Not your average flying fish A large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft, the Super Guppy refers to either of two variants: the first Super Guppy (SG), or the second “Super Guppy Turbine” (SGT). The aircraft was a successor to the Pregnant Guppy which got its name from its resemblance to (surprise, surprise) a pregnant guppy. Much like Frankenstein’s [...]
Supersonic commercial transport existed for 30 years--what happened? The 1950s was a time of communism, capitalism, polypropylene, and polio vaccines--not to mention the maturity and growth of television sets, solar-powered wrist watches, and the beginnings of the Concorde project. By the early 1950s, Arnold Hall (director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment) asked Morien Morgan (a [...]
Our most pleasurable hobbies are often some of the most expensive--this is especially true for those who are fortunate enough to own their own aircraft. Between hangar fees, fuel, and general maintenance, the costs can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars at years' end--and many look to find ways to save money. This leads [...]
Imagine soaring through our skies, powered entirely by the rays of the sun. Seems pretty incredible, doesn’t it? Well, it is actually happening, the Solar Impulse project is pioneering efficiency and clean, powered flight. Solar Impulse 2, the current plane in service is gunning to set the record as the first plane to circumnavigate the [...]
The Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation Keeps the Spirit Alive In 1988, one pilot founded The Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation with the goal of preserving the memory and legacy of "the greatest humanitarian and aviation event in history": The Berlin Airlift. At the end of WWII, a defeated Germany was divided into four sectors [...]
We met Tom Szulborski by chance on an overcast Thursday at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum near Reading, PA. The day was World War II-themed: there were some folks in costume, others in flight suits, and largely one of the best examples of an agreeable crowd we'd ever seen. There’s no community quite like the aviation [...]
“But when I looked at it – when I saw what had taken place, and I saw the city covered, and what appeared to be going on…I knew that I just hadn’t even come close to imagining what the effect was.” Colonel Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. had seen combat; he’d seen a war-devastated Germany and [...]
All it might take to save black-footed ferrets is some vaccine-coated M&Ms Just last week we posted on the topic of drones and how their role in wildlife conservation is rather ambiguous: do they help with conservation efforts or do they cause harm to wildlife? For the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), drones may [...]
If you're into aviation, there's no better place to go this week than the Farnborough Airshow--that is, of course, unless Britain is a little out of your flight plan. From July 11-17, all the best in aviation will be unveiled 40 miles southwest of London. Biennial Showcase The Farborough Airshow takes place at the Farnborough Airport [...]
Why did the airplane cross the globe? To set some pretty impressive records. What does it take to circumnavigate the globe? In the case of Solar Impulse 2 (which we talked about here), it takes a bit of sunshine and a lot of patience. But what does it take to circumnavigate the globe without stopping or refueling? For [...]
