This is a bit of an odd one – I need photographs of “not flying” to go with an article where I complain a lot about winter weather and being grounded. I’ve put together a collection of photographs of rain, cloud and fog: Help me out by telling me which ones you like best. If…
Read more… 3 Feb 08
I was just pondering whether I had anything to write about when I got a research question as a comment – how exciting! Sex Scenes at Starbucks is a speculative fiction writer living in Colorado. She is working on a novel which includes a scene with a jet flying out of Cambridge. She asked me…
Read more… 1 Feb 08
Forget the Queen Mary, I want to go cruising on one of these: The brainchild of Jean-Marie Massaud, the Manned Cloud is an airborne hotel that he hopes will change the way we view tourism. Manned Cloud is a hotel with a capacity of 40 passengers and staffed with 15 persons, that on a 3-day…
Read more… 23 Jan 08
There is a lot of speculation going on in the press and, worse, a lot of speculation being presented as fact. The words “Absolute nonsense!” have become a frequent sound in our household as we read the articles in the popular press. I know accident reports aren’t everyone’s thing, but in the interests of understanding…
Read more… 19 Jan 08
Cliff and I had an appointment in Eastbourne, an English resort city right on the South Downs. As always, we arranged to arrive early, so that a delayed or cancelled flight wouldn’t mean chaos. We flew from Málaga to Shoreham via Bordeaux in a single day, so we ended up with plenty of time to…
Read more… 8 Jan 08
At the beginning of 2007 I made a really useful list of things to practice when I’m, well, out of practice. And then I never looked it again. I’m once again going through a stretch of not-flying and somehow, this year, I’ve managed to feel particularly out of touch – as if every flight were…
Read more… 31 Dec 07
On the 9th of August 2023, a VX4 crashed at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire during a test flight over the runway. The VX4 is a prototype air taxi, designed and…
The Cessna 185 Skywagon is a high wing, single engine aircraft: basically a Cessna 180 with six seats, a strengthened fuselage and a slightly more powerful engine. It’s a popular…
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…
This video of a mid-air wheel exchange goes viral once a year or so, but I never get tired of watching it. Last week, it showed up on Reddit and…
This week, we have a guest post by J.B. Rivard who wrote an article for the American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS) and used one of my articles as a reference.…
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…