Ben Sandilands
Editor of Plane Talking @PlaneTalking
Ben Sandilands has reported and analysed the mechanical mobility of humanity since late 1960 - the end of the age of great scheduled ocean liners and coastal steamers and the start of the jet age. He’s worked in newspapers, radio and TV in a wide range of roles as a journalist at home and abroad for 56 years, the last 18 freelance.
Memo Canberra and regional sky warriors: the Virgin Blue buzz box, or turbo-prop, is on its way to an airport near you.
Australia, in the JSF, has no answers. Just a painfully expensive toy that is years late in development, and already below the specifications of rivals that appear closer to entering operatons.
The lightning strike on the Queensland’s Premier’s turbo-prop King Air yesterday could have been serious but for two thin metal wicks no longer attached to the King Air 350 in which she had been visiting towns devastated by the floods.
The Rockhampton Airport is currently unusable, its runways flodded. But in an extremely well managed and coordinated exercise, the authorities used the long lead time before today's predicted flood peak to protect as much airport infrastructure as practicable, explains Ben Sandilands.
The appearance of two all new attack and defend aircraft have raised issues of substance for the Joint Strike Fighter program, and indicate that the US and its allies should carefully review their plans to maintain air superiority, reports Ben Sandilands.
Ben Sandilands got his hands on a leaked photo of the new Qantas A330-200 domestic business class, with middle seats and crummy legroom. Why, it must be a present for new Virgin Blue boss John Borghetti, the former Qantas executive general manager.
Qantas and Jetstar are being investigated by the ATSB for two incidents in which international jets were respectively excessively loaded with freight or contained undocumented consignments.
The Boeing Dreamliner project is now caught in a destructive sequence of setbacks that threatens that company as well as major customers like Qantas with very serious consequences.
It’s been a big morning in airline competition in Australia with the ACCC backtracked on its earlier opposition to Virgin Blue enjoying the same sort of price-fixing deals that Qantas enjoys.
Engine maker Rolls-Royce and Qantas are getting closer to agreeing that the airline can resume flights to Los Angeles using the giant Airbus A380 airliner, but the exact date remains elusive.
