Jetwhine

Aviation buzz and bold opinion

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Flying the Airbus A380

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Every so often work becomes fun. OK, admittedly, not very often. When the folks at Aviation International News asked me to check out the new Brake-to-Vacate system Airbus had designed, they mentioned I’d have a chance to see it in action since the technology was installed on a new Airbus model … an A380. Did I want to go fly it?

Fly the A380? Hmmmm. I had to think about it of course … for oh, maybe a quarter of a second. Next thing I knew, I was in Toulouse checking out the technology and driving the bus. And for the true airplane geeks, the Airbus A380 brake-to-vacate system allows the flying pilot to determine before landing precisely which taxiway turnoff the aircraft will be able to make using maximum reverse thrust and the most efficient use of wheel braking.

Ryan Dietz and I mixed the videos I shot with some B-roll footage the Airbus folks were nice enough to share and the end result is what you see here.

With AirVenture 2012 just around the corner, it seemed like just the right time to talk about the fun of flying airplanes. Hope you enjoy watching this as much as I did flying the biggest bus. BTW, how was my landing?

Now … I have to get back to work.

Rob Mark

(Click the photo or YouTube icon)

 

 

No User Fees for GA … Yet

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I was trying to explain some of the subtleties behind the word altruism to my daughter this morning at breakfast, and it made me think about the fight against aviation user fees.

And yes, we have a few truly interesting family meals around our house. Those dine-ins are, in fact, a large part of what my wife and I see as our responsibility as parents, to sit down at least a couple of times each week to find out what’s happening with our family in general, especially our daughter. We don’t know for sure they help, but we believe in the process enough to make the effort.

Altruistic deed-doers make the effort because they believe it’s the right move for their family or their community. And they don’t expect a reward at the other end for their labors either. [Read more…] about No User Fees for GA … Yet

Thanks From Jetwhine

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I’ve been really touched by how many regular readers noticed that Jetwhine just turned one.

A year ago I had dinner with a buddy in Wichita who seriously questioned why I was trying to blend a little new media talk with the rest of the aviation world about well, anything.

The reason was simple.

I believed I had a 40-year perspective on the aviation industry that no one else did. I also thought I could thought I could say it like no one else, as some of you have taken me to task on over the past 12 months.

But that comes with the territory.

A year later, I think we’ve only begun with a little “Aviation Buzz and Bold Opinion.”

Whether it’s the FAA and user fees, the need to completely rebuild the way we pay the pilots who teach others to fly, the pilot shortage or the need to educate communities about the value of their airports, Jetwhine offers you a perspective on the industry you won’t read anywhere.

And we’ve asked nothing from you … until now that is.

Some of the things we talk about at Jetwhine evolve from the tips you send us, so keep those ideas coming.

But since blogs propagate based on the their popularity, won’t you please take a minute to pass the Jetwhine.com address on to your friends if you’ve enjoyed what you read here each week.

And ask them to pass Jetwhine on to their friends too.

So now where’s the cake?

Thanks,

Rob Mark

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