My novel (Project Seven Alpha, American Airlines in Burma 1942)has made two Amazon Best Sellers Lists

7A has made the Amazon bestsellers list in the USA for the first time. It made it to #19 on Aviation, and #76 Military Aviation lists. I’m still hanging on on two lists in the UK as well. Many thanks to my readers; I’ve got Chapter 8 on my site if you’d like to take a look. Thanks again!

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The Journey Begins; sample chapter Project 7 Alpha

I’ve posted a free sample chapter of my WW2 novel, Project 7 Alpha: American Airlines in Burma 1942. Chapter 8: The Journey Begins is a great read, a flight of aircraft flying through the southwest on their way to war. Monument Valley, The Grand Canyon and Los Angeles at night; it will put you in the cockpit. Give it a read. You can print it with a click or download it as a PDF file; both options are at the bottom of the chapter.

I hope you like it. My British readers seem to; it has been on Amazon UK’s bestseller list in two catagories for a few months now. And please give me your feedback in the comment section.

Chapter 8: The Journey Begins

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French Investigator says Pitot system failure not cause of AF-447 crash

Alain Bouillard, leading the investigation into the June 1 crash for the French accident investigation agency BEA, says the sensors, called Pitot tubes, were not the only factor.
He says “it is an element but not the cause.”

With this statement I agree; and the unstated cause? Weather would be an easy explanation, however Mr. Bouillard has already stated the aircraft remained intact. That makes the weather an “element” not cause. What was the cause? The evidence points to a loss of control.

Putting the issue of whether the aircraft broke apart or not aside, the question then becomes what caused the loss of control? If the aircraft was intact then either the crew lost control or the fly by wire system failed. Two very similar incidents have happened with the Airbus 330 since AF-447. In both these recent incidents the crews maintained control and the backup fly by wire system functioned.

Therefore we must look for more data points. Qantas Flight 72 provides, in my opinion, a very plausible explanation. QF-72 experienced un-commanded pitch events caused by ADIRU #1 (Air Data Inertial Reference Unit) reacting to spurious angle of attack inputs according to the ATSB (Australian Transportation Safety Board). This event caused a loss of control to the crew, twice. The second time after they complied with the emergency procedures designed to prevent it, again according to the ATSB.

Another statement I agree with, is that if they do not find the Black Boxes, then the cause will not be definitively known.

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French Investigator “claims” AF-447 did not come apart in flight

Bouillard said there was “no information” suggesting a need to ground the world’s fleet of more than six hundred A330 planes as a result of the crash.

“As far as I’m concerned there’s no problem flying these aircraft,” he said.

Based on what data? There are 36 documented “anomalies” with the A-330/340 fly-by-wire system.

A few questions:

1. Why did the aircraft suddenly lose pressurization?
2. How do they know this: radar hits, recovered wreckage?
3. Why is the debris field fifty miles long?
4. Why was the vertical stabilizer (tail/rudder) found intact, with no impact damage on the leading edge?



5. Why was the tail assembly found so far apart from the main field of wreckage?
6. Where the vertical stabilizers attach points sheared by a side load (Beta Q) or a front load (VMAX), there certainly is no evidence of impact separation due to zero leading edge damage?
7. Why were the bodies found intact (high speed impacts do not allow for this)?
8. Why did the bodies have flail injuries consistent with high speed fighter-type ejections?
9. Why were the bodies disrobed, again consistent with high speed ejection?
10. Why were there two separate groups of bodies?
11. Why did 12 other aircraft depart near the same time, fly the same area and report no severe weather problems?
12. Why did the last two incidents similar to AF-447 not break up?
13. Why was a galley found intact, including meals still in drawers?



14. If the pilots fought for control for 35,000 feet (7 miles), and the aircraft was still intact, why no Mayday call?

Bouillard said the plane “was not destroyed in flight” and appeared to have hit “belly first,” gathering speed as it dropped thousands of feet through the air.

This statement defies not only the laws of aerodynamics but also physics. For an intact aircraft to pick up speed in a descent, it must be nose down. It could flat spin in belly first; however, to spin an aircraft must be slow, not fast and getting faster. It cannot hit flat on its belly at high speed, unless it broke apart, falling like a stone, not an aircraft.

Perhaps there was a translation problem; the statement simply does not make sense.

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Airbus may be forced to ground A-330 and A-340 fleet

According to the London Times, Airbus Industries may be asked to ground its entire A-330 and A-340 fleet tomorrow by the European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) accident bureau. The first question that should be asked of the EASA is why it took 36 incidents before this action occurred. Read the rest of this entry »

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Another round of Airline consolidation is taking flight

The recent opinions of the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Airline Joint Ventures (JV) will spark another round of consolidation. This may be the end game of the turbulent post-deregulation era. The world’s major carriers have effectively been doing virtual mergers via code share and joint ventures. These arrangements allow them to get around national ownership laws, as well as the high costs and headaches of a merger. To make it work they need antitrust immunity so they can legally coordinate schedules. Read the rest of this entry »

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The specific Yemenia Airbus 310-300, registration number 7O-ADJ, was banned from French airspace

Dominique Bussereau, the French Transport Minister, was quoted by the London Times as saying; “The Airbus A310 that came down was a 19-year-old aircraft which had been banned from French air space since 2007 after an inspection at Paris airport found that it did not meet safety standards.” Read the rest of this entry »

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