Category: Flying –  Page 6

Instrument Rating – unofficial ground school

Jeremy Zawodny has started ground school where he’ll learn IFR theory for his instrument rating. The fun bit is that he’s posting about it on his blog and plans to keep doing so. This is great, from my point of view. I’d like to get my instrument rating. It’s something I keep putting off, because…

Read more… 26 Sep 07

Why do I do this again?

Things that happened during the flight with my mother: 1) we ended up without a VFR chart for the majority of the area we were flying over 2) my boyfriend and I descended into major arguments about basic planning (mainly based on heat and nerves rather than actual issues) 3) my mother corrected an Italian…

Read more… 1 Sep 07

Malaga – Roma – Mannheim

Everything is ready for the next flight. Cliff will do the first trip IFR. We’ll be flying up the coast of Spain and then across to Menorca for a refuel and last minute check before a long water crossing directly to Rome. Then we’ll continue on IFR (so constantly under watch, which strikes me as…

Read more… 22 Aug 07

Flying Over Lake Constance

Here’s the view as we fly away from our initial destination at Lake Constance. No, you don’t get a view of us flying to it as I was busy with the plane at that point! At the wing tip you can see the airfield, the same one that I linked to on Google in the…

Read more… 3 Jul 07

He became aware of some power cables…

I love that phrasing: “he became aware” .. .it makes it sound like such a calm moment. I don’t usually haunt the accident reports (they make me nervous) but this one was someone I know. The subject came up the first time as I was doing circuits at Oxford Airport for my night rating. I…

Read more… 19 May 07

Not the best advertising!

I saw this photograph today and had to share. You can see the full story at Snopes at http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/flightschool.asp — what a landing, huh? Amazing that the pilot walked away, really.

Read more… 16 Jan 07

Accident Reports

Unbolted in Fairfield (Update on the 2022 Bell 407 GXP Crash)

On the 4th of June 2022, a Bell 407 GXP helicopter crashed in a field near Fairfield, New Jersey. I wrote about it at the time. The final report and…

Madness on the Runway at Manchester

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…

Demystifying

Training an AI Copilot To Spot Gliders

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…

The Missing Bolts from Alaska Airlines flight 1282

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…

History

Gladys Ingle Inflight Wheel Change: Emergency Action or Stunt?

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…

The Disappearance of the Hawaii Clipper May Not Be as Mysterious as Was Thought

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.…

Fun Stuff

A Few Good Stories

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…

Flying Fails and Airshow Considerations

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…