Live chat with Boeing 7E7 expert

Jeff Hawk, head of government relations and the environment for the Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner, will on-line in Seattle at 1:00 PM (13:00) Pacific Daylight Time, Thursday, September 30th -that's 8:00 PM (20:00), September 30th Greenwich Mean Time.

Ask him whatever you want about the new airplane. Tell him what you hope for in the design of the Dreamliner. Read his answers to questions from World Design Team members around the world.

See also the Boeing Conversation Archive.

SpaceShipOne lands after heart-stopping ride

SpaceShipOne successfully blasted into space at about Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound, on Wednesday in its quest to win the Ansari X Prize. The CNN report includes stills and video footage.

Virgin moves its empire into space

From The Guardian:

"Space will no longer be the final frontier if Sir Richard Branson gets his way. His Virgin planes and trains to mobile phones and music empire yesterday announced its most ambitious project to date - commercial space travel.

"Anyone with the guts and - more importantly - the money will be able to experience weightlessness and gaze back at the Earth from a height of more than 60 miles, something that up to now has been available only to astronauts and billionaires...

"Virgin Galactic's initial fleet of five spacecraft will not be able to reach the height needed for an orbit of the Earth, but it is already looking towards a second-generation orbital craft and, eventually, a hotel in space...

"The Virgin craft is based on SpaceShipOne, which was created by Mr Rutan to try to win the $10m XPrize, an award set up to encourage non-governmental manned space flights."

More details at the link above.

While we're at it, Space.com has a very interesting item, Rocket Science: Reaching for Space with Rubber Fuel that describes in some detail the SpaceShipOne engine technology. The fuel is basically a combination of rubber and nitrous oxide.

The NewScientist.com item, Last-minute delay for X Prize rival, says:

"The da Vinci Project, based in Toronto, Canada, has announced it would delay the 2 October launch of its balloon-borne rocket for several weeks. That date had been timed to fall between the two flights of rival Scaled Composites of Mojave, California.

"Now, if Scaled Composites successfully launches its rocket, SpaceShipOne, as scheduled on 29 September and 4 October, it will win the $10 million Ansari X Prize. The prize will go to the first non-governmental vehicle that can ferry three people to a height of 100 kilometres twice within two weeks."

Northrop Grumman "Directed Energy"

Northrop Grumman has a laser weapon that is capable of detecting, tracking, engaging, and defeating Rockets/Artillery/Mortars (RAM), cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles. See the video gallery for some amazing footage.

Canadian Ansari X Prize Team Pushes Toward First Launch

Team members with the GoldenPalace.com Space Program Powered by the da Vinci Project said their group is on track for an anticipated Oct. 2 launch, one of two required under the rules of the international Ansari X Prize spaceflight competition. See Space.com for details.

New Concepts Have Emerged for USAF Unmanned Hunter-Killer Aircraft

The U.S. Air Force is probing the aerospace industry for its concepts for a new class of armed, long-endurance unmanned aircraft, called Hunter-Killer.

But most of the aerospace industry's responses--from Northrop Grumman, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Aurora Flight Sciences and Lockheed Martin--remain shrouded in mystery.

See Aviation Week for the story.

He charted a new course for airlines

Alfred E. Kahn is widely credited as the father of airline deregulation. As head of the federal Civil Aeronautics Board, he led the push to end decades of government control over where airlines flew, who could compete and how much passengers paid.

Read his comments on how industry giants must adjust to keep up with low-fare carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest in this St. Petersburg Times article.

Passenger Screening Increased At US Airports

From AirWise:

"All passengers at US airports will have to take off their coats during security screening and more travelers will be subject to pat-down searches as part of new procedures to check for explosives, security officials said..."

Other Aviation Blogs

Some other blogs to check out:

Tracer's Aviation Blog by Roy Resto  The aviation industry's web log that offers unbiased, lively and informed commentary on issues that are sometimes controversial or critical to our industry. Written by Tracer's FAA DAR, Roy Resto.

Liberty's Blog  Aviation history.

RobiNZ Blog  Airline topics, and lots more.

Aviation Noise  A running commentary on the aviation industry for insiders, by insiders.

WebFlyer  The Weblog of Gary Leff.

AirToAirCombat.com  Ramblings on aviation, fighter jet and aircraft from the Admin at AirToAirCombat.Com.

California Yankee  Aviation goings on.

Vijainder K Thakur's BLOG   News and views on Aviation, Defense and Space Research.

Urban's military aviation weblog

Know of any others? Please contribute a comment and let us know.