global aviation magazine issue 13 - november 2012

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This is the preview for Issue 13 of GAM featuring the first two pages of articles on The Buccaneer Aviation Group, Air Zermatt, Reno Air Races, Vulcan XH558, The Red Rockette, A330 at 20 & Russia Revisited. The full magazine can be purchased from http://pocketmags.com/viewissue.aspx?titleid=1077&title=Global%20Aviation%20Magazine&issueid=48197

TRANSCRIPT

  • CONTENTS

    Air Zermatt

    Punch it, Chewy!

    Reno 2012

    Bill Charney & The Red Rockette

    Gareth Stringer visits The Buccaneer Aviation Group (TBAG) at Bruntingthorpe and gets to experience a high-speed taxi in one of the groups Blackburn Buccaneer aircraft.

    Swiss mountain communities are reliant upon helicopter operations for a whole host of reasons. Huw Hopkins visits Air Zermatt to learn about the wide range of services it provides.

    Rob Edgcumbe heads to Nevada for the 2012 National Championship Air Races & Air Show - the first to be held since 10 spectators were killed, along with the pilot of the stricken aircraft, at the 2011 event.

    Beech Staggerwing N16S was in the UK in September during her amble back to Reno. Karl Drage caught up with the man and machine while they were here.

  • CONTENTS Issue 13November 2012

    20 Years of the Airbus A330

    RussiaRevisited

    Frank Grealish visits a number of bases in the lead up to the Russian Air Forces 100th anniversary celebrations.

    Main cover image - Frank Grealish / www.irishairpics.com

    2012 has been a year full of anniversaries for Airbus products, and Paul Dunn celebrates the A330s 20th here.

    Gareth Stringer speaks to Vulcan Captain Bill Ramsey about the aircrafts 2012 season. Includes spectacular air-to-air imagery.

  • Flt Lt Ollie Suckling taxies XW544 back after giving the author a taste of a fast-taxi run (Karl Drage)

    Words: Gareth Stringer Images: As credited

    Its been out of RAF service for almost 20 years but, as Gareth Stringer found out, opportunities to see and feel the power of the Blackburn Buccaneer in the UK are still very much available.

  • Flt Lt Ollie Suckling taxies XW544 back after giving the author a taste of a fast-taxi run (Karl Drage)

    Affectionately known as the Banana Jet as a result of its distinctive curved profile (though another school of thought is that that name was a derivative of 'Blackburn Advanced Naval Aircraft' thus the BANAna), the Buccaneer first flew in April 1958 and entered Fleet Air Arm (FAA) service four years later. The aircraft had arisenarisen from a Ministry of Supply specification (M.148T) that called for a carrier-borne low-level strike aircraft to counter the new fleet of Russian Sverdlov class cruisers which were launched in the early 1950s.

    The Royal Air Force would eventually procure the Buccaneer itself following the cancellation of first the TSR-2 and then the F-111K, its aircraft remaining in service until 1994, long outlasting the FAA which retired its aircraft in 1978 following HMS Ark Royals decommissioning. The aircrafts RAF swansong was a hugely successful deploymentdeployment for Gulf War 1 in 1991, a spell in combat which saw the Bucc more than holding its own alongside, and in many ways assisting, newer types such as the Tornado GR1.

  • Whether there would even be any air racing at Reno this year was something that was not clear for a long time. The tragic crash of the Galloping Ghost, piloted by Jimmy Leeward, which caused the deaths of 10 spectatorsspectators as well as Jimmy himself, caused a great deal of soul-searching about air racing and air shows as a whole. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is responsible for accident investigations and it undertookundertook hearings on the way in which aerial events are undertaken. The fact that air racing and air shows are quite different in nature did not seem to be important in this review and given the number of performersperformers who have been lost at airshows recently, maybe this was not totally unreasonable.

    Competitors have lost their lives at Reno over the years but

    never before was a spectator lost. The willingness to accept the loss of participants may be waning compared to years gone by but spectators will always be treated with greater protection so, even though the circumstancescircumstances of the accident last year were most unusual and hard to predict let alone protect against, this year there was a more conspicuous focus on mitigating the risks even further. The most obvious changechange (although perhaps not obvious to the spectators) was a slight realignment of the course. The last turns before the finish straight were opened out a bit since these turns are when the competitors are headingheading towards the crowd. The first turns after the finish pylon were tightened up a little to compensate since at this point the aircraft are heading away from the spectators.

    Reno-Stead - 12th to 16th SeptemberWords: Rob Edgcumbe Images: As credited

    Reno Air Racing Association

    The National Air Races have been held at Reno since 1964. This year was the first after the crash that killed 10 spectators and one participant so how the event would change this year and whether the racing would be significantly affected was a question on the mind of many. Rob Edgcumbe travelled to Reno for GAR to see.

  • never before was a spectator lost. The willingness to accept the loss of participants may be waning compared to years gone by but spectators will always be treated with greater protection so, even though the circumstancescircumstances of the accident last year were most unusual and hard to predict let alone protect against, this year there was a more conspicuous focus on mitigating the risks even further. The most obvious changechange (although perhaps not obvious to the spectators) was a slight realignment of the course. The last turns before the finish straight were opened out a bit since these turns are when the competitors are headingheading towards the crowd. The first turns after the finish pylon were tightened up a little to compensate since at this point the aircraft are heading away from the spectators.

    Vintage jets from the Eastern Bloc make up a good proportion of the jet field (Rob Edgcumbe)

    The National Air Races have been held at Reno since 1964. This year was the first after the crash that killed 10 spectators and one participant so how the event would change this year and whether the racing would be significantly affected was a question on the mind of many. Rob Edgcumbe travelled to Reno for GAR to see.

  • Words: Gareth Stringer Images: As credited

    Gareth Stringer talks exclusively to Vulcan display pilot Bill Ramsey, as XH558 recovers from early season difficulties to complete 2012 in style with a Jubilee Tour of the UK.

    Includes stunning air-to-air imagery from Frank Grealish / www.irishairpics.com

    '558 bounces back tocomplete 2012 season

    The Iron Lady:

  • Words: Karl Drage Images: As credited

    Bill Charney and 'The Red Rockette'

    Bill Charney is a man with a life-long love for one particular aircraft type: the Beech Staggerwing. Some 50 years after first setting eyes on this pretty little biplane, he was finally in the position to purchase his own.

    This is the story of his association with The Red Rockette and the journey the pair is still embarking upon together.

  • Bill Charney and 'The Red Rockette'

    Bill Charney is a man with a life-long love for one particular aircraft type: the Beech Staggerwing. Some 50 years after first setting eyes on this pretty little biplane, he was finally in the position to purchase his own.

    This is the story of his association with The Red Rockette and the journey the pair is still embarking upon together.

  • 20 Years of the Airbus A330

    The Airbus A330 is a common sight at airports throughout the world, and 2 November 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the rst ight of this popular wide-bodied aircraft. Paul Dunn takes a look at the history of this graceful machine.

  • In the previous issue of GAM, Chris Wood examined the development of the first Airbus product, the A300. The A300 entered passenger service in 1974, initially in the form of small numbers of the A300B2 version, quickly followed by the more advanced B4. In fact, Airbus

    studied a wide range of slightly different versions which were designated B1 to B11. The company continued to work on several variations of the original aircraft throughout the 1970s; the B10 version was to come to fruition in the early 1980s as the longer-ranged A310.

    Image - Swiss International Air Lines operates a mixed Airbus longhaul fleet which includes 13 A330-300s from its hub at Zurich (Paul Dunn)

    20 Years of the Airbus A330

  • In last months GAM Steve Coe guided you through proceedings of the Russian Air Force 100th Anniversary Airshow and Parade, held at Zhukovsky on the outskirts of Moscow. Frank Grealish / irishairpics.com was one of a small number of foreign journalists granted access to a number of the airfields hosting participating aircraft as preparations for the show geared up. This is his predominantly pictorial tale of five days in Russia.

    Russia RevisitedThe making of the 100th anniversary parades & flypasts

  • In the run up to the anniversary airshow the Russian Air Force gave permission for a small number of foreign journalists to visit the normally secret air bases that were involved with the preparations for the airshow and parade. Many of the aircraft taking part forward deployed to bases closer to Moscow, and this presented a very good opportunity to catch significantsignificant numbers of aircraft types flying and practising displays in the lead-up to the event.

    The one major difference between Western air forces and the Russian Air Force is that where Western forces fly on a daily basis from Monday to Friday, the Russian Air Force flies in concentrated bursts where multiple aircraft fly for a period of six to eight hours per day. As a result of this there are days at Russian air bases where there is no flying activity whatsoever,whatsoever, and on other days there will be a constant stream of aircraft in the circuit.

    Russia RevisitedThe making of the 100th anniversary parades & flypasts

  • In last months competition we wanted to see your A330 pictures. The winning image above was selected by GAMs editor, Karl Drage. Heres what Karl had to say about Nik Frenchs

    winning entry:

    The standard this month was extremely high but Niks shot really caught my eye. Not only does it feature a stunning special scheme, its also taken at night and just looks great! - Karl

    To find out Karls 2nd and 3rd placed shots, check out theHangar.tv

    Our congratulations go to Nik who has won himself a 6-month GAM subscription.

    IT COULD BE YOU NEXT!Global Aviation Magazine is giving members of THEHANGAR the

    opportunity to see an image of theirs on the back cover of the October issue, as well as the chance to win a 6-month GAM subscription.

    This time the we want to see your sunset shots! See THEHANGAR for more details.

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