Aerospace and Astronomy

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

All Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 aircraft have been grounded until at least May after the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash last Sunday, the US Federal Aviation Administration has announced.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47567039

 

[En Passant 3,740]

Not really surprising.

 

The two airlines & countries whose aircraft crash are first to withdraw them.

Everyone else looks at the data, 2 new aircraft, both under 6 months old, similar circumstances, other pilots saying they've had similar unexplained nose down attitudes after engaging autopilot (and that's just the stuff us outsiders know aboutI) and quickly follow suit denying access and overfly routes to the type one by one. Airlines who stand to lose money because no airline has spare planes just sitting on the ground also ground them.

 

Boeing says there's nothing wrong with it, so do Southwest and American Airlines, So does the FAA. It's an American plane, American dollars, and those airlines have a lot of them.  Eventually even they realise it's politically and commercially dangerous to be an outlier,  catastrophically so should another one go down, and reluctantly eventually follow suit.

 

Of course it may be nothing to do with the plane, but call me a cynic, it's not going to be quite the same order of play were it an Airbus.

 

[One shot Paddy 1,205]

Took OSPjr to see Tim Peake's Soyuz spacecraft today, very interesting with all the scorching ect. Well worth a look if the tour is anywhere near you.

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

There's a good, very bright visible pass of the International Space Station over the British Isles this evening.

 

The altitude ranges (at maximum) from about 25 degrees above the horizon in Thurso to directly overhead in the south of England.

 

It comes over the horizon to the west, goes over the south and sets in the east. At latitudes around and below London, it goes more or less directly overhead.

 

Maximum is at 8 o'clock - give or take a couple of minutes - depending on your location.

 

https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

 

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

The planet Mercury reaches its maximum western elongation on the 11th April and for our friends in Australia and New Zealand that means it will be relatively high in the sky at sunrise over the next few days.

 

Depending upon where you are, it will be about 10 to 15 degrees above the horizon an hour before sunrise, rising to about 25 to 30 degrees at sunrise.

 

It will be fairly bright at a magnitude of about 0.6 and can be easily located just below the very bright Venus.

 

Auckland:

 

Sydney:

 

Darwin:

 

Perth:

 

All of the above are one hour before local sunrise.

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

Eastern Australia, New Zealand and parts of South America will see the planet Saturn disappear behind the moon on the night of 25th/26th April.

 

 

Start and end times for various locations can be found here.

It can be seen with the naked eye but even a small pair of binoculars will enhance the view.

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

Jupiter is at Opposition at the moment meaning the giant planet is at its closest approach to Earth and its face is fully illuminated by the Sun. It is brighter than any other time of the year and is visible all night long. 

 

It's easily visible with the naked eye (very bright), however, a small pair of binoculars will allow you to see Jupiter's four largest moons, appearing as bright dots on either side of the planet.

 

The further south you are, the higher in the sky it will be. In the British Isles 10-15 degrees above the horizon, Australia and New Zealand - almost overhead.

 

Online Planetarium

[msc 18,436]

4 minutes ago, Cat O'Falk said:

Jupiter is in Opposition at the moment meaning...

 

That'll add weight to the Labour front benches!

[Sir Creep 7,070]

@Cat O'Falk whit is the object (planet?) pops up on my horizon right before morning - I believe to the south - of Fort Stockton TX ?  Noticed as I was done working last night (on nights presently) at 5:30am suddenly a planet was there big and noticable.  I think to the south, it's virtually impossible to tell out here.
SC

[runebomme 377]

its not a planet It's a star of confederacy

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

16 hours ago, Sir Creep said:

@Cat O'Falk whit is the object (planet?) pops up on my horizon right before morning - I believe to the south - of Fort Stockton TX ?  Noticed as I was done working last night (on nights presently) at 5:30am suddenly a planet was there big and noticable.  I think to the south, it's virtually impossible to tell out here.
SC

 

The only thing big and bright in that neck of the woods at that time was Jupiter. Altitude 15 degrees, azimuth  231 degrees (slightly west of south-west).

[msc 18,436]

13 minutes ago, Cat O'Falk said:

 

The only thing big and bright in that neck of the woods at that time was Jupiter. Altitude 15 degrees, azimuth  231 degrees (slightly west of south-west).

 

I just assume planet Venus unless told otherwise...

 

 

 

(The other Man in Black in greatest X-Files episode ever Jose Chungs From Outer Space btw? 2020 Deathlist top 5 pick Alex Trebek!)

[Sir Creep 7,070]

9 hours ago, Cat O'Falk said:

 

The only thing big and bright in that neck of the woods at that time was Jupiter. Altitude 15 degrees, azimuth  231 degrees (slightly west of south-west).

popping up at morning?  I thought it 'was visible all night'.  Can't be the same celestial being.

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

9 hours ago, Sir Creep said:

popping up at morning?  I thought it 'was visible all night'.  Can't be the same celestial being.

 

You are vague about the direction.

 

There's a compass on your iphone, can you not use it to give me a direction in degrees?

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

There's a total solar eclipse in South America today.

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2019-july-2

https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2019Jul02Tgoogle.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_July_2,_2019

 

 

 

ETA:

 

 

 

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

Saturn is at opposition today and can be seen throughout the night reaching maximum elevation around half way between sunset and sunrise.

 

It's easily visible with the naked eye but you'll need a pair of binoculars or a small telescope to see its ring system.

 

Maximum elevation at latitudes:

 

Latitude   Maximum Elevation (Degrees) Direction 60 N   8 South 50 N   18 South 40 N   28 South 30 N   38 South 20 N   48 South 10 N   58 South Equator   68 South 10 S   78 South 20 S   88 South 30 S   82 North 40 S   72 North 50 S   62 North 60 S   52 North   Online Planetarium

[Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,218]

1 hour ago, Cat O'Falk said:

Saturn is at opposition today and can be seen throughout the night reaching maximum elevation around half way between sunset and sunrise.

 

It's easily visible with the naked eye but you'll need a pair of binoculars or a small telescope to see its ring system.

 

Maximum elevation at latitudes:

 

Latitude   Maximum Elevation (Degrees) Direction 60 N   8 South 50 N   18 South 40 N   28 South 30 N   38 South 20 N   48 South 10 N   58 South Equator   68 South 10 S   78 South 20 S   88 South 30 S   82 North 40 S   72 North 50 S   62 North 60 S   52 North   Online Planetarium

.....but you can see Cats ring in Leicester city centre every weekend if you ask nicely.

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

3 minutes ago, Lord Fellatio Nelson said:

.....but you can see Cats ring in Leicester city centre every weekend if you ask nicely.

 

Oh I gave that up years ago, dear heart.  

 

 

 

[Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,218]

2 minutes ago, Cat O'Falk said:

 

Oh I gave that up years ago, dear heart.  

 

 

 

Never give up man !

....or men 

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

Got a plane question...

 

For the last few weeks I've been avidly following the trial of Carl Beech, aka 'Nick', who stands accused of lying to police about being abused by an underground network of celebrity/prominent child abusers.

 

Anyway today Beech made a startling new claim in court that he was taken by private jet to Paris to be abused.  Furthermore, he claimed the private plane in question was a Boeing 747.  My question is how many privately owned 747s are out there?  More specifically were any of these planes privately owned in the late 1970s when this heinous alleged incident was alleged to have happened?   

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

23 minutes ago, DevonDeathTrip said:

Got a plane question...

 

For the last few weeks I've been avidly following the trial of Carl Beech, aka 'Nick', who stands accused of lying to police about being abused by an underground network of celebrity/prominent child abusers.

 

Anyway today Beech made a startling new claim in court that he was taken by private jet to Paris to be abused.  Furthermore, he claimed the private plane in question was a Boeing 747.  My question is how many privately owned 747s are out there?  More specifically were any of these planes privately owned in the late 1970s when this heinous alleged incident was alleged to have happened?   

 

From memory, very few 747s were purchased as private jets and most of them were bought by/for middle east royals.

Airliners used as personal or business jets tend to be single aisle narrow-bodies such as the Boeing 737 or Airbus A321. Manufacturers tend to put 'private owner' in their published order books.

 

I'll have a dig and see what I can find.

[One shot Paddy 1,205]

Privately owned or privatley hired? I know 747s were hired by bands ect. and one was hired just to fly Rock Hudson home to die, I think from Air France.

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

6 hours ago, One shot Paddy said:

Privately owned or privatley hired? I know 747s were hired by bands ect. and one was hired just to fly Rock Hudson home to die, I think from Air France.

 

That's a good point.

 

I'm going on the assumption that there were no titles on the plane otherwise he would have said Air France, KLM or whatever.

 

Here's Kim Kardashian giving us a tour of 'Kanye West's' (untitled) private 747 but she doesn't tell us It's actually owned and operated by Las Vegas Sands Corporation.

 

 

 

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

@DevonDeathTrip

 

Going through the whole production list from the first flight to 31st December 1985, there seems to be only six aircraft to fit the bill. All of the others were in airline service or other organisations (such as NASA), with English titles on the fuselage.

 

Of the remaining six, five can only be classed as private since they did not carry fare paying passengers, the sixth belonged to a leasing company (Jet Aviation). Titles (if any) on the fuselage weren't necessarily in English.

 

Saudi Arabian Government Boeing 747SP-68

Royal Flight of Oman Boeing 747SP-27

Dubai Air Wing / Royal Flight Boeing 747SP-31

Jet Aviation Flight Services Boeing 747SP-31

Iraqi Government Boeing 747SP-70

Saudi Arabian Government Boeing 747-3G1

 

The Iranian Air Force operated several 747s without titles but they were all freighters.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

5 hours ago, Cat O'Falk said:

@DevonDeathTrip

 

Going through the whole production list from the first flight to 31st December 1985, there seems to be only six aircraft to fit the bill. All of the others were in airline service or other organisations (such as NASA), with English titles on the fuselage.

 

Of the remaining six, five can only be classed as private since they did not carry fare paying passengers, the sixth belonged to a leasing company (Jet Aviation). Titles (if any) on the fuselage weren't necessarily in English.

 

Saudi Arabian Government Boeing 747SP-68

Royal Flight of Oman Boeing 747SP-27

Dubai Air Wing / Royal Flight Boeing 747SP-31

Jet Aviation Flight Services Boeing 747SP-31

Iraqi Government Boeing 747SP-70

Saudi Arabian Government Boeing 747-3G1

 

The Iranian Air Force operated several 747s without titles but they were all freighters.

 

Good stuff thanks, I appreciate your efforts

 

Beech has claimed Saudi involvement in his alleged abuse, so the above could unfortunately fit in with his warped (and highly suspect) narrative.  I don't know anything about this sort of thing, but I take it there's no online database which logs where these planes have actually been?   

 

Today Beech gave further evidence to insist one of his schoolmates was murdered - deliberately run over - by the VIP gang, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary - i.e nobody else seems to remember it.  He went on to claim the gang shot his horse dead in front of him in broad daylight in the grounds of Hampton Court.  Unfortunately for Beech, this version of events remains uncorroborated.

 

The trial continues.  The movie will likely follow.