More YouTube Videos!

Greetings my fellow bloggers/readers. I found some more YouTube channels dedicated to aviation documentaries. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Flygfanatiker

http://www.youtube.com/user/airshowfansh

The Dreamliner

On this day at approximately 10:30 am PST, Boeing's newest airliner, the Boeing 787 made its maiden flight from Paine Field in Everett, Washington. For more information on the new airliner check out the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787

http://www.newairplane.com/

The long awaited Dreamliner will spend a few hours in the air throughout the day before it lands in King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in Seattle, Washington. So check back for more details. You can also look at the live webcast for yourself by clicking on the following link:

http://787firstflight.newairplane.com/ffindex.html

Note: When you go back to this link, you'll see a replay of this day's event.

After spending a little more than 3 hours in the air, the Boeing 787 landed at Seattle Boeing Field at approximately 1:35 pm PST. It taxied off the runway under its own power and stopped short of parking in order for Boeing technicians to examin the aircraft. It was then towed to a hanger where a post-flight press conference was held between the media and the various staff of Boeing that were involved in the 787 project.

The first post-flight press conference began at approximately 2:15 pm PST.

A Thanksgiving To Remember

So for those of you that didn't know, I have relatives who are pilots or have a history in the aviation field. I have two uncles who are pilots and I've had opportunities to go flying with them. Here's a story of one of my adventures that happened three days after last Thanksgiving:


I always had the opportunity to go flying with my uncle in his Cessna 172 Skyhawk II. During Thanksgiving Break in my senior year of high school, I experienced what I thought was the most common thing in the most uncommon way that people usually experienced. It was a beautiful Saturday evening in Salem on November 29, 2008. It’s been two days since the day of Thanksgiving, and with such perfect conditions, my uncle invited me out to go flying with him. My excitement built up as I accepted the invitation. After helping my uncle with the pre-flight, we taxied over to the active runway in Salem Municipal Airport and with clearance from the tower, we took off.

After we were airborne, we turned the Cessna in a Southward direction and my uncle gave me control of plane like he always had in the past. We were about four miles south of the airport when a problem occurred. The two of us felt a drop in power in the plane’s single engine and we both acknowledged the fact we were in trouble. We realized that the engine was losing power and wasn’t gaining any back so my uncle took control of the Cessna, turned it 180 degrees to the right back towards the airport, and called the control tower to declare and emergency, announcing our engine problem. The tower gave us clearance for an emergency landing. From there, my uncle took the plane into a rapid decent and lined up with the same runway we took off from minutes earlier. During these moments, I felt a rush of adrenaline and a sense of fear and anxiety go through my mind. I can’t remember what my exact thoughts were, but I remember saying a quick and heartfelt prayer to myself.

We were able to land the plane safely and taxi back to the tarmac. The tower sent the airport emergency response crews out to make sure we were alright and were prepared for the worst case scenario. After the emergency crews left and we were in the clear, I felt as if I were a totally different person. As we walked away, I had a greater appreciation for life. I was also very thankful. I knew Heavenly Father made sure that we would land safely. I now know that this Thanksgiving experience was a test of my own faith. It was also a test of faith in my uncle and his experience as a pilot. This was one Thanksgiving I won’t forget.

This thrilling, yet frightening experience gave me a whole new outlook on life. I found a greater appreciation for life and I was very thankful to live and tell the tale. I was also thankful for the training and fast response of the airport crews that always look out for us. I’ve also established a greater appreciation for these kinds of people doing their jobs. It makes me want to pursue a career in the aviation field a lot more.


So if you could interpret my story clearly, this experience gave me a Thanksgiving to remember. Thanks for reading. Questions? Comments? I'll answer in the comments section.

'The B-17 War Story: A Gallant Enemy'

I came across this heart-touching World War II story about a year ago. A similar version of this story is also depicted at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon next the B-17 displayed there with another artist's rendering of the B-17 being escorted by the German Bf-109 fighter. The following depicts the story of B-17 pilot Charles Brown and the chivalrous act of Nazi German Bf-109 pilot Franz Steigler:

'Charles Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England. His B-17 was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.

After flying over an enemy airfield, a German pilot named Franz Steigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got in range of the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he 'had never seen a plane in such a bad state'. The tail and rear section of the aircraft was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.

Despite having ammunition, Steigler flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charles Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.

Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Steigler waved at Brown to turn 180 degrees. Franz Steigler escorted and guided the stricken plane to and slightly over the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Brown and turned away, back to Europe.

When Steigler landed, he told the C/O that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charles Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.

More than 40 years later, Charles Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz Steigler was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.

They met in the United States, at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now - all because Franz never fired his guns that day.'

To me personally, this story really touched my heart. What I love about this story is that two pilots fighting on opposite sides became the best of friends in the end. One interesting thing to note is that if Steigler's commanders had found out about his chivalrous act, he would've most likely faced a death penalty by the German firing squads. He risked even his own life to save some lives, even though those lives were fighting on opposite sides. But this goes to show that Steigler was a different. Even though he was fighting for a country that was depicted as a face of evil at the time, Steigler had his own moral values. The action he displayed in front of Brown and his crew made a lasting impression and therefore, made him a good person.

'Not My Turn to Die'

I came accross this interesting story written by Jim Laurier. It depicts the chivalry of a Nazi German pilot towards a P-47 pilot:

'On June 26, 1943, Robert S. Johnson was one in a flight of sixteen P-47 Thunderbolts assigned to escort B-24 bombers to their target. Bob was the first to sight approximately sixteen Focke-Wulf 190's approaching his group from 5 o'clock high but was not able to get any response from his group when he tried to warn them over the radio. On a previous mission he had been the first to sight enemy fighters and broke formation to attack them, successfully breaking up the attack and claiming his first victory. However, he was severely chastised for this by the Wing Cmdr. and was told never to break formation again, no matter what. On this occasion he held his position and on the first pass of the enemy fighters six Thunderbolts were shot down, including Bob's ship "Half Pint".

His aircraft fell out of control for several thousand feet and was on fire. The fire extinguished itself and Bob regained control of the aircraft. He had not worn his goggles that day (the only time he did this) and his eyes were soaked in hydraulic fluid making it difficult to see. He had two bullet fragments in his right leg. Another bullet had nicked his nose and shattered part of the wind screen. Bob tried to bail out but discovered that metal behind the cockpit had been splintered in such a way as to prevent the canopy from sliding back more than six inches. With a parachute on there was obviously not enough space to slip through to safety. The only option left was to try to fly the Thunderbolt home, or at least to friendly territory, if the aircraft could make it. Somewhere over France another Focke-Wulf 190 spotted Bob flying alone and made a firing pass at him. The Fw-190 had only 7.9mm ammo on board and although every round of it was fired into Bob's plane, the German was not able to finish the job. The German pilot then realized Johnson's rather defenseless position and decided to pull in close to inspect his would-be quarry. The German pulled his left wing in behind Bob's right wing so that the wingtips of each plane were but a few feet from touching each other's fuselage. From his close vantage point, the German calmly inspected Bob's plane from nose to tail and shook his head, not understanding how the P-47 could still fly so perfectly. Bob kept looking over at the German pilot. He was a good looking man with blue eyes. He was not a rookie. He projected confidence and had somewhat of an aristocratic air about him. Occasionally their gazes met. Bob could clearly see the German pilot and noticed he was wearing a light blue leather or suede flying jacket with a white scarf wrapped around his neck and tucked into the jacket. He had on a dark brown summer style flying helmet and his black shatter-proof goggles were pushed up above his forehead. In this manner the two men flew alongside each other for almost 30 minutes. When reaching the English Channel near Dieppe, France, The German pilot looked over at Bob one last time. He raised a black-gloved hand and saluted Bob, then peeled of to the right to head for his own base, presumably Abbeville, the home of JG26.

Bob flew on toward the English coastline, constantly in radio contact with a coastal air controller. He was low over the water now and thought he might have to ditch into the channel. Surprisingly, he was able to gain enough altitude to clear the cliffs and was vectored to the nearest airfield by the controller.

Bob declined, opting to fly to his own airfield. He landed safely, but his Thunderbolt had to be scrapped. It had over 210 holes in it, with at least twenty being deadly 20mm cannon rounds which had initially brought him down.

He walked into HQ for debriefing and a shot of bourbon just in time to hear a live radio interview on a German radio station that some officers had tuned in. It was the German pilot who had just flown with him! Although they did not get his name, Bob was sure from the interview that it was the same pilot from his description of events. The German mentioned Bob's identification letters on the side of the Thunderbolt. He thought that Bob must have crashed into the Channel due to his low altitude and the amount of damage to his aircraft. It is believed that the German pilot was Georg Peter Eder of JG2 who was ferrying a JG26 aircraft that day.'

Aviation Videos on YouTube

To my fellow readers:

Just thinking that you may be interested, I have here several links to various YouTube channels where the users have uploaded episodes and documentaries of aviation disasters and aviation engineering marvels. I've seen a lot of interesting things and some of the disasters I've mentioned in some of my previous posts are featured in some of the videos. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/user/AirCrashInvestigate

http://www.youtube.com/user/arenaskies

http://www.youtube.com/user/AirCrashMayday

http://www.youtube.com/user/VibraciaX

Introduction!

Greetings fellow bloggers! You may address me as Michael with a "k". Welcome to my aviation blog here on blogspot! Here, you'll read stories about aviation, my personal reviews on aviation films, as well as aviation accidents and disasters as well as other major accomplishments in aviation. You'll also see me post links to photo galleries of aviation museums and events that I've attended (please note they will come eventually, pending on IF I'm even present at a museum or event). In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy my personal works and notes! Thanks!

And stay tuned for another blog (coming soon) by me about general, everyday stuff.