Group III, Texas Wing - SWR-TX-030

 Civil Air Patrol     U.S. Air Force Auxiliary 

More than meets the skies . . .

Newsletter - April, 2007 - Tid-Bits

Links or references to individuals or companies do not constitute an endorsement of any information, product or service you may receive from such sources

Stray Items of Interest (even if remote)

1 March Homeland Security to offer states more time on driver's licenses (News Examiner-Enterprise)
1 March New group to coordinate homeland security intelligence (Federal Computer Week)
1 March Homeland Security offers details on Real ID (C/Net)
1 March Air & Space and Power Journal - Spring 2007 Issue (USAF)
1 March Cirrus, Jeppesen Partner In Pilot Transition Course (Aero-News Net)
1 March First Dedicated S-92 SAR Helicopter Unveiled (Aero-News Net)
2 March March Intercom, featuring Air Combat Command now online (USAF)
2 March Pipeline cuts a controversial path (Sky Blue Waters)
2 March Mysteries of Rain and Snow (Science@NASA)
2 March Civil Air Patrol revives for anti-terror war (World Peace Herald)
2 March Homeland Security Issues Specs And Guidelines For Controversial Real ID (Information Week)
2 March SECAF emphasizes Air Force goals with card (Air Force Link)
2 March News: Pacific Shows Signs of Morphing From Warm El Nino to Cool La Nina (NASA Earth Observatory)
2 March US DOT, FAA ban ‘upgrading’ to Windows Vista, Explorer 7, Office 2007 (MacDailyNews)
2 March After Being Fined In 2000, DFW Int'l Wins EPA Kudos (Aero-News Net)
2 March ALERTS System Unveiled At Heli-Expo 2007 (Aero-News Net)
2 March Go West, Big Plane: The A380 Will Land At LAX After All (Aero-News Net)
2 March The State Of Sikorsky: Pino Calls Company's Health 'Robust' (Aero-News Net)
3 March Air traffic controllers: Towers understaffed (The Desert Sun)
3 March US Air Force Battles Aging Planes (Aero-News Net)
3 March Glasair Says 'Two Weeks To Taxi' Has Yielded Surprising Responses (Aero-News Net)
4 March FEMA scrambles to reform before new hurricane season (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
4 March The Case of Denver's Cracked Jet Windshields - Solved! (Aero-News Net)
5 March Microsoft Sweepstakes Offers Chance to Win 10-Hour Marquis Jet Card (Helium Report)
5 March NASA Detects Trends In Rainfall Traits From Drizzles To Downpours (TerraDaily)
5 March Microsoft, DOD to build medical storage model (Washington Technology)

5 March

Katrina subcontracting plans incomplete, GAO finds (Federal Computer Week)

5 March The 'new age' of super materials (BBC News)
5 March Hurricane Can Form New Eyewall and Change Intensity (NASA Earth Observatory)
5 March Aviation Diagnostics' Intelligent Automation Introduces SuperHUMS (Aero-News Net)
5 March Hawking to Make Zero Gravity Flight Next Month (Aero-News Net)
5 March Robinson Helicopter's New R66 Heli To Be Rolls-Powered (Aero-News Net)
6 March Think your network is secure? Think again (Washington Technology)
6 March Slower Gulf Stream a mathematical error (Greenie Watch)
6 March NASA's Advanced Technology Peers Deep Inside Hurricanes (NASA Earth Observatory)
6 March DARPA Strategic Plan - PDF Doc, best downloaded and read locally (DARPA)
6 March FAA May Ditch Microsoft's Windows Vista And Office For Google And Linux Combo (Information Week)
6 March Cessna's Busy Building Citation X Bizjets (Aero-News Net)
6 March USAF Plan To Win Raptor Support: Wow 'Em At Air Shows (Aero-News Net)
6 March Return To Flight, Part Four (Aero-News Net)
6 March New Airport Proposed Near Amarillo, TX (Aero-News Net)
6 March Another Airport Lost: Festus Memorial Airport Shot Down By City Council (Aero-News Net)
6 March Crews Expand Search For Missing RV To New Mexico, El Paso Area (Aero-News Net)
7 March Newschannel 5 investigation uncovers hole in Homeland Security (KRGV - Westlaco, TX)

7 March

DOD intertwines data security, interoperability challenges (Federal Computer Week)

7 March

Mozilla Issues Fixes for Firefox, SeaMonkey Flaws (PC World)

7 March Homeland Security revives supersnoop (Washington Times)
7 March HP joins UC Santa Cruz and NASA in groundbreaking collaborative nanotechnology effort (Nanotechnology Now)
7 March ASF To Pilots: File A Pirep, Please (Aero-News Net)
7 March Waiting For Its JSFs, Australia Will Buy 24 Super Hornets (Aero-News Net)
7 March Four F-14s Seized In SoCal; Three Owned By Museums (Aero-News Net)
7 March FAA Updates Plan For Controller Staffing To Match Increased Traffic (Aero-News Net)
8 March Stuart S. Carter is New Head of Army MARS (eHam.net)
8 March FAA plans to add 15000 controller jobs (Associated Press)
8 March Finding a 'soldier in a haystack' (GNC)
8 March Always Ready - The Coast Guard has much in common with CAP (BIReview)
8 March FAA allows cataract surgery, special contact lenses for pilots (AOPA)
8 March Remembering a Generous Man – The ancient Egyptians believed that immortality resided in having your name remembered for all time. On 23 February 2007, aged 93, Heinz Berggruen died in his native Berlin, a city he managed to leave just a step ahead of the Nazis when he was 23 years old, moving to Berkely, Calif. After a highly successful career as an art dealer first and a collector for the rest of his life, an activity that spanned two continents, he returned to Berlin in 1996. There, he sold to the city the bulk of his art collection literally "for a song." He left many friends. A life well lived. (My thanks to Muldoon Elder for his candid and warm obituary of a great man)
8 March Microsoft tools ease Vista upgrade (InfoWorld)
8 March Deploying Microsoft Office 2007 (InfoWorld)
8 March Fort Sam commemorates first military flight (Air Force Link)
8 March Boeing CFO Acknowledges Airbus Woes Have Helped The Bottom Line (Aero-News Net)
8 March Epic To Unveil Two New Planes At Lakeland 2007 (Aero-News Net)
8 March V-22 Fatigue Test Aircraft Surpasses 20,000 Effective Flight Hours (Aero-News Net)
8 March Raptors To Oshkosh! F-22s Will Grace AirVenture Skies Once Again (Aero-News Net)
9 March In Pictures: Priciest Private Jets (Forbes)
9 March NASA backs quantum-computing claim (ComputerWorld)
9 March X Prize Foundation Holds High-Flying Gala For Charity (Aero-News Net)
9 March It Can Fly! Aero-Vodochody's First L-159T1 Takes To The Skies (Aero-News Net)
9 March Megasized Airport Getting Gigantic Control Tower (Aero-News Net)
9 March 767 Tanker Completes First Fuel Transfer (Aero-News Net)
10 March Real IDs, phony security (The Tennessean)
10 March Next-Generation Pilatus PC-12 Crosses Atlantic (Aero-News Net)
10 March Civil Air Patrol Takes Pride In New Wings (Aero-News Net)
10 March Federal Bill To Tighten Airport Security Introduced (Aero-News Net)
11 March Congress, states and DHS face off over Real ID (Federal Computer Week)
11 March Marines Engage In 'Serious Child's Play' To Ward Off Hypoxia (Aero-News Net)
11 March Vietnam War-Themed Poster Unveiled For Slidell Air Show (Aero-News Net)
11 March Embry-Riddle Offers Summer Academy Courses For Teens (Aero-News Net)
11 March FAA Opens Certification Office In China (AVWeb)

12 March

Army can now jam IEDs without disrupting communications (Federal Computer Week)

12 March Emergency workers at Ala. tornado failed to use new radio network (Florida Times-Union)
12 March DHS Creates National Computer Forensics Institute (InformationWeek)
12 March Air Force Forum Examines Alternate Energy Sources (Aero-News Net)
12 March F-16 Pilot Safe After Bailout Near Florida Keys (Aero-News Net)
13 March FAA updates hiring plan (FedNews Online)
13 March ATG To Exhibit Its Javelin In The Land Down Under (Aero-News Net)
13 March Monday Was A Good Day For Boeing (Aero-News Net)
13 March Winglets Coming For Citation X Bizjets (Aero-News Net)
13 March Pilot Ejects As Second F-16 Goes Down Monday (Aero-News Net)
13 March Navy Says Farewell To Its Last Sea King (Aero-News Net)

14 March

The battle for spectrum (Federal Computer Week)

14 March Positron Expands on Its Entry into Radiation Detection Devices for DHS (Genetic Engineering News)

14 March

AMD Active TV Puts Your PC's Content on TV Screen (PC World)

14 March The coming revolution in commercial avionics data networking (Military and Aerospace Electronics)
14 March Intel debuts 50-watt Quad Core server processors (Military and Aerospace Electronics)
14 March Three Air Force cadets facing court-martial (Air Force Link)
14 March Modelmaker Makes 'Valiant' Effort To Recreate Cold War Bomber (Aero-News Net)
14 March Airline Pilot Hiring Remained Strong In February (Aero-News Net)
14 March Boeing's Blended Wing Concept Ready To Take Flight (Aero-News Net)
15 March US counterterrorism and homeland security status (Spero News)
15 March NASA Recognized for Water Purification and Clean Up Technologies (PRNewswire)
15 March Air Force Implements Energy Initiatives Program (Air Force Link)
15 March Flap Problem, Turbulence Leads To Fractured Back (Aero-News Net)
15 March NTSB Releases Probable Cause Report In 2005 Glider Accident (Aero-News Net)
15 March Boeing Doubts USAF Will Seek New Bids For CSAR-X (Aero-News Net)
15 March FAA Forecast Conference 2007: General Aviation (Aero-News Net)
16 March NASA revises its media policy to protect its scientists and promote unbiased reporting (Space Ref)
16 March Pilot Lost In NM Musketeer Crash (Aero-News Net)
16 March FAA Bestows EACs To Raytheon UAVs (Aero-News Net)
16 March CVW-14 Commander Makes 1,000th Arrested Landing (Aero-News Net)
16 March Europe's Planned Galileo GPS-Rival Runs Into Snags (Aero-News Net)
16 March First F-117s Head For Retirement (Aero-News Net)
17 March FBI sees 'no plot' in school buses (Washington Times)
17 March New tracking system warns pilots of danger (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
17 March UAVs A Familiar Sight In Southern New Mexico Skies (Aero-News Net)
18 March Enhanced licenses cross-border plan to be tested (Seattle Times)
18 March Geoengineers offer far-out ideas on global warming (International Herald-Tribune)
18 March USAF Shows Its Muscle In Afghanistan, Iraq (Aero-News Net)
18 March Boeing Halts Production Of 747-400 Passenger Plane (Aero-News Net)
19 March Age of Affordable Private Jet Travel Launches With Jumpjet (WM Experts)

19 March

Auction Fraud Tops Net Crime (PC World)

19 March Ultralight Guided Whooping Cranes Returning to Wisconsin For Summer (Aero-News Net)
19 March Lockheed Martin Engineers Observe VSTOL OPs On USS Nassau (Aero-News Net)
19 March NMC's First Skyhawks Arrive In Traverse City (Aero-News Net)
20 March China plans to set up company to build jetliner (LA Times)
20 March As costs rise, Future Combat System deal in question (Washington Technology)
20 March 'Wiki' Goes Legit (PC World)
20 March Have a Messy Desk? Congrats, You're More Productive (PC Magazine)
20 March Blue Angels Kick Off 2007 Season In El Centro (Aero-News Net)
20 March 2007 National General Aviation Awards Recipients Named (Aero-News Net)
20 March Homebuilt Plane Fails To Merge Into Traffic On FL Highway (Aero-News Net)
21 March Cancelled hacking demo raises RFID red flag at DHS (Washington Technology)

21 March

Stolen Credit Card Data Used in Florida Crime Spree (PC World)

21 March States rebel against Real ID Act (eWeek)
21 March Homeland Security dismisses Real ID privacy concerns (C/Net News)
21 March Houston's Hobby Airport Celebrates 80 Years (Aero-News Net)
22 March Erroneous ILS Incident - Maj Malcolm Dickinson, NYWG Directory of Safety, submitted this 3-part video of an event in New Zealand that could easily have happened here (when part 1 is over, look to the right for links to parts 2 and 3). Always do a cross check.
22 March FAA Proposal Threatens Small Airports (WLBT-TV)
22 March ExxonMobil Donates $1 Million To Houston Life Flight Agency (Aero-News Net)
22 March Border Patrol Captures Child Assault Suspect, With A Little Help From UAV (Aero-News Net)
22 March NTSB Issues Safety Recommendation Affecting Cessna 150s (Aero-News Net)
22 March EU Approves Open Skies, With British Stipulations (Aero-News Net)
23 March Youthful South Florida pilot has a global mission (Sun-Sentinel)
23 March DHS Plans To Test Unmanned Drones Capability (All Headline News)
23 March FAA promotes runway navigation system (Business Week)
23 March DARPA's Biodynotics program is beginning to bear fruit. The Army says that the "Big Dog" robot is learning and making the grade, the Marines are teaching it some tricks, and "lethal frisbees" don't seem to be far behind. [Editor's Note -- It would seem that Ray Bradbury was right, after all.] (Various sources)
23 March FAA Picks Plan To Make Airspace More Efficient (WBZ-TV)
23 March First Export Eurofighter Typhoon Flies (Aero-News Net)
23 March Russia Gets A Little Closer To EADS (Aero-News Net)
23 March Thielert Receives FAA Approval For Centurion 2.0 Installation In Cessna 172s (Aero-News Net)
23 March He's Off! Florida Pilot Barrington Irving Begins Round-The-World Flight (Aero-News Net)
24 March Robert E. Petersen Dies at age 80 (StreetFire)
24 March TSA Screeners Busted For Theft At LAX (Aero-News Net)
25 March Top 5 Cool Vista Tricks (Redmond Magazine)
25 March Australia Updates Network Centric Warfare Roadmap (Defense News)
25 March Another Week, Another Airbus Walkout (Aero-News Net)
25 March Victory! NY Pilots Defeat Minimum Age Proposal (Aero-News Net)
25 March Chinese Military Officials Give Pace Firsthand Look At Su-27 (Aero-News Net)
26 March Pilot's historic journey stops on Long Island (Newsday - Long Island)
26 March Congress passes 9/11 bills (Federal Computer Week)
26 March FAA to streamline certification to curb incursions (ATWOnline)
26 March US Communications Network in Trouble (Washington Post)
26 March Gone West: Lt. Colonel Chase J. Nielsen (Aero-News Net)
26 March Czech Aircraft Works Says New, Larger Plant Is Up And Running (Aero-News Net)
26 March Subcommittee Looks To The Future of US Aviation (Aero-News Net)
26 March Elmendorf AFB Bids Farewell To Its C-130s (Aero-News Net)
26 March It's Official -- RAC Is Now Hawker Beechcraft (Aero-News Net)

27 March

States need $1B to implement Real ID, governors say (Federal Computer Week)

27 March FAA Wants Word Taken Right Out of Its Mouth (Aero-News Net)
27 March Mooney, AmSafe Bring Airbag Safety To Older M20s (Aero-News Net)
28 March Arthur Thought you might be interested in this listing on eBay Motors. This is a very historic aircraft and actually dropped a bomb on a U-Boat during WWII. I wish I'd hit the lottery as I would buy it and donate it to CAP. (Guess it would help if I actually bought a ticket.) Tip sent to me by 1st Lt Harold Parks – AW
28 March Panel to Scrutinize FAA Procedure on Pilot Fitness (Congreessional Quarterly)

28 March

Washington state to test drive border-friendly driver's license (Federal Computer Week)

28 March UAV pilots cleared for takeoff (Aviation Week)
28 March Louisiana Hospital Adds Fixed-Wing Air Ambulance Service (Aero-News Net)
28 March Jet Grounded Over US, Russian Ownership Dispute (Aero-News Net)
28 March Experimental Aircraft Runs on Fuel Cell, Batteries (Aero-News Net)
28 March AEA Convention Gets Underway Thursday In Reno, NV (Aero-News Net)
29 March 300 Tuskegee Airmen and Their Families in DC for Bestowing of Congressional Gold Medal (Black America Web)
29 March DHS seeks input for anti-missile drones project (Washington Technology)
29 March To Infinity And Beyond (Forbes)

29 March

DOD to set information-sharing strategy (Federal Computer Week)

29 March Can you believe this is inside an airplane? (Clipmarks)
29 March Falling debris was no space plane, says NASA (The Register - London)
29 March NASA Astronaut to Run Boston Marathon in Space (NASA)
29 March High-End Retailer To Exclusively Market Zero-G Weightless Flights (Aero-News Net)
29 March First Australian MRH-90 Helo Takes Flight (Aero-News Net)
29 March AEA 2007: EMS SATCOM Unveils CNX-300 Mobile Access Router (Aero-News Net)
29 March First Two 'Hawker Beechcraft Corporation' Aircraft Delivered (Aero-News Net)
30 March With five private jets, Travolta still lectures on global warming (Free Republic)

30 March

Successful cyberattacks against DOD drop (Federal Computer Week)

30 March Sharper Image Adds Weightless Flights to Its List of Unique Items (Space Mojo)
30 March More Warbirds Heading To AirVenture 2007 (Aero-News Net)
30 March Researchers Confirm Jet Lag Is Worse On Longer Flights (Aero-News Net)
30 March Brazil's Varig Sold To Former Rival GOL (Aero-News Net)
30 March Drunken Rage Results In $12,000 Fine For Passenger (Aero-News Net)
30 March Diamond Aircraft To Exhibit Its DA50 At German Air Show (Aero-News Net)
31 March Spanish Airline Iberia Reportedly Receives $4.54 Bln Takeover Bid (Trading Markets)
31 March NASA sets fires to restore prairie grass (Sandusky Register)
31 March Southwest Airlines Considers Priority Seating... And Food! (Aero-News Net)
31 March Tuskegee Airmen Receive Congressional Gold Medal For Their Service (Aero-News Net)
31 March AEA 2007: Over $100,000 In Scholarships Awarded (Aero-News Net)
31 March AOPA To Provide Revealing First Glimpse Of 2007 Sweepstakes Plane At Lakeland (Aero-News Net)
31 March They're Off And Running: Eclipse Delivers First Three Planes To DayJet (Aero-News Net)

Links or references to individuals or companies do not constitute an endorsement of any information, product or service you may receive from such sources

Found on the Internet (click on link to view the story)

1 March NASA Probe Spies Jupiter's Moons and Storms in Flyby (Space.com)
1 March Old Spanish trail in the path of Spaceport's FAA licence (Flight International)
1 March NASA New Launch Vehicle Slips to 2015 (Spaceports)
1 March Academy cadets prepare to have a blast ... off (Air Force Link)
1 March NASA Planetary Surface Habitat (Gadget Maniac)
1 March NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Monitors Jupiter in Support New Horizons (Space Ref)
1 March NASA's Cassini Returns Never Before Seen Views of the Ringed Planet (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
1 March Titan Features and Interactions (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
1 March Titan Virtual Tour (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
2 March NASA's robotic sub readies for dive into Earth's deepest sinkhole (Space Ref)
2 March Twin spacecraft track solar storms, NASA says (ABC News)
2 March Our view: Reaching the moon (Florida Today)
2 March NASA Says Orion Will Be Delayed Due To Lack Of Funds (Aero-News Net)
5 March The Quiet Side (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
3 March Spacecraft Snaps New Views of Saturn (NASA JPL)
3 March Space Adventures suborbital push in jeopardy? (Personal Spaceflight)
4 March ISS rotated 180 degrees successfully by non-propulsive maneuver (NASA Spaceflight)
4 March NASA Moves Shuttle Back To Hangar For Repairs (KWTX, Waco)
4 March NASA Plans To Roll Atlantis Back Sunday (Aero-News Net)
5 March Pan's Highway (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
5 March The Pioneer 10 and 11 anomalies and Dark Matter (Imagineers)
5 March NASA Can't Pay for Killer Asteroid Hunt (Forbes)
5 March Germany Plans Mission To Moon (Aero-News Net)
6 March Two Spacecraft, One Planet: ESA, NASA Tag-Team Jupiter (Aero-News Net)
6 March Engineering students set to fly NASA's 'Vomit Comet' (Penn State Live)
7 March NASA Ames to Host International Space University Summer Session (NASA)
7 March NASA Mission Finds Link Between Big and Small Stellar Blasts (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
7 March NASA: No Money Available To Hunt Killer Asteroids (Aero-News Net)
8 March NASA Picks Spot for Water Plant (Arcadia Weekly)
8 March NASA's Orion Spacecraft One Step Closer To Assembly (Aero-News Net)
9 March Alien Volcano (Science@NASA)
10 March NASA New Horizons Image: Jupiter's Rings (Space Ref)
10 March NASA Near-Earth Object Survey and Deflection Analysis of Alternatives Report to Congress (Space Ref)

10 March

10 March He's building NASA's taxi to the moon (Chicago Sun-Times)
10 March NASA Mission Finds Link Between Big and Small Stellar Blasts (News Blaze)
10 March NASA robot to repair and refuel satellites (Awesom-o)
10 March Work Continues To Return Atlantis To Launch Pad (Aero-News Net)
11 March NASA’s Mars life-detector (ZDNet.com)
12 March NASA asteroid-tracking work can't get it all done by 2020 (Telegram)
12 March Natural Hazards: Fire: Fires in the Southern United States (NASA Earth Observatory)
12 March NASA Studies True Colors of Evergreen Rainforests (NASA Earth Observatory)
12 March A Hot Start Might Explain Geysers on Enceladus (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
12 March Orbital Express Launched From Cape Canaveral (Aero-News Net)
13 March NASA seeks a near-Earth asteroid sample (EarthTimes)
13 March NASA Report on Asteroids Suggests Nuclear Option (NPR - USA)
13 March NASA catches stereo eclipse (Science@NASA)
13 March When the Sky Falls, Where Will NASA Be? (Scientific American)
13 March NASA Cassini Spacecraft Images Seas on Saturn's Moon Titan (Astrobiology News)
13 March Japanese ISS Module Arrives At NASA (Aero-News Net)
14 March Brief period of intense radioactivity could be the power behind the geysers on Enceladus (Earth Times)
14 March NASA needs $750M to maintain CEV schedule (Aviation Week)
14 March NASA Sponsored High School Students Win Robotics Competition (BBSNews)
14 March Shooting Marbles at 16000 mph (NASA@Science)

14 March

Human Space Exploration: The Next 50 Years (Aviation Week)

14 March NASA Space Station Module In Perfect ‘Harmony’ With New Name (NASA)
14 March Cassini Spots 'Great Lakes' On Titan (Aero-News Net)
15 March NASA holds space pennant competition (Science Daily)
15 March Global 'Sunscreen' has Likely Thinned, Report NASA Scientists (PRNewswire)
15 March Is Martian life on ice? (MSNBC)
16 March Mars' South Pole Ice Deep and Wide (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
17 March NASA Ames to host 2009 International Space University Summer Session (North Texas e-News)
17 March NASA: China May Reach Moon Before US (Daily Tech)
17 March The ISS Is Falling! But NASA Isn't Concerned (Aero-News Net)
17 March NASA's Griffin Says China May Reach Moon Before US (Aero-News Net)
18 March Seeing into a Cache of Martian Water (Astrobiology Magazine)
18 March NASA Mars Rover Churns Up Questions With Sulfur-Rich Soil (News Blaze)
18 March The Latest From SpaceX: Falcon 1 May Launch As Soon As Monday (Aero-News Net)
19 March What Lies Beneath (Astrobiology Magazine)
19 March Reboost Puts ISS In Higher Orbit, Crew Prepares for Expedition 15 (Aero-News Net)
19 March SpaceX Scrubs Launch Of Falcon 1 (Aero-News Net)
20 March NASA Finds Sun-Climate Connection in Old Nile Records (NASA JPL)
20 March Houston Tech Center Expands Partnership With NASA (Information Week)
20 March NASA planning methane-sniffing rocket plane for Mars mission (engadget)
20 March Glenn Research Center To Test Orion's Performance (Aero-News Net)
20 March Falcon I Launches, But Fails To Reach Desired Orbit (Aero-News Net)
21 March Virgin Galactic, NASA Team Up to Develop Space-Plane Travel (National Geographic News)
21 March SpaceX's Musk Says Falcon I Flew 'Far Beyond Edge Of Space' (Aero-News Net)
21 March NASA: Atlantis Launch Delayed Until Mid-May At Earliest (Aero-News Net)
22 March NASA Studies Limits Of Life In Extreme Deserts Of China (Space Daily)
22 March NASA to host teenage rocket scientists (Science Daily)
23 March Gravity Measurements Help Melt Ice Mysteries (NASA Earth Observatory)
23 March Crew Named For February 2008 Shuttle Mission (Aero-News Net)
24 March NASA Working on New Spacesuits (Military)
24 March The complete list of NASA Podcasts (AutoAggregator)
24 March Evolution vs. Creationism: Origins of Cellular Life (NASA study) (YouTube)

25 March

North Hollywood junkyard: one giant heap for mankind (LA Times)

25 March Falcon I flight - preliminary assessment positive for SpaceX (NASA SpaceFlight)
26 March Dust-busting, Lunar Style (Astrobiology Magazine)
26 March Too few good engineers (Fort Wayne News Sentinel)
26 March NASA technology helping fight crime (Lexington Dispatch)
26 March NASA interactive websites list (Tech Archive)
26 March Haughton Mars Project Research Station Photo Report - Aerial Views (Space Ref)
26 March Spacesuits For The Future (Aero-News Net)

27 March

Newfound Data Could Solve NASA's Great Gravity Mystery (Space.com)

27 March Spaceport America Tax Proposal Goes Before NM Voters Next Week (Aero-News Net)
28 March Cassini Images Bizarre Hexagon on Saturn (NASA JPL)
28 March NASA Tests Inflatable Lunar Shelters (Space.com)
28 March Boeing IDS Answers NASA's Call For Ares I Upper Stage RFP (Aero-News Net)
28 March SpaceX Founder Musk Says Systems Are Go For Next Falcon I Launch (Aero-News Net)
29 March NASA Telescope Finds Planets Thrive Around Stellar Twins (NASA Spitzer Space Telescope)
30 March Students answer NASA challenge (Bridgeton News)
30 March FAA reveals space tourism flight test permit details (Flight International)
30 March ISS Crew Takes A Short Field Trip Away From Station (Aero-News Net)
31 March What NASA sees ahead (Space Ref)
31 March

P-51 MustangView a North American P-51 Mustang Pilot Training Film. The P-51-D introduced a new "bubble top" canopy, offering a great field of vision, and an extra 85-gallon fuel tank. This was critical to the Mustang's success as a long-range bomber escort fighter since it could now fly from England to Berlin and back, something no other fighter could do at the time. This is the fighter that turned the tide over Europe and finally let the Air Corps take the War deep into Germany. The “pony” was the aircraft Chuck Yeager flew to victory, and was flown later in Korea. This film is courtesy of Zeno’s Warbirds Videos. (My thanks to Capt Bob Spiegel for the link.)

Links or references to individuals or companies do not constitute an endorsement of any information, product or service you may receive from such sources

Aerospace Milestones & Notable Dates This Month

Apr 16, 1867 Wilbur Wright is born in Millville, Indiana. Three years later the family moves to Dayton.
Apr 16, 1908 Wilbur Wright delivers a Flyer to Italy and instructs students. On Apr 24, Wright pilots the Flyer with a cinematographer as a passenger. It is the first flight in which a motion picture camera is used.
Apr 16, 1912 Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly across the English Channel. Unlike the widespread acclaim that met her male counterpart, Louis Blériot, who flew across the English Channel July 25, 1909, Quimby's record-setting flight is overshadowed by the sinking of the Titanic on Apr14.
Apr 14, 1918 Air Service Lts Alan Winslow and Douglas Campbell, flying Nieuport 28s of the 94th Aero Squadron, down two German fighters in a 10-minute battle. Lt Winslow is the first pilot in the American sector of the front to down an airplane; Lt Campbell is the first U.S.-trained pilot to score a victory.
Apr 27, 1920 Ormer Locklear is issued the first aerial law violation for "reckless aerial driving" over Los Angeles. He is fined $25. Locklear dies in August performing a stunt for the film The Skywayman.
Apr 6-Sep 28, 1924 The Army Air Service completes the first circumnavigation of the globe. Four crews in Douglas World Cruisers begin the voyage in Seattle, Wash., but only two aircraft (Chicago and New Orleans) and their crews complete the trip.
Apr 12, 1930 Led by Capt Hugh Elmendorf, 19 pilots of the 95th Pursuit Squadron set an unofficial world record for altitude formation flying over Mather Field, Calif. The P-12 pilots reach 30,000 feet, shattering the old record of 17,000 feet.
Apr 22, 1931 Pitcairn pilot Jim Ray lands an autogyro on the White House lawn and takes off again. The landing is part of a ceremony at which President Herbert Hoover presents the Collier Trophy to manufacturer Harold Pitcairn "for the greatest achievement in aviation, the value of which has been demonstrated by actual use in the preceding year." Pitcairn built 51 autogyros in 1931 and developed models for the U.S. Navy and private owners.
Apr 12, 1937 Frank Whittle bench-tests the first practical jet engine in laboratories at Cambridge University, England.
Apr 3, 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the National Defense Act of 1940, which authorizes a $300 million budget and 6,000 airplanes for the Army Air Corps and increases AAC personnel to 3,203 officers and 45,000 enlisted troops.
Apr 18, 1942 Sixteen North American B–25s, commanded by Lt Col James H. Doolittle, take off from the USS Hornet (CV-8) at sea and bomb Tokyo. It is the first time B–25s take off from an aircraft carrier.
Apr 18, 1943 P-38 pilots from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, intercept and shoot down two Mitsubishi "Betty" bombers over Bougainville. The aerial ambush kills Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the Pearl Harbor attack.
Apr 17, 1944 Howard Hughes and TWA President Jack Frye set a new cross-country speed record as they pilot a Lockheed Constellation from Burbank, California, to Washington, D.C. in six hours and 57 minutes.
Apr 23, 1945 Flying Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateers, Navy crews from VPB-109 launch two Bat missiles against Japanese ships in Balikpapan Harbor, Borneo. This is the first known use of automatic homing missiles during World War II.
Apr 21, 1948 Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal assigns the primary responsibility for air defense of the United States to the Air Force.
Apr 4, 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established.
Apr 21, 1951 Two MiG-15s are shot down over North Korea by a USAF B-29 gunner.
Apr 15, 1952 The Boeing YB-52 Stratofortress bomber prototype makes its maiden flight from its facility in Seattle, Wash.
Apr 1, 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law a bill creating the Air Force Academy.
Apr, 1955 SH-19s crew of 74th Squadron, ARS, makes first successful night rescue by helicopter when they rescue five survivors of a light plane crash 65 miles from Tanana in the Yukon, Canada.
Apr 15, 1956 Cessna Aircraft Company makes the first deliveries of the Cessna 172. The model, introduced in January 1956, becomes the most popular general aviation aircraft ever made, and the backbone of the Civil Air Patrol.
Apr 6, 1959 Seven men, including USAF Captains Virgil I. Grissom, Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., and Donald K. Slayton, are chosen to be the first Americans in space.
Apr 23, 1959 USAF conducts first flight test of North American GAM-77 Hound Dog air-launched missile.
Apr 12, 1961 Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes first man to orbit Earth.
Apr 17, 1961 CIA-backed Cuban exiles launch unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at Bay of Pigs.
Apr 21, 1961 USAF pilot Maj Robert White makes first X-15 flight at full throttle, reaches 3,074 mph at 79,000 ft., then climbs to 105,000 ft.
Apr 26, 1962 Lockheed A-12 makes first flight which leads to development of SR-71.
Apr 20, 1966 Cheyenne Mountain complex, near Colorado Springs, home of NORAD is opened.
Apr 17, 1969 Major Jerauld Gentry pilots X-24A lifting body research aircraft on its first free flight.
Apr 19, 1971 Soviet Union launches Salyut I, world's first space station.
Apr 20, 1972 Apollo 16 lands on the moon.
Apr 27, 1972 Air Force crews use Paveway I "smart bombs" to knock down Thanh Hoa bridge in North Vietnam, after 871 conventional bombing sorties failed.
Apr 10, 1973 T-43A navigation trainer (Boeing 737-200) makes first flight.
Apr 30, 1975 North Vietnamese forces overrun South Vietnam.
Apr 12, 1981 First launch of the space shuttle Columbia.
Apr 15, 1986 Operation Eldorado Canyon - USAF F-111Fs bomb Tripoli and Benghasi, Libya, in retaliation for Libyan missile attacks on U.S. aircraft and alleged terrorist attacks on U.S. servicemen.
Apr 26, 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, near Kiev, Ukraine.
Apr 15, 1988 Soviet Union agrees to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by 15 February 1989.
Apr 17, 1989 Lockheed delivers the 50th and last C-5B Galaxy transport to the Air Force.
Apr 30, 1990 The U.S. Air Force announces that Air Force Special Operations Command, the first new command since 1982, will be established by early summer. This component of the U.S. Special Operations will be composed primarily of 23rd Air Force assets (now deactivated).
Apr 23, 1991 Air Force Secretary Donald B. Rice announces that the Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics F-22 and the Pratt & Whitney F119 engine are the winners of the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition.
Apr, 1993 Operation Deny Flight begins. Prevents use of aircraft in Balkan War over Bosnia.
Apr, 1993 USAF Air National Guard units participate in joint U.S.-Russian search-and-rescue exercise over Tikai, Siberia. First joint USAF-Russian Air Force exercise since WWII.
Apr 9, 1993 Three F-16s and one F-4G fired upon by Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery. Two F-16s hit site with cluster bombs.
Apr 28, 1993 Defense Secretary Les Aspin removes the Defense Department's restrictions on women's participation in aerial combat.
Apr 10, 1994 Two USAF F-16s carry out NATO's first air attacks on ground positions in Bosnian conflict. They attack Serbian targets near besieged town of Gorazde.
Apr, 1994 Last of 150 Minuteman II missiles are removed from South Dakota.
Apr 19, 1995 The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City mobilizes hundreds of active-duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve personnel from the region and claims several victims with direct ties to nearby Tinker AFB.
Apr 19, 2006 A. Scott Crossfield dies when his plane crashed near Ludville, GA in bad weather.

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Aerospace Education Tid-bits and Links

Columbia is the first Space Shuttle that traveled to Earth orbit.
Because the detectors on GALEX are so sensitive, the telescope on GALEX must always be pointed away from the Earth and Sun. In fact, the detectors are so sensitive that GALEX cannot look at any of the stars that we can see with the naked eye from the ground.
Twelve men have walked on the Moon -- two each on six different Apollo missions.
A manned rocket reaches the Moon in less time than it took a horse-driven stagecoach to travel the length of England.
During a shuttle launch, MECO means Main Engine Cutoff.
Skylab was longer than a twelve-story building is high, and contained almost 12,000 cubic feet of living space.
The USSR's Soyuz is the first Soviet spacecraft to dock with an American spacecraft.
The Space Shuttle Columbia makes the 100th flight in the shuttle program.
Condiments available on the Space Shuttle include salt, pepper, taco sauce, hot pepper sauce, catsup, mayonnaise and mustard.
The Space Shuttle main engine weighs one seventh as much as a train engine, but delivers as much horsepower as 39 locomotives.
Saturn's density is only 0.13 that of Earth, because Earth is made of rocks and minerals, while Saturn is mostly gas.

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