Radar Horizon: Why Flying Under the Radar Is Literal
Share this story “Flying under the radar” is one of the few pieces of aviation slang that means exactly what it says. It is not a metaphor about avoiding attention. It is a statement about geometry, and the geometry is unforgiving in both directions. Ask...
Lima Site 85: The Secret Radar the US Lost on a Mountain in Laos
Share this story On the night of 10 March 1968, nineteen American airmen were living on top of a mountain in a country where, officially, there were no American troops at all. Phou Pha Thi rises more than a mile above northeastern Laos, with sheer cliffs on one side....
Carrier-Capable Aircraft: Why the F-22 Can’t, and a C-130 Did
Share this story On 30 October 1963 the crew of USS Forrestal watched a four-engined transport with a 132-foot wingspan come down their deck. It had no tailhook. It had no catapult attachment. The ship’s island cleared its wingtip by about fifteen feet. It...
Milan Malpensa Officially Named After Silvio Berlusconi
Share this story Milan’s Malpensa Airport now officially carries the name of Silvio Berlusconi. At a ceremony in the arrivals area of Terminal 1 on Friday 25 September, the former prime minister’s family and senior government figures unveiled the new name,...
airBaltic Removes Sick Bags From Seat Pockets to Cut Costs
Share this story Nobody likes reaching for it, but everyone expects it to be there. From 1 October, airBaltic passengers will no longer find a sick bag in the seat pocket in front of them. The Latvian airline, now restructuring under US Chapter 11 bankruptcy...
Qatar Airways Retires Its A330s and Sends Pilots to RwandAir
Share this story Qatar Airways has quietly ended an era. The Doha carrier has retired its Airbus A330 passenger fleet, Reuters reported on 25 September, and it is sending some of the pilots who flew them to Rwanda. The move is a direct consequence of the Iran war. Jet...
Latvia to Buy Anduril Barracuda Cruise Missiles for Long-Range Strike
Share this story Latvia wants to hit targets far beyond its borders, and it has picked the weapon. On 25 September, President Edgars Rinkēvičs visited Anduril Industries in California, met founder Palmer Luckey, and said he was looking forward to completing the...
GPS Jamming Over Los Angeles: United Crews Report Interference
Share this story GPS jamming is usually a story from the Baltic, the Black Sea or the Middle East. In the early hours of Friday 25 September, it was a story from Los Angeles. Crews on at least two United Airlines flights told air traffic controllers that GPS...
A350F First Flight Set for 29 September: Airbus’ Freighter Is Ready
Share this story Airbus has a date. On Tuesday 29 September at 10:20 local time, weather and systems permitting, the first A350F freighter will take off from Toulouse for the first time. Airbus will stream the flight live on X. The aircraft, MSN700, registered F-WXLD,...
F-16 IVEWS: Air Force Adds $87 Million for the Viper’s New EW Suite
Share this story The F-16 has seen heavy action against Iranian air defences in Operation Epic Fury. Its existing self-protection gear has coped, but the US Air Force knows that China’s air defences are a different league. So this week it put another $87.4...
Recent Comments