Category: Fun Stuff – Page 2
How the B-52 Lands in Crosswinds
I’m here, defeated but not yet horizontal, the victim of a relentless summer cold that feels like the universe’s revenge for something I can’t even remember. If I don’t make it, please avenge me by naming a B-52 after me. I’m thinking about B-52s after watching this one land at the airshow at RAF Fairford,…
Read more… 11 Jul 25
Friday Lightness: A Short Respite from Crash Reports
It seems a good time for something a bit more lighthearted. After weeks of analyzing serious incidents and technical failures, I thought I could a moment to appreciate aviation humuor that actually lands on target (unlike some aircraft that I will decline to mention). Consider this your in-flight entertainment break. We’ll return to regularly scheduled…
Read more… 25 Apr 25
Flights of Fantasy: Aviation April Fools Worth Celebrating
I’m going to admit that I’m not a great fan of April Fools’ pranks, especially not attempts to trick people into believing something and then pulling the rug out from under them. But when an April Fools Day joke is poking fun at the world in a way that we all get to be in…
Read more… 4 Apr 25
Terminally Early: The Berlin Viewing Platform
Mistakes were made. All of them were mine. Before I left for Dresden, I planned out my full itinerary. Berlin is a much busier airport than Tallinn, so I needed to remember that when it was time to leave, I’d need to arrive two hours before. When I added the revised time to my online…
Read more… 31 May 24
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 and have shared some fun and interesting aviation posts. This great clip was posted to Reddit: Every foot of that runway was used that day…
Read more… 18 Aug 23
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 the 2009 video that Kyle gave me permission to share, I’ll include it here (if you are reading from the mailing list, click through to…
Read more… 26 May 23
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…
