December 2008 Archives
VH-CAT a Fokker F27 that has been stored in the open at Parafield for some time has now been moved to the South Australian Aviation Museum at Pt Adelaide.
On Sunday the 14th of December 2008 she was transported by low-loader to the new location.
She will be reassembled with the starboard wing only. Placed up against the hangar door in the museum. All components will be retained should a full reassembly be required at a later date.
A new service provided by Airservices Australia show aircraft movement in real time but delayed by 40 minutes for security. This page is mainly aimed at monitoring aircraft noise but is of interest to aircraft enthusiasts at large.
Gives great perspective on traffic into and out of major Australian airports. Aircraft movements are displayed in real time (but delayed).
Taking feeds from ATC and noise monitoring equipment the display is overlaid on a map. Running your cursor over the aircraft of interest gives tag, altitude, destination etc.
Worth taking a look: http://adl.webtrak-lochard.com/template/index.html
A few FAQs about the old 44 radar replacement:
Q: Why is the old unit being replaced?
A: Due to its age and components plus a spectrum change is required. New technology also allows training in much shorter times than the old unit. Training on the old 44 took about 16 weeks. The new unit only requires 3 weeks of fault finding training and another 3 weeks for operation.
Q: Will the new unit be similar in design?
A: No, the new unit is under a fibreglass dome and therefore protected against the elements. It will not need to drive the dish against the wind. The drive motors will not need to be anywhere near the size of the old unit. For instance the old azimuth drive motor was around 35kgs whilst the new one you can lift easily with one hand.
Q: How heavy was the old 44 unit?
A: Approximately 3 tonnes.
Q: How heavy is the new unit?
A: TBA
Q: What does this RADAR do exactly?
A: Prior to 2005 the radar was used to track weather balloons and create the usual radar sweep of precipitation that we see from current radars. After 2005, when Buckland Park came on line the airport unit was only used to track weather balloons.
Q: Why is the operating frequency being changed?
A: This is at the request of the ACA to accommodate latest spectrum usage requirements.
As 5DME gather information and footage regarding this upgrade we will add the information to the web site. Once complete a page will be dedicated to the change-over.
Due to the complexity the site is now taking on, we have revamped the menu system. Rather than across the top which can limit available options we now have a "tree" structured menu in the left margin.
As the site grows we can add many sub-sections to this style of menu.
Those that can not use this style of menu may find the SITE MAP useful. It is available via a link at the bottom of each page.
