This weekend we’ll be flying to Mannheim City Airport. We’ve been there a number of times before, it’s a lovely destination. The runway is long, the staff are professional but friendly and usually the weather is good. The fact that the airfield is two tram stops away from my Uncle’s house on the Neckar is…
Read more… 29 May 09
I was speaking to a friend about flying and she asked about language issues when flying around mainland Europe. These are thankfully few and far between as English is generally accepted or even required for speaking on the radio. I’ve written before about struggling to understand a French controller with a strong accent but generally…
Read more… 22 May 09
We were flying into North Weald, I was in the left seat with Lee coming along for the ride as a passenger. The plan was to pick up Cliff who had been in London for meetings before taking Lee to Newcastle. Lee is a commercial pilot and ex-CFI. He was flattering, in a backhanded manner,…
Read more… 15 May 09
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
The best thing about going away is the amount of interesting and intriguing articles waiting for me to read once I’m safely back home. This week, join me in catching up on some of the most intriguing aviation pieces to have landed in my in-box. First of all,a hat tip to Plastic Pilot who linked…
Read more… 1 May 09
Did you miss me? I’m home! We did a lot of travelling but I had a great time. It was the kind of trip you can only really consider with a small plane as we zipped around all over. One of the great things about general aviation is the view – I took over 600…
Read more… 24 Apr 09
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…