Category: Fun Stuff – Page 15
“How Slow Can You Fly” and Other Questions Answered
This week, a round-up of questions: What do you do if your wheel falls off in mid-air? This lovely classic video posted on the PPRuNe Forums shows Gladys Ingle of the 13 Black Cats – clearly an amazing woman – changing plane mid-air to replace a lost wheel for a stunt film. What was the…
Read more… 4 Mar 11
How to Lose an Hour or Maybe Two
I was going to write an essay this week but there have been so many interesting posts and photographs and games, I wasted the entire day on the Web instead of creating something new. So instead, I’ve collated my very favourites as a Flying Around the Web round-up to encourage you to waste your time…
Read more… 11 Feb 11
Have You Seen These?
This is a collection of things in the news and the blogosphere that made me smile today. I hope you will enjoy them too. Someone forwarded me this Close Encounter with an Emu from Liveleaks WARNING: this video contains strong language. Although no stronger than what I would say if this happened to me! My…
Read more… 28 Jan 11
Accidents, Incidents and a Damn Good Landing
The Aviation Herald has the details of the final report by the Dutch Safety Board regarding the Easyjet near miss in Amsterdam. The article includes a translation of the probable cause in English. It sounds like it was a close call: Report: Easyjet A319 at Amsterdam on Mar 5th 2007, began takeoff without clearance An…
Read more… 26 Nov 10
Waterskiing Aircraft
There is a great set of photographs making the rounds of single-engine aircraft flying in formation over water. When I first saw them, I wasn’t sure if they were real or photoshopped. I found out on the PPRuNe Forums that the photographs are real and show the South African aerobatic team the Flying Lions, photographed…
Read more… 19 Nov 10
Modern Flight
I found a lot of interesting articles and clips this week in the news – too many to pick a subject. So for this week, have a news round-up with plenty of links for you to find out more. The accident report has been released for the incident I wrote up in January: Ditching in…
Read more… 29 Oct 10
Accident Analysis
Why KLM Cut the Steering Cables on Two Perfectly Functional Boeing 737s
Last month, we looked at the night of 28th of November 2004 at Barcelona Airport. KLM 1673 ran off the runway at high speed, stopping just short of a canal.…
KLM 1673 Veers Off the Runway with Full Right Rudder
On the 28th of November 2004, a Boeing B737 ran off the runway at Barcelona Airport. The weather had been good at Barcelona that evening. The flight crew agreed to land…
Demystifying
How Important is Having a Sterile Cockpit?
This question was posted to r/flying by a private pilot who wanted to know: do airline pilots ever engage in small talk about irrelevant things during taxiing, run-up, takeoff, and…
Someone has to write the TAF
It turns out that there a person sitting there deciding what the weather is going to do. Which seems obvious, except that I had somehow never asked msyelf who “someone”…
History
The CIA's Shark Screen
Today we have a guest post from the CIA! In their archives, researching something completely different, I found the answer to a question I never thought to ask. I immediately…
The First Jet to Land on an Aircraft Carrier (Deliberately)
“The Vampire was the first jet to land on a moving aircraft carrier deliberately.” This quote from Airshow Luke, our MC at the Legacy of Liberty airshow, made me almost…
Fun Stuff
Petrified, Petrified, Petrified
There’s been some interesting reporting in the UK media about a “near disaster” over Canary Wharf involving the captain having to intervene (the horror!) after air data systems failed on…
Aviation Stories You Might Have Missed
I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season. This week, I’ve put together a compilation of interesting items in the press that you might have missed while enjoying…
