"The unburied come back to haunt us." On July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan took off from Lae, Papua New Guinea (map) in their Lockheed Electra en route to Howland Island (map). They were never seen again. [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha on Sep 22, 2009 - 27 comments

"We were having dinner about four months ago and I was showing Clelia some pictures I'd taken in the air, and she said, 'Oh, that's so beautiful. I want to do that,'" Ben said. Easier said than done when you're 95. [more inside]
posted by emelenjr on Jun 30, 2009 - 9 comments

Ask the Pilot. Columnist Patrick Smith explains why you shouldn't be afraid of flying. [more inside]
posted by lalex on Jun 5, 2009 - 42 comments

Is solar-powered flight getting any nearer? As noted previously on Metafilter, solar powered aviation has travelled a long way since the heady days of the Gossamer Penguin. But could it actually one day power commerical flight? [more inside]
posted by MrMerlot on May 11, 2008 - 25 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

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 Super Sky Cycle is a convertible gyrocopter that lets you fly at better than freeway speeds, land in 20 feet, be driven home as a motorcycle, and fit in your garage. It is available now for a mere $37K. Check out the flight vid, the cool MacGyver soundtrack is extra though.
Note, yes, "Super" and "Cycle" might be stretches in the name of this product. But it is still pretty damned cool. via
posted by fenriq on Apr 23, 2007 - 33 comments

Rocket Man. One three-meter wing + four model engines + one crazy Swiss dude = Yves Rossy, the world's first jet-powered flying man.
posted by gottabefunky on Jan 11, 2007 - 21 comments

Hovering in History
From the HZ-1 Aerocycle, which looks like someone standing on top of a blender, to the VZ-8P "Airgeep" to the WASP X-Jet aka The Flying Pulpit and the collapsible Rotorcycle as well as the Inspector Gadget-esque Hoppi-Copter, the Army has dropped a ton of R&D money on personal flight machines. Of course, the newer iterations of personal flying machines are no less fascinating, like the SoloTrek, but it seems the Dream of Personal Flight will remain a dream for a while longer.
posted by fenriq on Dec 3, 2006 - 22 comments

Haute Voltage stunt flight (Direct .mpg. Bonus if you read Russian)
posted by growabrain on May 13, 2005 - 10 comments

Aviation Explorer "Your online source for aviation information and media...aviation web resources for pilots and flight enthusiasts." I'm neither a pilot nor a flight enthusiast, but still found this site interesting (especially the accidents section, which reminded me of this previous thread on cockpit voice recorders).
posted by jdroth on Jan 21, 2004 - 5 comments

White Dwarf is a flying HPV. I thought they only existed in books. More fun on a still day than a Frisbee.
Link via:Velo Vision
posted by southisup on Jun 10, 2001 - 8 comments

My new hero John Ninomiya is going to fly tethered to a cluster of balloons this weekend. I've dreamt of doing this since a kid and I guess I'm not alone.
posted by roboto on Jun 5, 2001 - 9 comments

This scares me silly given the general skill level drivers display in my town. I'm imagining some idiot chatting away on a cell phone taking out my condo.
posted by rdr on Mar 3, 2001 - 8 comments