Category: Miscellaneous – Page 18
Why You Should Follow Me on Twitter
I spent last week in England, hoping to get a chance to fly the Saratoga and get current with my take-off and landings. The one day that the plane was not available was Tuesday. That was, of course, the only sunny day of the week. The rest of my time in England was spent watching…
Read more… 5 Feb 10
Ditching in the Irish Sea
Kate Burrows was flying from Guernsey back home to the Isle of Man in her PA30, a Comanche Twin, when she noticed problems with her right engine. She shut down the engine and, as she was still some 38 miles from the Isle of Man, she decided to divert to Blackpool. A few minutes later,…
Read more… 22 Jan 10
Haitian Relief Efforts
In lieu of a post today, here are some links regarding the situation in Haiti, with a focus on aviation. These photographs are not easy to look at but helped me to understand the scale of the devastation. Earthquake in Haiti – The Big Picture – Boston.com Tuesday afternoon, January 12th, the worst earthquake in…
Read more… 15 Jan 10
Odds of Airborne Terror (Gizmodo)
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: The Odds of Airborne Terror has done some interesting research: Over the past decade, there have been, by my count, six attempted terrorist incidents on board a commercial airliner than landed in or departed from the United States: the four planes that were hijacked on 9/11, the shoe bomber incident in…
Read more… 3 Jan 10
Best of 2009
I’m not sure how 2009 managed to disappear quite so quickly! But it’s gone and I’m quite happy to be able to talk about my plans for twentyten like I’m from some sort of futuristic sci-fi film. Before I start investigating what I need to get a space licence, I thought I’d take a final…
Read more… 1 Jan 10
Merry Christmas to all!
A retelling of the 19th-century story, especially for aviators. This has been floating around the Internet for years in various forms — and probably was passed around as photocopies for years before that. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp, Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ. The aircraft were…
Read more… 25 Dec 09
Accident Reports
TNflygirl and the Beech Debonair
On the 7th of December 2023, a Beech 35-C33 Debonair crashed into terrain. The private pilot and the passenger, the pilot’s father, were both killed on impact. The private flight…
At All Costs
On the 11th of December 2024, the passenger in the right seat of a 1973 Grumman AA-5 was recording a video as they approached Pearland Regional Airport in Texas. The…
Demystifying
Trump Threatens to Ground Canadian Aircraft Over Gulfstream Certification
The US President, Donald Trump, posted the following to Truth Social last night. Based on the fact that Canada has wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly refused to certify the Gulfstream 500,…
Another quick round of questions and answers
It’s time for another Questions and Answers session. I started this series a few years back, when a reader asked if there was a way to pose aviation questions outside…
History
Four Point Two Stars Where You Only Stop If You Have To
I always look up airports when I’m writing about them, partly out of habit and partly because I’m afraid I’ll miss an important detail. When I was writing Any Landing…
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…
Fun Stuff
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…
Nathan Pyle Strange Worlds
Thank you so much for all the kind words. I don’t quite have the wherewithal to respond to each of you individually but I very much appreciate all of you…
