Brian's Blog - Or Carlsbad's Missing Villager

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

2015 was the safest year ever according to ASN data

The Aviation Safety Network today released the preliminary 2015 airliner accident statistics showing a record low total of 16 fatal airliner accidents, resulting in 560 fatalities.

Despite several high profile accidents, the year 2015 turned out to be a very safe year for commercial aviation, Aviation Safety Network data show.

Over the year 2015 the Aviation Safety Network recorded a total of 16 fatal airliner accidents, resulting in 560 fatalities. This makes 2015 the safest year ever by number of fatal accidents and the 5th safest year ever in terms of fatalities. Most accidents involved passenger flights (7) . Given the expected worldwide air traffic of 34,000,000 flights, the accident rate is 1 fatal passenger flight accident per 4,857,000 flights.

The low number of accidents comes as no surprise, according to ASN President Harro Ranter: "Since 1997 the average number of airliner accidents has shown a steady and persistent decline, for a great deal thanks to the continuing safety-driven efforts by international aviation organisations such as ICAO, IATA, Flight Safety Foundation and the aviation industry."

The worst accident last year happened on October 31 when a Metrojet Airbus A321 crashed in the Sinai Desert, killing 224. While investigation is still ongoing, it is claimed that the accident occurred as a result of the detonation of an explosion device. This accident represents the dark side of 2015, together with the accident involving Germanwings flight 9525. The Airbus A320 crashed in France on March 25 and is likely attributed to pilot suicide.

Just three previous years (1988, 1983, 1985) show a higher death toll of accidents (likely) attributed to sabotage, shoot downs and pilot suicide.

Two out of 16 accident airplanes were operated by airlines on the E.U. "black list".

http://news.aviation-safety.net/2016/01/01/despite-high-profile-accidents-2015-was-the-safest-year-ever-according-to-asn-data/

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

List of aircraft accidents and incidents intentionally caused by pilots

http://news.aviation-safety.net/2015/03/26/list-of-aircraft-accidents-and-incidents-deliberately-caused-by-pilots/

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

ART FOR PLANESPOTTERS

First, [Johan] gutted an old Macintosh Classic computer and stuffed a Raspberry Pi inside. Now this is not really a new idea, but [Johan] did a very nice job with the monitor and his attention to detail shows in the rebuilt floppy-drive eject mechanism. He gives it back that characteristic "schlurp" noise.

Then he outfitted the Raspberry Pi with an RTL dongle running dump1090 software to listen to the ADS-B radio signals. The data extracted from the SDR is piped off to an MQTT server with all sorts of data about the airplanes overhead. Another script subscribes to the MQTT topic and figures out which is the closest and runs an image search for the plane type in question, publishing the results back to another MQTT topic. One final script subscribes to this last topic and displays the relevant images on the screen. Pshwew!

http://hackaday.com/2015/12/31/art-for-planespotters/

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

Some more info..

Decoding #ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) with @airspy_com + #sorcerer + #SDRSharp



https://twitter.com/RadioHacking/status/681957474245685248

Multipsk 4.31 decoding Orbcomm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9inhkqrhDmg
https://twitter.com/RadioHacking/status/682298398763040768

Extremely weak signal #Orbcomm #satellite decoding with @airspy_com + #SDRSharp + OrbcommPlotter + Indoor Antenna



https://twitter.com/RadioHacking/status/682918632607854592

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

Version 2.3.1 has been released January 3, 2016.
Fixes issue in 2.3 that caused high CPU usage -
http://www.virtualradarserver.co.uk/Download.aspx
https://twitter.com/VRadarServer/status/683661745731334145

Bugs in 2.3.1
http://forum.virtualradarserver.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=939

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

VIDEO Fiji helicopter crash due to sudden wind gust

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li2RRNBdylI

A sightseeing helicopter on Fiji's Treasure Island was caught by a sudden gust of wind upon landing on Wednesday, sending its churning blades within metres of tourists and crashing to the ground.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-24/helicopter-caught-by-wind-gust-sends-fiji-island-guests-fleeing/7053302

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

NEWS Suicidal passenger tries to open emergency exit during flight #JD5180

A Beijing Capital Airlines (JD) plane was performing flight JD5180 from Changsha to Sanya on Monday afternoon when the flight attendants noticed a woman trying to open the emergency door.

http://www.airlive.net/2016/01/news-suicidal-passenger-tries-to-open.html
http://www.chinaaviationdaily.com/news/50/50048.html

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

U.S Bizjet Accident Fatalities Plummet in 2015

The number of fatalities in U.S.-registered business jet accidents last year fell by more than 50 percent year-over-year. According to preliminary data researched by AIN, 13 people perished in two fatal accidents involving N-numbered business jets last year versus 30 in six crashes in 2014. One of the two crashes last year, fatal to four aboard the jet, was a midair between a Sabreliner flying under a military contract and a Cessna 172. Meanwhile, the number of nonfatal mishaps last year increased threefold, rising from six in 2014 to 18.

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2016-01-04/us-bizjet-accident-fatalities-plummet-2015

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

Plane Spotters - Are you missing something.

Plane Spotters Community
http://theplanespotterscommunity.co.uk

WHat You Get
http://theplanespotterscommunity.co.uk/index.php/what-you-get

There are also forums to share your knowledge with other members as well as ask them your questions.
The database which currently has over 730,000 allows you to look up details for an aircraft.

Registration is free and you can keep track of all your sightings, upload images and link to your videos.
We also provide a chrome extension that interfaces with FlightRadar24 so you can click on the aircraft in FR24 and then click our icon and this will automatically add the details into your sightings.

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

Look at this VRS Mono program and the Database writer Plugin.
VRS added the support for online lookup of aircraft details, courtesy of PlaneBaseNG.
The lookup will add the data to the baseStation.sqb
http://virtualradarserver.co.uk/Mono.aspx
http://virtualradarserver.co.uk/Download.aspx

[Anmer]

Another constructive (and questionable) post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

What are the world's safest airlines for 2016?

AirlineRatings.com, the world's only safety and product rating website, which was launched in June 2013, has announced its top twenty safest airlines and top ten safest low cost airlines for 2016 from the 407 it monitors.   

Top of the list for the third year is Australia's Qantas, which has a fatality free record in the jet era – an extraordinary record.

Making up the remainder of the top twenty in alphabetical order are:

Air New Zealand
Alaska Airlines
All Nippon Airlines
American Airlines
Cathay Pacific Airways
Emirates
Etihad Airways
EVA Air
Finnair
Hawaiian Airlines
Japan Airlines
KLM
Lufthansa
Scandinavian Airline System
Singapore Airlines
Swiss
United Airlines
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Australia

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/05/aviation/airlineratings-com-safest-airlines-for-2016/
http://www.airlineratings.com/news/630/who-is-the-worlds-safest-airline-for-2016

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

Pioneer Concorde Test Pilot Andre Turcat Dies

Concorde flew its last commercial service 12 years ago, but the pilot who first took the Anglo-French SST into the sky survived up until this week.

Andre Turcat, who commanded the four-man crew that made Concorde's 27-minute first flight from Toulouse-Blagnac on March 2, 1969, died at his home in Aix-en-Provence on Monday at the age of 94.

He had joined the Free French air force in World War II and later, during the Indochina War, flew C-47s with enough panache to earn a place at France's EPNER test-pilot school at Istres.

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2016-01-06/pioneer-concorde-test-pilot-andre-turcat-dies

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

Boeing delivered 762 airplanes in 2015, a new record.

Commercial Airplanes - Full 2015 Year
Boeing 737 = 495 deliveries
Boeing 747 = 18 deliveries
Boeing 767 = 16 deliveries
Boeing 777 = 98 deliveries
Boeing 787 = 135 deliveries

http://boeing.mediaroom.com/2016-01-07-Boeing-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-Deliveries

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

He must be getting desperate or lazy.  Both of these were posted on this forum earlier today. 

Look at Life - City of the air 1964 (Heathrow)
Published on Apr 28, 2012
An excellent "Look at life" video clip from The Rank Organisation dated May 1964 about air travel in England from Heathrow Airport featuring BOAC and BEA airplanes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_Om7kdR_Pg

Manchester Airport in 1972.
Published on Mar 25, 2013
Home movie transferred from Super 8 on Kodachrome. A visit to Manchester Airport as it was in 1972. A little bit of plane spotting and then a short flight in a Cessna around the airport and over South Wythenshawe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-fYEcYnKk4

[Anmer]

Another constructive post by Brian, Carlsbad's missing villager and Radarspotters.eu's excuse for a blogger.

Posted 12 hours after it appeared on this forum.

Hints and tips


Re-registration

With the sudden rush of Win 10 updates that change the fingerprint that PlanePlotter uses to generate the serial number, I am getting a surprising number of messages along the lines of "Help - my registration number doesn't work any more!"
If an update changes the serial number, simply follow the registration procedure using the new serial number (PP....) to generate the new registration number and then, when that is done, follow the authentication procedure to generate the new authentication code. If you write to me about it, I will just tell you that anyway, and you will have to wait until I am up and about to reply to you, when you could be back in operation in a couple of minutes if you just did it.


Ground Station validation

John and David handle most of these but we would all appreciate it if you could make sure that the system passes all the tests in Help..Test networking..Check GS/MU status before you ask for it to be validated. If you don't, then we will simply ask you to run the check and fix the problem before asking again so in this case too, it will save you sending emails and waiting for a response if you just make sure the system is passing all the tests before you ask. A surprising number of people ask for validation and then turn the system off. It is supposed to be on round the clock and we certainly cannot test it unless it is up and running. Please, if you ask for validation, leave the system running.


Port forwarding

This generates quite a lot of work because the technique is different for each type of router. Common problems include using the wrong LAN IP address (they do change on some systems), using the wrong protocol (just UDP is fine) and entering the details twice (most routers don't forward packets if there are two definitions for the same port number). Recent versions of PlanePlotter can trigger the UPnP setting on a connected router but that will only work if you enable the UPnP option in the router setup. Some default to UPnp on but some default to UPnP off. If you are a chronic port forwarding failure user, please consider enabling UPnP in the router setup so that it will be done for you.


PC clock

A surprising number of users cannot keep their PC clocks correct. The maximum tolerance is 2 seconds and it is so easy to keep the PC clock within those limits by installing NTP. David T has an excellent tutorial on setting it up and it only takes a few minutes to do it.


Enjoy!
Bev
COAA

Added to the Wiki and referenced from the front page so that they are easier to find:
http://planeplotter.pbworks.com/w/page/104083311/Hints%20and%20Tips

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/planeplotter/conversations/messages/117966