Category: Miscellaneous –  Page 31

Vraic

Vraic is seaweed and seaweed, on Jersey, is life. The agriculture on Jersey, including the famous Jersey Royal potato, owe their success to the fertilising from the sea. The harvest lasted around two months in the Spring and records as far back as 1299 show that it was frequently the cause of quarrels and criminal…

Read more… 2 Mar 07

Say again?

As a result of a new link (or two) to this site, I’ve been asked, rather directly, what exactly it is that I’m doing. I wrote up this bio/description the other day which hopefully explains: I am a 39-year-old German-American (brought up in both countries) currently living in Spain with my British boyfriend and very…

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Chinese New Year Clean Up

Spent the day cleaning up — here on the blog various small things have been fixed up. Unfortunately, that means that subscribers probably got every post again as I changed the permalinks. But now it’s set up more usefully, where you see the category rather than the date as a part of the URL. I…

Read more… 15 Feb 07

Alderney Photographs

I love it when a random search drops me onto a website which was not, in any way, what I was looking for but absolutely interesting in its own right. Today I stumbled on this great collection of photographs of Alderney taken by CR LeCocq between 1900 and 1918: http://www.cipostcard.co.nz/lecocq.htm I especially love the shot…

Read more… 12 Feb 07

Thoughts at the End of Winter

I was watching my log book carefully as I waited for the weather to clear and then, most frustratingly, waited for the plane to be in good working order again. Although I have to admit I was relieved that someone else found the fault rather than leaving it to me. I then managed to get…

Read more… 30 Jan 07

Links

Useful websites for the Channel Islands: http://www.jerseymet.gov.je/ with webcams of the runway and St Helier! http://www.bbc.co.uk/guernsey/ and http://www.bbc.co.uk/jersey/ but not Alderney. :( http://www.visitguernsey.com http://www.aboutjersey.net and http://www.jersey.com/ and http://www.jersey.co.uk/ (Have you guys ever thought about consolidating?) http://www.nationaltrustjersey.org.je http://www.flyalderney.com/ http://www.alderney.net – I especially liked the very brief history http://www.alderney.gov.gg

Read more… 10 Jan 07

Accident Analysis

Ferry Tank Failure: Successful SR22 Ditching in the Pacific

In 2015, I shared a video of an SR22 whose pilot successfully deployed his Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) off of the coast of Maui, Hawai’i. I wrote at the time…

The Man in the Right Seat at Prestwick

On the 23rd of April 2024, a Piper Archer II crashed in South Ayrshire, Scotland, after losing power. There were two on board. Both suffered serious injuries and the light…

Demystifying

The Pilots, the Probes, and the AF447 Verdict

On the 21st of May 2026, the Paris Court of Appeal convicted Airbus and Air France of involuntary manslaughter for their roles in the crash of Air France flight 447,…

Meowing on Guard (an attempt at an explanation)

Last week a video went viral and it’s been fun to see the mainstream media coverage try to cover two pilots who were heard making animal noises on the radio. …

History

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…

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…

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…