Shanghai-based avtech company, Autoflight, has debuted its autonomous fixed-wing passenger electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) concept at the China Airshow in Zhuhai. The V1500M, which is designed to carry 3-4 passengers at 200 km/h for up to 250 kilometres, is expected to have its maiden...
This is NOT a question grounded in any kind of reality, it’s a purely hypothetical question. What if there was a restorable airframe, and if a suitable power plant could be found, and if there was the funding, facilities, expertise and willingness to restore any WW2 era...
This looks good! It’s a behind-the-scenes video about a new crowd-funded movie called ‘Litvyak’ about WW2 Soviet fighter pilot, Lidiya Litvyak, flight commander of the 3rd Aviation Squadron and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Before she was shot down and killed, aged just 22, on 1st...
Istanbul Airport has put Turkey’s first official “Spotter Area” into service, for those who are interested in aviation photography. In recent years, plane spotting has been growing, and according to Airways Magazine, airports all over the world have recognised the growing demand from aviation enthusiasts, who want...
The Royal Mail has announced a trial of the first out-of-sight, autonomous scheduled drone flights between the UK mainland and an island. The trial will use Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flights initially to deliver Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), COVID testing kits and other mail to the Isles...
London City Airport has just become the world’s first major international airport to be controlled remotely from an entirely digital control tower. Its new 50 metre (164 feet) Air Traffic Control (ATS) tower allows controllers 115 km (70 miles) away in Swanwick, Hampshire, to control all movements...
The twin-engine Bristol Blenheim was the RAF’s primary light bomber at the start of WW2. This one, a Blenheim IV, is on display at the RAF museum in Hendon. (When we can get to see it!) The Bristol Blenheim – or ‘Bolingbroke’ if you were flying the...
Filming starts next month on the next big-budget war movie, Devotion, which tells the real life story of U.S. Navy pilots Tom Hudner and Jesse Brown. The History The duo came from completely different, post-World War II, backgrounds. Tom was a white New Englander from a wealthy...
In the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, NATO developed ZELL – the Zero-Length Launch system, using rocket-assisted F-104 Starfighters and other primary attack aircraft. Being right on the border with the Eastern Bloc, West Germany in particular had little time to identify and intercept...
Many people know that President Kennedy’s elder brother died tragically during World War II, in a colossal airborne explosion over East Anglia in the UK on 12 Aug 1944. Not many, including myself, knew that the event was witnessed by Col. Elliott Roosevelt, son of FDR who...
The Salis Flying Museum (Musée Volant Salis) has an amazing collection of around 50* historic aircraft at its hilltop airfield, 35 kms south of Paris. It’s the drip trays you notice. Drip trays are a rare sight in most aviation museums because, before they go on static...
Environmentally-friendly, remotely-controlled, electric aircraft tugs are taking over the role of ground handling, pushback and hanger movements at airports around the world. Spanish airline, Iberia is the latest to start using remotely controlled Mototok electric tugs for moving their aircraft at Madrid and Barcelona Airports. Their eight...
The KF Aerospace Centre for Excellence has unveiled its plans for a new aviation museum and conference centre at Kelowna International Airport. Site preparation work will start this autumn on the site on Lapointe Drive beside the Kelowna International Airport, across the road from their current airfield...
The historic control tower at the aviation base on Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor not only survived the Japanese attack on 7th Dec 1941, it is still standing and looking good as new. Some would say even better, thanks to a collaboration between the...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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