Welcome to all our new pilots, especially the hordes that have joined since we appeared on the VA list produced by PC Pilot! Graham UKD140 has assumed the role of handling new recruits. He wears many hats now and will have been the first contact with UKD for most new pilots, thanks Graham.

This is the first edition post the Brexit vote and some airlines are already experiencing difficulties. I’m saddened to report that UKDirect has been affected and you may have noticed some of the changes at UKD Towers already - for instance you'll have to make your own drink while you read this and note the ‘fancy’ coffee has been locked away. We had to let the cleaner go as well so some of you need to start clearing up after yourselves when you leave the crew-room particularly the individual that left their leather helmet and scarf in the corner! The austerity measures continue into the cockpit - seat heaters have been turned off and lower wattage bulbs have been fitted to the landing lights :)

Congratulations to Ruud UKD103 who very recently passed 2,000 hours of virtual flying on FSAirlines - have a cup of the fancy coffee (that’s one cup and please return the key after!)
 
Staying with the austere theme the software section features a lot files to improve your flight-sim audio and visual experience from AI to sceneries. There is quite a lot going on in the real world aviation news and as always you'll find the regular features are here - best screenshot, real-world aviation news, fleet updates, competition and humour (hopefully).
Newshound aka Mark UKD171

“It's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here.”
 Unknown

 

UKDirect Cessna 208 Grand Caravan at Humberside by UK2000
Very nice picture taken by Graham UKD140


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

All the repaints this time are for payware as not much freeware has been released. All Virtualcol aircraft are offered at a discount for UKDirect. https://www.virtualcol.com/v.php   Currently we have repaints for their Saab340, ATR 42 and 72 in the Fleet.
 
 

Boeing

During the Farnborough International Air Show Boeing said that it is weighing a decision to end production of the 747 jetliner.
The U.S. aircraft-maker is responding to a trend in the industry away from large jets like the 747 toward small and mid-size planes that are more fuel efficient and suitable for the needs of airlines, especially the growing ranks of budget carriers.
Boeing’s decision to stop manufacturing the 747 would close a chapter in the history of civil aviation. Since it came into commercial service in 1970, the iconic aircraft has been a fixture in the global air travel scene.

The 747, which can accommodate more than 500 seats, has been supporting rapid growth in air passenger traffic for nearly half a century but now airlines around the globe are replacing it with more fuel-efficient planes like the 777/787 and Airbus A330/A350.
 

Airbus

Airbus have demonstrated a small pilot-less aircraft made using 3D printing. It weighs 46lbs, has two propellers driven by electric engines and is called THOR. It took 7 weeks to print the plastic components which account for 90% of the construction which explains the taste of the in-flight meals!

Airbus are struggling with supplier issues for their newest airliner. To date only 9 A350-900’s have been delivered due to manufacturing and quality control issues with the suppliers of the seats and toilet doors.

The rest

St. Helena airport - cost £285m to build but on opening discovered safety issues with windshear affecting runway 20 meaning larger planes such as the B737 cannot land safely. Runway 02 is available but has prevailing tailwinds presenting it’s own set of challenges and limiting operations again. The airport is collecting wind data in a bid to find a solution.

MH370 The search for MH370 continues but will be suspended before the end of the year "in the absence of new credible evidence" however a team from Italy, analysing the data with their own software, reckon the search area could be 500km too far south of the crash. The latest theories suggest that someone was in control of the plane when it entered the water. Recovered wreakage is relatively large compared to wreckage from other accidents where an aircraft has plummeted into the sea. The damage on the recovered flaperon suggests it was deployed which in turn means someone had to have deployed it and the manner of it's damage suggests a controlled landing on the water.

Solar Impulse 2 has landed in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, successfully completing the first solar-powered flight around the globe. Andre Borschberg (left) and Bertrand Piccard, the Swiss founders of the project, took turns to pilot the aircraft during an epic 16-month voyage to promote renewable energy. Solar Impulse is a little heavier than a car, but has the wingspan of a Boeing 747. It is powered by 17,000 solar cells. Excess energy is stored in batteries. With a cruising speed of no more than 90km/h, the pilots showed mental stamina, tackling vast distances. The 17-stage journey - which began on 9 March, 2015 - covered more than 40,000km
The aircraft is very sensitive to the weather, and had to wait for weeks in some countries for the right conditions to present themselves. The longest leg, an 8,924km flight from Nagoya in Japan to Hawaii, lasted nearly 118 hours and saw Mr Borschberg break the absolute world record for longest (time duration) uninterrupted solo flight.

MC-21 - Irkut corporation (Russia) have publicly unveiled the MC-21. It is a twin-jet designed to compete with the A320 and B737 seating up to 165 and 211 passengers in the -200 and -300 variants respectively. It is a completely new design intended to replace the Tupolev Tu-154 and has options for Pratt and Whitney PW140G geared-fan engines and head-up displays to compliment the glass cockpit. The aircraft is expected to enter revenue service by the end of 2018 and has firm orders for 175 with options for a further 100. Production will be slow with only 70 to be produced per year, by comparison Boeing and Airbus are expecting to produce almost that many per month. Hopefully the MC-21 will be a success and we can look forward to seeing more variety at our airports and in the sim.

A Third runway is a step closer following government approval. No, not at Heathrow but Hong Kong which will feature an almost 4Km long runway built on 1,600 acres of reclaimed land in the South China Sea. The project will take eight years, cost £12bn and have parking for 57 aircraft.
 

Shifting the blame

International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), the company which owns British Airways, is blaming Brexit for a €148 million (£124 million) foreign exchange loss in the first 6 months of 2016.

The pound dropped to 31-year lows against the dollar in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum — though not so heavily against the euro — and IAG’s share prices fell over 33% when it admitted last month that the more volatile market would take its toll.

Although the company’s second quarter operating profit for 2016 was up to €555 million (£467 million) from €530 million (£446 million) in the same period a year ago, IAG says the result of the EU referendum hit it hard.
But IAG has more to deal with than just a weak pound. CEO Willie Walsh said in a statement:

“Our performance this quarter saw a negative currency impact of €148 million, primarily due to the weak pound. Numerous external factors affected our airlines including the impact of terrorism, uncertainty around the UK’s EU referendum and Spain’s political situation and increased weakness in Latin American economies. This led to a softer than expected trading environment, especially in June.”
Walsh also blamed “22 air traffic control strikes in Europe so far this year,” as well as adverse weather conditions, both of which will cost the company at least €80 million (£67.3 million) in the second half of the year.

Despite the foreign exchange hit, IAG’s total revenue for the three months to June 30 hit €5.708 billion (£4.8 billion), up 0.9% from the same quarter a year ago.
source:http://www.todayaviationnews.com

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13 APR 2016  CZAW SportCruiser  Peter Marsden     G-OCRZ   C/n: PFA338-14668   First flight: 2008

Substantially damaged 13-04-2016 in a landing accident at Firs Farm Airstrip, Newbury, Berkshire. No injuries sustained by the pilot (the sole person on board). According to the following excerpt from the official AAIB report into the accident:
"The pilot returned to land at his home airstrip after a short, middle-of-the-day flight. He was very familiar with this airstrip, having operated from it for six years. Visibility was good and there was a light south-westerly breeze as he joined the circuit, intending to land on grass Runway 23.
He lined-up his final approach on a yellowish coloured strip of land, which he identified as the runway, and touched down in an apparently “perfect” manner. However, the landing was made on a rough, uncultivated strip of ground adjacent to the south side of the runway which the pilot had mistaken for Runway 23.
The nose leg immediately collapsed and detached, and the propeller struck the ground. As the aircraft slowed, the left main landing gear collapsed and the aircraft came to a halt with its nose and left wing resting on the ground. The pilot turned the master switch OFF and vacated the aircraft without difficulty."
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "Nose leg detached, left main landing gear damaged and propeller destroyed"
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15 APR 2016  Boeing 747-87UF    Polar Air Cargo     N858GT   C/n: 37569/1445  First flight: 2012

Polar Air Cargo flight PO916 diverted to Ontario Airport, California following an engine pod strike incident on landing at Los Angeles International Airport, CA (LAX).
The aircraft, a Boeing 747-87UF cargo plane, approached runway 25L in strong crosswind conditions. The aircraft banked right and the no.4 engine pod contacted the runway. A go around was performed and the aircraft diverted to Ontario Airport.
The Polar Air Crew reported to ATC that they had experienced windshear on landing. http://www.jacdec.de/2016/04/17/2016-04-15-polar-air-cargo-747-800f-podstrike-at-lax/

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17 APR 2016  Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner  United Airlines   N36962   C/n: 35880/365  First flight: Nov 2015

United Airlines Flight UA870 was bound for San Framcisco when it returned to Sydney International Airport following a fumes event in the cabin. No Injuries to the 238 passengers and crew on board
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29 APR 2016  Eurocopter EC 225LP Super Puma Mk2+   CHC Helikopter Service   LN-OJF   C/n: 2721  First flight: 2008

Flight HKS241 impacted the rocky shoreline of the Turøy Island, off Norway. All thirteen occupants were killed. The helicopter operated on a round trip from Bergen-Flesland Airport, Norway to the Gullfaks B offshore installation in the North Sea. A video shot by an eyewitness show the main rotor falling, separated from the helicopter.
The recordings on the CVFDR showed that everything appeared to be normal until a sudden catastrophic failure developed in 1-2 seconds. The CVFDR recordings ended abruptly at the same time.
CAA Norway issued a Safety Directive on 29 April 2016, followed by one from the UK CAA, temporarily prohibiting the use of the EC225LP for commercial air transport. AIBN report 1 May 2016 that the CVFDR has been sent to the UK for analysis and major items of hardware are being examined in Bergen. On 2 May 2016 they confirm the CVFDR data has been downloaded, is of 'good quality' and has been retuned to Norway for analysis. An Emergency AD was issued by EASA on 3 May 2016 with a second on 1 June 16 regarding suspension bar fittings.
 AIBN announced on 28 June 2016 that a 2nd stage planetary gear failure was 'most likely'..

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01 MAY 2016  Airbus A319-133   China Eastern Airlines  B-6430   C/n: 5376  First flight: 27 Nov 2012

China Eastern Airlines flight MU5443 from Chengdu to Kangding, China, was damaged after striking approach lights at Kangding Airport.
The aircraft, an Airbus A319-100, was on final approach to Kangding's runway 15 when the aircraft struck approach lights. A go around was initiated and the aircraft returned to Chengdu.
Six approach lights were found damaged at Kangding. One metal part of the approach lighting system was found to have penetrated the right hand horizontal stabilizer. Additionally there was a leak in the green hydraulic system and wear on one of the tyres.
 

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15 MAY 2016  Boeing 737-94XER  Ukraïne International Airlines   UR-PSK   C/n: 36086  First flight: 11 May 2009

When the passengers disembarked and the luggage was unloaded the plane tilted backwards, causing damage to the underside of the rear fuselage. The cabindoor was also damaged when it hit the aerobridge.
 

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19 MAY 2016  Airbus A320-232   EgyptAir   SU-GCC   C/n:2088  First flight: 2003-07-25 (12 years 10 months)
 

EgyptAir flight MS804, an Airbus A320 impacted the Mediterranean Sea some 200 km north of the Egyptian coast line.
The aircraft, an Airbus A320, departed Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, France, at 23:21 hours local time on May 18. Scheduled departure time was 22:45 hours.
Last contact with the flight was at FL370, about 02:29 hours. Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 suggests the aircraft had just entered the Cairo FIR via the KUMBI waypoint and was about 10 miles inside Egyptian airspace when contact was lost.
About 19:00 hours local time EgyptAir confirmed that pieces of wreckage were found at sea.
Greek military authorities earlier reported that their primary radar showed the aircraft suddenly taking a 90 degree turn left, followed by a 360 degrees turn in the opposite direction as it descended from FL370 to FL150 before disappearing off radars.
The Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder with both recovered from the sea bed on June 16, 2016. Analysis of the FDR showed that the recording stopped at FL370.
On June 29 investigators reported that some recovered wreckage parts of the front section of the airplane showed signs of high temperature damage and soot.
 

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13 JUN 2016  Boeing 737-86N   Jin Air   HL7567   C/n: 28647/878  First flight: 2003-07-08 (12 years 9 months)

A Jin Air's Boeing 737-86N, operated as flight JNA/LJ211 from Seoul/Incheon, South Korea to Osaka/Kansai, Japan suffered a trouble on the landing gear hydraulic system during the approach to Kansai. The flight crew extended the landing gear manually, and made an emergency landing on the runway 24R of Kansai at 09:50 JST. No personal injuries were reported. The runway was closed for a while to check on leaked oil.
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01 JUL 2016  Ilyushin 76TD   Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations  RA-76840   C/n: 1033417553  First flight: 1994

An Ilyushin 76 firefighting aircraft was destroyed when it impacted wooded terrain 9 km east-southeast from the settlement of Rybnyi Uyan in the Kachug Region, on the side of a volcanic cone. The Il-76 transport plane was equipped with spray tanks to extinguish wildfires in the Bayanday district of the Irkutsk region.
Searchers located the wreckage on July 3. The aircraft had crashed in the area of an active forest fire. 10 crew perished in the accident.
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21 JUL 2016  Boeing 747-438   Qantas  VH-OJS   C/n: 25564/1230  First flight: 20 Sep 1999

Qantas flight QF11 was en route between Sydney, Australia, and Los Angeles, USA, when a passenger’s mobile phone became trapped in a seat reclining mechanism. As the seat moved, the phone was crushed resulting in a fire. The fire was extinguished by the cabin crew.
The ATSB reported the serious incident occurred about 07:00 UTC. At this time the flight was en route at FL338 over Kiribati.
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03 AUG 2016   Boeing 777-31H    Emirates   A6-EMW    C/n: 32700/434   First flight: 2003-03-07 (13 years 5 months)

Emirates Airlines flight EK521 suffered a landing accident at Dubai Airport (DXB), United Arab Emirates. All 300 on board survived the accident.
The aircraft, a Boeing 777-31H, departed Thiruvananthapuram, India at 05:06 hours UTC. At 08:38 hours UTC, after having been cleared to land on runway 12L, the flight crew apparently initiated a go around as the Dubai Tower controller instructed the flight to continue straight ahead and climb to 4000 feet. This was confirmed by the crew. Immediately afterwards the aircraft impacted the runway, and losing the right hand engine as it slid to a stop. All aboard evacuated safely, but soon after the accident a fire erupted which consumed the fuselage. One fire fighter was killed during the ARFF operations.

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> What does ICAO mean?
 
a)        International Civil Airports Organisation
b)        International Civil Aviation Organisation
c)        International Central Airports Organisation
d)        International Central Aviation Organisation


2>  In the ICAO code structure, (e.g. KJFK, EGCC) generally what do the last two letters identify?

a)    A region
b)    An airport
c)    An airline
d)    A country


3>  In the ICAO code structure, what does the second letter usually represent?

a)    A region
b)    An airport
c)    An airline
d)    A country


 

Answers to last Directions quiz:

1. What does the term "trimming" most commonly mean in aviation?
   b)        Use of a tab or wheel to equalise control input/pressure so that no input will maintain current flight status
2. In aviation,what does CAVOK stand for?
   d)    Ceiling and Visibility OK
3. Where on the aircraft would you find the green navigation light?
   d)     Right Wingtip

Flightsim News

UK2000 released another UK airport in the Extreme range, this time it is the turn of Exeter ICAO code EGTE to get the Extreme make-over. Located in the south west of England it makes a good base for our aircraft operating between the Channel Islands and further afield to France and Spain.  Exeter is a single runway airfield handling nearly 1 million passengers per year. Exeter Airport was opened on 31 May 1937 and operated from a "tented" terminal before the permanent buildings were complete. Jersey Airlines immediately inaugurated a summer service of eight flights per week from Jersey in de Havilland DH.84 Dragons. Railway Air Services ran connecting flights on to Plymouth and Bristol. As usual UK2000 have released a freeware ‘lite’ version.

UK2000 News and updates http://www.uk2000scenery.com/newsite/
Don’t forget to ask me for the UKDirect discount. (-20%)

Garmin 400W/500W Series Trainer - WAAS software version 3.00

If you use a Garmin GPS or the Reality-XP GPS in your sim (or you just want to know how to use it) then you may want to try this free trainer software for the real thing which installs and works from your PC. http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3531


 

Freeware AI sounds for FSX and P3D.

http://mavecreations.weebly.com/
Mave has produced free sound files for FSX and P3D AI aircraft which are lightweight in size yet feature sound cones so that the sound changes as the aircraft taxi and fly past your position. So far he has only covered some of the more frequently found aircraft (B747, B777, A320 with two engine variants, B737) but these are compatible with all of your pay/freeware AI programs. I use them in MyTraffic 6 with P3D and they sound fantastic.

PRO ATC/X free add-on voice packs

http://mavecreations.weebly.com/voices-for-proatcx.html
Mave (again) has started a project to create more realistic ATC - in his words:
What's that? Hearing a Lufthansa Pilot with a British accent? Or a Heathrow ATC with a German accent? That's strange!
Think of the immersion if you are flying over France hearing ATC with a French accent, crossing the border, and switching Comm channel, all of the sudden listening to German ATC! Yeah, that's what we want!
Unfortunately such a update would be a crap load of work, almost impossible. Each voice consists of some 1370 words (including the callsigns), which have to be spoken in by someone. Think of all the different voices, you don't want 1 or 2 voices for all the controllers in one dialect, that would be dull too. So I was thinking, if these voices are already there, it would be a relatively next small step to upgrade the application to use these voices according to ATC location and airline origin.
He has made a start and has 2 US, 1 Australian and 1 Swiss voice set ready to download at the time of writing with many more promised to come.
 

More Free Mesh

Freeware website http://www.ofxsimulation.com/ is not a massive repository but maybe of interest is the 5m mega-mesh scenery for USA plus what they're calling Africa Evolution and South America Evolution - 10m mesh plus land-class files for South America and Africa. You will also find several smaller French airport sceneries and a night environment for FlyTampa St. Marteen.
 

LKPR - Praha Ruzyně

Freeware scenery of Prague complete with photoscenery ground textures. Václav Havel Airport Prague, formerly Prague Ruzyně International Airport, (IATA: PRG, ICAO: LKPR), is the international airport of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is located 10 kilometres west of the city centre and with over 11 million passengers in 2014, the busiest airport in the newer EU member states. It serves as a hub for Czech Airlines and a base for low-cost carriers Wizz Air and Ryanair. The airport is able to handle wide-body aircraft including the Airbus A380. The following link to Vatsim includes chartsand the scenery for FSX.
http://www.vacc-cz.org/en/airports/lkpr