Cyberwarfare

Quite an interesting article published by AviationNow called Australia Embraces Cyberwarfare. It goes like this:

"The Australian Defense Force is demonstrating that a small military can have global impact by leveraging cyber-skills... the ADF is making a virtue out of smallness by ensuring that it innovates, constantly reexamines its efforts, and explores the impact of new technology quickly... [blah, blah] In parallel, the Australians are fleshing out 21st century concepts, including the interaction and autonomy of unmanned vehicles..."

Now the good stuff:

"The Australian military is looking for young cyber-warriors..." Cool. We knew the nerds would rule in the end. "...to combat a growing online network of jihadists and to infiltrate the commercially based wireless networks used by insurgents to control small teams of fighters."

"Infiltrate" the wireless networks? Hmm... There's more:

"There are Middle Eastern Internet terrorists who use computer hacking, programming of assassinations and murders, credit-card theft and online disruption as their weapons. They also distribute data that teach others to use these cyber-skills as part of their so-called holy war against the West."

OK, I guess. The reporter's objectivity is getting a little shaky here. Then there is the "North Korean university, supported in part by Eastern European groups, whose students specialize in attacking and exploiting financial networks."

Wow. Is there evil everywhere?

So Australia figures to "find computer-savvy Australians and let them shape new weaponry needed for a viable counter-attack." The "director general of aerospace development for the Royal Australian Air Force" is looking to create an environment for geeks [his term] to try out battle models.

It's called the Aerospace Battlelab Environment. Google it and you'll find a number of references, including the Aerospace Battlelab Framework Fact Sheet, which offers a pdf that is fascinating reading. It's full of simulators and "synthetic environments" and stuff. [How did they manage to make a 2 page pdf file over 6 meg?]

I guess in the end, "warfare" will be just like corporate life: a lot of people sitting in cubicles typing on computers all day.

The Space Show

The Space Show site includes podcasts that focus on issues influencing the development of outer-space commerce and space tourism. The Broadcast 497 guest is Mr. Ed Wright "of X-Rocket (Experimental Rocket Racing Organization) [who] first proposed the rocket racing concept to follow the example set by the airplane racing events in the pre-WW II era that had a big impact on advancing aviation technology. Rocket racing events would consist of suborbital manned rocket vehicles that would compete in vertical drag races." Aired on May 21st, 2006.

FlyByWire podcast blog

The FlyByWire podcast blog announced in a May 23, 2006 posting that FlyByWire is organizing a podcast that is slated to contain flight sim and aviation news, music, reviews, hints and tips, and a flight of the week. I'm setting my RSS reader (Opera, actually) to watch that space! Sounds like it could be good.

Q&A: B24s and helicopter rides

Q:

from Nancy: I am hoping you can shed some light on an event that occured this past weekend. We were up in Williams, Arizona... My sister, brother, and mother were all with us and on Saturday May 13th we were sitting outside and heard very loud aircraft overhead. Much to our surprise and tremedous pleasure we saw a B24 along with another plane fly overhead. We believe the other plane was a B17. It gave us all goosebumps because my dad was a top turret gunner and flight navigator on a B24, 93rd bomb group 8th air division. To my frustration I could not locate an airport or museum in the area that knew anything about these aircraft being in the area. If you can point me in a direction to research this or know of someone who could help me, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

A:

That must have been quite a sight! You probably saw aircraft from the Commemorative Air Force. I believe they have a B-24 and a B-29 headquartered in Texas. Check out http://www.cafb29b24.org/ and http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/.

Q:

from jm: please let me know if you have helicopter rides in maryland and what the cost would be for 2

A:

My site is just an Aviation Directory, and I don't offer any products or services myself. My Aircraft Rent-A-Ride section has links to a number of sites providing sightseeing rides. Specifically for Maryland however, try Advanced Helicopter Concepts.

Aviation Questions and Answers part 3

Once again, here are some recent aviation questions that came in, and answers. If you can offer additional help, please post a comment.

Q:

From rsparts: "Currently I am looking for elastomeric gimbal bearing for Malaysian Navy (defense). So I hope I can find those part from you. For your information the part number is WG 1368-0108-047 and used in Super Lynx. I really appreciate if you can inform me whether you can fulfill my request or if can provide me with any contact to find my requirement. Hope you can reply back to me ASAP."

A:

Usually, if you do a Web search on the part number you're after, you'll find sources where you can procure the part. This time, however, I didn't find anything. You might try the folks at LORD Corporation. They've been in the rubber-metal bonding business for a long time. You could also look at SKF, although their website doesn't recognize all browsers. (I hate browser-specific coding. There is no valid business reason to deviate from standards.)

Q:

From ali786:"I am currently working... as an assistant in sales & traffic at... airport. Now I am keenly interested to complete Flight Operation Officer (Aircraft Dispatcher) course from Karachi, Pakistan. I will be very thankful to you if you would send me any course materials, study guides or eBooks for the course and test preparation so I would become familiar for the course before attending classes of Flight Dispatcher."

A:

I have some companies that offer flight dispatcher training in the Training section of the Directory. You'd have to look through them to see if you can complete any from Karachi.

Another way to get started in your research is to look at the professional and trade associations associated with that aviation profession. Where do you find those? Why, in the Aviation Organizations section, of course! There you'll find links to the Airline Dispatchers Federation, the European Federation of Air Line Dispatchers Associations, and the International Federation of Air Line Dispatchers Associations, among others. Study those sites and you'll find lots of helpful information.

This same advice goes for others looking to get into an aviation profession.

More aviation questions answered

Q:

From Duncan: Hello, hats off to an extraordinary directory, well done indeed, dedication like yours guarantees a good future for the internet. I'm researching large abandoned objects for an independent documentary on that subject. I was wondering if you know of any enthusiasts that are undertaking restoration projects of commercial passenger planes? You have a very comprehensive list in your restoration section, but I couldn't pick out any dealing with passenger planes. I would be interested in planes from any period and of any size. Your help is hugely appreciated and I look to hearing from you!

A:

Prop-Liners of America is a non-profit that promotes restoration of propeller-driven airliners and they might be a good source of information.

At Project 727, they are converting a TWA 727 into a fixed base home flight simulator for private use.

At The De Havilland Comet Homepage there is some discussion of a restoration project, but the site looks old and not recently updated, so I'm not sure of the status of this project.

Q:

From stephen: I am inquiring about having a mahagony table made for our squadron. We currently have some that [are] in our officer's club on base and would like the same idea performed. We can send pictures as well ideas for what exactly we would put on it. We have been told that these are made within the philippines, so if you do not make them yourselves could you please let us know of any companies nearby which do make them. Thanks

A:

If you're asking me about having a table made, I'm afraid I can't really help. If you are inquiring about a model aircraft, many desktop display models are made from Philippine mahogany. You can find sources for those (both stock and custom made) in my Aircraft Models section.

Q:

From Jac: I am interested in buying a hobbico nexstar kit please advise what you can do it for

A:

My site is just an aviation directory and I don't sell anything myself. However, here's some ideas:

The Hobbico NexSTAR RTF radio control plane can be purchased from U.S. and Canadian dealers, including Tower Hobbies, RC Discounts, Red Rocket Hobby Shop, and others.

Q:

From phill: I have a 1/100th scale concorde model that they sold to british airways staff. The thing about this model is that i have it signed by the whole flight crew that flew the aircraft to filton on the last ever supersonic flight ever!!!

Their is no other model like this in the world as i had access to the flight crew and was told that no one else had done the same.

It has been boxed and never seen daylight so in superb condition

would you know anybody that would be interested in buying this one off peice of history..

A:

I can think of several things you might do: First, consider selling it on eBay. Seriously, this might be your best option. If you haven't done that before, find some junk you don't want (somebody else will want it, believe me!) and sell that first. Then, after you've been through the eBay experience, sell your model there. Another approach is to use one of the services that sell stuff for you and keep a cut. Google "ebay selling" and a bunch of sites will come up.

Another approach is to contact Concorde enthusiasts and memorabilia collectors directly. Try Eric's Concorde Tribute Page or The JHS Concorde Page.

Aviation Questions Answered

Some aviation questions recently sent to Thirty Thousand Feet and how I answered. Got better advise? Post a comment and share with us all!

Q:

From charan_pilot: I am doing my tenth standard in Chennai,TAMIL NADU,INDIA.I would like to become a comercial pilot.So now i need your help.If you can please send me the eligiblity and requierements that i need to become a pilot.

A:

I can't tell you specifically what you need to do, but I might be able to help point you toward some resources where you can begin doing some research:

Take a look through the Aviation Training and Education section of my site. You'll find books and training aids, as well as schools offering training. Blogs by students can be a useful source of information as well.

In the Aviation Employment section you'll find a number of sites that offer tips and resources.

Finally, pour through forums where people hang out who have jobs like the one you want. See Aviation Forums, Message Boards, and Chat.

Q:

From carl359: any paragliding school in north wales??

A:

In the Paragliding section, I have Para-Excellence & Leading Edge Paragliding listed. You might also talk to the folks at the North Wales Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club.

Q:

From chuck3316: Where is the closest place to buy a Tracker II from Polk hobbies here in Colorado or Utah?

A:

Well, I really don't know. For Utah, check with the folks at Wasatch Aero Modelers. For Colorado, talk to the folks at the Mile Hi R/CFlying Club. Special interest clubs are usually a great source for local information.

Finally:

Not a question, but a helpful comment from karl: Hello, i have find your grate website from anusenet link. As a user who uses usenet for a long time, i must say, your links at http://www.thirtythousandfeet.com/newsgrps.htm are not very helpfull for user who never heard about usenet. You are linking to dejanews, whos data was buyed from googel a long time ago. (deja is now http://groups.google.com)

I sugrest to use google newsreader for directread. You cant find somthing better. The newsgroupg is alt.aviation, than you maylink to http://groups.google.com/group/alt.aviation

Also for binary newsgroup exits direct read options, but no an other server. If you linkfor alt.binaries.pictures.aviation you may link to http://www.usenet-replayer.com/groups/alt.binaries.pictures.aviation.html

A:

It's been a long time since I updated my Aviation Newsgroups page, and you have energized me into action! If you take a look now, you'll see that I have taken your advice and used Google as the usenet source.

[Newsgroups are like the original Internet forums, and existed way back in the beginnings of the Internet. They were actually the source for many of the Thirty Thousand Feet links back then. You'd typically find serious enthusiasts contributing informative posts and helping "newbies." I'm not sure they are as popular as they once were, but take a cruise through them sometime. My Aviation Newsgroups page lists all those I know of that have some aviation theme. And now that I followed karl's suggestion, the links actually take you to the postings.]