Last year, Cliff gave me a wonderful surprise for my 40th. He threw me out of bed at some ungodly hour of the morning and told me to pack my bags. Then we drove to Málaga for my do-it-yourself birthday present: a fully-fuelled plane and a flight planned to Marrakesh. Everything was in place for…
Read more… 8 May 09
We’re taking off for the wild blue yonder next week, using the Saratoga to transport family between North Weald and Strasbourg. Unfortunately, I’ve not kept up with my flying over the winter and so I’ve fallen out of date. To take passengers, I should have made three take-offs and landings in the past 90 days…
Read more… 3 Apr 09
Joe is a pilot, sailor, former Marine (sniper) and an excellent story teller. He is 83 now and still going strong. He has neuropathy in his hands which means he can no longer use a typewriter normally. He doesn’t let that stop him, slowly typing out emails with two pencils so that he can tell…
Read more… 6 Mar 09
I’ve been travelling all over the past few weeks; the route was something like Málaga – London – Maldon (Essex) – Hadlow (Kent) – Antwerp – Brussels – Popperingen – North Weald – Málaga. It’s all a bit of a blur, to be honest but I’m safe home now and planning some fun updates. Meanwhile,…
Read more… 31 Oct 08
In recent posts, Plastic Pilot has been focusing on flight times when flying commercially. It’s a subject that’s come up for me recently as I consider whether travelling with the Saratoga is more convenient than a commercial flight. I have always tended to assume that popular point-to-point routes are done more efficiently in a big,…
Read more… 10 Oct 08
The Manchester Airport Group Plc owns and operates three airports: Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands. Manchester Airport is the third busiest airport in Britain. Their website says Manchester Airport…
On the 27th of July 2018, an experienced pilot departed with ten parachutists on board for a routine drop mission. It was the pilot’s fourth flight of the day in…
My friend Maria at Daedalean wrote this article about how they are using AI to help pilots detect gliders. I thought it was fascinating and Daedalean gave me permission to…
On the 5th of January 2024, Alaska Airlines flight 1282 had just taken off when it lost a door plug, leaving a gaping hole on the left side of row…
Aviation in Iceland started with an airline, not an aircraft. Flugfélag Íslands, the first Icelandic airline, was founded in Reykjavík on the 22nd of March 1919. They did not (yet)…
I’ve lost most of the day to unexpected research and one of the fascinating items that I discovered was the Air Force Historical Research Agency and their amazing photo collection.…
I’m in Dresden at the moment and I’m afraid I haven’t had a free moment to write you a new article. Luckily, lots of other people are on the internet…
Long-term readings of Fear of Landing know that my favourite aerobatics show of all time is Kyle Franklin’s Ben Whabnoski Comedy act. Just in case some of you haven’t seen…