Content tagged with “air-travel” under “The Interesting List”

“ Lots of air cargo is carried in the holds of passenger flights, so it’s a problem when passengers stop flying. Here’s an analysis of how the industry has adapted. ”

“ In 1983, an inexperienced pilot in British Harrier couldn’t locate the aircraft carrier he was supposed to land on, and had to set down on a Spanish cargo ship before he ran out of fuel. ”

“ In 1977, a German tourist accidentally de-planed in Bangor, Maine, and spent three days thinking he was in San Francisco. When the truth was discovered, he become a brief sensation. ”

“ A plane attempting to land on an aircraft carrier snaps the arresting cable, thus demonstrating why pilots momentarily go to full power at the instant they catch the cable. ”

“ A long analysis of the disappearance of Malaysia Air Flight 370 provides evidence that pilot suicide is the most likely scenario. ”

“ This short video of a landing at Gibraltar International Airport shows the only way a tiny, narrow country can fit an airport runway – by bisecting an active city street, at which cars have to wait for the landing plane to cross (at 0:43 in the video). ”

“ At a testing center in Upstate New York, the US Air Force has mounted a bunch of planes upside down to test their antennae and communications systems. ”

“ The Ghana aviation authority got upset at the continued mechanical issues of a single airliner and banned it from being flown into their country. ”

“ Spoiler: no passenger has ever landed a large commercial airliner like in the movies, but it’s happened several times with smaller planes. ”

“ A factual explanation of why helicopters crash more often than planes. ”

“ Airlines make little money on ticket sales. Most of their profits come from selling miles/points to marketing partners like credit cards, hotels, and car rental agencies. ”

“ It turns out that one of the most practical ways to transport a jet engine is to simply bolt it under the wing of another plane. ”

“ A detailed look at the planes, helicopters, and ground vehicles used to transport the president, and how they themselves are transported. ”

“ A fascinating conference presentation where a guy (sometime hilariously) explains the insane process of how to land a Space Shuttle. ”

“ All the details behind how the most famous flying gun in the world works. Hint: it’s as simple as possible, and designed to do one thing really well. ”

“ A comprehensive tour of a full-size Boeing 767 turned into a private jet. ”

“ A simple picture of Air Force One resulted in a long, forensic discussion about whether the plane was taking off or landing at the time. ”

“ There is a specific height at which an aviator is considered an astronaut, at which point different laws apply. ”

“ Microsoft’s Flight Simulator 2020 is so detailed that it’s hard to pick it out from real life. Here’s a side-by-side comparison. ”

“ The size difference demonstrated between a Soviet-era Mil Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter and a more common passenger helicopter. ”

“ Fascinating look at the logistics of flying NFL teams everywhere, and how this might play out if the league completes a rumored expansion to London. ”

“ A fictional airline has been used in dozens of TV shows and movies, often in situations where something bad happens to one of its planes. ”

“ There’s an airline that is forced to fly a single route by a decades-old treaty. It tries very hard to hide its own existence. ”

“ An attempt to find evidence of something which seems inexplicably fabricated. ”

“ In 2004, two pilots tried to push an empty airliner to its performance limits. It did not end well. ”

“ In 1986, the Air Force flew a human heart a long distance, very, very fast, so it would survive until it got implanted. ”

“ The U-2 spy plane is so difficult to land that they need fast chase cars to follow it down the runway to tell the pilot how things look. This is a video from one of those cars. ”

“ For over 12 years, one guy has been working on the same paper model of a Boeing 777. ”

“ Some fighter jets have a false cockpit painted on the bottom of the fuselage to make it harder to figure out its orientation and direction. ”

“ The world’s shortest scheduled commercial flight lasts 1 minute, 20 seconds and flies at 350 feet. ”

“ The process of ejecting from a fighter plane is far more intricate than you would think. More violent, too. ”

“ A deeply uncomfortable truth is that many commercial aircraft are poorly maintained and pilots depend so much on automation that they simply don’t know what to do when something unexpected happens. ”

“ The headline question doesn’t really get answered, but this does shed some new light on what happened, and what state the recovery efforts are in. ”

“ Turns out that the environment inside a plane in flight makes us subconsciously crave certain foods and drinks. ”

“ Noise and space requirements make it very hard to build new airports, but we still manage to increase passenger capacity through bigger planes, faster turnarounds, and better air traffic control. ”

“ There was once an attempt to make a commercially viable autogyro. ”

“ Due to a change in investigative policy, it’s become much easier to determine the root cause of air incidents. The key was to not try and blame anyone. ”

“ An unexpected tailwind got a 747 across the Atlantic a full 80 minutes ahead of schedule, breaking the five-hour mark. ”

“ A full-length documentary about the establishment of an airport and commercial air service on the remote island of St. Helena. ”