When it comes to crash testing, it’s not such a big deal for cars. This form of destructive testing is often performed by car companies to ensure safety design standards in both crashworthiness and crash compatibility. For road vehicles, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rates vehicles on how well they protect their occupants [...]
It’s near time to begin saving for your annual summer vacation (or fall vacation… or winter?). This might just be the number one thing you look forward to every year. Maybe you have a tradition: a week at the family beach house or an annual trip to Disney World. But maybe you want to mix [...]
There’s nothing worse than coming back from a vacation—a relaxing one—and feeling absolutely exhausted. I’m talking jet lag, my friends. This is something I’ve experienced just flying three hours out of my normal time zone. So, how can we fight this beast? First, we must understand it. Jet Lag in Action Jet lag is usually [...]
When you board an airplane, it’s not very likely that you’re thinking about the fuel that (probably) just went into it. Or, if you do, you probably don’t know everything that goes into the process. Unless you work at an airport yourself. I sat down with an airport employee to talk about his job: fueling [...]
The National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. considers it one of the most significant aviation-related artifacts in their entire collection; it is the Vin Fiz, the peculiarly-named flyer designed by the iconic Wright Brothers. In 1903, the Wright Brothers designed and successfully flew the first Wright Flyer — the world’s first heavier-than-air, powered [...]
Airplanes play a huge part in helping to fight forest fires. Sometimes, fires spread rapidly and dangerously across forests in areas where people and firetrucks cannot easily reach. In the past, firefighters used to wait and let these fires run their course; they’d try to contain them rather than stop them. We’ve taken great [...]
On November 8, 1957, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser left San Francisco International Airport at 11:51 am (PST) for Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. It was a Friday and, for many people, it was probably a rather ordinary day. Pan Am Flight 7, registration N90944, Clipper Romance of The Skies was an around-the-world flight; its first leg [...]
So, should I wait for a check engine light to go on, or what? If you have a car, you probably follow the manufacturer’s suggestion to have it serviced regularly. Or at least you should. For the most part, that’s up to your own discretion. You take it for regular inspections? Great! Not every state [...]
Anyone who has been on a plane has experienced some kind of change to their body during a flight. It might have been slight, or a big, undeniable change, but it was there. If you’re like me, you may be one of those travelers who catches a cold every single time they fly somewhere. Let’s [...]
45 years ago, on November 24, 1971, an unidentified man hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft somewhere in the airspace between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. The perpetrator has never been located or identified, despite an extensive manhunt and FBI Investigation. To this day, he is known only by his alias Dan Cooper—or, more popularly, “D.B. [...]
