Latest Posts – Page 131
The Remarkable Life of Erich Warsitz
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
The Route to an Aviation Career.
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
The Red Arrows
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
Ferocious Frankie
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
Near Miss
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
Happy Days
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
Accident Analysis
KLM 1673 Veers Off the Runway with Full Right Rudder
On the 28th of November 2004, a Boeing B737 ran off the runway at Barcelona Airport. The weather had been good at Barcelona that evening. The flight crew agreed to land…
Social Media Influencers Weigh Down Aircraft
The fatal crash at Scottsdale Arizona took place directly after take-off. The passengers were a self-proclaimed crowd of social media influencers. The jet-setting influencer who had organised the flight, had…
Demystifying
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”…
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,…
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
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…
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…
