Introducing young people to flying

One way to introduce young people to aviation is through books that inspire them in some meaningful way. I recently ran across a fictional story that parents might want to consider. It's called Dogs Don't Fly and it's written by David Lloyd Wilson, an experienced private pilot. Wilson provided this:

Nevell was not like other dogs. He knew that he was expected to become a farmer like his father. However, the little beagle dreamed of finding his own path to happiness. He longed for adventure. He had often wondered how the cats could fly through the air. They had found their place between heaven and earth. Though society was against him, he made a decision to do what no dog had ever done.

Patch was an old tom cat and lived a solitary life. One day Nevell came into his life. He knew the place that cats and dogs held in society. However with age and wisdom comes a greater understanding of the world. Patch would challenge the belief that “Dogs don’t fly.” This small act would change what the whole world believed to be unchangeable. It would prove that although everybody thought they knew their place, anything was possible.

You can learn more about the book at http://www.dogsdontfly.com/, including how to order it. Also, Thirty Thousand Feet has a Youth in Aviation page that offers resources for aspiring aviators, their parents and teachers.

Food for airplanes and airports

Here at Thirty Thousand Feet, we previously mentioned the GoPicnic ready-to-eat boxed meals as an option for feeding yourself on flights where the carrier doesn’t really consider food as part of the service. (See my post, Need food on that airline flight?) Well, the good folks at GoPicnic sent us six Go Meals to try out and I thought I’d report on the product.

First, a review of just what these things are. Simply put, they are shelf-stable meals that feature high quality natural and organic foods. These are not meant to compete with the military MRE’s that survivalists have squirreled away in the cellar – they don’t have that kind of shelf life. (And they don’t taste like that stuff either!) Think instead of collections of single-serving, packaged food items conveniently assembled into a handy little box.

GoPicnic offers over 25 different meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Air travelers will appreciate the vegetarian, kosher, gluten-free, and Halal options, as well as the fact that the box size is very handy for slipping into a computer bag or carry-on.

Recently my wife and I returned home late and didn’t want to spend time creating some kind of dinner, so we grabbed the GoPicnic boxes to see what might look good. I selected the GoEnjoy meal (fruit & cheese) and my wife snatched the GoDelight box (sunbutter & jam).

The first thing I noticed was the simple but highly intelligent way the box opens (and re-closes if you don’t eat everything.) I’m sort of a nut when it comes to packaging. So much stuff these days is hard to open and you end up making a mess of it just trying to get to the good things inside. These boxes open easily without glued cardboard shreds everywhere. They also open completely so you can get at everything inside, and they feature a handy tab closure that works.

Anyway, my box contained the following items: Mariani Ultimate Apricots, Geraldine’s Bodacious Cheese Straws, thin Lavish Grain Crackers (Flax & Honey), Copper Cowbell Asiago Gourmet Cheese, Mrs. May’s Cashew Crunch, and, for desert, Swiss Delicato Chocobloc Noir. Total calories: 440 (just 190 from fat) and no trans fats.

So how does this stuff taste? Yummy! It’s not cheap convenience store product. The GoPicnic folks have packaged up collections of quality food items that taste good and complement each other. Well done!

If I’m about to head to the airport for a flight where I’ll get either no food or crappy food, a GoPicnic box is an appealing option. This would also work well for those multi-leg trips where none of the flights seem to coincide with mealtime so you’re left on your own for food. Frequent flyers will know what I mean.

GoPicnic is a woman-owned company. The boxes are made from 100% recycled material, require no refrigeration to store or heating to eat, and the kids meals are 100% peanut free.

I think these are a great idea for air travelers, and they are reasonably priced. If I operated any kind of shop at an airport, I think I could sell a lot of them. Outside of air travel, these meals might appeal to event planners, transportation and tour companies, sporting event organizers, and just about any organization that wants to feed people easily and simply.

Understand that I have no interest (financial or otherwise) in GoPicnic. I just like the concept and I like the quality of the food. They have been so kind as to extended a special discount offer to Thirty Thousand Feet visitors: 25% off on your first order. Just use coupon code GPTHANKS.

www.gopicnic.com

Navy UAV to fly in 2009

The U.S. Navy took the next step towards operating unmanned aerial vehicles from carrier decks with the unveiling of the X-47B Navy Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS). Built by Northrop Grumman, this aircraft has a 4,500 pound payload and is capable of "high subsonic" flight to 40,000 feet. The Northrop Grumman X-47B UCAS photo gallery shows this to be a "fighter-sized" aircraft.

Composites World states in Northrop Grumman launches U.S. Navy UAV:

The aircraft will now undergo subsystem and structural testing in preparation for first flight in fall 2009. UCAS CV Demonstration sea trials are planned to begin in late 2011.

The second X-47B aircraft is in initial assembly at the Palmdale, Calif., facility and is expected to be completed in 2009. The X-47B UCAS is produced by Northrop Grumman and industry teammates including Dell, Eaton Aerospace, GE Aviation, GKN Aerospace, Goodrich, Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Moog, Parker Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Rockwell Collins and Wind River.

Humanitarian food flights

Dubai based charter operator Eastern SkyJets announced it has been chosen by the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) as its preferred aviation partner for its humanitarian operations in Afghanistan.

ESJ has now positioned its McDonnell Douglas DC9 32 aircraft in Kabul to serve the UNWFP. ESJ has also based its full set up of highly experienced crew and engineers at Kabul to provide all round support to the flights. It conducted the inaugural flight on 20th December amidst loud cheers from all the ESJ staff.

The WFP provides food to about 90 million people per year (more than half of whom are children) helping those who are unable to produce or obtain enough food for themselves and their families.

Eastern SkyJets caters to a wide range of needs including corporate, regional, and international travel services, as well as leisure travel and medical evacuation. They consider themselves to be an industry leader for operations into hostile environments in that region.

Holiday travel tips

The Air Transport Association says that airline capacity is down 9% and expected traveler volumes is down by the same amount.

The ATA... is forecasting a 9 percent year-over-year decrease in the number of passengers who will travel globally on U.S. airlines during the 21-day winter holiday travel season (spanning Thurs., Dec. 18, 2008, through Wed., Jan. 7, 2009). The number of available seats has declined 9 percent from the same period a year ago, resulting in full or near-full flights throughout the holiday.

The busiest days are expected to be Friday, December 19 and Saturday, December 27. As he did last year, President Bush says he'll open up some military restricted airspace that will help ease congestion somewhat.

The ATA offers these travel tips:

· Pack any gifts unwrapped, as they may need to be inspected by security.

· Use automated check-in options, offered via airline Web sites and at airport kiosks, up to 24 hours before departure.

· Sign up with your airline to receive automated travel notifications delivered to your cell phone or wireless device; in the event of system delays, airlines will keep travelers informed of flight and schedule changes. Passengers can also check on the latest airport delays via the FAA Web site.

· Travel with an unexpired government-issued photo identification.

· Allow plenty of time for checking in and for security screening at the airport. If traveling on the busiest days, plan for longer-than-usual security lines. And remember that families and individuals traveling with medically necessary liquids this holiday season can take advantage of specially-designated Transportation Security Administration (TSA) family lanes.

· Familiarize yourself with the latest TSA 3-1-1 security program rules at www.tsa.gov, and with the list of TSA permitted and prohibited items.

· At the security checkpoint, place metallic objects (including keys, coins, pens, cell phone, watch, camera) in carry-on baggage. Plan to carry small electronics and spare batteries with you. Check DOT restrictions against packing batteries in checked luggage before getting to the airport.

· Tag each bag, inside and out, with traveler name and contact information, and remove all destination baggage tags from previous trips.

Kill Vehicle Test

The Missile Defense Agency conducted a hover test of the Multiple Kill Vehicle-L (MKV-L) on December 2, 2008. The video of this test is rather amazing as this device shoots rocket bursts in all directions in order to hover in the air and point itself at moving targets.

The MKV-L mission is to destroy medium through intercontinental-range ballistic missiles equipped with multiple warheads or countermeasures by using a single interceptor missile. During an actual hostile ballistic missile attack, the carrier vehicle with its cargo of small kill vehicles will maneuver into the path of an enemy missile. Using tracking data from the Ballistic Missile Defense System and its own seeker, the carrier vehicle will dispense and guide the kill vehicles to destroy any warheads or countermeasures.

For more info, see:

Multiple Kill Vehicle Completes Hover Test

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Propulsion System Successfully Hovers Missile Defense Payload

Need food on that airline flight?

Since many airlines don't do a real good job of feeding you on flights, you often have to fend for yourself. One option is from a company called GoPicnic where you can purchase boxed meals online and take them with you. They offer light Break Meals, snackbox Go Meals, MightyMunch Kids Meals, and substantial Picnic Meals. Here's what they say about themselves:

GoPicnic's founders developed the concept of the shelf-stable picnic meal in 2004 for a major US airline whose existing buy-on-board fresh food service program was costing it millions of dollars annually due to high levels of waste from unused meals as well as incremental personnel expenses stemming from the need for in-flight food preparation. The shelf-stable snackbox solution that the GoPicnic founders created to address these issues generated profit for the airline for the first time in its food service history and provided customers with a reliable quality product at a good value. Recognizing the many benefits such shelf-stable "picnic" meal programs could bring to a wide array of other industries, the GoPicnic founders expanded on the original concept, making nutritious high-quality shelf-stable meal solutions available to new markets and clients.

I think it's a great idea. Check them out and if you buy any of these meals, give us your thoughts by posting a comment.