Klyde's Thoughts On New Year's Resolutions...

FMI: www.klydemorris.com

Five Years After FSX, New Version Will Be Free Download

It's been over five years since Microsoft introduced Flight Simulator X (as in "ten"), and it was a breakthrough in fidelity, capabilities and ease of use. In 2009, the team which developed it was let go, and it looked like "X" might be the end of the line for the popular series. But in August of 2010 the new Microsoft Flight was announced, and it debuted on Wednesday - as a free product.

Spacecraft To Fire Thrusters To Re-Direct Spacecraft Closer To Mars

An engine firing on January 11 will be the biggest maneuver that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft will perform on its flight between Earth and Mars. The action will use a choreographed sequence of firings of eight thruster engines during a period of about 175 minutes beginning at 2300 UCT.

Document Sold At Auction In November By James Lovell

When the checklist from the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission went up for auction last November, it sold for $388,000 dollars ... about 15 times more than its list price. Astronaut Jim Lovell, who made handwritten notes and calculations on the document as they strove to get safely back to Earth, had put the item up for sale.

Wants Vintage Helos To Display At Heli-Expo In Dallas

Helicopter Foundation International is looking for heritage aircraft to display at this year’s Heli-Expo in Dallas, Texas, to help highlight the importance of early rotorcraft to our industry. Heritage aircraft are defined as rotorcraft built in or before 1955, no longer in production, and that were able to sustain vertical flight.

Claims He Failed Sobriety Test Because He Hit The Bottle AFTER The Throttle

A Penngrove, CA pilot who has been charged with flying under the influence of alcohol says he was sober in the cockpit, despite the "erratic" flying the California Highway Patrol (CHP) says they observed. Michael B. Ferrero told the Santa Rosa, CA Press Democrat that he "had some booze in (his) hangar," and didn't touch the stuff until after he had landed.

Aero Linx: Aviation Radio Spectrum Aviation depends on access to an adequate and predictable radio spectrum, which has become a highly valued global resource. Global allocations of radio spectrum, including that for aviation, are agreed by the 191 States of the International Telecommunications Union ( ITU) at World Radiocommunication Conferences ( WRC), which meet every 3-4 years. The resolutions that come out of these meetings become radio regulations and, once signed by states, have the status of international treaties.

RVSM - Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum The concept of reducing the vertical distance maintained by aircraft in flight from the original 2,000-foot separation to 1,000 feet in flight levels between 29,000 and 41,000 feet—or FL290 to FL410. A 2,000-foot separation had been the standard since the beginning of jet age flight. The separation reduction was made possible by the more-accurate equipment on board modern aircraft; however an aircraft and its equipment must be certified as RVSM-compliant in order to fly in RVSM airspace. After evaluation studies in the 1980s, RVSM was implemented in various parts of the world beginning with the North Atlantic airspace in 1997.

"We are well into cruise operations, with a well-behaved spacecraft safely on its way to Mars. After this trajectory correction maneuver, we expect to be very close to where we ultimately need to be for our entry point at the top of the Martian atmosphere." Source: Mars Science Laboratory Cruise Mission Manager Arthur Amador, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.