July 30 
History was made to-day by the HyShot research team at the University of QLD when they had a successful launch of their Scramjet

"..the first ever test flight of a scramjet - an air-breathing hypersonic jet engine"

 July 30 
At Moorabbin airport, a trainee pilot carrying out after-dark circuits in a Cessna C172 has been killed when another aircraft struck her machine

..."Witnesses told Melbourne radio station 3AW they saw one plane land on top of the other and burst into 'a ball of flames'"



The male pilot and passenger of the other C172 escaped with minor injuries

 July 31 
The Eagle X-TS - impounded by Archerfield's owner back in March 2002 for non-payment of fees - still remains in its airfield "corral"

The previous news article on this machine 5 months ago is HERE

 July 29 
A Russian passenger jet has crashed shortly after departing Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport

"..the aircraft appeared to take off without problems, but then banked sharply at about 200 metres and crashed in a ball of flame"

The 4-engine wide-body, carrying only 16 crew members on board, had one female flight attendant in the rear of the aircraft survive with minor injuries

 July 25 
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has released a study on a comparison of the 'relative' safety for the various transport modes in OZ

The statistical information is based on data up to 20 years ago(no GPS then) and indicates the smaller the transport medium, the higher is the risk factor

The report also appears to be riddled with ambiguities with marine transport(sailing and boating) and some helicopters not included in the comparison charts

 July 28 
83 people have been killed and 199 injured when a Russian designed Sukhoi-27 fighter of the Ukrainian airforce crashed in front of 1000's of spectators at an air show

Both pilots ejected successfully from the aircraft only seconds before it hit the ground

The twin-jet Su-27 appeared to have had an engine problem "..all the spectators noticed the sudden silence" ..just before the impact

 July 23 
The week-long AirVenture Air Show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin has attracted media attention on Dick Rutan's EZ rocket powered Xerus prototype

"At the peak of its parabolic trajectory, tourists will experience several minutes of weightlessness and see Earth from space"

A business called Space Adventures is offering the ultimate getaway in 2005/6 with a trip to the fringes of space for A$176,640 in a 2 seater air/spacecraft

 July 22 
Another USA fire fighting aircraft, a 4-engine PB4Y-2 Privateer and former US Navy WW II bomber, came apart in mid air while attending a fire near Denver in the USA

"The Government has now grounded 9 aircraft of the same type as those that crashed in June near Walker, Calif., and Thursday near Lyons, Colo. killing a total of five crew members"


Previous C-130 wing failure article HERE