Latest Posts   –  Page 132

Frequently Asked Questions

Not all of these questions are really all that frequent, if I’m honest with you. Most of them are more like occasionally asked questions. Or in the case of the last question: asked once, by my mother. Nevertheless, I will endeavour to answer them all. How many people can you fit into your plane? The…

Read more… 23 Oct 09

Security

Today’s xkcd made me break out with a smile before I’d even finished my first coffee: As with all of the xkcd comics, be sure to hover your mouse over the image for a further comment from the author. For more intriguing views of the world we live in, visit xkcd.com.

Read more… 19 Oct 09

Short Circuit

It’s been a while since the day I missed the runway at Oxford Airport. I’ve done a lot more flying and I’m a lot more competent. But my first near-miss (no damage was done except the loss of a runway light) is not an incident I’m likely to forget in a hurry. The Saratoga is…

Read more… 16 Oct 09

Permission to Play

I totally lost control of my week! I had no idea it was Friday and now it’s the end of the day and I am out of time to write an interesting post for you. So I am giving you permission to play a game. Spend the time you would have wasted reading my ramblings…

Read more… 9 Oct 09

Have You Seen These?

This week: A selection of aviation articles and images that I found intriguing. Bird strike! The moment 200 starlings were sucked into passenger jet engine on take-off | Mail Online ‘It was like a scene from the Hitchcock movie The Birds. One second all was clear, and the next thing you saw were these birds…

Read more… 2 Oct 09

Brookman’s Park VOR (BPK)

I shouldn’t have hopped the fence. It was shut with a big padlock and surrounded by barbed wire so I can’t exactly claim that I hadn’t noticed it. But I’d walked such a long way – 5 miles! – just to take some photographs for my blog, it seemed such a shame to give up…

Read more… 25 Sep 09

Accident Reports

Overrun in Ireland

On the 19th of February 2023, a private pilot arranged to meet with a flight instructor at Birr Airfield to fly a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. That morning, the flight instructor…

Icing, Systems, and Human Factors: Preliminary Findings on Voepass flight 2283

On the 9th of August 2024 at 16:22, Voepass flight 2283, a scheduled flight from Cascavel, Paraná, to Guarulhos, São Paulo entered a flat spin and crashed into a residential…

Demystifying

How to tell an F-16 Fighting Falcon from a Eurofighter Typhoon

There are a number of reasons why you might need to quickly point out the differences between a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and a Eurofighter EF2000 Typhoon. You might…

Extreme Turbulence in Singapore Airlines flight 321

A few days ago (21st of May 2024), Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 encountered heavy turbulence on a passenger flight from London-Heathrow to Singapore. There were 229 on board, including eighteen…

History

Gladys Ingle Inflight Wheel Change: Emergency Action or Stunt?

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…

The Disappearance of the Hawaii Clipper May Not Be as Mysterious as Was Thought

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.…

Fun Stuff

Terminally Early: The Berlin Viewing Platform

Mistakes were made. All of them were mine. Before I left for Dresden, I planned out my full itinerary. Berlin is a much busier airport than Tallinn, so I needed…

A Few Good Stories

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…