1.
Roberts International Airport
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Roberts International Airport, informally also known as Robertsfield, is an international airport in the West African nation of Liberia. The airport is named in honor of Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the first President of Liberia, the airport is clearly the nations busiest most important aviation facility, with the only connections to Europe. In 1942, Liberia signed a Defense Pact with the United States and this commenced a period of strategic road building and other construction related to US military interests in checking the expansion of the Axis powers. The airport was built by the United States government as an Air Force base as part of these activities. The runway was long enough for B-47 Stratojet bombers to land for refueling, giving Liberia what was for many years the longest runway in Africa. President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States had lunch with President Edwin J. Barclay at Robertsfield visit to Liberia in January 1943 and their main base was at Tokoradi, Ghana. The story of Robertsfield is consistently intertwined with the history of Pan American World Airways, in fact, from the end of World War II until 1985, the airport was administered and operated by Pan American under contract with the Republic of Liberias Ministry of Transport. Monrovia was consistently a key link in Pan Americans African network, Pan Ams presence diminished during the 1980s, as Pan Ams African network was slowly pulled down. Pan Am ended its management of the airport in 1985 but as late as 1986 the airport was still a stop on the JFK-Dakar-Monrovia-Lagos-Nairobi route, by 1987, Pan Am was no longer serving Monrovia at all. Scandinavian Airline System also served Monrovia, from Copenhagen, vARIGs Flight between Rome and Rio crashed at Monrovia in March 1967, and remains the worst aviation accident in Liberia to this day. As with Pan Am, several African flag carriers utilized Robertsfield as a waystation on transatlantic routes and this also included for a time a weekly Monrovia-Port of Spain-Miami flight. Until 1983, Air Afriques DC-10s also stopped at Robertsfield on that airlines Abidjan-Monrovia-Dakar-New York services, likewise, Zambia Airways made two stops per week at RIA on the way to New York-JFK from Lusaka, a service which commenced in April 1988 with a DC-10 and lasted until 1992. In the past, Roberts Airport was listed as a landing site for NASAs Space Shuttle. During the Second Liberian Civil War, the terminal building suffered major damage. Other airside buildings are used by the United Nations, with a VIP facility adjacent to the original. After the end of the war in 2003, commercial air service was slow to return to Liberia. Royal Air Maroc started flights to Mohamed V International Airport in November 2007, the proposed service would have commenced in June 2009, utilizing a Boeing 757-200 configured for ETOPS operations in a two-class configuration. The route was revised in May to originate from New Yorks JFK and connect via Dakar, beginning on 9 June, Monday, one week prior to the inaugural flight, Delta announced that its planned launch would be suspended indefinitely
2.
ICAO airport code
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The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-character alphanumeric code designating aerodromes around the world. ICAO codes are used to identify other aviation facilities such as weather stations, International Flight Service Stations or Area Control Centers. Flight information regions are identified by a unique ICAO-code. Code selections in North America were based on existing radio station identifiers, for example, radio stations in Canada were already starting with C, so it seemed logical to begin Canadian airport identifiers with Cxxx. The United States had many pre-existing airports with established mnemonic codes and their ICAO codes were formed simply by prepending a K to the existing codes, as half the radio station identifiers in the US began with K. Most ICAO codes outside the US and Canada have a geographical structure. Most of the rest of the world was classified in a more planned top-down manner, thus Uxxx referred to the Soviet Union with the second letter denoting the specific region within it, and so forth. Europe had too many locations for one starting letter, so it was split into Exxx for northern Europe. The second letter was more specific, EGxx was the United Kingdom, EDxx was West Germany, ETxx was East Germany, LExx was Spain, LAxx was Albania, France was designated LFxx, as the counterpart EFxx was the unambiguously northern Finland. ICAO codes are separate and different from IATA codes, which are used for airline timetables, reservations. For example, the IATA code for Londons Heathrow Airport is LHR, in general IATA codes are usually derived from the name of the airport or the city it serves, while ICAO codes are distributed by region and country. Far more aerodromes have ICAO codes than IATA codes, and to add to the confusion IATA codes are assigned to railway stations. Unlike the IATA codes, the ICAO codes generally have a structure and are comprehensive. In general, the first letter is allocated by continent and represents a country or group of countries within that continent, the second letter generally represents a country within that region, and the remaining two are used to identify each airport. The exception to rule is larger countries that have single-letter country codes. In either case, ICAO codes generally provide geographical context unlike IATA codes, for example, if one knows that the ICAO code for Heathrow is EGLL, then one can deduce that the airport EGGP is somewhere in the UK. On the other hand, knowing that the IATA code for Heathrow is LHR does not enable one to deduce the location of the airport LHV with any greater certainty, there are a few exceptions to the regional structure of the ICAO code made for political or administrative reasons. Similarly Saint Pierre and Miquelon is controlled by France, and airports there are assigned LFxx as though they were in Europe, further, in region L, all available 2-letter prefixes have been exhausted and thus no additional countries can be added
3.
George Town, Grand Cayman
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George Town is a city situated on Grand Cayman island of the Cayman Islands. It serves as the capital of the Cayman Islands, in the British West Indies, as of 2007, the city had a population of 28,836, making it the second largest city of all the British Overseas Territories. George Town is the heart of the Cayman Islands financial services industry, the Caymanian government offices are located in the city. The Caymanian government offices are located in George Town and these offices include the Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands, the Court Houses and the Government Administration Building. The Government Administration Building houses the offices of the Premier and other members of Cabinet, the former Old Courts Building located at the corner of Shedden Road and Harbour Drive is now the National Museum of Grand Cayman. The building was more than 150 years ago and has served the Caymanian government not only as a court building but as a jail. George Towns famous Seven Mile Beach is a crescent of coral-sand beach extending up to the West Bay region of Grand Cayman and is the most popular. The financial services generated CI$1.2 billion of GDP in 2007, 36% of all employment, the Cayman Islands ranks fifth internationally in terms of value of liabilities booked and sixth in terms of assets booked. It has branches of 40 of the worlds 50 largest banks, the Cayman Islands are the second largest captive domicile in the world with more than 700 captives, writing more than US$7.7 billion of premiums and with US$36.8 billion of assets under management. There are more than 9,500 funds under licence with globally recognised legal, audit/accounting, major law firms such as Maples and Calder have established themselves in the Cayman Islands. Similarly, large accounting firms such as KPMG, Ogier, Ernst & Young, as a result, the Cayman Islands are a leader in captive domiciles, hedge fund registrations and is considered a major international banking centre. George Town is a port of call for the Caribbean with cruise ships anchoring in George Town Harbour Tuesday through Friday. Cruise ships calling at George Town anchor offshore and ferry their passengers ashore by tenders, passengers disembark in George Town, in the centre of the Grand Cayman shopping district and usually remain anchored from early morning until mid-afternoon. For nightlife, Seven Mile Beach is host to numerous nightclubs, George Towns waterfront is also home to a Harley-Davidson shop, a Jimmy Buffetts Margaritaville franchise, and a Guy Harvey art studio and restaurant. Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman is the grandest hotel on the island, George Town, as well as the rest of Grand Cayman, is served by nearby Owen Roberts International Airport. It is one of the two entrance points to the Cayman Islands by air, the other being Charles Kirkconnell Airport on Cayman Brac. There are over 55 weekly flights into the Cayman Islands, Cayman Airways is the National Flag Carrier of the Cayman Islands and features five Boeing 737 jets and two Twin Otters. Non-stop service to Grand Cayman are available from Atlanta, Chicago, Tampa, Newark, London, Toronto, New York, Montego Bay, havana, Miami, Panama City, La Ceiba and more
4.
Grand Cayman
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Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territorys capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles southwest of Cayman Brac, Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of the territorys entire land mass. The island is approximately 22 miles long with its widest point being 8 miles wide, the elevation ranges from sea level at the beaches to 60 feet above sea level on the North Sides Mastic Trail. Grand Cayman Island includes five of the six districts of the Cayman Islands, Bodden Town, East End, George Town, North Side, and West Bay. Bodden Town - Founded in the 1700s, Bodden Town district comprises the part of Grand Cayman Island. The village of Bodden Town was the capital of the Cayman Islands. Its population is listed at 5,764. East End - The East End district is located at the east side of Grand Cayman Island and consists mostly of the Village of East End, numerous attractions, restaurants. Its population is listed at 1,371. George Town - The capital of the Cayman Islands and world-famous centre for offshore banking, North Side - Includes Kaibo, Rum Point, and Breakers. Its population is listed at 1,079. Sand Point Cove in Rum Point is home to a Bioluminescent Bay or Bio Bay, West Bay - Has numerous tourist attractions including the Cayman Turtle Farm and the Cayman Motor Museum. Towns in the West Bay district include Seven Mile Beach, Hell and its population is currently listed at 8,243. The remaining district is Sister Islands, which consists of the islands of Cayman Brac and its population is currently listed at 1,937. Of the flora, a representation of the variety of plant life on Grand Cayman can be found at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park located in the North Side District. Wild banana orchids, ghost orchids, thatch palm trees, red birch trees, mahogany trees and various fruit trees such as avocado, mango, guinep, naseberry, breadfruit, and tamarind. Yellow mastics, black mastics are also seen in the park as well as on the 2 miles -long Mastic Trail, elsewhere outside the park, all of these species can be seen around Grand Cayman, including coconut palm, Casuarina pine, mangrove, and poinciana trees. Fauna seen in locations around the island include blue iguanas, Grand Cayman amazon parrots, Central American agouti, and Gecarcinus ruricola
5.
Airline hub
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Airline hubs or hub airports are used by one or more airliners to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations at a given airport. They serve as points to get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the hub-and-spoke system, an airline operates flights from several non-hub cities to the hub airport, and passengers traveling between spoke cities need to connect through the hub. This paradigm creates economies of scale that allow an airline to serve city-pairs that could not be economically served on a non-stop basis. This system contrasts with the point-to-point model, in there are no hubs. Hub airports also serve origin and destination traffic, the hub-and-spoke system allows an airline to serve fewer routes, so fewer aircraft are needed. The system also increases passenger loads, a flight from a hub to a spoke carries not just passengers originating at the hub, additional employees and facilities are needed to cater to connecting passengers. To serve spoke cities of varying populations and demand, an airline requires several aircraft types, in addition, airlines may experience capacity constraints as they expand at their hub airports. For the passenger, the system offers one-stop air service to a wide array of destinations. However, having to make connections en route to their final destination increases travel time. Additionally, airlines can come to monopolise their hubs, allowing them to increase fares. Airlines may operate banks of flights at their hubs, in several flights arrive. The banks may be known as peaks of activity at the hubs, banking allows for short connection times for passengers. In addition, banking could result in inefficient aircraft utilisation, with aircraft waiting at spoke cities for the next bank, instead, some airlines have debanked their hubs, introducing a rolling hub in which flight arrivals and departures are spread throughout the day. This phenomenon is known as depeaking. While costs may decrease, connection times are longer at a rolling hub, American Airlines was the first to depeak its hubs, trying to improve profitability following the September 11 attacks. It rebanked its hubs in 2015, however, feeling the gain in connecting passengers would outweigh the rise in costs, the hub-and-spoke system is also used by some cargo airlines. FedEx Express established its main hub in Memphis in 1973, prior to the deregulation of the air industry in the United States
6.
Cayman Airways
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Cayman Airways is the flag carrier airline of the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands. With its head office in Grand Cayman, it mainly as an international and domestic scheduled passenger carrier. Its operations are based at Owen Roberts International Airport in George Town, the airline also offers a limited charter service with a recent example being flights to and from Los Angeles. Cayman Airways slogan is Those who fly us love us, the airline was established and started operations on August 7,1968. It was formed following the Cayman Islands Governments purchase of 51% of Cayman Brac Airways from LACSA, the Costa Rican flag carrier, by 1970, LACSA had introduced British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twin jets on its San Jose, Costa Rica – Grand Cayman – Miami route. Early on, Cayman Airways first aircraft was a single Douglas DC-3, a few months after it was formed, the airline flew its first international route to Kingston, Jamaica using a BAC One-Eleven wet leased from LACSA. International service to Miami was initiated using a single leased Douglas DC-6 propliner, the airline was also offering direct connecting jet service between Miami and Kingston via Grand Cayman at this time. In 1979, an additional BAC One-Eleven jet as well as a Hawker Siddeley 748 turboprop, Cayman Airways also operated a Douglas DC-8-52 jetliner and a leased Boeing 727-100 jet during the 1980s. These jets were replaced with Boeing 737-200 and then with Boeing 737-300 aircraft. Boeing 737-400 jetliners were previously operated at as well, louis as well as Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica. The airline also served Panama City, Panama in the recent past, the airline also flew nonstop at one point between Miami and Grand Turk Island and Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos Islands with Boeing 727-200 and Boeing 737-200 jetliners. These were the routes flown by the carrier that did not directly serve the Cayman Islands. Non-jet flights between Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are currently operated with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter series 300, worth and Havana, Cuba appear to have helped the airline. The airline has also added one Boeing 737-800 as an interim measure, on Wednesday January 5,2017, Cayman Airways initiated charter service to Los Angeles with their Boeing 737-800 registration VP-CNG. The companys mascot is an embellishment of the original Sir Turtle designed by Suzy Soto, as first designed, Sir Turtle did not have the red flying scarf. That original design was used on baggage stickers by Cayman Islands Customs, mrs. Soto was married to Eric Bergstrom, with whom she built the Tortuga Club on the East End of Grand Cayman. The red flying scarf was later added to Sir Turtle in 1978 by Capt. Wilbur Thompson, the Chief Pilot of Cayman Airways at the time, Cayman Airways largely serves major destinations in the United States, Jamaica and Cuba as well as destinations in Honduras. These ramps also allow passengers with limited mobility, including those in wheel chairs to have easier access to the aircraft
7.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
8.
Runway
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According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a runway is a defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft. Runways may be a surface or a natural surface. Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally the magnetic azimuth of the heading in decadegrees. This heading differs from true north by the magnetic declination. A runway numbered 09 points east, runway 18 is south, runway 27 points west, when taking off from or landing on runway 09, a plane would be heading 90°. A runway can normally be used in both directions, and is named for each separately, e. g. runway 33 in one direction is runway 15 when used in the other. The two numbers usually differ by 18, Runway Zero Three Left becomes Runway Two One Right when used in the opposite direction. In some countries, if parallel runways are too close to each other, at large airports with four or more parallel runways some runway identifiers are shifted by 10 degrees to avoid the ambiguity that would result with more than three parallel runways. For example, in Los Angeles, this results in runways 6L, 6R, 7L. At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, there are five parallel runways, named 17L, 17C, 17R, 18L, for clarity in radio communications, each digit in the runway name is pronounced individually, runway three six, runway one four, etc. A leading zero, for example in runway zero six or runway zero one left, is included for all ICAO, however, most U. S. civil aviation airports drop the leading zero as required by FAA regulation. This also includes some military airfields such as Cairns Army Airfield and this American anomaly may lead to inconsistencies in conversations between American pilots and controllers in other countries. It is very common in a such as Canada for a controller to clear an incoming American aircraft to, for example, runway 04. In flight simulation programs those of American origin might apply U. S. usage to airports around the world, for example, runway 05 at Halifax will appear on the program as the single digit 5 rather than 05. Runway designations change over time because the magnetic poles slowly drift on the Earths surface, depending on the airport location and how much drift takes place, it may be necessary over time to change the runway designation. As runways are designated with headings rounded to the nearest 10 degrees, for example, if the magnetic heading of a runway is 233 degrees, it would be designated Runway 23. If the magnetic heading changed downwards by 5 degrees to 228, if on the other hand the original magnetic heading was 226, and the heading decreased by only 2 degrees to 224, the runway should become Runway 22. Because the drift itself is slow, runway designation changes are uncommon
9.
Cayman Islands
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The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean Sea. Its population is approximately 60,000, and its capital is George Town, the Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is considered a major world offshore financial haven for many wealthy individuals. The Cayman Islands remained largely uninhabited until the 17th century, the first recorded permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1661. He was the grandson of the original settler named Bodden who was one of Oliver Cromwells soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in 1655. England took formal control of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement, a permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s. With settlement, after the first royal land grant by the Governor of Jamaica in 1734, many were brought to the islands from Africa, this is evident today with the majority of native Caymanians being of African and English descent. The results of the first census taken in the islands in 1802 showed the population on Grand Cayman to be 933 with 545 of those inhabitants being enslaved, slavery was abolished in the Cayman Islands in 1833. At the time of abolition, there were over 950 Blacks of African ancestry enslaved by 116 white families of English ancestry. The islands continued to be governed as part of the Colony of Jamaica until 1962, the Cayman Islands historically have been a tax-exempt destination. On 8 February 1794, the Caymanians rescued the crews of a group of ten merchant ships, including HMS Convert, the ships had struck a reef and run aground during rough seas. Legend has it that King George III rewarded the island with a never to introduce taxes as compensation for their generosity. While this remains a legend, the story is not true. However, whatever the history, in practice the government of the Cayman Islands has always relied on indirect, the islands have never levied income tax, capital gains tax, or any wealth tax, making them a popular tax haven. On 11 September 2004 the island of Grand Cayman, which lies largely unprotected at sea level, was hit by Hurricane Ivan, an estimated 83% of the dwellings on the island were damaged including 4% requiring complete reconstruction. A reported 70% of all dwellings suffered severe damage from flooding or wind, another 26% sustained minor damage from partial roof removal, low levels of flooding, or impact with floating or wind driven hurricane debris. Power, water and communications were disrupted for months in areas as Ivan was the worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years. Grand Cayman began a rebuilding process and within two years its infrastructure was nearly returned to pre-hurricane status.23 years
10.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
11.
Displaced threshold
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A displaced threshold is a runway threshold located at a point other than the physical beginning or end of the runway. The portion of the runway so displaced may be used for takeoff, landing aircraft may use the displaced area on the opposite end for roll out. Most often the offset threshold is in place to give arriving aircraft clearance over an obstruction while still allowing departing aircraft the maximum amount of runway available. A displaced threshold may also be introduced if a section of the runway is no longer able to sustain the continuous impact from landing aircraft. Aircraft are expected to land beyond the displaced threshold, departing aircraft are permitted to use the displaced section of the runway for takeoffs or landing rollouts because those aircraft are not impacting the runway with the force of a landing aircraft. Displaced thresholds have arrows as the line of the runway. A thick white line with four arrows pointing in the direction of the runway denotes the end of the threshold. Thresholds are counted as part of the runway, and are included in the runway size, when viewing a runways size with displaced thresholds, one must find out how long the displaced thresholds are in order to calculate the available landing distance. Indira Gandhi international airport has one of the worlds longest paved threshold displacements of 1,460 m
12.
Non-directional beacon
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A non-directional beacon is a radio transmitter at a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid. NDB signals follow the curvature of the Earth, so they can be received at greater distances at lower altitudes. However, NDB signals are affected more by atmospheric conditions, mountainous terrain, coastal refraction and electrical storms. Each NDB is identified by a one, two, or three-letter Morse code callsign, in Canada, privately owned NDB identifiers consist of one letter and one number. The ADF can also locate transmitters in the standard AM medium wave broadcast band and this bearing may be displayed on a relative bearing indicator. This display looks like a card with a needle superimposed. In order to track toward an NDB the aircraft is flown so that the points to the 0 degree position. Similarly, the aircraft will track directly away from the NDB if the needle is maintained on the 180 degree mark. With a crosswind, the needle must be maintained to the left or right of the 0 or 180 position by an amount corresponding to the due to the crosswind. This gives the bearing that must be flown, mod 360 = MB. When tracking to or from an NDB, it is usual that the aircraft track on a specific bearing. To do this it is necessary to correlate the RBI reading with the compass heading. Having determined the drift, the aircraft must be flown so that the heading is the required bearing adjusted for drift at the same time as the RBI reading is 0 or 180 adjusted for drift. An NDB may also be used to locate a position along the current track. When the needle reaches an RBI reading corresponding to the required bearing then the aircraft is at the position, however, using a separate RBI and compass, this requires considerable mental calculation to determine the appropriate relative bearing. To simplify this task, a compass card driven by the magnetic compass is added to the RBI to form a Radio Magnetic Indicator. The ADF needle is then referenced immediately to the magnetic heading. The principles of ADFs are not limited to NDB usage, such systems are used to detect the locations of broadcast signals for many other purposes
13.
VOR/DME
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VOR/DME refers to combined radio navigation station for aircraft, which consists of two radio beacons, placed together, a VHF omnidirectional range and distance measuring equipment. VOR produces an angle between the station and the receiver in the aircraft, while DME does the same for range, together, they provide the two measurements needed to produce a navigational fix using a chart. The VOR system was first introduced in the 1950s, but became more practical with the introduction of low-cost solid state receivers in the 1960s. DME was a modification of World War II-era navigation systems like Gee-H, like VOR, it only became practical with the introduction of solid state receivers during the 1960s. During the mid-1960s, ICAO began the process of introducing a standardized radio navigation system for medium-area coverage on the order of a few hundred kilometres and this system would replace the older Low-frequency radio range and similar systems used to navigate over national ranges. VOR/DME eventually won the standardization effort, due to a number of factors, the choice of VOR/DME as a hybrid was due largely to it being easier to measure and then plot on a map. With VOR/DME, measurement from a single station reveals an angle and range, which can be easily drawn on a chart
14.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
15.
Tampa, Florida
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Tampa is a major city in, and the county seat of, Hillsborough County, Florida. It is located on the west coast of Florida on Tampa Bay, near the Gulf of Mexico, the city had a population of 346,037 in 2011. The current location of Tampa was once inhabited by peoples of the Safety Harbor culture. The area was explored by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, resulting in violent conflicts and the introduction of European diseases, which wiped out the original native cultures. In 1824, the United States Army established a frontier outpost called Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, near the site of todays Tampa Convention Center. The first civilian residents were pioneers who settled near the fort for protection from the nearby Seminole population, today, Tampa is part of the metropolitan area most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area. For U. S. Census purposes, Tampa is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, the Greater Tampa Bay area has over 4 million residents and generally includes the Tampa and Sarasota metro areas. The Tampa Bay Partnership and U. S. Census data showed an annual growth of 2.47 percent. A2012 estimate shows the Tampa Bay area population to have 4,310,524 people, Tampa was ranked as the 5th best outdoor city by Forbes in 2008. Tampa also ranks as the fifth most popular American city, based on where people want to live, a 2004 survey by the NYU newspaper Washington Square News ranked Tampa as a top city for twenty-somethings. Tampa is ranked as a Gamma+ world city by Loughborough University, ranked alongside other world cities such as Phoenix, Charlotte, Rotterdam, and Santo Domingo. The word Tampa may mean sticks of fire in the language of the Calusa and this might be a reference to the many lightning strikes that the area receives during the summer months. Other historians claim the name means the place to gather sticks, toponymist George R. Stewart writes that the name was the result of a miscommunication between the Spanish and the Indians, the Indian word being itimpi, meaning simply near it. The name first appears in the Memoir of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda and he calls it Tanpa and describes it as an important Calusa town. While Tanpa may be the basis for the modern name Tampa, archaeologist Jerald Milanich places the Calusa village of Tanpa at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor, the original Bay of Tanpa. A later Spanish expedition did not notice Charlotte Harbor while sailing north along the west coast of Florida, the name was accidentally transferred north. Map makers were using the term Bay or Bahia Tampa as early as 1695, people from Tampa are known as Tampans or Tampanians. Latin Americans from Tampa are known as tampeños, or tampeñas for females and these terms of Spanish origin emerged after 1900 for the immigrant communities in West Tampa and Ybor City
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Kingston, Jamaica
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Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal. In the Americas, Kingston is the largest predominantly English-speaking city south of the United States. The local government bodies of the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew were amalgamated by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation Act of 1923, to form the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation. Greater Kingston, or the Corporate Area refers to areas under the KSAC, however, it does not solely refer to Kingston Parish. Kingston Parish had a population of 96,052, and St. Andrew parish had a population of 555,828 in 2001, Kingston is only bordered by Saint Andrew to the east, west and north. The city proper is bounded by Six Miles to the west, Stony Hill to the north, Papine to the northeast and Harbour View to the east, communities in urban and suburban Saint Andrew. Communities in rural St. Andrew such as Gordon Town, Mavis Bank, Lawrence Tavern, Mt. Airy, two parts make up the central area of Kingston, the historic Downtown, and New Kingston. Both are served by Norman Manley International Airport and also by the smaller, Kingston was founded in July 1692 as a place for survivors of the 1692 earthquake that destroyed Port Royal. Before the earthquake, Kingston’s functions were purely agricultural, the earthquake survivors set up a camp on the sea front. Approximately two thousand people died due to mosquito-borne diseases, initially the people lived in a tented camp on Colonel Barrys Hog Crawle. The town did not begin to grow until after the destruction of Port Royal by fire in 1703. Surveyor John Goffe drew up a plan for the town based on a grid bounded by North, East, West, by 1716 it had become the largest town and the centre of trade for Jamaica. The government sold land to people with the regulation that they no more than the amount of the land that they owned in Port Royal. Gradually wealthy merchants began to move their residences from above their businesses to the lands north on the plains of Liguanea. The first free school, Wolmerss, was founded in 1729 and there was a theatre, first on Harbour Street, in 1755 the governor, Sir Charles Knowles, had decided to transfer the government offices from Spanish Town to Kingston. It was thought by some to be a location for the Assembly in proximity to the moral distractions of Kingston. By the end of the 18th century, the city contained more than 3,000 brick buildings, the harbour fostered trade, and played part in several naval wars of the 18th century
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Belize
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Belize, formerly British Honduras, is an independent country on the eastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the north by Mexico, on the south and west by Guatemala and its mainland is about 290 km long and 110 km wide. Belize has an area of 22,800 square kilometres and a population of 368,310 and it has the lowest population density in Central America. The countrys population growth rate of 1. 87% per year is the second highest in the region, Belizes abundance of terrestrial and marine species and its diversity of ecosystems gives it a key place in the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. Belize has a society, composed of many cultures and languages that reflect its rich history. English is the language of Belize, with Belizean Kriol being the unofficial language. Over half the population is multilingual, with Spanish being the second most common spoken language, Belize is considered a Central American and Caribbean nation with strong ties to both the Latin American and Caribbean regions. Belize is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch, Belize is known for its September Celebrations, its extensive coral reefs, and punta music. The origin of the name Belize remains unclear, the earliest known record of the name appears in the journal of the Dominican priest Fray José Delgado, dating to 1677. Delgado recorded the names of three rivers that he crossed while travelling north along the Caribbean coast, Rio Soyte, Rio Xibum. The names of these waterways, which correspond to the Sittee River, Sibun River and it is likely that Delgados Balis was actually the Mayan word belix, meaning muddy-watered. Others have suggested that the name derives from a Spanish pronunciation of the name of the Scottish buccaneer Peter Wallace, there is no proof that Wallace settled in this area and some scholars have characterized this claim as a myth. Writers and historians have suggested other possible etymologies, including postulated French. Many aspects of this culture persist in the area despite nearly 500 years of European domination, prior to about 2500 BC, some hunting and foraging bands settled in small farming villages, they later domesticated crops such as corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers. A profusion of languages and subcultures developed within the Maya core culture, between about 2500 BC and 250 AD, the basic institutions of Maya civilisation emerged. The peak of this occurred during the classic period, which began about 250 AD. The Maya civilisation spread across what is now Belize around 1500 BC, the recorded history of the middle and southern regions is dominated by Caracol, an urban political centre that may have supported over 140,000 people. North of the Maya Mountains, the most important political centre was Lamanai, in the late Classic Era of Maya civilisation, as many as 1 million people may have lived in the area that is now Belize
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Consolidated PBY Catalina
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The Consolidated PBY Catalina, also known as the Canso in Canadian service, was an American flying boat, and later an amphibious aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II, Catalinas served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other nations. During World War II, PBYs were used in warfare, patrol bombing, convoy escorts, search and rescue missions. The PBY was the most numerous aircraft of its kind and the last active military PBYs were not retired from service until the 1980s. In 2014, nearly 80 years after its first flight, the continues to fly as a waterbomber in aerial firefighting operations all over the world. In accordance with contemporary British naming practice of naming seaplanes after coastal towns, Royal Canadian Air Force examples were named Canso. The Royal Air Force used the name Catalina and the US Navy adopted this name in 1942, the United States Army Air Forces and later the United States Air Force used the designation OA-10. US Navy Catalinas used in the Pacific against the Japanese for night operations were painted black overall, and as a result were sometimes referred to locally as Black Cats. The PBY was originally designed to be a bomber, an aircraft with a long operational range intended to locate. Flying boats had the advantage of not requiring runways, in effect having the entire ocean available, several different flying boats were adopted by the Navy, but the PBY was the most widely used and produced. Although slow and ungainly, Catalinas distinguished themselves in World War II, Allied forces used them successfully in a wide variety of roles for which the aircraft was never intended. They are remembered for their role, in which they saved the lives of thousands of aircrew downed over water. Catalina airmen called their aircraft the Cat on combat missions and Dumbo in air-sea rescue service, Naval doctrine of the 1930s and 1940s used flying boats in a wide variety of roles that today are handled by multiple special-purpose aircraft. The U. S. Navy had adopted the Consolidated P2Y and Martin P3M models for this role in 1931, Consolidated and Douglas both delivered single prototypes of their new designs, the XP3Y-1 and XP3D-1, respectively. Although the Douglas aircraft was a design, the Navy opted for Consolidateds because the projected cost was only $90,000 per aircraft. Consolidateds XP3Y-1 design had a wing with external bracing struts. Wingtip stabilizing floats were retractable in flight to form streamlined wingtips and had licensed from the Saunders-Roe company. The two-step hull design was similar to that of the P2Y, cleaner aerodynamics gave the Model 28 better performance than earlier designs
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Amphibious aircraft
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This article discusses fixed-wing amphibious aircraft. For rotary-wing amphibious aircraft, see Amphibious helicopter, an amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft that can take off and land on both land and water. Some amphibians are fitted with reinforced keels which act as skis, many amphibian aircraft are of the flying boat type. While these impose weight and drag, amphibious aircraft also face the possibility of getting hit when operating from a runway. A common solution is to make them retractable as those found on the Consolidated Catalina however these are heavier than fixed floats. Some aircraft may have the tip floats removed for extended use from land and these are not built to take the impact of the aircraft landing on them. An occasional problem with amphibians is with ensuring the wheels are in the position for landing. In normal operation, the uses a checklist, verifying each item. Since amphibians can land with them up or down though, the pilot must take care to ensure they are correct for the chosen landing place. Landing wheels up on land may damage the keel, while landing wheels down on water will almost always flip the aircraft upside down, Amphibious aircraft are heavier and slower, more complex and more expensive to purchase and operate than comparable landplanes but are also more versatile. Even if they cannot hover or land vertically, for jobs they compete favorably with helicopters. This makes an amphibious aircraft, such as the Grumman Albatross, the most notable being the Short Sunderland which carried out many anti-submarine patrols over the North Atlantic on sorties of 8 –12 hours duration. The Grumman Corporation, late-comers to the game, introduced a pair of light utility amphibious aircraft - the Goose, however, their military potential could not be ignored, and many were ordered by the US Armed forces and their allies during World War II. Not coincidentally, the Consolidated Catalina was redeveloped from being a flying boat into an amphibian during the war. Development of amphibians continues in Russia with the jet engined Beriev Be-200, italy, bordering the Mediterranean and Adriatic has had a long history of waterborne aircraft going back to the first Italian aircraft to fly. While most were not amphibians, quite a few were, including the Savoia-Marchetti S. 56A, although successful, flying boat amphibians like it ultimately proved less versatile than floatplane amphibians and are no longer as common as they once were. Many today are homebuilts, by necessity as the demand is too small to justify the costs of development, Amphibious helicopter Amphibious vehicle List of seaplanes and amphibious aircraft Floatplane Flying boat Seaplane Tigerfish Aviation Unmanned aerial vehicle
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Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar
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The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is a passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era. In order to improve the economics, Lockheed decided to stretch the aircrafts fuselage by 5 feet 6 inches. The modified aircraft first flew in this form on September 21,1939, a total of 625 Lodestars of all variants were built. The Lodestar received its Type certificate on March 30,1940, allowing it to service with the first customer. As hoped, the extra seats greatly improved the Model 18s economics, reducing its costs to a similar level to that of the DC-3. Despite this, sales to US domestic customers were slow as most US airlines were already committed to the DC-3. Overseas sales were a better, with 29 bought by the government of the Netherlands East Indies. South African Airways, New Zealand National Airways Corporation, Trans-Canada Air Lines, various Pratt & Whitney and Wright Cyclone powerplants were installed. When the United States started to build up its air strength in 1940–41. This was followed by the construction of many new-build Lodestars which were flown by the Army Air Force as the C-60, lend-lease aircraft were used by the RNZAF as transports. One was purchased in 1942 to serve as Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas personal aircraft and this aircraft was specially designed for that purpose and had 11 seats. A few of the latter were converted to tricycle landing gear, many of the New Zealand aircraft were later used for aerial topdressing. A single Lodestar served with the Israeli Air Force during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, a number of skydiving operations in the United States used Lodestars during the 1970s and 1980s. 18-07 Powered by two 875 hp Pratt & Whitney Hornet S1E2-G engines,25 built plus two prototypes, 18-08 Powered by two 1,200 hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1C3-G engines,33 built. 18-10 Powered by two 1,200 hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1C3-G engines,39 built, 18-14 Powered by two 1,200 hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S4C4-G engines, four built. 18-40 Powered by two 1,200 hp Wright Cyclone G-1820-G104A engines,26 built, 18-50 Powered by two 1200hp Wright Cyclone G-1820-G202A engines,13 built. C-56 Powered by 1,200 hp Wright 1820-89 engines, one Model 18-50 for evaluation, c-56A One impressed Model 18-07 with two Pratt & Whitney R-1690-54 engines. C-56B Thirteen impressed Model 18-40s with two Wright 1820-97 engines, c-56E Two Model 18-40s impressed in 1943
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