Latest Posts   –  Page 153

If It’s Not One Thing

Today I received my first fan mail from a Piper Flyer reader, as it finally occurred to me that I could include my email address in my by-line. It was very exciting. I opened the email and read it slowly, trying to savour the moment. He wrote that he had read my article in the…

Read more… 30 Oct 07

The Night Before

I’m working on an article called Sylvia’s Mother at the moment (er, if you are my editor, read “working on” as “finishing off”. I swear you’ll have it by Friday) and wrote about my thoughts before taking my mom and my son up in the Saratoga. This is from my initial draft. I can’t help…

Read more… 17 Oct 07

Learning from the Masters

This is just a stunning landing you can watch on youtube: Look, ma! No wheels! Yes, I know, I owe you all a post. Soon, I promise. :)

Read more… 11 Oct 07

Instrument Rating – unofficial ground school

Jeremy Zawodny has started ground school where he’ll learn IFR theory for his instrument rating. The fun bit is that he’s posting about it on his blog and plans to keep doing so. This is great, from my point of view. I’d like to get my instrument rating. It’s something I keep putting off, because…

Read more… 26 Sep 07

Scheduled Downtime

Fear of Landing will be down for server maintenance all day on Tuesday, September 18th. We’ll come back showered and refreshed and raring to go! In the meantime, you can take a look at some of the new photographs I’ve uploaded over at Flickr.

Read more… 17 Sep 07

Behind the Wheel

Janet wrote: > just got a car, after months without, and re-learning standard stick shift > routines. today’s big stressor was parking on a hill. > > but, no, there was no control tower. and no one watching. I was in this situation the other day. I don’t tend to have to drive here in…

Read more… 6 Sep 07

Accident Reports

Hand on Thrust, Brain on Autopilot

On the 28th of June 2024 a Boeing 777-236, registered in the UK as G-VIIT, rejected a take-off after reaching V1 during the take-off roll on 26L at London Gatwick…

Challenger 300 Fatal Upset Wasn't Turbulence

On the 3rd of March 2023, a passenger in a private jet died after severe injuries in the cabin, which were originally reported as caused by severe turbulence. This was…

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…