Most popular posts December 2014

1.) Satellite data shows MH370 plane crashed into the Indian Ocean - Critical days were lost in the search for MH370 because Malaysian authorities initially rejected evidence from a British satellite company that the Boeing 777 with 239 aboard was in the Southern Indian Ocean. [Full story] 

2.) US Army deploys missile-fighting blimp over Maryland - For the first time, the U.S. Army lofted a blimp equipped with a new cruise-missile and drone-fighting radar system high above rural Maryland. [Full story] 

3.) Video: Plane crashes near Montgomery County Airpark - A small jet aircraft crashed into a neighborhood within a mile of Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Md., on Dec. 8. [Full story]

4.) Video: Chinese helicopter lands on U.S. guided-missile destroyer - A Chinese Harbin Z-9E helicopter practices landing aboard the U.S. Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104). [Full story] 

5.) Video: Army blimp launched over Maryland - You might have heard of JLENS, the U.S. Army’s cruise-missile fighting radar blimp that will be stationed at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. [Full story]

Most popular posts 2014

1.) Cirrus aircraft crashes off Virginia in Atlantic Ocean - The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash of a Cirrus SR22 into the Atlantic Ocean about 50 miles from Wallops Island, Va., on Aug. 30. [Full story] 

2.) Critical heat shield installed on NASA's new Orion spacecraft - NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers installed the largest heat shield ever constructed on the crew module of the agency's new Orion spacecraft in June. [Full story] 

3.) Coast Guard suspends search for missing plane in Lake Pontchartrain - The U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search for a missing aircraft in Lake Pontchartrain on Nov. 13. [Full story] 

4.) Military C-130 'hard landing' reported, no injuries - A Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) aircraft under the control of U.S. Northern Command experienced a hard landing at 4:53 p.m. EDT on Aug. 17 at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. [Full story] 

5.) Satellite data shows MH370 plane crashed into the Indian Ocean - Critical days were lost in the search for MH370 because Malaysian authorities initially rejected evidence from a British satellite company that the Boeing 777 with 239 aboard was in the Southern Indian Ocean. [Full story]

Historical Lincoln, Jefferson documents up for auction

Historical documents dealer and auctioneer Cohasco has the following items up for auction:

• A group of eight Illinois manuscripts, signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1842, begins just two years after receiving his law license. Other signers include James Matheny, best man at Lincoln's wedding that year, best friend Joshua Speed, and Stephen A. Douglass, future opponent for the Presidency. 
• A Baltimore reward poster for a successful named escapee via the Underground Railroad, 1857.  In black fugitive Adam's memoir, he described his former master as "a real country ruffian...a great drinker and gambler...." Underground Railroad lore is abundant, but original documents almost never come to market ($8,500-11,500).
• A battle sword which witnessed Francis Scott Key's "rocket's red glare" in the dawn's early light of Sept. 1814.  From the possession of citizen-soldier John Howlet of Maryland, the sword was in use when he was shot (but survived).  ($1250-1750)
• Thomas Jefferson signed document protecting America's frontier, 1792, as the first Secretary of State.  His signed Act embraces several firsts in America's history – including the first Presidential Cabinet, and first-ever Congressional investigations. ($28,000-35,000)
• Civil War newspaper seeking trial of the President "for his numerous unconstitutional acts...The States alone declare who are their citizens." ($75-100)
• Postcard flown on Russia's ultimate world adventure – their attempted 4,600-mile nonstop Moscow-New York flight, 1939. It crashed in Canada. ($1900-2750)
• Rare pay receipt for black soldier Cato Negro's service in the Revolutionary War.  The Connecticut freedom fighter likely took his name from the play "Cato" - inspiring Patrick Henry's words, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" ($3900-4500)

The auction ends Jan. 6.

Ten Pennsylvania coal mines sold to Rosebud Mining Company

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. announced Tuesday that its subsidiary AMFIRE Mining Company, LLC has completed the previously announced divestiture of substantially all of its assets to Rosebud Mining Company. The transaction included total consideration of approximately $86 million, including $75 million in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities. The assets, which include ten mines and four preparation plants and loadouts, are located in Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Elk, Greene, Indiana and Somerset counties, Pennsylvania.

Alpha Natural Resources affiliates continue to operate two mines in southwestern Pennsylvania that are not connected with the transaction, the Emerald and Cumberland mines near Waynesburg.  More than 1,100 workers are employed by these Greene County operations.

With affiliate mining operations in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Wyoming, Alpha supplies metallurgical coal to the steel industry and thermal coal to generate power to customers on five continents.

Contract: Escort services for military aircraft towed on public roads

The U.S. Navy in Jacksonville, Fla., is conducting a market survey to determine the availability of vendors for Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) which is an industrial facility that accomplishes rework, repair, and overhaul of various aircraft, engines, and components located at Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jax), Duval County, Fla.

“This requirement is to provide escort transportation services for military aircraft on public roads between NAS Jax and the Cecil Commerce Center (CCC) for a total of 60 moves during the period from March 1 through Oct. 31, 2015,” the Navy said in contract documents released Tuesday. “The government will provide the tow equipment and a driver for the movement of the aircraft and obtain a blanket permit from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) authorizing the tow of aircraft on public roads between NAS JAX and CCC.”

The contractor will provide all labor, supervision, vehicles, equipment, law enforcement escorts, and any other items necessary to transport aircraft to include coordination with Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, FDOT, as well as the safety offices and security departments of FRCSE, NAS Jax, and CCC.

The aircraft will be reduced to the smallest size possible, ranging in height from 9-17 feet, width ranging from 16-34 feet, and length ranging from 28-61 feet. Tows will typically be Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. and involve only one aircraft, but the contractor must be prepared for other days/times and for two aircraft at a time.

Companies interested in supporting the contract should contact the U.S. Navy Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Jacksonville by Jan.15.

Boeing performs first test flight for KC-46 tanker program

The Boeing Company and U.S. Air Force successfully completed the first flight of the KC-46 tanker test program Sunday. The plane, a Boeing 767-2C, took off from Paine Field, Wash., at 12:29 p.m. (EST) and landed three hours and 32 minutes later at Boeing Field. The aircraft will receive its military systems following certification.

As part of a contract awarded in 2011 to design and develop the Air Force’s next-generation tanker aircraft, Boeing is building four test aircraft – two 767-2Cs and two KC-46A Tankers. The 767-2Cs enter flight test as commercial freighters prior to receiving their aerial refueling systems, while the KC-46s will fly as fully equipped tankers through the Federal Aviation Administration and military certification process.

Boeing is on contract to deliver the first 18 of 179 KC-46 aircraft to the Air Force by 2017.

US Army deploys missile-fighting blimp over Maryland

For the first time, the U.S. Army lofted a blimp equipped with a new cruise-missile and drone-fighting radar system high above rural Maryland. The system, made by Raytheon Company and known as JLENS, consists of two helium-filled aerostats, or tethered blimps, that float 10,000 feet above the ground and carry powerful radars.

"JLENS is strategically emplaced to help defend Washington D.C. and a Texas-sized portion of the East Coast from cruise missiles, drones and hostile aircraft," said Dave Gulla, vice president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems' Global Integrated Sensors business. "JLENS can detect potential threats at extremely long ranges, giving North American Aerospace Defense Command more time to make decisions and more space to react appropriately."

As part of the deployment, Raytheon engineers raised one of the football-field sized aerostats thousands of feet in the air and conducted a series of tests to ensure it was operating as designed.  The company will continue to test and integrate the radar for several more days, then turn the first JLENS balloon over to soldiers of the U.S. Army's A Battery, 3rd Air Defense Artillery.

The second aerostat is scheduled to go aloft in early 2015.  Following a series of additional tests, it will also be turned over to the Army.

The 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, which is responsible for defending the airspace over the National Capital Region, will also use information from JLENS.