including catering vehicles; the Freighter model has a large  opening cargo door, General Electric GE-90 engines and its own ground  vehicles.
The Project Airbus A380 which was one of the first planes to be painted on this website has been revamped with a few minor livery corrections, updated air files and documentation to help fly the plane. Two separate packages exist for FSX and FS2004. Thanks to John May UKD182.
Rounding off the update is something for the turboprop fans, a Bombardier Dash-8 Q400, put together with help from Graham UKD140.

 As always go to the Fleet page to download them and if you experience any problems or have any questions please let me know. I have been including individual documentation with the planes and in many cases this takes longer to do than the paint job, I hope you enjoy them!
 

UK World Cargo Boeing 777F in the new attractive livery :)

UKDirect Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 by Dreamwings nicely showing off the Shockwave light effects. You need to have Shockwave lights by A2A to see them but you can still use the model with default FS lights otherwise.

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14 OCT 2013  Cessna 208B Grand Caravan  AereoServicio Guerrero   XA-TXM    C/n: 208B-0947   First flight: 2002

A Cessna 208B Grand Caravan was destroyed after impacting terrain near Loreto, Mexico. All fourteen on board were killed.
The airplane departed Loreto Airport (LTO) at 09:01 on a domestic flight to Ciudad Constitución Airport (CUA) and Los Mochis.
Contact with the aircraft was lost. The wreckage of the airplane was found on October 16 in the Sierra de La Giganta mountains..
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16 OCT 2013   ATR-72-212A   Lao Airlines  RDPL-34233   C/n: 1071  First flight: 2013-03-06 (7 months)!!!!!

A Lao Airlines ATR-72 was damaged beyond repair in an accident near Pakse, Laos. According to a statement by Laos Airlines, all 44 passengers and five crew members were killed in the accident.
Flight QV-301 originated in Vientiane, Laos at 14:45 and operated a domestic service to Pakse. Weather in the area was said to have been poor as a result of a passing typhoon.
The crew aborted the approach to runway 15 and initiated a go around The airplane turned right and crashed into the Mekong River. The fuselage broke and sank in the river.
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Boeing 787 Dreamliner-watch

Following the high profile set backs earlier this year the 787 resumed flying over the summer. However this month a couple of glitches have beset the Dreamliner again although on the face of it nothing as bad as before. JAL airlines had two 787 flights diverted this month (October), one due to a failure in the engine anti-icing circuits and the other because an electrical fault prevented 6 out of the 7 toilets from flushing.

The anti-icing fault is the second time this specific fault has been reported. In August, ANA said it had found damage to the battery wiring on two 787 locator transmitters during checks and United airlines also found a pinched wire during an inspection.

JAL airlines has favoured Boeing aircraft for decades but this week signed a contract worth £5.9bn with Airbus. A decision which industry analysts seem to agree has been influenced by the Dreamliner’s problems. This news will not be welcomed in Seattle however Boeing still has orders for 950 Dreamliners and it should go on to become a successful aircraft.

BBC News for more details
 

Time to get that grey matter working!. Email answers to mark “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> Which is the worlds busiest airport?
 
a)        London Gatwick
b)        London Heathrow
c)        Hong Kong International
d)        Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson


2> What flight controls are controlled by the plane's yoke?

a)  Rudder only
b)  Rudder and ailerons
c)  Ailerons and elevator
d)  Rudder and elevator


3> The four main forces acting on an air plane are: lift, drag, thrust and ...?

a)   weight
b)   pull
c)   altitude
d)   torque


 

Answers to last Directions quiz:

1. Which callsign belongs to British Airways?
   b)       Speedbird. The callsign "Speedbird" was adopted by British Airways after the merger of BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) and BEA (British European Airways). The callsign was originally used by BOAC as a reference to its original logo, which depicted a swept-back winged bird travelling at high velocity. It became the offical callsign of British Airways in 1974.
2. In what year did the first commercial jet aircraft make its maiden flight?
   c)      1952 – BOAC introduces the British designed de Havilland DH.108 Comet on its London-Johannesburg route, the first regular service flown by a jet airliner. G-AYLP makes the first flight requiring five stops and taking nearly 24 hours.
3. If you are flying and see another aircraft with its red light to your right and its green light to your left, in which direction is the other aircraft flying?
   c)    Directly toward you. Since the colored "nav lights" show in which direction a plane is headed, you should get out of the way if you see red to your right and green to your left, as it means the other airplane is flying directly toward you!

Top of page

Flight Sim 2013

 Written by Our Man in Cosford, Simon UKD239

Well the trouble I had getting there, none, none what so ever, straight through. As I arrived at RAF Cosford my eye was tugged by a sign which read “Sim Show Free Parking”. Well naturally being related to Scrooge I jumped straight in. So having saved £3.50 before I even got out of the car was a smile maker already.
A group of us lost souls waited for the free bus which duly arrived quite quickly and was very posh indeed. As usual my excitement got the better of me so I just had to bash my head on the roof whilst trying to fold myself into the comfy seat. At least I took away everybody’s awkwardness as they laughed and pointed, threw sticks at me..only kidding.

So away we sped towards the museum and hanger one which only took a couple of minutes to get there. Once alighted I ran with great haste pushing young and old out of the way to get in before anybody else. Once in I had my hand stamped with tattoo ink and was given to my delight a fabulous goody bag which contained the following;
Back catalogue of PC Pilot
Airport Hamburg for X Plane 10
Just flight Boeing 767
Flight 1 Cub J-3, PA-11 & L-4.

The offers that were being thrashed about weren’t too bad either, if I had if thought about it better and not been like a kid in a mobile phone shop I could have used my phone to check some of the prices to compare the deals.

This is how it was set up - sorry about the naff pix but there was a bit of a bundle to get in and out.


So all in all it was a brilliant day out, I managed to pick up some bargains and a couple of manuals which otherwise I would not have purchased due to not being able to see the content inside. I really recommend this show to everyone and the fact it was it an epic museum just made it perfect for all us plane nuts.

Simon Pal 2013.

UK2000 VFR AIRFIELDS Vol.1 V.2

UK2000 have released an update to their UK scenery packs. Compatible with FSX Default, Gen-x, Orbx FTX England and Wales, UTX Europe and REX. There is a 50% discount for owners of the originals. V.2 is being marketed as a mid-range upgrade which as far as I can tell means the main features are texture upgrades for each airport with improved static aircraft and lots more ground equipment where appropriate. The airports are not as detailed as the Extreme versions so if your looking for the ultimate airport scenery then you’ll still need to purchase those seperately.

UK2000 website

The 7 Dumbest Things Ever Done by Airport Security

If there's one holiday ritual we all know and hate, it's that trip to the airport, where the friendly security man awaits with his X-ray machine, his metal detector and possibly a well-lubed rubber glove.

While none of us want to spend the holidays involved in a terrorist incident (unless you're living in the Die Hard universe), you have to admit that sometimes security gets a little out of hand. And then there are horror stories like...

#7. Terrorist Breasts Safely Disarmed with Pliers

Mandi Hamlin was just trying to grab a flight from Lubbock, Texas. She made it through the main security scanners and her various metal piercings hadn't set off any alarms. Then she was wanded by a female TSA employee and discovered that, without her knowledge, her breasts had joined Al Qaeda.

Uh-Oh:
Apparently figuring that the metal nipple rings were there to disguise some kind of implanted boob lasers, Hamlin was forced to remove both of her piercings. One came out with no problem, but the other had to be removed using pliers. This was done behind a screen, while (according to Hamlin) male agents stood nearby laughing at her.

Here's what the Transportation Security Administration had to say for itself:
"TSA supports the thoroughness of the officers involved as they were acting to protect the passengers and crews of the flights departing Lubbock that day... In the future, TSA will inform passengers that they have the option to resolve the alarm through a visual inspection of the article in lieu of removing the item in question."

We suppose the visual inspection beats the hands on approach. Though it's just a matter of time until Al Qaeda develops some kind of poisonous nanodarts that can fire out from those piercings and kill everyone on board. Or at least that's what keeps happening in that dream we dare not tell the therapist about.

#6. All Men Named David Nelson are Terrorists

You probably know that all airline passenger lists are compared against a no-fly list, which the TSA didn't even want to admit existed at one time. The problem is that, as it turns out, sometimes more than one person in the world shares the same name.

Uh-Oh:
So, you can imagine the chaos that erupted when a "David Nelson" somehow wound up on the list. That name isn't exactly as distinctive as, say, Flavor Flav, so the result was many, many David Nelsons getting pulled out of line every single time they flew (including one David Nelson who got called out by security four times on one trip).
It doesn't help that the process to get your name removed from the watch list takes at least a month and a half, and the ACLU had to sue to even get that. In a nice touch of irony, one of the lawyers who was working for the ACLU was named...David Nelson.

To Make Things Worse...
An easier way to get off the no-fly list is to just change your name, as one Canadian man did. Yes, the entire no-fly list is founded on the idea that terrorists are stupid enough to fly using their own names.

#5. The Cutest Little Terrorist Ever!

Now, of course the whole "block every flyer with the same name" thing doesn't apply to the obvious cases. Like they're not pulling little David Nelson babies out of the line or anything, right? Right?

Uh-Oh:
Yep, TSA employees pulled Matthew Gardner out of the line because somebody with that name showed up on a federal Most Wanted list.
Matthew is five!
Agents searched the belongings of both Matthew and his mom. When the mother went to comfort the upset child, she was told to back away. Because, you know, it totally says right here on the screen he like shot six dudes at a bank in Reno.
But, hey, we've heard of little kid suicide bombers before, right? It could happen. And really, can you ever be too careful?

#4. "All We Need to Take the Plane is a Butter Knife. And the Pilot."

Anybody protecting our safety on airlines obviously isn't going to let somebody bring a knife on board. And, of course, the TSA plays things safe by confiscating thousands of Swiss Army knives and others that could make damn fine weapons in the hand of a trained nutjob.
We're not going to complain about that, are we?

Uh-Oh:
Well, there's the case of Patrick Smith, who got stopped with a butter knife. A butter knife from the plane. It was one of the knives they give you with your in-flight meal.
But what was this crazy man doing trying to sneak airplane issued silverware through security anyway? Why couldn't he have just waited to get one with his meal, like a normal person?
Well, the airline issued it to him. Because he works for them. As a pilot. And all of this happened while he was standing there in full pilot uniform.
Wrap your mind around that. If this man was a terrorist and intended to fly a plane into a building, he doesn't need a knife to get into the cockpit. They pay him to sit there.

To Make Things Worse...

With such stringent standards, they catch every dangerous knife, right? Well, there was somebody who got through a security checkpoint with a four-inch knife blade after getting his apparently far more dangerous pudding confiscated.

#3. Break Your Ankle for National Security

Obviously crutches are a big problem for metal detectors, because you can't exactly tell a guy with a broken leg to hop through without them. So the TSA has a perfectly reasonable policy in place for their employees to follow. Unless, of course, that employee is a prick.

Uh-Oh:
Just ask Lona Dunlap. She had a sprained ankle and was on crutches. So what did her friendly local TSA screener do? He took away her crutches and forced her to stand on her sprained ankle, causing two fractures. Lona is looking into her legal options, and the TSA says it's taking such claims "very seriously."

To Make Things Worse...
Then there's this story of a woman who, due to childhood polio, needs braces, crutches and a wheelchair just to get around. She was blocked from flying unless she dropped her pants behind a sheet in a public terminal.
This sounds like they would be required to stand up to do that, which would seem to be impossible for somebody in a wheelchair. But of course that's just what a terrorist would want us to think.

#2. You Can Only Feed Your Kids So Much

The TSA, as you might have heard, banned liquids for a while. But what about the children? Well, the TSA of course allows amounts of baby food "reasonable for the duration of the itinerary." "Reasonable" being the key word.
Can you see what's about to go wrong here?

Uh-Oh:
Anand V. Soni and Arati Pratap were traveling with a 10-month-old from Chicago to Manchester, NH. This was in February, and being reasonably bright people, they assumed there might be a few delays flying between two places famous for snow in the middle of winter. So they brought along six jars or so of Gerbers and 20 ounces of formula, which a TSA employee told them was too much. The supervisor on shift agreed. They were told they'd need a doctor's note to bring that much food.

They're both doctors.

To Make Things Worse...
A traveler named Monica Emmerson saw her toddler's sippy cup get confiscated, because it had water in it. Maybe her son was on the watch list.
Or not, since Monica is a former Secret Service agent.

#1. TSA Stops Dangerous Terroist T-Shirt

Raed Jarrar was just looking to get on his flight. The Iraq Project Director for Global Exchange is a pretty busy guy, after all. And, being a political guy and all that, he was wearing a T-shirt, in Arabic and English, saying "We Will Not Be Silent."
These are the situations irony was invented for.

Uh-Oh:
The man was pulled out of line and questioned because the T-shirt had the Arabic on it, which he was told was like wearing a T-shirt saying "I am a bank robber" to the local branch. They wouldn't let him fly unless he covered the Arabic script with another T-shirt, which they figured would offset the magical plane-destroying powers of the silk screened letters.

To Make Things Worse...
Then there's Dr. Ahmed Farooq, a Canadian national who got booted off an airplane for performing his evening prayers. To the TSA's credit, that was the flight crew that made that call and the TSA agents at the airport realized it was retarded (but didn't realize it in time to get him back on the flight, which took off without him and stranded him in Denver).


Of course, the airline didn't feel bad enough to actually pay for Farooq's return flight the next day, or the costs of the hotel he stayed in until the next flight. The least they could have done was send him home with a free box of confiscated knives. Or a T-shirt.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_16849_the-7-dumbest-things-ever-done-by-airport-security_p2.html#ixzz2ir85jeN7