Inside the Su-34 Cockpit: No Bunk, No Tail Radar, and a Can Heater
Share this story The Sukhoi Su-34 “Fullback” is one of the odder fighters in service: a two-seat strike jet with the crew sitting side by side, a pressurised cabin you can stand up in, and a reputation for creature comforts. A post circulating on Instagram...
Riyadh Airport Attack: 12 Killed as Missile Hits King Khalid Terminals
Share this story The third strike in four days was the one nobody walked away from. On Saturday, 10 October 2026, a projectile slammed into King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Saudi capital’s main gateway, killing at least 12 people and wounding...
Saba, Lukla and Courchevel: The World’s Shortest Runways
Share this story De Havilland Canada publishes a short-field take-off figure for the Twin Otter: 366 metres. The declared take-off run available on runway 12 at Saba is 349 metres. Runway 30 gives you 355. The scheduled aeroplane that serves the island needs more...
Lufthansa Flight 181: The Landshut Hijacking and the Jet’s Return
Share this story Shortly after leaving Palma de Mallorca on the afternoon of Thursday, 13 October 1977, somewhere over the south of France, a young man with a pistol walked into the cockpit of a Lufthansa Boeing 737. The holiday flight to Frankfurt was carrying 86...
Missile Approach Warning Systems: How Aircraft See Heat-Seekers Coming
Share this story A radar-guided missile announces itself. The radar that guides it lights up the target aircraft, and a radar warning receiver hears it. A heat-seeking missile gives no such courtesy. It homes passively on the heat of an engine, and the first sign of...
Rafale for Ukraine: France Starts Training Ukrainian Pilots
Share this story France has moved from promising Rafales to preparing the people who will fly them. Speaking to franceinfo on 29 September, France’s Minister for Europe Benjamin Haddad confirmed that Paris is in talks with Kyiv about sending Rafale fighters to...
F-47 Production Line “Not Too Far Away”, Says USAF Fighter Chief
Share this story The man who buys the US Air Force’s fighters has a simple view of what matters most right now: factories. Speaking at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies on 28 September 2026, Brig. Gen. Timothy Helfrich said the F-47 sixth-generation...
Airbus A350F Flies: Freighter Completes Its Four-Hour Maiden Flight
Share this story Toulouse has seen a great many first flights, but few in a paint scheme that looks like a cardboard box. On 29 September 2026, the first Airbus A350F, MSN700, registered F-WXLD, lifted off from Toulouse-Blagnac in its brown test livery with bright...
Swissair Grounding 2001: The Day Switzerland’s Airline Ran Out of Cash
Share this story At 15:45 on Tuesday, 2 October 2001, Swissair chairman and CEO Mario Corti stood in front of the cameras and announced that the airline would stop flying. By then, jets carrying the Swiss cross were already sitting on aprons from Zurich to New York,...
Pope Leo XIV Blesses Rafale Pilots Escorting His Air France A321
Share this story Most passengers get a window seat and a view of the wing. On Monday morning, 28 September, the passenger in the Air France A321 from Lourdes to Metz got the cockpit, a radio microphone, and two Rafales flying about 50 metres off the nose. Pope Leo XIV...
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