Category: Miscellaneous – Page 3
Just a quick goodbye to 2023
It seems crazy to me that 2023 is already almost over! It’s been a year of change and, I guess, renewal, although I feel like I’ve been dragged kicking and screaming all the way. Fear of Landing continues to be a joy: I learn so much from writing for you and I love the community…
Read more… 29 Dec 23
As 2023 draws to a close
It’s now traditional that I take Christmas and New Year’s off but it’s also a good excuse to put you to work instead. Recently I found myself considering these two reports and I’m wondering if anyone here might be able to shed some light on the issues. First of all, this is trivial but I…
Read more… 22 Dec 23
Calling in sick
I tested positive for COVID today. This is the second time and I feel like death. My timing is a little off: I was booked for a booster on Wednesday. Here’s an interesting article about DIY Ice Cream in Wartime (Take one Corsair, 5 ammo cans, canned milk and circle at 33,000 feet.) Now if…
Read more… 1 Dec 23
ATC, Ambulance Needed, Accident Report and AXALP ’23
I have too many things I want to tell you about and not enough time to write them all so here’s a quick collection for you. Two weeks ago, I wrote about the Bank Holiday chaos in the UK when the air traffic control sub-system failed. There was a lively discussion and I’d like to…
Read more… 22 Sep 23
Exploring Regulatory Challenges
This week I want to recommend a very good article on Titan that I think you will enjoy. This article in New York Magazine is interesting, intelligent and well-written. If you read only one thing this week, I think it should be this. This is the type of essay that I aspire to writing, seamlessly…
Read more… 7 Jul 23
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
In 1978, a movie described as a Musical-Comedy-Horror-Show was released: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. The movie, which is about sentient tomatoes on a rampage, This is the trailer: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes had a budget of $90,000, partially sourced from relatives and friends. The creators also used them for supporting rolls: most of…
Read more… 17 Mar 23
Accident Analysis
The Anatomy of an A350–CRJ Collision at Atlanta
On the 10th of September 2024, an Airbus A350 took the tail off of a Bombardier CRJ at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, USA. Delta Air Lines flight 295…
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.…
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
Bird Strikes, Balloon Landings and Falling in Love with a Boeing 777
The exciting news on Fear of Landing this week was a huge scare about critical vulnerabilities in PHP. PHP is widely used on the web, including in WordPress, which is…
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…
