MetaFilter posts tagged with flying

Cowboy Desperado.

lazaruslong — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:57:47 -0800

First-person base jumping in Switzerland. Stick with it, as the horizontal movement across the rock face using the gliding bodysuit will blow your mind.

"The world's most famous missing person."

kirkaracha — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:11:32 -0800

"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. Earhart and Noonan's flight was one of the last legs of an attempted around-the-world flight at the Equator. (A previous attempt, flying east to west, failed when Earhart's plane was damaged in Hawaii and had to be sent to California for repairs.) The most common explanation is that they ran out of fuel, ditched in the ocean, and drowned, but the disappearance is an enduring mystery. In Search of...Amelia Earhart (part 2, part 3). Where's Amelia Earhart? The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR; previously) is a leading supporter of a theory that the Earhart and Noonan crash-landed at Nikumaroro (then called Gardner Island; map) TIGHAR's map of Nikumaroro shows the locations of possible evidence to support their theory. TIGHAR recently obtained a reference sample of mitochondrial DNA from a direct female relative of Earhart's, and is making a new expedition to Nikumaroro in May 2010 to look for DNA evidence. Crash Reconstruction by the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University.

vacation, anyone?

krautland — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:40:14 -0800

Most frequent flyer programs are kind of a raw deal: seats are often severely limited, many popular dates are blocked and fees can be steep. But there are exceptions: JetBlue just came out with an All-You-Can-Jet Offer. $599 gets people unlimited travel anywhere on their network for a month beginning September 8th and seats are not limited. The idea isn't new: American Airlines used to sell a Lifetime AAirPass through the Neiman Marcus catalog, which offered unlimited travel on any AA flight in any class. Unfortunately, it cost a cool $3 million.

You buy it you like it.

pianomover — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:04:43 -0800

Bargain Barn, Bargain Barn.

Flying pigeon run over by Buick

concreteforest — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:30:23 -0800

With a forecast of 20 percent growth in sales throughout 2009, China is a fascinating example of a society grappling with the effects that the automobile brings. Personally, I'd stick with bikes for the city, guys - it seems more fun.

"I was up in those clouds all night."

emelenjr — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:10:47 -0800

"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. Be sure to check out the slideshow.

Suck my exhaust, "Happy Feet"!

Decimask — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:35:41 -0800

Saturday Flash Hangover: Help a penguin Learn to Fly and scratch "flighless bird" from that stupid wikipedia article. The comments thread has spoilers, so I'll add [via RockPaperShotgun] below the fold. One of the commentors at RPS linked to the bittersweet animated short Kiwi! [previously] [previouslier], which is an extra helping of *sniffle* on an extra-blue day on the Blue, so you may want to skip that.

fear of flying

lalex — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:41:19 -0800

Ask the Pilot. Columnist Patrick Smith explains why you shouldn't be afraid of flying. For the past several years, the invaluable Patrick Stewart has been answering common passenger questions, including: Is turbulence dangerous? What are the safest airlines? No really, what are the safest airlines? How dangerous is in-flight decompression? Too hot to fly? A plane crossed in front of us? WHAT?? What does a runway near-miss mean? Will using an electronic device really down a plane?

Grass Roots. Blue Sky.

netbros — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:40:11 -0800

Stories that Fly is a citizen media project that features a growing collection of digital stories about general aviation. The stories are contributed by student journalists, aviators, and interested community members and cover regional airports, events, and people in the Ohio aviation community.

Now available in mint flavor!

clockworkjoe — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:17:08 -0800

Suffering from a bad case of cosmic dread? Have you voyaged too far into the midst of the black seas of infinity? Concerned about invisible abominations stalking you in the dead of night? Fortunately, there's help. (SLYT).

Parahawking

homunculus — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:47:23 -0800

Hawkman of the Himalayas. British falconer Scott Mason and friends have combined paragliding and falconry into the art of parahawking. [Via]

Ka-ttti!

hadjiboy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:31:54 -0800

Yes, it is that time of year again. When the ski's are filled with "Patang" and you have to do your best to keep yours up. Previously posted before, by you know who.

The Things He Carried

chunking express — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:33:06 -0800

The Things He Carried. "Airport security in America is a sham—'security theater' designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items—as our correspondent did with ease."

Hurricanes from Outer Space!

clearly — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:09:44 -0800

Hurricanes, as seen from orbit. Flying straight into a Hurricane. The list of worldwide Hurricane names. The history of Hurricane names.

Documentary about a rescue helicopter crew on their tour of duty in Afghanistan.

krautland — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:05:38 -0800

Above Enemy Lines (youtube 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is a BBC Documentary about a RAF Chinook crew on their tour of duty in Afghanistan. Part 4 and 5 of the film deal with the crew attempting to rescue a wounded 19 year-old soldier from a combat zone.

fotoopa and his Amazing Flying Insects

spock — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:18:14 -0800

Who is this Belgian man "fotoopa"? A nerd's nerd (and I say that with extreme admiration). Photopainting, Macro photography, 2004: Let's start with the simple stuff, moths (mostly at rest). Now, can you think of anything more difficult to photograph than insects in flight? 2005, 2006 (the 2006 equipment), 2008 (2008 equipment & more equipment). Images of the man working with the equipment. His Flickr photostream and new YouTube channel bears watching. (Previously)

Marco! Polo! Fish out of water!

Burhanistan — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:53:36 -0800

Fly high, little fish!

Griefing comes to First Life

thirteenkiller — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:07:02 -0800

BREAKING NEWS: Kasparov assailed by flying dong. Possible inspiration

If you squint your eyes it could pass for a private jet

MrMerlot — Sun, 11 May 2008 08:03:14 -0800

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? Trouble is, a quick look at the prototypes reveals that most solar-powered planes remain a world away from passenger aviation. But that could be subject to change. Although we are not quite at the stage of the easyJet ecojet just yet, what might be just over the horizon is something like the Hy-Bird, a hybrid of hydrogen, solar-power and lithium-polymer batteries. The Hy-bird still looks like a bit like a prototype, but it is beginning to look more like a proper plane. If you squint your eyes, it could pass for a private jet. Lisa Airplanes, the Hy-bird's manufacturer, is planning to take the plane on a voyage that will circumnavigate the planet later this summer. According to Inhabitat, the Hy-bird gets just 10% of its power from solar, but that's still a significant contribution. Yes, we should all fly less if we want to reduce CO2. But the prospect of a truly green-powered aeroplane is enough to spark the imagination. Could we both save the planet and still be able to fly?

I'd rather take the train

idiomatika — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:36:06 -0800

The World's Scariest Runways. I'm sure I've seen St. Maarten highlighted on the blue before, but some of the other airport runways listed in the above article also look a little too hair-raising for my liking. At the top of the list is landing in Bhutan, but in my humble opinion, the most alarming one (albeit not used for commercial airliners), is the Matekane Airstrip in Lesotho.

Vintage Flight Attendant Photos

brain_drain — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:07:58 -0800

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

How To Travel With Just One Bag.

brain_drain — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 07:13:28 -0800

Tired of waiting an hour for your luggage? Can't fit all your gear into a tiny suitcase? Struggling to find the perfect carry-on? OneBag can help.

Does this mean we get to fly?

MythMaker — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:06:30 -0800

Physicists have 'solved' mystery of levitation Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin, from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, have worked out a way of reversing ... the Casimir force, so that it repels instead of attracts. Their discovery could ultimately lead to frictionless micro-machines with moving parts that levitate. But they say that, in principle at least, the same effect could be used to levitate bigger objects too, even a person.

We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore!

ThePinkSuperhero — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:19:42 -0800

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.

Into The Wind

growabrain — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:43:47 -0800

Acrobatic kite flying (Background music: Flower Duet from Lakmé’ by Delibes)