The Soviet SR-71 That Never Flew

The Soviet SR-71 That Never Flew

Aviation militaire

Before the SR-71 Blackbird ever ripped across the sky, a Soviet aircraft designer was already trying to build something to beat it. His name was Pavel Tsybin, and his creation — the RSR — was meant to streak over the United States at three times the speed of sound,...
Where Asia’s Jets Will Go to Be Fixed

Where Asia’s Jets Will Go to Be Fixed

Monde de l'aviation

When an airliner needs more than a routine turnaround — one of the deep, weeks-long teardowns that strip it to the structure, inspect everything and put it back together — it doesn’t just taxi to a gate. It disappears into an MRO: a maintenance, repair and overhaul...
Sydney’s New Airport Never Closes

Sydney’s New Airport Never Closes

Monde de l'aviation, Nouvelles

For as long as most Sydneysiders can remember, the city’s air traffic has run into a wall every night. Kingsford Smith Airport — Sydney’s only major gateway — shuts to most aircraft between 11pm and 6am under a hard legal curfew. After dark, one of the busiest...
The Plane That Killed Both Its Test Pilots

The Plane That Killed Both Its Test Pilots

Histoire et légendes

There are bad aircraft, and then there is the Christmas Bullet — a machine so misconceived that it holds a record no other aeroplane will ever want: it killed a test pilot on its first flight, and then killed a second test pilot on the first flight of the second...
The Hidden Engine in Your Airliner’s Tail

The Hidden Engine in Your Airliner’s Tail

Monde de l'aviation

You step onto a parked airliner and everything just works. The cabin lights are on, the air is cool, screens are glowing — and yet the two great engines on the wings are stone-cold silent. Somewhere behind you, a faint high-pitched whine is the only clue to what...