This week I’ll shut up about myself for once and share a collection of links that have shown up in my inbox.

Vincent (Plastic Pilot) and Jason (MzeroA) have successfully launched their new website: http://www.flyingacrossamerica.com. They are starting in Florida and aiming to make their way west to my home-state and visit Catalina Island – I used to go to Catalina on the ferry for sports matches when I was in highschool. I didn’t even know they had an airfield! I’m very much looking forward to reading the GA adventures that Vincent and Jason enjoy on their travels. You can follow the journey on their website:
Flying Across America

We found our first stop: We’ve been invited by the guys at DestinJet, the premier FBO at Destin, on the Florida panhandle. With their brand new 6,000 sq ft executive terminal and state of the art facilities for passengers and crew, Destin Jet combines the Glory Days of aviation with every latest technology and service. They also accepted to refuel our Cessna 150 for free which is a great help to reduce our costs.

I have to admit that this looks like a lot of fun:
Cluster Ballooning: 100 Helium Balloons Strapped to a Lawn Chair

Sure, it looks like being carried off by a multicoloured raspberry, but would you care about such style points if you were floating coolly on a cloud – and with so little keeping you up there? Prepare for lift-off as we take an aerial tour through this extraordinary and breathtaking form of ballooning.

Rob Mark of Jetwhine reviews Artful Flying by Michael Maya Charles, thoughtfully sorting out my Christmas present for the aviator in my life:
Artful Flying – Jetwhine: Aviation Buzz and Bold Opinion

Artful Flying will bust your chops if you’re simply an airplane driver because it talks to readers about the philosophy of flying the way the old guys – and girls – used to do it. No, the physics of flying hasn’t really changed, but the art of flying has, at least in the sense that flying as an art seems to have a lot of its luster over the past 20 years..

Delayed and cancelled flights are a standard hazard for air travel but some of the recent reasons have been quite bizarre:
Copilot peeing in public cancels JAL flight from Honolulu | Gadling.com

Of all the reasons to have your flight canceled, I’m pretty sure this one is high on the “no frikkin way!” list.

On the other hand, that’s got to be better than kicking all the passengers off the plane and flying alone:
AMS: 737 Pilot Has Pax Removed And Flies Out Empty – Civil Aviation Forum | Airliners.net

For the first time in the history of Schiphol, a pilot had his entire plane evacuated after a dozen passengers behaved badly. The aircraft then left empty, and the passengers were sent home.

And last but not least, two videos from last month which hit the top of my list of “So glad I was not piloting that one”. Note neither of these accidents resulted in serious injury:

To be honest, it’s the commentary that really gets me. “That kinda blows” ?! Yeah, kinda…