On the numbers
Feature image (above) © Robbie Schubert | Dreamstime.com Following my recent post from the dawn of modern commercial aviation (see Constellation Crossing) I thought it would be interesting to compare the state of air transport today – 69 years later. So, in my incessant web trawling, I came across the website of the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), a non-profit dedicated to giving the global … Continue reading On the numbers
Constellation crossing
Feature image © Thomas Kirn G-AHEM (cn 1978) ‘Balmoral II’, sister to our story’s aircraft G-AHEL ‘Bangor II’. It’s not widely known that BOAC, forerunner of British Airways, continued to fly global services throughout World War 2 – and by 1945 no airline had more experience crossing the Atlantic. At war’s end, the airline was swift to acquire five Lockheed C-69 transports, completed as L-49 Constellations, … Continue reading Constellation crossing
Bird On A Wire
This is a truly awesome photo – and not just for the split-second timing of a successfully trapped wire whipping out behind its captive Goshawk. This is an image for everyone who dreams of flying, and for every pilot who aims to fly better… What it actually shows is a moment of triumph – for one pilot who’s got the grades, grown the moustache, and gone to the … Continue reading Bird On A Wire
A friend indeed
This post is a sort of addenda to my last article, Red Baron Down, to show another side of life for Manfred von Richthofen – the precious relationship he enjoyed with his Danish hound Moritz. Apart from the footnote, it comes directly from von Richthofen’s The Red Battle Flyer. My little lap-dog March 1917 The most beautiful being in all creation is the … Continue reading A friend indeed
Red Baron down
Who shot down the Red Baron? Not who you’re thinking. And not when or where you’re thinking either. So park what you know about Canadian fliers and Australian gunners on the Somme for a moment, and put April 21st, 1918 aside too. Manfred von Richthofen was actually shot down on March 6th, 1917, over Lens in Belgium. As he attacked a Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter, von Richthofen found … Continue reading Red Baron down
Take a closer look
Feature photo (above) by Ron Kroetz | Flickr.com CC-BY-SD 2.0 The views of aircraft arrivals over (or should that be across?) Maho Beach, Sint Maarten are hardly a revelation anymore. Although they don’t get any less spectacular with time. What is news (for me at least) is this video, which details the arrival of a KLM 747-406M from the cockpit side of things… More … Continue reading Take a closer look
Wormburners 101
When it comes to hot arrivals, fighter types have the run and break. But when you fly without an engine, nothing comes close to gliding’s Competition Finish. The concept is straightforward (and slightly downward). Gliders have a known best glide angle, so there’s a reciprocal approach slope that rises out from the designated finish point. Once you intercept this slope you can forget about slow … Continue reading Wormburners 101
Under the Bridge
AvWeb titled their coverage “Silly Pilot Tricks, Part… (We’ve Lost Count)”. And rightly so. On Saturday May 1st, 2004, a certified pilot flew her Skyfox Gazelle, with passenger, under Sydney Harbour Bridge. Needless to say, the tempting duck under the deck was, and remains, strictly forbidden. In the ten years since, no-one has been quite able to explain how a CPL- and Instructor-rated pilot could … Continue reading Under the Bridge
Thrown up
While shots of grinning TV presenters experiencing weightlessness aboard ‘Vomit Comet’ flights are a dime a dozen these days, images of aircraft actually flying the mission are harder to find. So here are some shots of the last NASA Reduced Gravity aircraft from an accompanying T-38. NASA ended their Reduced Gravity Program in July 2014. Private operator Zero Gravity Corp still provides the service from various airports around … Continue reading Thrown up
Safety, Edwardian-style
If you still can’t believe World War One pilots were never issued with parachutes, this glimpse into Edwardian attitudes may help… Last post, I shared Flight magazine’s account of the first fully documented spin recovery (‘Parke’s Dive’), from August 31st, 1913. But before we move on, here’s an editorial that appeared just two weeks later, on September 13th, 1913. Even though Parke was restrained … Continue reading Safety, Edwardian-style
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