A Pilot’s Blog
A blog about aviation, aviation news, and space.

A uniquely painted British Airways 747 climbs out of LAX.

Picture courtesy of Airliners.net.

According to a posting on the Airliners.net message boards, Lufthansa becomes the launch customer for the 747-800I by ordering 20 airframes with options for up to 20 more. Great news for Boeing!

Related: 747-800I Launch Customer?.

I’m not sure what this is exactly, but it’s neat-looking nonetheless. I was also going to mention that with the quasi-canard on the front, it could have been designed by Burt Rutan. I did a quick check of the N-number for the heck of it, and lo and behold, “Manufacturer: Rutan”. I’m good.

Picture courtesy of Airliners.net.

I certainly hope they clean all that off before the flight!

Picture courtesy of Airliners.net.

This isn’t as much related to aviation as it is to space exploration, but I thought it was just too awesome to let pass by.

NASA announced Monday it will establish an international base camp on one of the moon’s poles, permanently staffing it by 2024, four years after astronauts return to the moon.

It is a sweeping departure from the Apollo moon missions of the 1960s and represents a new phase of space exploration after space shuttles are retired in 2010.

After consulting more than 1,000 experts from 14 different countries, NASA decided on what deputy NASA chief Shana Dale called a "fundamental lunar approach" that is sharply different from its previous moon missions in nearly everything but the shape of the ship going there.

I’m extremely excited about the possibility of seeing a moon landing (and even a base!) in my lifetime. I’ve seen all the old reels of the original moon landing in 1969, but I’m sure there is something to be said for seeing it live. Go NASA!

Absolutely beautiful shot. I would love to see the Northern Lights in person someday.

Picture courtesy of Airliners.net.

It happened on Saturday:

A single-engine Cessna carrying two University of North Dakota students crashed into a farm field near Crookston early Saturday, killing the teenagers.

Authorities went to the airport at 1:40 a.m. Saturday after receiving a report of a plane crash near Crookston Municipal Airport. Searchers quickly found the plane and the two students dead inside about two miles from the airport.

Fortunately, the only "incident" at my school that happened while I was taking my flight training was very minor. A CFI and student working on his commercial certificate were doing maneuvers about 10 or 15 miles away from the airport when the engine quit due to a mechanical defect. They followed emergency procedures to the letter and put the aircraft down safely on a dirt road, only slightly denting the nose-gear landing light.

My heart goes out to the families of the two students killed in North Dakota.

Nice picture of the cockpit of a B-1B Lancer. Business done in this office is very serious indeed.

Thanks to SubWolf for the picture.

A Southwest Airlines 737, in my preferred livery, takes off from Salt Lake City International.

Picture courtesy of Airliners.net.

Oh what I would have given to be standing on one of those buildings when this baby came screaming by.

Picture courtesy of Airliners.net.