CATEGORIES

The Plane That Wasn't There: Why We Haven't Found Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (Kindle Single)

The definitive investigation into the greatest aviation mystery in history, with a startling hypothesis about who took the plane, where they took it, and how.

Winter And A Stormy Paris Trip

The winter was now in full swing, it has been snowing for days, the rivers were frozen, it was 05h00 and after scraping off the ice on my car’s windscreen, I was on the slippery road to Rotterdam Airport to fly a charter to Milan Malpensa Airport.

Hawker Tempest V

The Tempest was a development of the Typhoon and despite a certain external similarity it was a completely new design. It differed mainly in having a thin-section elliptical wing and lengthened fuselage to accommodate the fuel tanks, which in the Typhoon had been in the wings.

Rotor Transition Programmes

It takes a couple of years to make a pilot and close to a decade to make him a Captain capable of taking sound decisions in the air. This is a profession with long gestation times. captains like ‘Sully’ Sullenberger represent a mountain of military-civil experience honed over decades. They cannot be created overnight. Neither do they come cheap.

When The Weather Changes

What has gone wrong? You checked the weather forecast carefully in advance, and when you took off the sky was clear and visibility was excellent. It was supposed to stay that way. But now the clouds are getting lower, you’re peering through gloom and drizzle – and could that have been an ominous rumble of thunder? It’s becoming difficult to navigate, and if things get any worse it’ll be just plain scary? How did this happen, when you were so careful? And more importantly, what should you do?

Introducing The Epic Certified E1000

Epic E1000, a six-seat singleengine turboprop aircraft, was designed and developed by Epic Aircraft. The aircraft's first flight test, was completed at the Bend Municipal Airport in December 2015. The maiden flight test lasted for 20 minutes, which focused on assessing general handling qualities and operational performance systems.

Saturn Part Manufacturing Plant

NPO Saturn PJSC, a member of United Engine Corporation, itself part of Rostec State Corporation, was founded in 1916. Originally known as the Russian Renault Plant, it had belonged to the automotive industry until 1924, since then its history has been closely intertwined with the development of the Russian aviation industry.

Breakfast Run

Some time ago I wrote about a run I'd been fortunate enough to do in a friends Lancair Legacy up to a private airfield near Clanwilliam dam called Nooitgedacht.

Buckling Under Pressure

Would you try a small experiment for me? Go and find three sheets of printer paper and a roll of sticky tape. I’d like you to start by rolling two of sheets up into cylinders lengthways and just hold each cylinder together with a single strip of lengthways sticky tape: one of them quite thin – say 2-3cm (or about an inch) across, the other quite wide with just a couple of centimetres overlap at the edge.

Soon To Be King Of The Lowveld!

As a petrol head I yearn for more power and speed in anything I own and my aircraft are no different. I have successfully turbocharged my bush wacker, my 7-year-old daughter’s quad bike and I am looking in to turbo-charging my ride-on lawnmower to cut down on maintenance time in the garden. I have been looking at a performance upgrade on my Bat Hawk for while now and have come up with a solution that was just sheer genius.

The Flight 981 Disaster

Tragedy, Treachery, And The Pursuit Of Truth

First Tiger HAD Retrofit Delivered To French Army Aviation

Airbus Helicopters has delivered the first Tiger retrofitted into the HAD version to the French Army Aviation, after having previously completed its formal acceptance process with the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA).

F-35A Lightning II Airframe Completes Third Life Testing In Unique Facility

A full scale durability test airframe of the F-35A aircraft has successfully completed its third life testing, equivalent to 24 000 hours of 'flying', in a unique testing facility at BAE Systems’ site in Brough, East Yorkshire.

Granting Weightless Wishes

ESA participated in the Kid’s Weightless Dreams campaign organised by Novespace and Rêves de Gosse giving children with disabilities the opportunity to experience weightlessness and lunar gravity on a parabolic flight.

Evektor EV-55 Outback Set For Certification 2020

Robust, hard working, a plane for all conditions, workhorse – all words that can be used to describe the latest offering from Czech Republic manufacturer, Evektor. Aptly named EV-55 Outback, the eagerly anticipated twin turboprop seems set to slot right in with the likes of the Cessna Caravan, Kodiak and others of the same ilk.

Helicopters And The Night Sea

“When a helicopter and two crew are lost to the most fundamental accident cause that has bedevilled offshore crew for years, it is time to reflect if indeed we have made progress in real terms”

Huon-Class Minehunter

The Huon class Minehunter Coastal (MHC) ships are a group of minehunters built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Following problems with the Bay class minehunters. A request for tender was issued in 1993 for a class of six coastal minehunters under the project designation SEA 1555. Originally designed in Italy as the Gaeta Class for the Italian Navy, the RAN Huon Class has been modified to suit Australian conditions, including improved accommodation and mine hunting capabilities.