My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on January 30, 2011

For those who remember the last days of the cold war and paying attention to military aviation advancements, the Russian Mig-29 was a frightening aircraft … and it still is. It was put into service in 1983 and remains an “air superiority” jet fighter in my air forces around the world. 

In December of 2010 and then on January 23rd, two of these Mach 2.3 twin engine jet fighters are now flying in private hands. The latest Soviet fighter, N29UB, belongs to the Historic Flight Foundation, based at Paine Field in Mukilteo, which specializes in vintage airplanes.  This second restored Mig-29 may be joining RedAir in missions that can help western pilots in preparing against their Mig-29 adversaries.

Below is a video highlighting RedAir’s first flight of their restored Mig-29 in Quincy, Illinois on December 16th, 2010.

According to Wikipedia, these nations still use the Mig-29:

• Algeria – 35 MiG-29s in service as of December 2010.^[90]
• Azerbaijan – 49 in use as of December 2010.^[91]
• Bangladesh – 14 MiG-29SEs and two MiG-29UBs in service.^[92][93]
• Belarus – 41 MiG-29s in inventory as of January 2010.^[94]
• Bulgaria – 14 MiG-29S and 4 MiG-29UB, modernized in 2009.^[95]
• Cuba – 4 MiG-29s in inventory as of January 2010.^[94]
• Eritrea – 7 MiG-29s in service as of January 2010.^[94]
• Hungary – had 12 in service as of January 2010.^[94] The last of them was retired in December 2010.^[96]
• India
  • Indian Air Force has 69 MiG-29s in service as of December 2010.^[90] The upgrade of all MiG-29s to latest MiG-29SMT standard is in process which will include latest avionics, Zhuk-ME Radar, engine, weapon control systems etc.^[36][37]
  • Indian Naval Air Arm has 4 MiG-29Ks in service with 39 on order as of December 2010.^[90]
• Iran – 35 MiG-29s and 4 MiG-29UBs in inventory as of January 2010.^[94]
• Kazakhstan – 40 in use as of January 2010.^[94]
• Malaysia – 10 MiG-29s in service as of January 2010.^[94] To be retired.^[97]
• Myanmar – 10 MiG-29Bs and two MiG-29UBs in service as of November 2008.^[98] Ordered 20 more MiG-29SMT fighters in 2009.^[99]
• Peru – 19 in service as of January 2010.^[94][98]
• North Korea – 40 in service as of January 2010.^[94][98] 12 initially bought from Belarus in 1995 and a follow up order of 18 MiG-29SE plus 3 new from Russia in 1996. Two were lost in accidents.
• Poland – 36 in service as of January 2010.^[94]
• Russia – 447 in use as of January 2010.^[94]
• Serbia – 3 MiG-29s in service as of December 2010.^[90]
• Slovakia – 21 MiG-29s received, 12 in service as of January 2010.^[94]
• Sudan – 12 ordered,^[100][101] and 12 in service as of January 2010.^[94]
• Syria – 19 MiG-29s in operation as of January 2010.^[94]
• Turkmenistan – 24 MiG-29s in operation as of January 2010.^[94]
• Ukraine – Ukrainian Air Force had 80 MiG-29s in use as of January 2010.^[94] Began upgrading MiG-29 9-13s to MiG-29MU1s.^{[citation needed]}
• United States – Evaluation only
• Uzbekistan – 60 MiG-29s in operation as of January 2010.^[94]
• Yemen – 18 MiG-29SMTs and 1 MiG-29UBT in service as of January 2010.^[94]

Category: Aviation, History, Video | 1 Comment »
Tags: aviation, History, Mig-29, redair

Posted By RichC on January 29, 2011

While I’ve been anxious for the new tablet computer device from HP-Palm, expected to be announce at a California press event on February 9th, I wasn’t holding my breath as to when the devices would actually make it to market. Most industry watchers either have been told or expected them sometime this summer, although a few thought something would be available sooner.

As slow as HP has been to release anything Palm or webOS related this past year, I didn’t expect to hear this from HP CEO Leo Apotheker, at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland this week: “HP will stop making announcements for stuff it doesn’t have. When HP makes announcements, it will be getting ready to ship." He hinted that the products launched on February 9th will be on sale just a few weeks later. This I’m anxious to see (Engadget leaked images below).

Leaked images of the upcoming HP Palm Touchpad

Category: Cellphone, News, Technology | 1 Comment »
Tags: davos, hp, palm, touchpad, webos

Posted By RichC on January 29, 2011

The L1 concept Volkswagen has been toying around with for the past couple of years is finally inching towards limited production (100 to be built). The car has grown into a side-by-side two seater and is known as the XL1 diesel plug-in hybrid has an aero design to reduce drag and increase gas mileage. It is build using a lot of carbon fiber and looks pretty amazing with its gull wing doors too. Perhaps where is really stands out is in it’s 261 miles per gallon number … being called the most efficient car in the world … by Volkswagen of course.

The XL1 concept is currently at the auto show in Qatar, the Persian Gulf.  . VW calls it the most efficient car in the world. The new Volkswagen XL1 combines light weight and a low aerodynamic drag to get the most out of its hybrid system. The system has a two-cylinder diesel engine and a seven-speed transmission. It can accelerate from a stop to 62 miles an hour in 11.9 seconds and has a top speed higher than 85 miles per hour. I’m wondering what the price might be … pretty high even if I could get my hands on one?

Category: Automotive, Diesel | 2 Comments »
Tags: concept, diesel, hybrid, volkswagen, xl1

Posted By RichC on January 28, 2011

Category: Aviation | 1 Comment »
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Posted By RichC on January 28, 2011

As the middle east boils and Egypt joins Tunisia in a public uprising against their governments, world markets grow nervous seeing oil rise 4% today on worry over disruption. Not only is our U.S. stock market giving back it’s gains from the past few days, but the political unrest a half a world away reminds me just how connected our world has become … for the good and the bad.

Neil Cavuto reminded us (audio above), that during times of international turmoil just like back in the 1970 in Iran during the overthrow of the Shah, events can quickly spiral out of control and even bring down the president in the United States. This is of serious concern both economically and politically. (AP video update below)

Adding some follow up video illustrating the chaos …

Category: Audio, Financial, News | No Comments »
Tags: cavuto, egypt, finance, market, oil, stocks

Posted By RichC on January 28, 2011

A few words of appreciation from Jimmy Buffett … humbled by the outpouring of concern and well wishes from his fans.

From his comments it does look like he is going to be just fine although will miss the New Zealand concert. Gotta love the the “Fins Up!” smile.
😎

Category: Music, Video | No Comments »
Tags: jimmy buffett, mp4

Posted By RichC on January 28, 2011

In the State of the Union address this past Tuesday night, President Obama reflected on the space race as a time American’s found themselves behind in technology and rose to the occasion as Americans competed with the Russians in the frontier of space. “This is our generation’s Sputnik moment,” Obama said. As a result, we need to fund “a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the space race,” with particularly strong investments in biomedicine, information technology, and clean-energy technology.

For those a bit too young to remember, this is the sound being broadcast from a circling satellite that sent chills down the spines of all who were charged with protecting our nation from nuclear weapons.

Category: Audio, History, Politics | 1 Comment »
Tags: obama, russia, space, sputnik

Posted By RichC on January 27, 2011

Although the dream of flying around like the Jetsons has been something many of us believed would be here by now, those at Carter Copters are a bit more serious in developing something that might move us closer to that reality. Their combination of aviation engineering using fuel sipping diesel engines, gyro-plane lift, airplane like speeds and helicopter maneuverability is in my opinion on the right track.

I listened to an interesting EAA interview with founder Jay Carter about their recent flight testing – perhaps an experimental kit is right around the corner?

2+2 Place Personal Air Vehicle Performance

Civilian 200 HP Diesel Version w/ 34′ Wingspan & Rotor Diameter

• Turbo Delta Hawk Engine – 200 HP to 17.5K ft
• 34 ft Wing Span & Rotor Diameter
• 2400 lb Gross Weight
• 1000 lb Empty Weight
• 400 lb Max Fuel
• 4 Place

Category: Aviation, Diesel, Video | No Comments »
Tags: aviation, carter, helicopter, prototype

Posted By RichC on January 26, 2011

Category: Financial, News | 2 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By RichC on January 26, 2011

Wh.gov’s web and social networking team did a great job with enhanced State of the Union coverage, as well as pre and post-coverage tonight. I wish I could say the same for my confidence in President Obama’s leadership and vision for our country.

(SOTU Transcript and Republican response video below the split)

First a positive – it was great to have the Hon. John Boehner behind the President, rather than Pelosi and knowing that there is at least a check to growing government. Second, the mention of Gabby Giffords and the shooting in Tucson was most respectful: "Tucson reminded us that no matter who we are or where we come from, each of us is a part of something greater." Unfortunately that was the last believable component of Obama’s SOTU speech. I had difficulty believing that his focus will be on “jobs” and need to keep us competitive; instead I saw a campaign for re-election starting in earnest – “say the right things.” His bragging about “tax cuts” being passed rang a little weak in my ears … considering his policies require more government and more spending … and therefore more taxes. I think he is being a bit disingenuous taking create for extending taxes cuts.

As for re-inventing America, working smarter and focusing on innovation are all great talking points, but Democrats and Republicans have two entirely different philosophies in how we get there. Obama’s recommendation that we stop subsidizing the oil companies and that they are “doing ok on their own.” This may be true, but instead of removing government, he turns right around and wants to extend subsidies to another industry. Not only is there a disagreement that government should be picking winners and losers … there is a real disconnect in funding business when we don’t have the money in the first place.

For all the polite applause and congress making an effort to show civility to the citizens, there are some serious disagreements as to government’s place in peoples’ lives. Personally I much preferred less political correctness and more political directness of Rep. Paul Ryan’s Republican response (below).

Transcript of President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union Address below:

EDIT 1/26/2011:

Adding a YouTube link to Michele Bachmann speaking on invitation from the Tea Party groups.

Category: News, Politics, Social Media | 1 Comment »
Tags: obama, president, sotu