Summary: The history of an early aviation pioneer, update on hidden city ticketing lawsuit, Jetblue starting flights to Havana, jet engine big data, a possible narrowbody future for Rolls Royce, Leap-1B begins flight testing, and the Airbus A400M crash. Guest Craig Harwood is a professional Engineering Geologist and as a hobby he enjoys researching and writing about history. His book Quest for Flight draws out of obscurity and documents the fascinating backstories in the conquest of the skies. The work and influence of American aviation pioneer John J. Montgomery serves as a framework for understanding the western contributions in the quest for flight in America. Montgomery was a scientific inventor in the late 1800’s who observed and tried to mimic bird flight. His research caused him to turn to soaring birds for inspiration and he demonstrated controlled flight with his manned gliders. We talk about societal attitudes toward flying at the time, the different motivations of early pioneers, and the roles of women in early aviation. We also discuss how the stories of others were overshadowed by the Wrights, who actively worked to protect their position as the originators of manned flight. Quest for Flight: John J. Montgomery and the Dawn of Aviation in the West is available from publisher The University of Oklahoma Press and Amazon.com. You can contact Craig Harwood via email. The 1946 movie Gallant Journey starred Glenn Ford as John J. Montgomery. News Judge throws out United Airlines lawsuit against 22-year-old Orbitz and hidden-city ticketing site Skiplagged agree to settlement A Chicago judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by United Airlines against a 22-year-old. Last November United Airlines and Orbitz filed a civil lawsuit in against Aktarer Zaman who created Skiplagged.com. That site helps people with the “hidden city ticketing” strategy for low cost airfare. United and Orbitz claimed that Skiplagged provided “unfair competition” and promoted “strictly prohibited” travel. The suit was filed in the Northern District Court of Illinois, but the judge in Chicago has now ruled that court has no jurisdiction because Zaman didn't live or do business in that city. JetBlue will start a weekly flight from JFK to Havana every Friday, starting July 3 Travelers should make arrangements directly with Cuba Travel Services for these flights operated by JetBlue. Big Data in Planes: New P&W GTF Engine Telemetry to Generate 10GB/S The Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan jet engine has over 5000 sensors, creating 10 Gigabytes/second of data per engine, or 2.04 Terebits/second for a twin engine airplane. P&W estimates data streaming will reach 12 Petabytes each year and they have partnered with IBM to create the data center capacity. Rolls Royce Sees United Technologies as Possible Jet Engine Partner Rolls Royce, Pratt & Whitney and some other partners teamed up to form International Aero Engines in 1983 to produce the V2500 engine for the Airbus A320 family and McDonnell Douglas MD-90. In 2011, P&W bought out Rolls Royce, which effectively removed RR from the narrowbody market. Now the departing CEO of Rolls-Royce said P&W parent company United Technologies Corporation is an "obvious" potential partner. Leap-1B For 737 MAX Begins Key Flight Tests Competing with the P&W GTF on the A320 family is the CFM International Leap-1A. The Leap-1B is sole sourced for the B737 MAX. and the Leap-1C variant powers the Comac C919. Airbus A400M military transporter crashes on test flight, killing four An Airbus A400M military transport plane crashed outside Seville one mile from the airport, killing four test crew and injuring two others. The aircraft was on its maiden test flight before being delivered to Turkey. Listener Recording David Sudworth brings us his story of a perfect flying day in the UK. Mentioned Airplane Geeks on Instagram Global Pilot Life’s Top 10 Aviation Podcasts
