Category: Fun Stuff –  Page 7

The Hoverboard is Not So Hot (Supercool!)

OK, so you all know that I really really want a jetpack. However, I have decided that under the circumstances, I’ll settle for a hoverboard. Specifically the one in this viral video from Lexus. Is that not the most amazing skateboard ever? It’s straight out of science fiction. The hoverboard has high temperature superconducting blocks…

Read more… 14 Aug 15

New Design!

A few months ago I saw some people talking about Fear of Landing on Reddit, which was pretty cool, except that one of them said “Yeah, but what’s up with the 1990s web design, wow.” I looked at my darling website, which actually was designed in 2006, thank-you-very-much, with a redesign in 2008, and I…

Read more… 30 Jul 15

Tom Cruise: Hanging on a Wing and a Prayer

Are you looking forward to the new Mission Impossible movie? I don’t usually talk about Hollywood on here (other than for debunking purposes) but there’s a stunt here that I think you need to be an aviationist to really appreciate. In Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, Ethan Hunter is an IMF operative who assembles a team…

Read more… 17 Jul 15

SR-71 vs F-16

What I’ve been doing when I should have been writing: Reading The Martian (highly recommend!!) Finishing the edits for the next Why Planes Crash e-book (want early access? Join the mailing list!) Working on a redesign for the website (coming soon!) Drafting two complicated accident reports (still in progress) I am sorry that I haven’t…

Read more… 3 Jul 15

ATC Humour

I may have spent too much time reading silly threads on the Professional Pilots Rumour Network (PPRuNe). Specifically, there’s a great thread of ATC Humour with a great mix of classic jokes and personal stories. It’s eighty pages long! However, I read the whole thing so that you don’t have to. You’re welcome! My sense…

Read more… 15 May 15

A Fun Set of Videos for the Weekend

These are all good-hearted aviation videos which are being passed around that I thought you might enjoy. Surely you can’t have already seen them all! Note: if you are reading this in your inbox, you’ll need to click through to the post in order to see all the embedded videos. If you aren’t reading this…

Read more… 5 Dec 14

Accident Reports

The faulty AOA sensor on Ethiopian flight 302

The NTSB report submitted in response to the third draft covers two areas: Airframe/Systems and Operational and Human Factors. Today, I’m going to focus on the airframes and systems. The…

No one noticed it was missing: 1971 Super Cub crash

Lasham Aerodrome in Hampshire, England, was built in 1942 and used as a base for the RAF Fighter Command. After the war, it became the home of the Army Gliding…

Demystifying

Flying Blind: The Importance of NOTAMs in Aviation

On the 11th of January 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US stopped all departing commercial flights, grounding aircraft all over the US. Hot on the heels of…

Post-Pandemic Mystery at Heathrow

In June 2021, the British Air Accident Investigative Branch (AAIB) initiated a fascinating investigation after they noticed three similar incidents at London Heathrow over a three-day period. Soon, they realised…

History

The Oldest Footage of Flight

About a week ago, Marléne Aviation posted to Twitter in an attempt to find the oldest video footage of a flight. Marléne Aviation is run by a French aviation history…

Twin Pioneer Down in Libya: Structural Failure in 1956

On the 7th of December 1957, a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer 1, registration G-AOEO, departed an airstrip at Anshan in Libya for a routine flight to Tripoli-Idris Airport. There were…

Fun Stuff

Aviation Videos and Articles for August

I always collect videos and links that I think you might enjoy but apparently, I have been neglecting to actually share them with you! So here’s a “best of the…

Funniest Thing You've Heard On the Radio

I’ve been struggling this week and was just panicking that I would not have a post finished in time for you for today when I discovered that Reddit had saved…