Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: gofaster on September 29, 2005, 08:49:34 AM
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From my weekly AvWeb email. Maybe its not black helicopters we should be watching out for, but black Cessnas instead!
=========From AvWeb==========
The Navy's Secret GA Air Force
Even James Bond would have a hard time sorting this out. According to an Associated Press report (reprinted by numerous military publications), the U.S. Navy operated a small air force of private aircraft for use in clandestine operations. Among the 33 aircraft it contracted from 10 private companies were two Gulfstream bizjets widely reported to be used by U.S. intelligence officials to carry suspected terrorists to countries known to torture prisoners.
The process is known as "rendition" and two countries, Sweden and Italy, that have had people plucked from within their borders for a flight south and east, are calling it a criminal act.
The other aircraft pretty much cover the spectrum of mission capability and include an unspecified Cessna, three C-130s, several other bizjets, two Boeing 737s, a Dash 8 and even a DC-3.
The Associated Press stumbled across the story when it got curious as to why the 10 companies received permits allowing their aircraft to land at any U.S. Navy base in the world. Some were also allowed to refuel. With a little digging, the AP made the link to the Navy Engineering Logistics Office, which many high-ranking Navy officials either know little about or aren't saying much about. And, of course, when the names appearing on the aircraft documents were run down by the AP, none of the people seemed to actually exist.
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"Sunday, July 24, 2005
RENDITION - 60 Minutes investigates this alleged CIA practice of handing over terror suspects to countries whose interrogators are known to use torture. Scott Pelley reports."
The above was a really good report on the Redition "program" and how these people are snatched out of foreign countries. Catch it if it ever repeats.
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I hear that the cat-shoot in the 172RG is quite a ride.
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The registered owner of one of the Gulfstreams (formerly know as N739P, but it has a new tailnumber now) is in the same building as my ISP, the Pittock building in PDX on Washington Ave. Dont waste your time asking those guys if they're hiring pilots.
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Originally posted by Chairboy
I hear that the cat-shoot in the 172RG is quite a ride.
Actually Chair, they've either gotta stop the carrier before they shoot it, or if the winds up a bit they gotta try and launch with the carrier doin 20 knots backwards.
Recovey is a piece of cake. Landing speed and carrier speed being pretty much equal, on a breezy day it's like recovering harriers or helo's.
;)
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Originally posted by Hangtime
Actually Chair, they've either gotta stop the carrier before they shoot it, or if the winds up a bit they gotta try and launch with the carrier doin 20 knots backwards.
Recovey is a piece of cake. Landing speed and carrier speed being pretty much equal, on a breezy day it's like recovering harriers or helo's.
;)
1 plane i'd love to see get a cat shot would be a Mooney. Things built like a Grumman - would be a nice liason a/c.