News 2006


A news item in AVwebFlash has resulted in a major boost to a fundraising campaign that may put what was once the world's only flying B-29 back in the air. Texas inventor and industrialist Joe Jamieson has pledged $2 million toward a $3 million project to install more reliable engines in Fifi, owned and operate d by the Commemorative Air Force . The plane has suffered engine problems since she rolled off the Boeing assembly line. The aircraft has Wright R-3350-57AM engines and last June, after discovering metal shavings in the oil, the CAF decided, for safety reasons, to ground the big bomber until more reliable engines could be installed. Jamieson, a former military and transport pilot, develops safety-related equipment for the transportation industry, so the donation is a good fit for him.

«New engines for the B-29 make its operation safer, so it is therefore reasonable for Mr. Jamieson to pledge some money to help make it happen,» said Raeleen Behr, public relations specialist for Jamieson's company, American Automation Technologies Inc. The CAF already has the engines but getting them ready for installation is a major project. Technicians will combine R-3350-95W and R-3350-26WD engines, resulting in custom-built engines for the aircraft. While Jamieson's pledge has provided a major kick-start to the campaign, CAF spokesman Rusty McInturff noted that $1 million is still needed. "We still have a long way to go, and every donation is important, regardless of the amount," he said.
   
Oct 06/wMe  

CAF Florida Wing and the Grumman Avenger TBF
Col Jacobs persuaded the CAF Headquarters General Staff to assign this TBM Avenger to our unit for restoration.
While the project was advertised to be a complete airplane, we have noticed that a number of parts are missing.
Our first task is that of identifying what we have, cataloguing and storing them for the time they will be installed on
the plane. It is reassuring to find that there are a number of sources which have a ready supply of just about any
parts that we may need but we will have to purchase them.

Good luck Florida Wing, I will watch you and will report the progress.
Col Werner Meier

TBF-1 on the USS Yorktown (Preparing for take-off)

Short History
First flight on1 August 1941, TBF-1 Avenger torpedo-bomber enter US Navy 1942. High demand for airplane,
a second company was contracted to built the Avenger. On September 1942 General Motors (Eastern Aircraft Division)
delivered the first Aircraft as TBM-1.

Florida 's TBM-3 – Version has strengthened Wings to allow rockets to be carried.

More Info: Go to Foto Gallery / Aircraft

(June 23, 06/wMe)


Computer against Chainsaw...

On April 10, at Langley Air Force Base, an F-22 pilot, Capt. Brad Spears, was locked inside the cockpit of his aircraft for five hours.
No one in the U.S. Air Force or from Lockheed Martin could figure out how to open the aircraft's canopy. At about 1:15 pm,
chainsaw-wielding firefighters from the 1st Fighter Wing finally extracted Spears after they cut through the F-22's three-quarter inch-thick
polycarbonate canopy.
The incident at Langley has many Pentagon watchers shaking their heads. Tom Christie, the former director of testing and evaluation
for the DOD, calls the F-22 incident at Langley «incredible.» God knows what'll happen next, said Christie, who points out that
the F-22 has about two million lines of code in its software system. «This thing is so software intensive. You can't check out every line of code».

Now, just for the sake of comparison, Windows XP, one of the most common computer operating systems, contains about 45 million lines of code.
But if any of that code fails, then the computer that's running it simply stops working. It won't cause that computer to fall out of the sky.
If any of the F-22's two million lines of computer code go bad, then the pilot can die, or, perhaps, just get trapped in the cockpit
Source: Robert Bryce
(June 10, 06 /wMe)


Me 262 back in Germany

A new Me 262 from the factory in Everett , Washington is back in Germany . After a ride on a CargoLux 747 freighter
to Luxembourg and on the road to Manching ( Germany ), she will be reassembled and flight tested. >>more
(March 06/wMe)


This Airplane is now in Germany / Wings ready to install... (June 2002)

T-6 Squadron from South Africa without floating body! - or wheel landing on water?
(March 06/wMe)

Express 2000 ER ( extended - range model)

Good progress with the aircraft from Hans Geog Schmid. Engine installation by «MSW Aviation», Wohlen/Switzerland.
Engine: Thielert Centurion 4.0, four-cycle dieselengine with 310 HP, 2300 RPM (Take-off), Fuel JET A-1
(January 2006/wMe)



The test flights of the Focke Wulf FW-190 continue successful. The series of 16 new aircraft are already sold. >> more
(January 2006/wMe)


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