British Airways First A380 Delivery Tomorrow July 4th

Tomorrow sees British Airways join Lufthansa and Air France as the biggest European Airlines to add the Airbus A380 to its fleet. The delivery will take place into London Heathrow tomorrow 4th July and comes shortly after the first delivery of the Boeing 787. BA have an order for 34 787-9's and the A380 is the first of 12 in total to join the BA family.

The A380 will take on shorter haul flights as part of its integration into the fleet before but to work on the long haul services to the likes of LA and Hong Kong later this year. Boeing 747-400's are likely to be replaced by the A380 and future orders for either the new A350 or Boeing 777x.

I look forward to seeing this beast gracing the skies in BA colours.

credit: MSN UK

Live ATC From Your Smartphone or PC

Hi everyone

This week BBC 2 (UK) have been giving us a live insight into the workings of Heathrow airport including the ATC tower controlling all the aircraft movements.

Air Traffic Control plays a massive part in the safe travel of aircraft and many of us who enjoy our planes own an aircraft scanner/radio so we can listen to the traffic at the airport local to us or above our heads on the jet highways. I personally have one and use it as often as I can, living within a few miles of Norwich International Airport NWI/EGSH (UK) , however the airport is not very busy. Sunny weekends a lot of GA aircraft are buzzing the local skies so this provides some good listening, commercial jets are not so plentiful though.

When Norwich lets me down I can turn to the control centres in higher airspace and listen to commercial jets making its way above me. However as busy as control areas are I do really enjoy listening to airport ATC. To keep my ears happy I normally pick up my smartphone or head on over to the Live ATC website.

At Live ATC the internet provides live feeds from around the worlds airports. So if you want to listen into JFK ground like I do, from your PC or smartphone then you can thanks to Live ATC and its many contributors.

According to their site Live ATC users volunteer to have an airband radio based on their property and the signal is sent to their home PC and onto internet servers so it can be made available to listeners around the world.

Live ATC Coverage



Airports are normally organised by continent. American airports have their own list as it has a huge amount of fed to choose from. You can search for feeds too using either airport names or ICAO codes and hope to find what you are looking for. Obviously not all airports are covered, the USA has a good coverage and mainland Europe, with more airports coming online all the time. Feeds can be heard using, iTunes, Windows Media Payer, Flash Player or a Java Player. People interested in contributing to the site can do so from here unless you are based in the UK. The UK is not covered and this is why;

Why don't you have any feeds from the UK?

It is illegal to provide air traffic control feeds from within the UK due to an outdated law that originated back in 1942. The antiquated law states that although it is not illegal to sell, buy or own a scanning receiver in the UK, it must only be used to listen to transmissions meant to be broadcast to the general public.

OfCom (the U.K. regulatory authority for communications) has stated on numerous occasions: "It is an offence to listen to any other radio services unless you are authorised by a designated person to do so."

This means that it is illegal to listen to anything other than general reception transmissions unless you are either a licensed user of the frequencies in question or have been specifically authorized to do so by an authorized person. This is clearly a law that needs to be updated in light of the many educational uses for listening to aircraft communications. Furthermore, the original reasons for this law have long since become irrelevant.

Let's hope this law gets modified - there has been at least one online petition aimed at attempting to get some attention but it does not seem to have had much of an effect on Ofcom. If you are a UK citizen, please contact your MP and see if they can help make an exception to this law.

Now to address the UK issue there a petition needs to be set up and 100,000 signatures obtained to make within a year to get a chance of having the issue addressed in the house of commons. I wish to get a petition started soon and with your help get the signatures we require to get the ball rolling. I will keep you posted on this.

Back to the fun, I normally choose to listen when pottering around the house through my computer or through my smartphone with headphones. When turning in for the night I choose to listen to New York JFK ground mostly to send me off to sleep as background noise, using the smartphone app. Me heading to bed at between 10pm and 11pm is just as JFK is getting busy with the evening rush giving me plenty of quality listening.

I have also used it to listen to planes that I have family on, hearing them take off and land wherever they may be. Live ATC can also become more entertaining and given a whole new appeal when used alongside flight tracking sites like PlaneFinder and FlightAware. These are sites I will cover in future posts. The LiveATC site also holds archived recordings of most airports which you are free to listen too.

Live ATC is a fantastic, highly interesting listen, I have heard pilots misunderstanding directions, raising controller stress levels, pilots trying to get their own way to no avail and a whole load of interesting conversations and scenarios.

When the PC is not at hand and you need Live ATC on the move they have both Apple and Android apps. So as long as you have a steady internet connection, Live ATC is waiting for you. My review has been done using the Apple app although I have also used the android app and they both work similarly great.

On opening the app you are presented with a home screen showing the version number, a button to refresh the feed database, checking for new feeds or feeds that are down and a small 'i' which opens up app preferences. Below this is the app navigation allowing you to search feeds. The 'More' tab brings up options to view the top 50 feeds and some military feeds.

The interface is extremely easy to use with airport feeds organised by countries or state when USA is concerned. Each feed allows you to see the current weather conditions (METAR), airport diagrams and frequencies. Feeds you frequent can also be added to a favourites list for easier future access.

A nice little feature is the sleep timer, this allows you to set the app to run uninterrupted for the time you chose before switching off. This is handy for situations like my own when listening in bed and I fall asleep, the app will shut down after the 60 minute time ends.

In all LiveATC is a fantastic internet resource for all aviation enthusiasts and growing all the time. Hopefully this will tempt you to check it out and maybe provide your own local airport to us listeners.

Thanks for reading folks.

What is the Airbus A350?

credit: airbus.com

Yesterday the Airbus A350 completed its first flight from Airbus HQ Toulouse. So my personal celebration of this momentous occasion in aviation history is to explain what the A350 is.

WHY?

In 2004 Airbus began the long journey of designing their greenest, most cost effective aircraft. With the aftermath of September 11 2001 and rising fuel costs, Boeing and Airbus had to rethink their future prospects and what aircraft they would be offering their customers. Boeing's Dreamliner was announced in 2003 and is Boeing's attempt at greener air travel.

A year on, Airbus starts work on its own greener aircraft. Original designs were a rebirth of their current A330 model, basically lighter and more fuel efficient. Airbus were reluctant to start from scratch as the A380 was taking up a lot of the companies resources, it included its own problems leading to launch and delivery. Airbus could not afford to start a brand new aircraft, however the Boeing Dreamliner was gaining a lot of attention and early orders due to its greener appeal. A couple of years into the A330 overhaul, Airbus met a lot of criticism and decided to start with a clean sheet.

HOW?

Almost 7 years on the latest addition to the Airbus family sat proudly on the runway at Toulouse yesterday waiting to release brakes, apply takeoff power and prove what it could do. An aircraft with a carbon composite fuselage coupled with advanced alloy and titanium materials boasts a saving of 25% on fuel including a reduction in noise and emissions to a level below current limitations. 

To aid with in the mission of becoming greener, Airbus looked to the highly successful Rolls-Royce to design and build engines for the A350. Rolls-Royce designed the incredibly large Trent XWB engine. Two Trent XWB engines will power the A350, each engine capable of producing up to 97,000lbs of thrust. Early testing has showed that the engine works better than expecected when ramped up to 100,000lbs. The Trent XWB is the sole engine for the A350 and is setting records as the fastest selling engine of its type ever. A lot of new technology has been included in this vast engine, able to suck the air out of a squash court in 1 second and fit the fuselage of a Concorde inside its fan casing.

The Airbus A350 will come in three variants '800, 900, and 1000', holding between 250-440 passengers. So far to date 613 aircraft have been ordered since 2006, Dreamliner has orders for 890 since 2004.

Below is a basic break up of various specifications between the 3 Airbus variants and 2 Boeing variants.

From here we can see that the A350-800 and Boeing 787-9 are similar aircraft with the major, if only difference really being the thrust available. The A350-1000 and 787-8 bring interesting differences however. The A350-1000 has almost 52% more thrust available but requires almost 25% more fuel to travel a similar distance. The 787-8 also has a max capacity for 381 passengers to the -1000 variants 350. To be honest there are subtle differences between the Airbus and Boeing. I will leave the airlines to decide which is best for their purposes, like so many have already. By mid 2014 the -900 variant is due to be delivered with -800 in mid 2016 and -1000 mid 2017.

WHEN?

11 Billion Euros is the estimated cost for the development of the Airbus A350 and I think Airbus have delivered a fantastic aircraft, like the A380 before it I think this is going to be a popular sight at airport gates and skies above. Although like Airbus, Boeing have also produced a fine aircraft and both are set to impact the future and begin the long road towards more cost effective and greener flight.

I leave you with the flight poster for yesterdays maiden voyage and the video from Airbus' YouTube Channel.

credit: airbus.com

Thanks again for reading and please leave me comments and feedback, I want to make this a successful informative blog. Follow me on twitter @Altitudefree

Cheaper Flights Alert and BBC Show

Hi again everyone!

Today I want to start by sharing with you the news that Monarch have cut prices on flights departing from Birmingham and East Midlands airports bound for the sunny destinations of southern Europe. Head on over to their site for seats under £40, offer ends at the end of June so hurry folks!



In aviation news, Airbus will be letting the new A350 into the skies for the aircraft's first scheduled flight tomorrow 14 June at 10 a.m from Airbus HQ, Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. With a crew of 6 on-board including Peter Chandler the chief test pilot, they hope to take the A350 up to an altitude of 25,000ft and unleash the Rolls-Royce engines to reach the higher end of the aircraft's available speed. Further information can be found here.

image credit: Airbus & aviationweek.com

Also some exciting news for aviation lovers, the BBC are starting a 4 part live show from inside Heathrow Control Tower on Monday 17 June at 8 p.m on BBC 2. The programme has its own site with further information. Make sure this set to record! The BBC site describes the show as;

In one of BBC Two's most ambitious live broadcasts, Dan Snow, Dallas Campbell and Anita Rani go airside at Heathrow, the world's busiest international hub airport. More than 200,000 passengers travel through Heathrow each day. Everything and everyone is on a deadline. Unprecedented behind-the-scenes access allows viewers to witness this daily relay race first-hand. The programme shows air traffic control in action and explains the extraordinary science and logistics behind every flight.

Dan is based at the heart of the airport, the air traffic control tower, giving an eagle's eye view of the complex choreography of landings, departures and ground movements. He finds out how Heathrow went from a row of tents to an international powerhouse welcoming 70 million passengers a year. Anita discovers how weather affects the airport each day, not just when it snows. And Dallas looks at first class on the A380, the world's largest passenger jet.

I am very excited to see this next week.



Thanks again for reading today's short post.

Mark

Hi and Welcome

Hi aviation fans and welcome to my new blog. 

I have a huge passion for aviation of all kinds and the idea of flying gives me a huge sense of freedom, even when crammed inside a huge commercial jet hurtling across the globe at 500mph. 

Airports are buzzing with people with their own agendas, 'business or pleasure?', travelling for work to make the huge company financial decisions, make the biggest deal with the company half a world away or meet a colleague for a simple meeting. Young travellers exploring the big beautiful world to soak up cultures and make new friends, family travellers making their way to family gatherings, catching up with family not seen for a while. Mostly people see the commercial jet as the bus to the next fun holiday. The Airport snapshot starts the freedom sense I associate with flying, so many different stories all in one place chasing a similar thing to make their stories possible, the plane!

So please follow me as I share my aviation experiences, passions for aviation and hopefully that sense of freedom. Whether you love to fly, hate flying or have a general interest I hope to be able to share some great content that will appeal to you. This can include latest deals from various airlines, airline news, airshow dates, how aviation works or the latest app to hit the market.

I look forward to sharing with you guys and hearing your feedback along the way.

You can follow me on twitter @Altitudefree for updates on the aviation world and this blog.