Whenever there is an accident involving an airliner, news reporters immediately begin talking about “the Black Box.” “Where is the Black Box?” “Investigators are looking for the Black Box” “What’s the condition of the Black […]
Swirls and lines on engine spinners. The spiral shapes can been seen on jet engines everywhere and come in several different designs and variations. They look cool on a spinning engine, but do they have a higher […]
As you relax sipping ginger-ale on your next flight, here’s something to ponder: The airplane you are riding in might have stuff broken. It might even have parts missing! Starting to lose that warm and fuzzy […]
In Part 1 (featured at NYCAviation.com), I talked about what happens when stuff on an airliner breaks while we sit at the gate. What do airline pilots do when there is a mechanical malfunction while airborne? Airliners […]
One of the challenges of international flying is handling different units of measure in different countries. In aviation, the battle between imperial and metric units continues. Feet, meters, statute miles, nautical miles, inches of mercury, […]
Airliners have a lot of moving parts. The control surfaces, brakes, landing gear and many other components need a lot of power to move them. A very simple device is used to do much of the […]
At the heart of every airline training program is an amazing, multi-million dollar machine. A “Level D” aircraft simulator is the closest you can get to flying without leaving the ground. Costing close to $20 million […]
or Who (or what) is flying this thing, anyway? There has been a lot of talk in the media lately about aircraft automation. Apparently, The Machines are doing the flying and the pilots are sitting around […]
“Ladies and Gentlemen, In the unlikely event of a loss of cabin pressure, the pilots have really cool quick-donning, pressure demand oxygen masks. You, on the other hand, have a yellow Dixie cup with an […]
Modern jets go fast. Typical cruise speeds are close to the speed of sound. Did you realize you were moving that fast? As inevitable as a Black Friday WalMart riot, at the end of every flight […]