Latest Posts   –  Page 133

Destination: Glenforsa

It took a couple of visits before I felt confident landing at Glenforsa airfield. It’s a grass runway with no margin for error: hills on one side and the Sound of Mull on the other. Having said that, there has never been a serious injury at Glenforsa although the Glenforsa Airfield History includes some incredible…

Read more… 17 Jul 09

Pitch vs. Power: Landing Better

Flying is hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. When I first started flying, I presumed that the phrase was referring to the take-off and landing. I hadn’t even begun to conceive of things going wrong in the air; flying from A to B was the easy bit. Getting into the air and…

Read more… 10 Jul 09

Best of the Rest

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 –…

Read more… 3 Jul 09

Mother Told Me Not to Come

This three-part story was originally published in the November 2007 issue of Piper Flyer magazine. Part One: If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother Part Two: Sylvia’s Mother Said After spending over two hours filling out paperwork at the Rome Urbe airfield, I asked the one friendly person in the place for details about…

Read more… 26 Jun 09

Sylvia’s Mother Said

This three-part story was originally published in the November 2007 issue of Piper Flyer magazine. Part One: If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother Come back on the 26th of June for Part Three. When my mother announced she’d be in Europe for a few weeks, I asked for her itinerary so that we…

Read more… 19 Jun 09

If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother

This three-part story was originally published in the November 2007 issue of Piper Flyer magazine. As a result, I received my first ever piece of fan mail – a reader asked if I could possibly put him in touch with my mother regarding a conference that he thought she might be interested in. As an…

Read more… 12 Jun 09

Accident Reports

A Perfect Day to Fly: The Tragic Story of the EAA AirVenture 2023 Midair Collision

In 2023, the annual EAA AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin was marred by a tragic mid-air collision. The EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) is an aviation organisation which has hosted fly-ins…

The Fenestron Factor: Cabri G2 Crash in Gruyéres

The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB) has released the final report for the Cabri G2 light helicopter crash in Gruyères, Switzerland in 2022. I wrote about it at the…

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…