I’ve lost half the week reading The First Jet Pilot, a historical biography about a pilot I’d never heard of before: Captain Erich Warsitz. Erich Warsitz was a German test-pilot in the 1930s and 40s. He lived the most amazing life and when I say test-pilot, I don’t mean “check out this probably-stable plane and…
Read more… 9 Sep 11
This guest post is from Stephanie of Hillsboro Aviation in Oregon, who was kind enough answer my questions about how to start an aviation career. I hope my son is reading this! The Route to an Aviation Career The route to becoming an employable commercial pilot is not necessarily easy. Is it worth it? That…
Read more… 2 Sep 11
My heart broke when I saw the update on the Royal Air force Aerobatic Team website. Until the last, I’d hoped that Flight Lieutenant Egging had managed to eject safely. And then the RED 4 Messages of Condolence page appeared. It is with sadness that the MOD must confirm the death of Flight Lieutenant Jon…
Read more… 26 Aug 11
This video is of a P-51D Mustang Ferocious Frankie owned by the Old Flying Machine Company, who fly aerobatic displays with the plane (and duos with a Spitfire) at airshows all over the the US. Ferocious Frankie is a 1944 Mustang with a 1760 horsepower Merlin engine and a maximum speed of 505mph. Their website…
Read more… 19 Aug 11
Alistair Mayer is a brilliant science fiction writer and all around nice guy whose stories regularly grace the pages of Analog magazine. He shared this story from his flying days in Canada and kindly allowed me to share it with you here as a part of my I learned from that series. You can find…
Read more… 12 Aug 11
It’s been beautiful sunny weather and I’ve seen a lot of GA planes flying past, which always cheers me up. Also, I’m hoping to go flying myself in the next couple weeks after an extended break. Hurray! So to celebrate, today’s post is full of good news and happy endings. I hope you enjoy it.…
Read more… 29 Jul 11
On the 4th of June 2022, a Bell 407 GXP helicopter crashed in a field near Fairfield, New Jersey. I wrote about it at the time. The final report and…
The Manchester Airport Group Plc owns and operates three airports: Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands. Manchester Airport is the third busiest airport in Britain. Their website says Manchester Airport…
My friend Maria at Daedalean wrote this article about how they are using AI to help pilots detect gliders. I thought it was fascinating and Daedalean gave me permission to…
On the 5th of January 2024, Alaska Airlines flight 1282 had just taken off when it lost a door plug, leaving a gaping hole on the left side of row…
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…
This week, we have a guest post by J.B. Rivard who wrote an article for the American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS) and used one of my articles as a reference.…
I’m in Dresden at the moment and I’m afraid I haven’t had a free moment to write you a new article. Luckily, lots of other people are on the internet…
Long-term readings of Fear of Landing know that my favourite aerobatics show of all time is Kyle Franklin’s Ben Whabnoski Comedy act. Just in case some of you haven’t seen…