A Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon F2 based at RAF Conningsby has made what appears to have been a gear-up landing during training at China Lake Naval Weapons Air Station in California, Western United States.

The accident happened last week and the aircraft is reported to have come to rest with only ‘minor’ damage. While most sources suggest no mechanical issue was to blame, it amazes me that you could land the Typhoon gear up at a controlled airbase. Surely the usually breathy female voice of the aircraft’s automatic announcer would have risen to a scream of “TOO LOW! - GEAR!” just before the metal-rending moment? Aside from that, you’d think the air traffic controller might have ordered the Typhoon to go around when it became apparent that it wasn’t going to make contact with the asphalt in the customary fashion.

Wing Commander Andrew McGill commented:

“The damage to the aircraft is still to be fully assessed and until a board of inquiry has been convened it would not be appropriate to comment further until the investigation is complete.”

Now, allegedly, the damage is not such that the aircraft has become un-airworthy but it’s hard to imagine how putting an 11-15 ton aircraft on the ground at 130 knots without the benefit of wheels could only scratch the paintwork.

I presume they’ll be fixing the aircraft in situ at China Lake, quite what resources that will need is anyone’s guess.

Note: Image is example of Type, not actual aircraft.

A merchantman, Westward Venture has fired warning shots at a small boats, thought to be Iranian in the Persian Gulf.

The Westward Venture is reportedly under contract with the US military.

On the approach of the Iranian boats, Westward Venture first attempted to raise them by radio, then fired a pyrotechnic flare and when the boats continued to approach, the ship’s security crew opened fire with automatic small arms. It is not immediately apparent whether the gunfire was directly toward the Iranian boats.

SS Westward Venture is a 17,500 gross tonnage 744 foot long freighter launched in 1977 and registered in Tacoma (US)

According to ULS, there would be a maximum of 45 people on board.

SS Westward Venture can be tracked online in near-real-time.

It is expected that the news of this tension-increasing event in the Gulf will apply further upward pressure on oil prices.

BBC is carrying a video which shows a Georgian UAV being shot down by what appears to be a Russian Fighter aircraft, probably a Mig 29.

The video shows the UAV on a reconnaissance mission which, according to an official, is over Georgian territory. The UAV is reportedly unarmed and looks like a low-speed, probably piston-engined type.

The Georgian UAV operator was apparently warned by Georgian ground-based radar that the UAV was about to be intercepted and commanded the UAV’s camera toward the oncoming aircraft. We see the intercepting aircraft lining-up on the rear of the UAV, rolling wings-level and then firing an air-to-air missile which hits the UAV terminating the feed. An English “Master Caution” message is then presented on screen by the UAV command software.

Video here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7359514.stm

The Georgia seem to be rather upset with the Russia about this.

Just a quick note that Parkers has a new UK Road Tax Calculator which works out the tax you’ll have to pay based on the make and model of car that you own.

The emissions based rates are staged over the next couple of years so some car owners will end up paying tax to the tune of £500 or so but some small cars will band A or B CO2 emissions actually see their tax reduce to as low as £20 a year.

It has to be said though that all cars pre-2001 and most cars thereafter will see increases in tax.

On Saturday we took a trip over to Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire for the 2008 Sywell microlight fly-in. Unfortunately, only a few aircraft attended, probably due to the nasty weather which included sporadic hail and a stiff breeze. Almost all of the attending microlights were 3-axis affairs with just one two-person flexwing in attendance.

Sywell is an all-grass runway airstrip but has just been granted planning permission for a hard-surface runway to allow for winter operations. Inevitably, this runway surfacing has attracted a group of NIMBYs with too much time on their hands who have been protesting the change of surface. I have very little sympathy with such NIMBYs, especially when the aerodrome has existed since the 1920s and used to handle far, far larger (and noisier) aircraft than it does today.

I’m not sure why I keep stumbling across maritime stories or why they interest me so much but here are another two.

MS Van Gough, a Norwegian owned 16,000 ton 1970s cruise liner has been impounded in the port of Fuchal on the Portuguese mid-atlantic island of Madeira over an unpaid debt owed by the former owners of the ship. Unfortunately for the 400 or so passengers which left Falmouth in January on a 3 month cruise, it appears the cruise organisers, Van Gough Cruises of Cheltenham UK, are not members of ABTA - a trade body which provides financial protection for travel agent customers.

Grand Princess, a modern 106,000 ton, 2,600 passenger cruise liner, is meanwhile taking it easy on the next leg of her cruise as she has blown two turbochargers (one each on two of six engines). The blowers apparent let go as she was leaving port in Jamaica and news reports there initially suggested that Grand Princess was on fire as “thick black smoke” was seen. Grand Princess is now continuing on to her destination of Grand Cayman on three engines. Obviously, she will need repairs at the end of her current cruise.

Photo Credit: Teh tennisman cc-by-sa-3.0