Glider in new attempt to reach the edge of space.

Perlan glider 90,000ft — “The Perlan 2 glider sits awaiting its next flight at its home base in Minden, Nevada. Photo: Airbus/James Darcy

A team hoping to take a glider to the edge of space is hoping surf’s up in the atmosphere this year as they make their second attempt at setting a new altitude record for horizontal flight.

The pressurised Perlan II glider is designed to catch giant “mountain waves” with the potential to take the engineless composite aircraft to an altitude of 90,000ft.

This would see it operating in a zone where the atmosphere is less than 2 per cent of sea-level density and temperatures drop to minus 70C, conditions approximating the surface of Mars.

But the rare stratospheric mountain waves — strong updrafts capable of reaching the edge of space — only occur for brief periods at certain times in a few places on Earth.

The team travelled to Argentina’s Patagonia region last year, conducting eight flights in 17 days, but the necessary conditions for a mountain wave failed to materialise.

However, the glider reached a height of more than 26,00ft and conducted a five-hour flight.

On Saturday, it eclipsed that feat with a new “personal best’’ over the Sierra Nevada mountain range near its US headquarters of Minden, Nevada.

Pilots Jim Payne and Miguel Iturmendi took the glider to 30,615 ft, reaching airspace normally occupied by jet airliners.

The world altitude record for a glider of 50,772ft was set in 2006 by the Perlan 1 glider, now on display at the Seattle Museum of Flight, flown by the late Steve Fossett and Einar Enevoldson.

Fossett initially funded the Perlan II but his death in 2007 saw that responsibility taken up by others. The project took on new life when European aerospace company Airbus joined as a major sponsor in 2014.

The glider is pressurised at an altitude of 15,000ft to avoid the need for pressure suits and the crew uses an oxygen re-breather system to escape hypoxia.

The team of volunteers is now preparing to head to Patagonia for its second attempt at the record in May.

“This past year our team gained invaluable insight and experience from flying the glider in and around the Andes Mountains,” Perlan Project chief executive Ed Warnock said.

“Using that information, we’ve made improvements to the aircraft that will help us have even greater success this year, first in Nevada and later in Argentina, if the wave and weather conditions are optimal.”

The glider has been updated based on the experience garnered last year.

The updates include heating for critical items such as the battery and air and oxygen regulators, control stick improvements and flight simulator updates to improve pilot training.

Reaching 90,00ft would beat the previous record for horizontal flight of 85,069ft set by a Blackbird spy plane in 1965.

But the Perlan II team is aiming even higher with an ultimate target of 100,000ft.

Loaded gun found in aircraft loo.

Airline Ratings

Inexperience has been blamed for an incident in which a US air marshal left a loaded gun in the toilet of a Delta Air Lines flight from Manchester, England, to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The gun was returned to the air marshal after it was found by a passenger and handed to a flight attendant, according to CNN.

The April 6 faux pas is an embarrassment for US authorities at a time they are under fire for cracking down on airlines from the Middle East and North Africa with a controversial ban on large electronic devices in aircraft cabins.

CNN quote sources from within the Federal Air Marshal Service as saying the agent in question was a relatively new hire who remained on active flight-duty.

A former air marshal told the network that newly hired air marshals did not receive on-the job-training and the incident could have been avoided if she had been paired with a senior counterpart.

Air Marshal Association president John Casaretti told the network a field training officer program and mentorship of new officers could reduce “similar performance issues”.

“Air marshals work in punishing conditions, labour under poor leadership and have seen their law enforcement functions curtailed by an administration that lacks vision. The problem is not the air marshals, it’s the TSA,” he said.

The TSA said it was reviewing the circumstances of the incident and Delta said it was aware of the problem.

The effectiveness and safety of the air marshal program has been a subject of debate since its inception after the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Boeing 787

Airline Ratings

Boeing 737 turns 50

Airline Ratings

Many at Boeing never wanted to build the world’s bestselling and most reliable plane and at one stage the non-believers almost sold the design to a consortium of Japanese aerospace manufacturers.

That plane, the Boeing 737, celebrated the 50th year of its first flight this month — as the latest version took to the air for the first time.

Key to the success of the 737 has been the ability of Boeing to improve the plane. The latest design, the MAX, is the fourth major upgrade.

Boeing started studies of a short-haul jet plane to supplement its very successful 727 for short routes.

Design work began in May 1964, with the original design for a 60-passenger plane for routes up to 1600km.

Many in Boeing thought the move was crazy because three other competitors already had similar jets flying or about to fly and there were few major customers left.

But Boeing had a major advantage with its family concept as its 737 would use many of the parts and the same cabin cross section (six across) as its best-selling 707 and 727.

Boeing’s sales pitch was big-jet comfort on regional routes.

Germany’s Lufthansa and United Airlines were sold and the 737 was launched.

By the time the first flight took place in April 1967, 17 airlines had signed up. However, storm clouds were brewing for Boeing.

By 1969 the 747 was in trouble with its weight and engine performance and Boeing’s Super Sonic Transport had to be totally redesigned.

In 1970, starved of funds, Boeing looked for products to quit and the 737 which had sold only 23 that year was the prime candidate.

The 747’s issues were resolved with compromises on all sides, the US government cancelled the SST in 1971 and the pressure came off. The future was not going to be high-speed travel across the globe but more a focus on regional flights connecting thousands of cities, with the 737 set to be both the magic carpet and a golden goose.

There is possibly no better example of how engine and aerodynamic technology has advanced aviation than the 737.

The first 737 could carry 124 passengers over 2775km, whereas the latest version to fly, two weeks just last Friday, the 737MAX 9 can carry 204 passengers in the same configuration over 7000km. And the fuel consumption improvements have been spectacular.

Since 2000 for instance the fuel burn has declined 20 per cent from the current model in airline service to the MAX.

As well as countless under-the-skin improvements, Boeing has given the 737 a new interior incorporating design concepts from its bigger brothers the 787 and 777.

Dubbed the Sky Interior, it totally transforms the 737. Boeing is building 42 737s a month and that rate is moving to 47 this year, 52 next year and 57 in 2019 to clear the backlog.

Since 1965 Boeing has received orders for 13,954 737s, with 4506 still to be delivered. Of those, 3700 are for the latest MAX models.

The problem now for Boeing is how to replace its bestselling jet.

The aerospace company may launch one more version of the MAX series, with 12 extra seats, but a clean-sheet design is needed to take it to the middle of this century.

Challenge is where is the sweet spot to capture the bulk of the market. The original 737 was positioned in the 90-150 seat segment but that has grown to 150-220 seats over the years, with airlines now asking for even more seats.

More seats mean a push from a single-aisle plane to a twin-aisle for ease of boarding but that makes it less attractive at the lower capacity end of the market.

Boeing, and its now merged partner McDonnell Douglas dabbled with 200-seat twin-aisle designs in the 1980s and 1990s but airlines were lukewarm.

The width of the cabin allowed for economy seating of 2-2-2 rather than the familiar single-aisle 3-3.

But fast forward to today’s nightmare of passengers’ demands, particularly in the US, for carry-on baggage only and a twin-aisle solution with more overhead space, and the design plans have great appeal.

Garuda international flights find new home in Jakarta.

Steve Creedy

All Garuda Indonesia international services will operate from the new Terminal 3 at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from May 1.

Garuda will transfer 30 daily overseas flights to the new facility and will be the only carrier operating international flights from the 25-million passenger terminal for now. Other international carriers will continue to operate from Terminal 2.

Soekarno-Hatta is the main airport serving the greater Jakarta area, catering for 187 international flights a day and handling 54 million passengers a year. Its annual throughput makes it the world’s 18^th busiest airport and its location means it is called Cengkareng by locals, accounting for its CGK IATA code.

Indonesia’s national carrier said it had worked with airport operator Angkas Pura II to successfully completed simulations to test the new terminal’s operational feasibility.

It said passenger simulations focused on passenger flows between the departures area and boarding gate as well as between the landing gate and the passenger arrivals area.

“The simulation of T3 International operations has been conducted several times involving hundreds of passengers, immigration and Customs officers, and also Gapura Angkasa as the ground handling provider and other stakeholders,” Angkasa executive Agus Haryadi said in a statement.

“In line with numerous simulations, we are positive that as a result of all the prior preparation, the T3 operations will run as smoothly as possible, specifically for Garuda Indonesia.’’

Terminal 3 was officially launched in August, 2016 and has been catering for domestic flights. It has had a number of teething problems, according to local media, including a collapsed roof and flash flooding in the arrival gate area

International operations will be supported by 64 immigration counters — 32 each for arrival and departures — 30 immigration “autogates’, six baggage claim points, six aerobridges and parking for 1200 vehicles.

The terminal boasts a commercial area of almost 46,000 sq. m with walk-through shopping and is connected to its counterpart by a Skytrain.

Garuda corporate communications vice president Benny S. Butarbutar said the move to Terminal 3 meant passengers would enjoy upgraded facilities with a “five- star” service standard.

He said the airline had also conducted several operational trials involving all service units at the airport “to ensure all aspects of aviation safety and security as well as passenger services are running according to the relevant standards and procedures’.

Garuda will operate 28 check-in counters and will have lounge facilities capable of accommodating up to 2100 passengers with 1700 in the business lounge and 400 in first class.

Despite the preparations, the airline appealed to customers to arrive earlier than normal in anticipation of “any delays and adjustments of passenger flow”.

Boeing’s 737: The plane that almost never was.

Geoffrey Thomas

Many at Boeing never wanted to build the world’s bestselling and most reliable plane and at one stage the non-believers almost sold the design to a consortium of Japanese aerospace manufacturers.

That plane, the Boeing 737, celebrated the 50th year of its first flight this month — as the latest version took to the air for the first time.

Key to the success of the 737 has been the ability of Boeing to improve the plane. The latest design, the MAX, is the fourth major upgrade.

Boeing started studies of a short-haul jet plane to supplement ithe company’s very successful 727 for short routes.

Design work began in May 1964, with the original design for a 60-passenger plane for routes up to 1600km.

The plane flew for five hours before landing successfully.