Free Republic

The move effectively cuts off Russia’s ability to book flights on its own airline. Sabre, one of the largest airline ticket booking companies in the world, is terminating its distribution agreement with Russian air carrier Aeroflot, the company announced Thursday. The move could further restrict Russian air travel, which has already seen its planes banned from most Western countries’ airspace. State-owned Aeroflot is the flag carrier and the largest airline in the Russian Federation. The airline has about 200 aircraft in its fleet and travels to 146 destinations around the world. Being shut out of online booking software could make...

Tourists could fly from Britain to Australia in just four hours by the 2030s with a new hypersonic engine being developed by UK scientists, the head of the UK Space Agency has said. Reaction Engines, who are based in Oxfordshire, are in the process of building a hybrid hydrogen air-breathing rocket that will allow a plane to fly at Mach 5.4 - more than twice the speed of Concorde - then speed up to to Mach 25 in space. Not only would the new ‘Sabre’ engine allow speedier journeys - with a flight between London and New York slashed to...

Fans of supersonic flight have been yearning for a new way to break the sound barrier ever since Concorde stopped flying in 2003. Now successful tests of a key part of an air-breathing rocket engine may have brought that dream a step closer to reality. UK company Reaction Engines announced successful tests of a precooler on Monday, simulating conditions at Mach 3.3, or more than three times the speed of sound. That's more than 50% faster than the cruising speed of Concorde -- which used to make the journey between New York and Paris in around 3.5 hours -- and...

In 1965, the Keelor brothers and their Gnats wrote war history. The pilots are the only siblings to be awarded Vir Chakras for the same feat Officers at Ambala Air Force Station were heading to the mess for a dining out—a formal farewell dinner for an officer who is getting posted out—when they got news that Pakistan had started shooting across the border. They would learn later that these were the opening shots of Operation Gland Slam, a bid to take over Akhnoor and the road to Kashmir. “Our squadrons were told to move to the front immediately,” said Air...

Engine technology being developed for a British space plane could also find its way into hypersonic aircraft built by the U.S. military. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is studying hypersonic vehicles that would use the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), which the English company Reaction Engines Ltd. is working on to power the Skylon space plane, AFRL officials said. "AFRL is formulating plans to look at advanced vehicle concepts based on Reaction Engine's heat-exchanger technology and SABRE engine concept," officials with AFRL, which is based in Ohio, told Space.com via email last month. ... SABRE burns hydrogen and oxygen....

If there is one British space project that has the capacity to inspire at the moment then surely it is Skylon.

Launching into orbit could become a little easier and cheaper, thanks to a futuristic space plane that looks like it might have flown straight out of a Star Wars film. The European Space Agency and British government have awarded $1 million euros ($1.28 million dollars) to Reaction Engines Limited (REL), a British aerospace company, as part of a multi-million dollar development program for an air-breathing rocket engine that could power the Skylon spaceplane. The unpiloted, reusable vehicle is designed to take off from an airstrip, deliver cargo into orbit and return to the same runway.

A revolutionary UK spaceplane concept has been boosted by the conclusions of an important technical review.The proposed Skylon vehicle would do the job of a big rocket but operate like an airliner, taking off and landing at a conventional runway. The European Space Agency's propulsion experts have assessed the details of the concept and found no showstoppers. They want the next phase of development to include a ground demonstration of its key innovation - its Sabre engine. This power unit is designed to breathe oxygen from the air in the early phases of flight - just like jet engines -...

What a bunch of hypocrites, I'm sure.

'A UK company which hopes to build a re-usable space plane has won an important endorsement from the European Space Agency (ESA) after completing key tests on its novel engine technology. Reaction Engines believes its novel Sabre engine, which would operate like a jet engine in the atmosphere and a rocket in space, could displace rockets for space access and transform air travel by bringing any destination on earth to no more than four hours away. That ambition was given a boost this week by ESA, which has acted as an independent auditor on the Sabre test programme. "ESA are...

On March 9, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a Lexington Park, Maryland woman, reportedly aged 27, who was flown to Prince George’s Hospital for an injury which occurred on March 8, as a result of a sexual act involving the use of a reciprocating saw.  The original 911 call was dispatched as a medical emergency.  St. Mary’s County Bureau of Criminal Investigation Detectives conducted an investigation which determined the injury was a result of a consensual act between two parties and no crime was committed. At approximately 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 8, units from Bay District Fire...

The F-22 Raptor’s first flight in the Heritage program was a photo shoot at Tyndall AFB in Florida. Flying with the Raptor was a Mustang, Sabre, P-38, F-15, and Phantom. The Raptor will be flying in the Heritage Flight in the 2007 air show season.

Driver Stephen Ellison keeps bringing traffic grinding to a halt - by going to town in a 7.5 tonne tank. The father of one has left other motorists stunned after shelling out £14,000 on a 1974 Sabre light reconnaissance tank. Now 42-year old Stephen uses the military vehicle instead of a car for shopping trips - zooming round at up to 40mph near his home in Winsford, Cheshire, drawing astonished looks from fellow motorists and passers-by. "Young and old alike are fascinated with it," said Stephen, a former Territorial Army soldier. "It really unites people. "The tank's 30mm gun is...

A former Navy Top Gun with decades of flying experience forgot to put his plane's landing gear down during an air show practice run in Tucson in March, the Federal Aviation Administration found. Retired Capt. Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, a seasoned pro on the military air-show circuit, was piloting a Korean War-era F-86 Sabre that scraped to a stop and caught fire in the March 4 mishap at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Snodgrass, 57, was given counseling as "corrective action," according to the FAA report, obtained by the Arizona Daily Star under the Freedom of Information Act. The pilot was unhurt...

It was a scenario straight out of a Tom Clancy spy novel. The United States passed on intelligence to its allies that dangerous chemicals could be shipped from a Northeast Asian country to a port in the Arabian Gulf. Japan sent out information that some ships fitting the profile of the suspect vessels had been monitored heading for their destination via the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca.

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. .................................................................. .................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should...

Beginning this weekend, aircraft buffs will be able to stroll up to and touch about half dozen historic aircraft at the city's newest public facility, the Heritage Airpark. The airpark, at 25th Street East and Avenue P, is a memorial to the aircraft designed, built and tested at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 since the facility was established in 1951. The airpark is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays beginning Jan. 17. A formal ceremony marking the opening of the facility will be held in March, noted Mayor Jim Ledford. Meanwhile, volunteers will continue to prepare...

Here's an explanation for the anti-Iraq saber-rattling now building in Washington: The Bush administration, though it would dearly love to have Saddam Hussein out of power, has no intention of taking unilateral military action against him. The sword-rattling is designed to make Saddam's military leadership see him as too dangerous for their own good. Remember, this is no pre-1990 Iraqi army harboring thoughts of invincibility. The Iraqi military, including its crack (supposedly) Republican Guard, was routed in Desert Storm. The remnants, the generals know, exist only because the American-led allies allowed them to walk away. They know also that they...