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

I wonder if this is going to be the sequel to the cult hit “Snakes on a Plane”?

LONDON (Reuters) - A passenger plane was forced to land after flying into a swarm of British bees Thursday.

The Palmair Boeing 737, with 90 passengers on board, had to return to Bournemouth Airport in southern England shortly after take-off following an engine surge.

The pilot decided to abort the flight to Faro in Portugal and returned for safety checks. The plane’s engine was thought to have become clogged with bees, the company said Friday.

Huge clouds of bees have been seen around Bournemouth over the past few days, a spokeswoman said.

A new airline is taking to the skies with promises of $10 tickets and a no-frills service that makes even Southwest look regal by comparison.

Skybus said that every flight has at least 10 seats for the $10 fare. Other airlines have offered superlow fares, but only temporarily. Skybus, however, said the $10 fare is here to stay. “On every flight, there will be at least 10 seats for $10, said Skybus CEO Bill Diffenderffer. “That fare won’t go away.”
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There is no first-class on Skybus, and to speed up boarding, seats are not assigned. However, for an extra $10, the airline offers some passengers the privilege of boarding first. But you still have to climb the stairs. To save time and money, the airline boards passengers directly off the tarmac, avoiding costly airport gate charges.

You also have to pay extra for any checked luggage, and for any food or drinks you want to consume on the plane - you can’t bring your own.

Is this the new breed of low-cost carrier? With the airline industry going the way it is nowadays, I bet we’ll see more airlines move to this model of ala carte service, rather than all services provided with the ticket. It just might be what the industry needs to start making real money again.

Apparently today is the First International Talk Like a Pilot day.

Jolly good!

This morning I was treated to a surprise gift from my father. In his usual Saturday morning yard sale excursion, he found an incredibly cool item. A 747 decanter! It appears to be ceramic, weighs a pound or two, and has a wonderful picture of a Boeing 747 in an old-style livery. The bottom is embossed with “Fieldbirds by A Singer - 1969″ and a small sticker on the back says “Bottled by the Dant Distillery Co. Louisville, KY - Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey - 4/5 Quart”. It has quickly earned a prominent spot on my shelf.

My uncle emailed a powerpoint to me today and I thought I would share it. It’s a presentation of pictures from the 2007 Zhukavsky Air Show in Russia. There are about 70 slides of pictures of some fantastic Russian aircraft.

You can download the presentation here in .zip format.

If you don’t have Microsoft PowerPoint installed, you can use this free viewer from Microsoft.