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Welcome to the first Directions of 2018 and just after the latest UKD AGM: All the UKD fat-cats were present including Phil via a video link from down-under, all except Ruud that is, who hasn't been seen since he sat in the crew-room wearing a wet-suit!  Simon 131 and Andy 579 kept banging on about the merits of props over jets saying if it didn't need at least 3 engines and a flight-engineer they weren't interested!! Phil was suggesting creative ways he could ‘use’ pit-girls as F1 has deemed them out-dated - so all-in-all a fairly normal meeting I think :) Eventually I came to the conclusion the unintentional theme this time is ‘Old fashioned’!!

NOTAM: UKD Melbourne Hub - 2018 F1 Grand Prix Racing Season, Executive travel, Crew freighting & UKD Fan Club travel.

Phil UKD101 with assistance from Simon UKD131 has been working hard to create a set of flights to coincide with the Formula 1 season and has the following message for you all:

Welcome to the world of Formula 1 racing! The 2018 season kicks off in March so your UKD Melbourne Hub has created the FSA transport logistics to fly executives, crew, equipment, cars and over-excited UKD fans and family from each of the 21 worldwide venues.
Starting in Melbourne, you'll fly to the next venue in race order throughout 2018. Executive travel is provided by the A319CJ with crew and freight using B707-300C, B747-200M and -200F. Fans and family can travel to the nearest international airport closest to the venue on our B747-400.
There are also six transit flights where the range is too long for some of these aircraft (eg. Melbourne to Bahrain via Singapore), so remember to drop by the duty-free with your UKD vouchers to bag that F1 UKD T-Shirt and beer can holder!
More details here.

STOP PRESS: A new Facebook campaign has launched today - “Have you seen Ruud?”. The crazy Dutchman er, popular pilot Ruud UKD104 was last seen on 12th March heading  ‘to the USA’. He departed Inverness heading north-east (!) leaving his cargo behind with unconfirmed reports he landed in the Shetlands. His 1956 build Cessna 172  had a range of 696 nmi (801 mi; 1,289 km) with 45 minute reserve, 55% power, at 12,000 ft - when new! The Atlantic's width at it's shortest is 2,848 kilometers (1,770 mi) between Brazil and Sierra Leone!  Concerned engineers at UKD Towers reported he asked them if they could remove the seats and a fuel tank to lighten the load.  Inmarsat are monitoring and the RAF have launched a pair of gliders to scour the area. If you've seen Ruud please get in touch!

Use the quick links at the top or scroll down at your leisure for a selection of videos , screen shots, real-world aviation news, fleet updates, competition and humour.
Newshound aka Mark UKD171

“Flying me price”
Amrhart

A screen-shot from Andrew UKD579 of the company B747-400 in a fantastically moody shot..


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

There are some UKDirect repaints in the pipeline but are only partially finished so there are no new announcements this time.

The Aviation Safety Network released the 2017 airliner accident statistics showing an extremely low total of 10 fatal airliner accidents, resulting in 44 fatalities.

The year 2017 turned out to be the safest year ever for commercial aviation, Aviation Safety Network data show.

Over the year 2017 the Aviation Safety Network recorded a total of 10 fatal airliner accidents [1], resulting in 44 occupant fatalities and 35 persons on the ground. This makes 2017 the safest year ever, both by the number of fatal accidents as well as in terms of fatalities. In 2016 ASN recorded 16 accidents and 303 lives lost.

Five accidents involved cargo flights, five were passenger flights. Given the expected worldwide air traffic of about 36,800,000 flights, the accident rate is one fatal passenger flight accident per 7,360,000 flights.

The low number of accidents comes as no surprise, according to ASN President Harro Ranter: “Since 1997 the average number of airliner accidents has shown a steady and persistent decline, for a great deal thanks to the continuing safety-driven efforts by international aviation organisations such as ICAO, IATA, Flight Safety Foundation and the aviation industry.”

On December 31, aviation had a record period of 398 days with no passenger jet airliner accidents. Additionally, a record period of 792 days passed since the previous civil aircraft accident claiming over 100 lives [2].

One out of 10 accident airplanes was operated by an airline on the E.U. “blacklist”.

[1] Statistics are based on all worldwide fatal commercial aircraft accidents (passenger and cargo flights) involving civil aircraft of which the basic model has been certified for carrying 14 or more passengers. Consequently, the June 7 accident involving a Myanmar Air Force Y-8F transport plane that killed 122 is not included.
When including military transport aircraft as well as non-commercial flights, the total number fatalities would be 230 in 24 fatal accidents. Still the lowest numbers in modern aviation history.

[2] Last fatal passenger jet airliner accident: 28 Nov. 2016, Avro RJ85 LaMia, near Medellin, Colombia
Last civil aircraft accident claiming over 100 lives: 31 Oct. 2015, Airbus A321 Metrojet, North Sinai, Egypt (224 fatalities)

The Aviation Safety Network is an independent organisation located in the Netherlands. Founded in 1996. It has the aim to provide everyone with a (professional) interest in aviation with up-to-date, complete and reliable authoritative information on airliner accidents and safety issues. ASN is an exclusive service of the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF). The figures have been compiled using the airliner accident database of the Aviation Safety Network, the Internet leader in aviation safety information. The Aviation Safety Network uses information from authoritative and official sources.

More information:

• Aviation Safety Network website
• Data tables with 2017 accident list and statistics
• Overview of all 10 fatal airliner accidents

US Trade Body Rules in Bombardiers Favour

The skies over the world's largest aerospace market have opened to Bombardier's C Series aircraft after it won a resounding victory against Boeing Co. U.S. International Trade Commissioners voted 4-0 that Boeing didn't suffer harm from prospective imports of C Series planes.

Boeing launched the trade case last April, arguing that governments in Canada and Britain subsidized the plane's development and allowed Bombardier to sell it at unfairly low prices.  The decision eliminates nearly 300 per cent in duties imposed by the Department of Commerce.

"Today's decision is a victory for innovation, competition, and the rule of law," the Montreal-based manufacturer said in a news release moments after the vote was announced.
The decision was a surprise to many observers who expected the commission would side with Boeing even though they believed the company sustained no harm. Even one government official said Ottawa wouldn't be surprised by a loss.  Several commentators said the ruling restores the commission's credibility because it wasn't moved by political calculations or pressure from President Donald Trump's protectionist rhetoric.

The decision caused Bombardier's stock to shoot up to its highest level in three years. Shares gained more than 15 per cent after the ruling, closing at $3.54.  http://www.huffingtonpost.ca

Boeing

Boeing and Embraer confirmed they were in talks on a possible combination, a move seen as part of Boeing's strategy to counter arch-rival Airbus' ambitions in the smaller commercial aircraft category with a venture with Canadian company Bombardier.
The takeover of Embraer's commercial airliners would enable Boeing to complete its portfolio by adding aircraft with a capacity of up to 150 seats and to regain ground in the medium-haul against Airbus.

Airbus announced in mid-October a strategic partnership with Canadian Bombardier on CSeries aircraft in that size range, which was the subject of a bitter trade complaint brought by Boeing, which failed.  The world's third-largest aircraft manufacturer with nearly $6 billion in sales, Embraer was privatized in 1994 and is one of Brazil's success stories. It offers a range of civil and military aircraft as well as business jets.  In 2013, Embraer launched the E-Jets E2 family, a new generation of aircraft due to enter the market this year as a potential competitor of the CSeries.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-02-boeing-embraer-commercial-air-business.html#jCp



Boeing sales for 747-8F continues with another 14 examples on order for UPS (plus 4 more 767-F’s).
Boeing announced a record-breaking jetliner order from a Middle Eastern airline, right after a massive deal was unveiled by its arch rival, Airbus.
The U.S. aerospace company said that FlyDubai of the United Arab Emirates has committed to buy 175 of its 737 Max planes and will have the rights to buy another 50. Altogether, the 225 aircraft have a total value of $27 billion at list prices. Boeing said it was the biggest ever order from the Middle East for single-aisle passenger planes.
Source: http://money.cnn.com

Videos (c) CNN.com

Airbus

A380: Emirates has placed an order for a further 20 Airbus A380’s with options for another 16 increasing their A380 fleet to a staggering 178 examples including existing orders. Deliveries will start in 2020 ensuring the A380 remains in production and securing thousands of jobs.

A320neo: Airbus has signed a deal to sell 430 jetliners, one of the largest orders in the history of commercial aviation. Private equity firm Indigo Partners, which has set up ultra-low cost airlines around the world, made the massive commitment for Airbus' single-aisle A320neo family airliners at the Dubai Air Show. The planes aren't all for one airline. Instead, Indigo has used the negotiating power of its many carriers to buy in bulk. The deal will spread the jets out across Frontier Airlines in the U.S., Mexico's Volaris, Wizz Air of Hungary and newcomer JetSmart of Chile.

The stunning magnitude of the deal -- which Airbus (EADSF) called its "largest single commercial announcement ever" -- caught many in the aviation industry by surprise. To put it in perspective, a single airline with 430 planes would rank among the 10 largest carriers on the planet. Worth nearly $50 billion at list prices, the deal is a major rebound for Airbus, which has significantly lagged its U.S. arch rival Boeing in orders this year. Buyers typically receive discounts of 40% to 60% on the list prices, but can get even bigger reductions for really huge deals.

Source: http://money.cnn.com

Videos (c) CNN.com

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13 JAN 2018  Boeing 737-82R (WL)   Pegasus Airlines   TC-CPF   C/n: 40879/4267  First flight:  2012-11-15 (5 years 2 months)

Pegasus flight 8622 suffered a runway excursion after landing on runway 11 at Trabzon Airport, Turkey. The aircraft went off the left side of the runway and stopped on a steep downslope.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, departed Ankara-Esenboga Airport at 22:33 hours local time (19:33 UTC) on a domestic flight to Trabzon Airport in Turkey. The flight made a straight in approach to runway 11 and touched down at 23:25 hours.
About 2400 m past the runway 11 threshold, the aircraft went off the left side. It travelled across the grass and went down a steep slope, coming to rest with the tail sticking out about 5 meters above runway level. The no. 2 engine broke away in the slide and fell into the sea. The occupants evacuated through the rear and overwing emergency exits.
Runway 11 is an asphalt runway with a Landing Distance Available of 2640 m. ILS is availabe for CAT I approaches. Elevation of the runway at the point of the excursion is 95 feet (28,90 m) above sea level.
Weather information at Trabzon Airport shows it had been raining there since about 22:10 hours with visibility deteriorating to about 4000 meters at the time of the accident.

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18 FEB 2018  ATR 72-212   Iran Aseman Airlines   EP-ATS   C/n: 391  First flight: 1993-10-26 (24 years 4 months)

Iran Aseman Airlines flight 3704 from Tehran to Yasuj, Iran, impacted a mountainside in the Mount Dena rangeto the northeast of Yasuj Airport. All on board (60 passengers, two flight crew members, two cabin crew members and two security officers) were killed.
The flight departed Mehrabad Airport at 08:05 hours local time and climbed to the cruising altitude of FL210. At 09:22 the aircraft was over the Isfahan (IFN) VOR. The flight requested premission to descend from FL210 to FL170. This was approved by Tehran ACC. The flight followed Airway W114 from the OBTUX navaid to the Yasuj DVOR/DME. Minimum altitude on that airway is FL170. Minimum safe altitude over the sector close to Yasuj Airport is 15500 feet.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 shows that the aircraft reached FL170 at 09:25:59. At 09:29:10 the aircraft was 14 nautical miles from the airport. Last radio contact with the flight was at 09:30:10, when the pilots acknowledged a weather report.
At 09:32:00 the pilot keyed the mic but there was no transmission. Attempts to contact the flight by the Yasuj controller at 09:34 were fruitless.
The wreckage was located the following day at an elevation of about 3600 m (11800 feet). Weather conditions at the crash site included snow and strong winds.

The approach procedure for Yasuj Airport is a circling NDB approach with a 25NM minimum safe altitude circle of 11500 ft - 15500 ft. Flights from Tehran first have to cross Mount Dena, which is an 80 km mountain range with a highest elevation of 4,409 m (14,465 ft). After arriving over the NDB at the airport at 15,000 feet, a teardrop approach has to be flown for landing on runway 13/31.

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28 FEB 2018  Airbus A320-214   SmartLynx Airlines Estonia   ES-SAN   C/n: 1213  First flight: 2000-04-12 (17 years 11 months)

A SmartLynx Estonia Airbus A320-214 suffered a landing accident at Tallinn Airport, Estonia.
At 12:03 hours local time the aircraft departed Tallinn as crew training flight MYX9001. Onboard were a captain-instructor as well as a second pilot, four students and a Civil Aviation Administration inspector.
Numerous circuits and touch-and-goes were performed, including two full stop landings.
During final approach to runway 08 at 17:04, the aircraft stopped responding to flight control inputs. Altitude was lost and the aircraft hit the runway. The engines touched the runway and the
main landing gear doors broke.
The aircraft then managed to gain altitude and the pilots were able to stabilize the aircraft and turn back. Both engines, however, lost power after the turn back to the airport.
An emergency landing was carried out at 17:11, about 150 meters from the runway. The aircraft came to a halt in the snow 15 meters south of the runway.
The flight crew members evacuated the aircraft via the L1 door emergency escape slides.
A video of the incident shows what appears to be a tire rolling away from the aircraft as it came to a stop. Photos from the scene seem to show that one of the nose landing gear tires is missing. Photos also indicate that the ram air turbine (RAT) had been deployed.

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12 MAR 2018  de Havilland Canada DHC-8-402Q Dash 8   US-Bangla Airlines   S2-AGU   C/n: 4041  First flight:  2001

US-Bangla Airlines flight BS211, a DHC-8-Q400 (S2-AGU), crashed while approaching to land at Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport, Nepal.
The aircraft departed Dhaka, Bangladesh at 12:52 hours local time (06:52 UTC), with 67 passengers and four crew members on board. The flight climbed to a cruising altitude of FL240 and proceeded towards Kathmandu. At the time of arrival near Kathmandu a thunderstorm was passing the airport with cumulonimbus clouds passing at 2500ft.
The aircraft was cleared for an approach to runway 02. Apparently the approach was aborted and the flight crew radioed that they were performing a right hand orbit. Initially the air traffic controller replied that they could not land in the opposite direction (runway 20) because other traffic on finals. The controller requested approaching traffic to hold and asked flight 211 if they wanted to land on runway 02 or 20. The flight crew replied: "we like to land on two-zero". The flight was then cleared to land on runway 20 with wind reported at 260 degrees, 6 knots. Initially the flight crew did not have the runway in sight, but the flight then radioed: "Affirmative, we have [?] runway in sight, requesting to land, Sir". The flight was again cleared to land. The pilot read back: "cleared to land runway 02", though clearance had been given for runway 20 initially. The air traffic controller then also read back the clearance for runway 02.
Shortly afterwards the aircraft impacted terrain and burst into flames. Reports indicate that at least 49 people were killed. Police say 22 survivors are hospitalized.
 

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16 Mar 2018 Boeing 737-800  UKDirect   G-UKSH   C/n: 90879/9267  First flight: ?

UKDirect flight UKD1990 from London Heathrow to Ankara Esenboğa Airport (IATA: ESB, ICAO: LTAC) suffered a rapid decompression. The UKDirect Safety Board (UKDSB) determined that the improper installation of a fuselage crown skin panel led to fatigue cracking at a lap joint and to the eventual separation of the panel as the 737 was climbing through 34,000 ft during a scheduled flight. The tear in the fuselage skin resulted in a rupture of the pressure vessel that caused the cabin to depressurize rapidly and two of the 125 people aboard the airplane to sustain minor injuries after losing consciousness. Having been informed by flight attendants of a “two-foot hole in the cabin ceiling” and of the injuries, the captain Paul Murphy ignored radar vectors to the nearest airport, as he pressed on with the flight to Ankara. ATC made lower altitudes and alternate airports available but the captain elected to carry on and take pictures. Social media reports that after landing safely he was heard to say “I think the flight to Turkey went well!” :)

 

Answers to last Directions quiz:

1. Which is a purpose of wing-mounted vortex generators?
   A)  Delays the onset of drag divergence at high speeds and aids in maintaining aileron effectiveness at high speeds.
2. Even a small amount of frost, ice, or snow may
   B)  hinder lift production to a point where takeoff will be impossible.
3. What is the purpose of an elevator trim tab?
   D)  Adjust the speed tail load for different airspeeds in flight allowing neutral control forces. (They don't eliminate control pressures; rudder trim tabs are used for yaw; they don't allow hands-off flight)

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).

For 2018 I thought I’d change the format of the quiz and introduce a league table. Below you will see ten pictures of classic British built airliners and all you have to do is tell me the manufacturer and model, simple! You score 1 point for each - don't worry if you only know a few, I don’t expect anyone to get 100% - standing by to be proved wrong!. I will be awarding prizes (choice of UKD mugs or DVDs) over the year so email/message/PM the answers.

Top of page

Flightsim News

PREPARED v4.2

Prepar3D v4.2 is available now!
Prepar3D v4.2 continues to improve on the groundbreaking Prepar3D v4 simulation platform. The new v4.2 release welcomes three new user controllable helicopters, new rendering techniques for improved virtual reality (VR) performance, countless legacy bug fixes, and even a couple new exciting experimental features to give users a feel of where the platform is heading!

This is the first release to feature new helicopter capabilities, including scenario controllable artificial intelligence (AI) and autopilot functionality. Additionally, many developer requests were addressed, and we look forward to the Prepar3D ecosystem continuing to create high-end content that pushes simulation boundaries to new limits.

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Just Flight maintain a list of ADD-ONS UPDATED FOR P3D V4 COMPATIBILITY. Click the link to see their list

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LATEST DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE UPDATES (from Just Flight)

Washington XP - v1.1 Update (15 Mar)
New York Airports XP v2: KJFK KLGA KTEB - v2.1 Update (12 Mar)
New York Airports XP v2: KEWR KLDJ KCDW - v2.1 Update (12 Mar)
Simworks Studios F-4B/N Phantom II - v1.3 Update (12 Mar)
Simworks Studios Midway Battlegroup - v1.45 Update (12 Mar)
EPWA Warsaw Chopin Airport X - v1.96 Update (12 Mar)
EETN Tallinn X v2 - v2.2 Update (12 Mar)
MV 310 - v1.80301 Update (9 Mar)
VC10 Jetliner - SP1.4 Update (9 Mar)
Flysimware Cessna 402C Businessliner - v2.4a Update (8 Mar)
SIMStarter NG  - v1.7.0.2 Update (7 Mar)
German Airports: Stuttgart Professional - v1.10 Update (7 Mar)
Aerosoft English Electric Lightning F.6 - Update to include new F.53 model (7 Mar)
New York Airports X v2: KJFK, KLGA, KTEB - v2.4 Update (7 Mar)
Washington X - v1.3 Update (6 Mar)
Baku X - v1.3 Update (6 Mar)
New York Airports X v2: KEWR KLDJ KCDW - v2.4 Update (5 Mar)
UUEE Moscow Sheremetyevo X - v1.95 Update (5 Mar)
Miami City X - v1.9 Update (5 Mar)
Aerosoft CRJ 700/900 X - v1.0.5.0 Update (5 Mar)
Approaching Dortmund - v1.10 Update (26 Feb)
Where Are My Aircraft? (WAMA) - v1.09 Update (23 Feb)
C-46 Commando - Service Pack 3 (22 Feb)
Carenado C90B King Air HD Series (FSX/P3D) - Update (21 Feb)
Ant's Airplanes Drifter Ultralight - v2.0 Update (18 Feb)

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FSUIPC latest versions:

FSUIPC5 5.124 for use with Prepar3D 64-bit Version 4 February 27th 2018 (3.3 MB)
FSUIPC4 4.971 for use with FSX, FSX-SE and Prepar3D 1.4-3.4.   Released August 16th 2017 (3.3 MB)

http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html
 

Don’t Buy ProFlightSimulator

Everyday I get at least one spam email trying to make me part with my money and when I looked into where they were coming from I found this software was at the heart of it. Now I reckon most ‘serious’ flight-simmers would not fall for this as you would have heard or read about it before but just so your aware I’m posting this here.

Judging by the “I fell for it too” messages still appearing regularly on flight sim forums, the shameless parasites behind ProFlightSimulator and its equally vile sibling VirtualPilot3D are still persuading unwary online punters to pay 67+ USD for an old, superficially tweaked version of FREE open-source flight sim FlightGear.

www.rockpapershotgun.com have been covering this (and doing a better job than me) so I won’t re-invent the wheel and will just link to them so you can read more - HERE


To be clear the FlightGear 2017.3.1 (Released September 20, 2017) program is a freeware program created as a replacement for FSX, available for free from here:  http://home.flightgear.org/
 

UK2000 Belfast City Extreme

Belfast City airport is located 4Miles from the city centre and shares the airfield with Bombardier aircraft facility.  EGAC was known as HMS Nutts Corner in the past (just had to share that) but now goes by the name “George Best Belfast City airport” in memory of the footballer. The airport has a single 6000ft runway and the scenery is built upon hi-res aerial photography and features detailed buildings, airport ground markings and signage, optional static aircraft and full night lighting. Nearby factories, houses and shops are modeled too.
UK2000 News and updates
24th February 2018 Belfast Xtreme V4 Released.
26th January 2018 Gatwick Xtreme V4 Released for Xplane 10,11

http://www.uk2000scenery.com/

OpenScope

Air Traffic Control Simulation

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be on the other side of the comms or wanted to control the traffic then there is a great freware program that I highly recommend. I have lost a few hours playing this already. The learning curve can be a bit steep but there is a tutorial (no other instructions) and if you persevere you will be rewarded with headaches and nightmares - welcome to the world of the Air Traffic Controller!

http://www.openscope.co/  takes you straight into the sim - it is played in your web browser.
https://github.com/openscope  is the developers webpage

To help you get started I prepared the above screenshot.

1. Windspeed and direction tab - tailwind landings are allowed but wind be must be less than 5kts. Speed is the number in the centre of the compass rose.
2. The controls - left click to switch on/off waypoints/intersections, SIDS, terrain, sim rate (game speed), voice (hear the comms), select airport, tutorial on/off, and options.
3. The tutorial window. Click the arrows left/right to skip through it.
4. click this tab to see a list of aircraft under your control - you can click on these to select the plane you want.
5. Airport selection tab - I recommend you start with a  quiet airport such as Leeds. The number of planes indicates the difficulty level. More airports are available by selecting the Work In Progress (WIP) on, in the options menu.