Anthony Toth has recreated a first-class Pan Am cabin in his garage.
posted by armage on Oct 26, 2009 - 49 comments

Abandoned PBY-5A Catalina Flying Boat in Saudi Arabia. More images. (via)
posted by Artw on Sep 7, 2009 - 24 comments

RC version of a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird with real jet engines. (SLYT)
posted by lazaruslong on Aug 15, 2009 - 55 comments

Nothing to Hide. Air New Zealand has introduced new ads and an in-flight safety video which uses body-painted uniforms to ... get your attention. SFW due to strategically placed drink carts, seatbelts and camera angles.
posted by l33tpolicywonk on Jun 30, 2009 - 54 comments

"On Jan. 15, 2009, a few Canadian geese with bad timing became snarge, a steely pilot became a hero, and the world became fascinated with images of a jet splashing into the Hudson River and then floating calmly as passengers crowded its wings.

But until now, few people have seen the equally surprising pictures of the second half of this story: when a salvage team used the biggest floating crane on the East Coast to pluck the ill-fated Airbus A320 from the frigid water."
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey on May 13, 2009 - 51 comments

The sky is a really big place, right? So how did a Boeing 737 and a Legacy 600 private jet manage to collide head-on at 37,000 feet over the Amazon jungle in Brazil? William Langewiesche's detailed analysis of the 2006 crash--which killed all 154 aboard the 737--provides some answers. [more inside]
posted by flug on Mar 27, 2009 - 22 comments

The Hudson River plane landing was reconstructed by SceneSystems.
posted by gman on Mar 2, 2009 - 50 comments

The salvage of flight 1549.
posted by docgonzo on Feb 9, 2009 - 76 comments

Known as Black Box in the UK, Survival in the Sky was a four-episode 1996 series about commercial aviation accidents and the investigation of their causes. (Two additional episodes were filmed in 1998.) Not currently available on DVD, five of the six episodes are available in their entirety on YouTube (links within). [more inside]
posted by maxwelton on Jan 17, 2009 - 12 comments

It's a small cubicle you have toshare, but the view is pretty good.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Nov 7, 2008 - 42 comments

Ray Parer & J C McIntosh; The Flying Wreck. In 1919 six teams entered an Air Race from England to Australia, but only two teams finished. The winning team finished in 28 days, while the second team didn't even get started until the race was already over, but they didn't let that stop them. Ray Parer and John McIntosh in their de Havilland DH9 airplane deviated considerably from their intended course, suffered many mechanical problems, had 7 crash landings, and took 237 days to finish. But they sure did have an adventure. [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Jul 30, 2008 - 8 comments

Not only will SAFEE ensure 9/11 never happens again, but it will also catch unruly passengers.
posted by gman on May 30, 2008 - 28 comments

Cat + Airplane + Parachute [video]
posted by blue_beetle on Mar 15, 2008 - 59 comments

Imagine you're a pilot trying to control a jet when your skull has been smashed with a hammer and your co-workers are trying to subdue a madman with a speargun. [more inside]
posted by Oriole Adams on Nov 22, 2007 - 49 comments

Remember when air travel was viewed as glamorous and exciting? Of course you don't. So check out this collection of vintage flight attendant photos: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
posted by brain_drain on Nov 13, 2007 - 37 comments

He's well liked...and now a legend. Dropping the football also may have violated FAA rules.
posted by neat-o on Nov 7, 2007 - 38 comments

7 Means of Movement: Flying From "Come Fly With Me" to "Waitress In The Sky," Locust St. impresses us with all things aeronautical.
posted by vronsky on Oct 4, 2007 - 5 comments

I now know what to do in case I ever got stuck on an airplane that's not going anywhere- organize and stage a revolt, like the passengers of Continental flight 1669.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero on Aug 16, 2007 - 82 comments

The Online Paper Airplane Museum. Hundreds and hundreds of designs. Also check out The Paperang, which bills itself as "The Best Paper Airplane System In The World."
posted by amyms on Apr 12, 2007 - 10 comments

This simple hack actually only crashes the in-flight entertainment system (perhaps this one?), but that's already enough to cause concern with the kind of people who comment anonymously on a blog for "security executives."

I'm certain that this vulnerability (like this vulnerability) will be taken seriously.
posted by jdfalk on Feb 11, 2007 - 44 comments

Track aircraft visually or listen to live air traffic control.
posted by grouse on Feb 11, 2007 - 9 comments

Ever wonder what all those instruments and controls on the Boeing 777's flight deck do? How about all the stuff on the rest of the plane? Photographer and former United Airlines employee Jerome Meriweather brings you flight deck simulations, aircraft cutaways, and random technical information for a handful of civilian and military planes.
posted by grouse on Feb 1, 2007 - 26 comments

Letchik Leha photography. Letchik Leha is a russian photographer and pilot ("letchik" means "the pilot" in russian, apparently). Two tastes that go great together.
posted by soundofsuburbia on Jan 29, 2007 - 13 comments

AirTran Airways Removes Family with Unruly Toddler From Plane : AirTran is defending their decision to remove a family of three from a plane after their three-year old daughter refused to take her seat during boarding. The plane, carrying 112 people, was already delayed 15 minutes and the airline felt that the further delay caused by the toddler's behavior was unacceptable.
posted by grapefruitmoon on Jan 24, 2007 - 227 comments

Flight simulator. As a hobby, this guy built his own Boeing 747 flight simulator. No, not just a PC simulation, but a full cabin with hydraulics motion simulation a correct control panel and the full works, just like the real thing. (via Neatorama)
posted by caddis on Sep 4, 2006 - 24 comments

Japanese leftists seize plane with samurai swords. AWOL Marine sets record by hijacking plane from Fresno to Rome. Female Palestinian hijacker becomes radical chic pin-up. D.B. Cooper parachutes from 727 with $200,000 in unmarked bills. Have airplane bombings made us nostalgic for old-school skyjackers who just wanted money or a trip to Cuba? Academic papers analyze skyjacking in the 60s & 70s according to contagion and rational choice models. Check out a prescient pre-9/11 documentary on the subject with great archival clips.
posted by jonp72 on Aug 18, 2006 - 21 comments

Due to recent fires, Dell is recalling over four million laptop batteries manufactured by Sony and sold worldwide in the past two years. Pictures of computers on fire (as well as their charred remains) circulated widely online, not allowing the company to easily dismiss the problem as an isolated incident. Other companies claim their products aren't affected by the same issues, but the nightmare might not be limited to Dell. The future of laptops on airplanes is not looking so good.
posted by kyleg on Aug 15, 2006 - 50 comments

The impressive Gimli Glider. Yes, seriously: it can be a glider. An amazing story of a commercial pilot with mad emergency landing skillz.
posted by five fresh fish on Feb 21, 2006 - 42 comments

Traveling soon? Check out your airport's food for health or taste. A move away from single concessionaires has brought star chefs and big money to some locations and frustrated locals (Sea-Tac, halfway through article) in others. But the overall airport-food picture is still weak enough to inspire six pages of Rooneyesque diatribe. [more inside]
posted by expialidocious on Dec 19, 2005 - 11 comments

Yesterday morning in Florida, the landing gear on a student-piloted Cessna failed to lock into place. After the plane circled for an hour, the airport president drove a Jeep underneath the plane at 80 mph while his passenger took a stick and knocked the wheels into place. And that, as they say in the business, was caught on tape.
posted by Saucy Intruder on Sep 17, 2005 - 48 comments

I saw this on my local news this evening. Can consumer lasers really bring down planes?
posted by Recockulous on Dec 29, 2004 - 62 comments

A metaphor for the next four years? Apologies in advance, as this post might be better kept afloat at Fark, but one can't help think this it is a more represenative sign. After a mishap like this can you blame the dems?
posted by damclean2 on Dec 7, 2004 - 19 comments

Roger Scramjet, he’s our man!! Mach 10, 7000mph New York to Tokyo in 2 hours! The future of global air travel? Or something else? What does Russia think of our new precision time-critical strike weapons with significant stand off capability as well as prompt global reach? Oh, nothing really...
posted by BrodieShadeTree on Nov 19, 2004 - 20 comments

Brain in a Dish Flies Plane. Hallowe'en-esque research conducted at the University of Florida.
posted by grabbingsand on Oct 29, 2004 - 3 comments

Last operational flight of the F-14s

Speaking of gravity-defying cats... Remember the F-14, Tom Cruise's favorite ride? It's the end of an era for the venerable warbird. The variable-geometry Tomcat was the last carrier aircraft built specifically for fleet defense and long-range interception -- in fact, it grew up with a dedicated weapon system just for the job. Like any cat with nine lives, it showed up doingnew and different things. In its later years it found a new role as a precision-strike aircraft (the "BombCat") and nearly lived to be the bridge to the new F-35 multirole Joint Strike Fighter. Excuse the warmongering. What can I say...I was bored with the lousy NFL early games on TV this afternoon..
posted by alumshubby on Oct 24, 2004 - 9 comments

IF jetplane + wall == dust THEN wow(windowsmedia)
Hunt the Boeing my arse.
posted by Pretty_Generic on Sep 27, 2004 - 41 comments

Air Marshals Say Passenger Overreacted. "The source said the air marshals on the flight were partially concerned (Annie) Jacobsen’s actions could have been an effort by terrorists or attackers to create a disturbance on the plane to force the agents to identify themselves." (Second story down, via atrios)
posted by solistrato on Jul 23, 2004 - 37 comments

Holding Pattern is a screensaver for Mac OS X that generates photo-realistic simulations of the view from a flying airplane window.
posted by Mwongozi on Apr 25, 2004 - 17 comments

An airplane hall of fame. Talk about rekindling childhood passions. I got a real kick out of reading this.
posted by nthdegx on Dec 6, 2003 - 12 comments

Trains vs. Airplanes. Amtrak has reported record ridership levels for the Thanksgiving season. But the success of the rails is indebted to post 9/11 air-travel anxiety. Maybe, it would be better for travelers to stop fearing hijackings and resume flying planes instead of riding intercity trains out of fear. On the other hand, it could be a good thing that rail travel is getting a second look after years of decline.
posted by gregb1007 on Dec 3, 2003 - 51 comments

Thank God for Airport Security. Can you believe this?
posted by ZenMasterThis on Sep 10, 2003 - 24 comments

A Boeing 727 went missing from Angola on May 25. Some people made immediate, predictable noises about "terrorists", despite the fact that things are a lot less settled in Africa (from a paperwork and regulatory point of view). It was spotted with a new paint job on June 28 in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. But, now it's gone again and nobody knows where it is.
posted by Irontom on Aug 6, 2003 - 8 comments

Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields
posted by hama7 on Mar 8, 2003 - 16 comments

Buy a Flight Manual, Get a Grand Jury Subpoena? A guy qualified to fly and instruct on the Boeing 737 buys a CD on Ebay that contains the ground course for the same plane. Then the FBI gets involved, and, courtesy of section 501 (d) of the "USA Patriot Act", he can no longer even discuss the issue. [more inside]
posted by Irontom on Dec 23, 2002 - 24 comments

Pilot parachutes plane to safety. Never before had a certified aircraft used a parachute to land. But that all changed Thursday afternoon when a pilot in distress used Cirrus' parachute system to successfully bring his disabled airplane to earth. Plane malfunctioning? Release the rip cord! More inside.
posted by hockeyman on Oct 5, 2002 - 12 comments

Bored at the office? Put some of that paper to good use: make some paper airplanes. Those two links should keep you busy for a few days (be sure to try out Nick's Plane. Possibly the best paper plane there is. Thank you Nick, who ever you are..), but if you're looking for something a little flash, you could try folding one of these.
posted by slipperywhenwet on Aug 23, 2002 - 18 comments

you worry me This American Airlines pilot hits the nail on the head for me! Thus far the Muslim voices I hear in America--and they are precious few--always seem to get half way through condemniong this or that and then insert a "BUT" or "HOWEVER." This guy asks for a simple, straight-forward response.
posted by Postroad on Jul 3, 2002 - 105 comments

Ever wonder if the airplane food sucks everywhere? Find out at Airplane Meals, or add to this vastly underrepresented body of knowledge by sending him a pic of your next mile-high snack.
posted by Su on May 20, 2002 - 12 comments

"Heck with the tiger. What about the plane in the driveway." Maybe this plane was piloted by an invisible network of terrorists aiming to disrupt LA traffic.
posted by fpatrick on Apr 11, 2002 - 8 comments

Air Canada bans Salman Rushdie because "the extra security required for him to fly could mean long delays for other passengers." Extra security? You mean it isn't at maximum already?
posted by laz-e-boy on Mar 18, 2002 - 5 comments