I’ve started a new feature! A somewhat eclectic but hopefully always interesting collection of blog posts, photos and news stories to do with aviation which I’ve found on the web. I’ve noticed a lot of my posts are pointers to other sites and I thought it would make sense to combine them into a single post. Let me know if you think there’s something interesting I missed.

This description of a crisis on a test flight sure made me sit up straight:

Then the SR-71 literally disintegrated around us. From that point, I was just along for the ride. And my next recollection was a hazy thought that I was having a bad dream.

There’s no question, he’s lucky to be alive. I don’t think I’d ever fly again.

Of course, as pilots we do all we can do give luck a helping hand. I sit back and think of England is a interesting post about passenger reaction to safety routines:

I can understand why passengers would be taken aback to learn that the pilot is thinking about such a thing. They were thinking about how funny cows look from on top, or about how a lot more people have swimming pools than they expected. I can see them being frightened by the reminder that the engine could quit.

Flightblog.aero has a stunning photograph with a title which says it all: I always feel compelled to snap a photo of the wing … every flight, every time. I’m glad it’s not just me. And well, wow, what a shot.

While we’re looking at pictures, take a look at this fun selection of travel photographs, including this classic one showing why you should always learn the local language.

And finally, the latest fuss in the commercial aviation world is centered around Southwest Airlines again (the airline that rejected a passenger for having her skirt too short). Two teenagers claimed the airline was “just discriminating against because we were young decent-looking girls” after they were escorted off the plane by security. The news report quickly hit YouTube and discussion has been heated. with Gadling straight out accusing them of being spoiled brats. Southwest clearly learned from the earlier incident and decided to set the record straight immediately – on YouTube, an interesting decision considering the amount of viral attention the scandal was getting.