Latest Posts   –  Page 135

Merry Christmas to all!

A retelling of the 19th-century story, especially for aviators. This has been floating around the Internet for years in various forms — and probably was passed around as photocopies for years before that. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp, Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ. The aircraft were…

Read more… 25 Dec 09

Grounded

The wind is 22 gusting 30. I am sitting indoors, watching flight videos and reading accident reports. GA pilots go through accident reports like they are candy. We experience vicariously the scenarios that we desperately hope will never actually happen to us and what better time than when we are stuck on the ground anyway?…

Read more… 18 Dec 09

Drunk steals plane at airshow

I had to cover my eyes to watch this video the first time I was shown it. But then I kept peeking through my fingers. Totally amazing. It’s hard for me to imagine ever having the skill required to appear to fly that badly. It’s awesome. He’s got incredible control. The pilot is Kyle Franklin…

Read more… 11 Dec 09

The Ninth Day: A Gift Guide

A number of aviation bloggers have joined up to bring you The Twelve Days of Christmas: An Aviation Gift Guide. I’m going out on a limb with today’s recommendation but it can be hard to be sure what a pilot might like – we’re all different – and this was the one thing I could…

Read more… 10 Dec 09

Video from Airventure 2009

This is an awesome video taken at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh – The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration by Slick Aviation, a college student who shot 6 hours of video over the ten days he spent at Airventure and cut it down to the best 5 minutes. I couldn’t help but grin at his blogpost about the…

Read more… 4 Dec 09

On the Third Day of Christmas…

Trying to find presents is never easy and however much I swear I will be more organised next year, it always seems to end up December before I’m ready. This year, a number of aviation bloggers have teamed up to bring you gift ideas and I’m thrilled to be one of them. With a theme…

Read more… 3 Dec 09

Accident Reports

Farewell Flight Turns Fatal in Cairns

On the 12th of August in 2024, a pilot fatally crashed a Robinson R44 into the top of a hotel building in Cairns, Australia. The pilot held a commercial helicopter…

No Masks, No Oxygen, No Chance

On the 4th of June 2023, a Cessna Citation 560 aircraft crashed in Montebello, Virginia, killing the pilot and three passengers. The NTSB released their report on the 14th of…

Demystifying

How to tell a Russian Su-27 from a British Typhoon

This is not an article that I ever thought I would feel compelled to write! However, given the confusion over a photograph chosen in a regional English paper, apparently it’s…

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…

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

Friday Lightness: A Short Respite from Crash Reports

It seems a good time for something a bit more lighthearted. After weeks of analyzing serious incidents and technical failures, I thought I could a moment to appreciate aviation humuor…

Flights of Fantasy: Aviation April Fools Worth Celebrating

I’m going to admit that I’m not a great fan of April Fools’ pranks, especially not attempts to trick people into believing something and then pulling the rug out from…