It looks like an excellent time for a little bit of lightness as a break from deadly crashes. Fortunately, I’ve simply the factor: some reader contributions together with a private story.
Neil of AirC Photographs mailed me with this wonderful {photograph} and video of his father. That is Neil’s dad Cornell as a younger boy together with his siblings (Betty, Virginia and Tom).
Cornell was drafted into the US Military Air Corps (Ferry Squadron) in 1941 and flew Bomber Transports as as a Flight Engineer till 1945.
In 2015, when Cornell turned 95, Neil organized for a birthday flight for Cornell and made this incredible three-minute video of the event.
Once I wrote in regards to the B-52 a number of weeks in the past, Andy mailed me a incredible {photograph} of him in a B-52 stationed at Higher Heyford in 1981.
It really is a HUGE plane. The fuselage is so massive that it’s really rippled/undulating.
The man exhibiting me round mentioned that if the tail gunner couldn’t be bothered to make use of the right crawl house to get to the cockpit to seize some meals (there was a grill between the pilot/co-pilot seats), properly then, the pilot would radio again and ensure that the bomb doorways had been closed and locked so he may simply RUN throughout the bomb bay.
I keep in mind after Thatcher getting in, in 1979…the sheer quantity of US army plane that had been being dumped into the UK. As an 11-year-old, it was fairly an superior sight to observe these items going overhead. Even a Starfighter made an look! Lord is aware of why or simply how precisely it received there, not famous for his or her vary!)
Lastly, on my private e-newsletter, Accidents and Incidents, I wrote about my odd expertise participating in a documentary in regards to the Bermuda Triangle. They invited me to speak about Flight 19 however in some way I ended up within the left seat of an Airbus A320 simulator!
They Let Me Fly the Airplane tells the entire story.
It’s occurred so quick, I don’t know what to say, so I comply, pushing the thrust levers ahead and veering backwards and forwards on the runway whereas the director fires questions at me. We elevate off however I do not know how a lot strain to make use of on the side-stick; I’m pitching the airliner up and down like a dolphin as I attempt to reply his questions. The digicam man appears barely inexperienced however valiantly retains filming, asking me to look in direction of him as a result of my hair is overlaying my face. The supervisor factors out that I nonetheless have to retract the gears; we’re flying with our wheels down and flaps nonetheless set for take off.
“Have a look at me,” says the director. “Discuss how straightforward it’s to fly.”
(Warning: incorporates robust language)
I didn’t write in regards to the documentary right here on the time (I wished to see how the documentary turned out! It wasn’t unhealthy really) however I did write Airbus A320 vs Grumman Avenger.
I’ve been travelling a lot, I haven’t had the time to jot down one thing new. What I did write, for causes which can be tough to clarify, was a comparability of the Grumman TBF Avenger and the Airbus A320.
As typical, the perfect bit is within the feedback.
There’s been loads of attention-grabbing crashes to debate and particularly, loads of media curiosity, which supplies the notion that air journey has been unusually harmful in 2025. As of proper now, the US deadly accident rely is trending solely barely larger than 2024. Globally, there doesn’t (thus far!) to be a spike within the variety of critical accidents. We’ll get again at taking a look at these subsequent week.
