We hear from participants at this year’s Cranky Dorkfest, the U.S. Marine Corps flew the XQ-58A Valkyrie drone with four F-35B fighters, American Airlines flew a B787 from Dallas to Brisbane in a 15 hour and 44-minute flight, a pair of corporate flight attendants are suing their employer, airlines are reacting to flight restrictions over Russia, and the Portland Jetport is replacing the firefighting foam with something more environmentally friendly. Also, a self-propelling ionic thrust wing, an exploding satellite, and thoughts on DB Cooper from an expert parachutist.

Cranky Dorkfest 2024

Brian Coleman recorded interviews at Cranky Dorkfest on September 14, 2024:

• Melissa – Why she keeps coming back. Her husband is former military mechanic.


• Benny – A first-timer with a unique Boeing airplane-related telephone number.


• Jvan – He took home last year’s brick mosaic. This is his 3rd year participating.


• Matt Sauchelli – He’s shooting with a Nikon mirrorless camera and a long lens.


• Ben Grenuchi and Heather – From NYCAviation.


• Ian Petchenik – Director of Communications at Flightradar24 the live, global flight tracking service. Also, the co-host of AvTalk podcast.


• Brett (Cranky) Snyder. The man behind it all.

For Those Who Didn’t Attend, Here’s What You Missed at Cranky Dorkfest This Weekend

Aviation News

Marines score aviation firsts with F-35 squadron, drone test and more

A Marine Corps XQ-58A Valkyrie drone completed a test flight last week at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Col. Derek Brannon, branch head for the Cunningham Group, deputy commandant for aviation said “The flight focused on the use of tactical data links to enable digital communication between the XQ-58A and an airborne four-ship of F-35Bs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214 and other joint aircraft.”

<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">XQ-58A Valkyrie, courtesy AFRL.</figcaption></figure>

The XQ-58A Valkyrie is a low-cost, high-performance, reusable unmanned air vehicle developed through an Air Force Research Laboratory partnership with Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. This vehicle is an example of an “attritable” aircraft designed to be used for several missions, but built at a cost that permits it to be a combat loss.

American Airlines’ longest flight set to be one of the most tracked in the world

The American Airlines inaugural flight from Dallas to Brisbane in Australia was heavily followed on Flightradar24. Director of Communications Ian Petchenik said people worldwide “are especially keen to watch the livestream of the landing.” The Boeing 787-9 (N825AA), flight AA7, made the trip in 15 hours and 44 minutes covering a great circle distance of 13,363 KM. See Flight history for American Airlines flight AA7.

Overworked Private Flight Attendants For Co-Founder of The Home Depot Claim ‘Inept’ Colleagues Kept Their Jobs Because They Were in ‘Romantic Relationship’ With Boss

Two private flight attendants filed a lawsuit claiming they were overworked while working for the co-founder of The Home Depot, while “inept” co-workers had romantic relationships with their bosses. The two FAs, who quit their jobs, said they sometimes worked 26 days per month and around 90 hours per week.

Why It’s Harder Getting to China

As a result of the war in Ukraine, non-Chinese airlines are no longer entering Russian airspace, so some are discontinuing service to China, or reducing frequency. Demand for flights to China is down, and the cost of avoiding Russian airspace in time and fuel is significant. Virgin Atlantic is dropping its flight connecting Shanghai to London, LOT Polish Airlines is suspending its Warsaw-to-Beijing flights, and SAS plans to stop direct flights between Copenhagen and Shanghai. Chinese airlines are adding capacity.

PFAS-free firefighting foam coming to jetport

The Portland (Maine) Fire Department plans to replace the AFFF firefighting foam used at the Portland International Jetport with PFAS-free foam. The Deputy Chief said of the new foam, “Nobody’s really had a chance to real-world use it. I think until it’s been out for a year or two, it’s going to be hard to determine if it’s going to be as good as AFFF was. Testing shows it does a lot of things just as good as AFFF does, but we’ll see.”

Mentioned

Designing a self propelling ionic thrust wing

MIT engineers fly first-ever plane with no moving parts

Boeing-made satellite explodes in space after experiencing an “anomaly”

Hosts this Episode

Max Flight, our Main(e) Man Micah, Max Trescott, and Rob Mark.