Given the size of the turbines, the distances between them are obviously substantial, so turning between each would be a lot easier than most aerobatic manoeuvres. And it might be a LOT more difficult if the wind turbines were actually turning!

(Written on 04/23/2016)(Permalink)

That seemed to be quite a hard landing/bounce. Given that the pilot and passenger were seated at the time, that's a back injury looking for somewhere to happen! Perhaps they need to look at bigger parachutes?

(Written on 03/15/2016)(Permalink)

This has to all be put in perspective. Hobby drones are generally made of plastic, and even though they may be bigger than most birds, their weight/mass is similar, or smaller. So hitting one generally would mean that the aeroplane will still fly, even if the drone or bird is ingested into the engine. The chance of hitting one is also a lot less than hitting a bird. There are millions of birds, but very few drones. And there is absolutely NO RISK when a drone passes within hundreds of feet of an aircraft. Just stay awake and aware that something may actually be in your way, and avoid that one, instead of the ones that were never a threat! An analogy to all this is cars on the roads - you drive down a 2-way highway at closing speeds that will do a LOT of damage, and probable loss of life, if a collision occurs, but the oncoming car goes past VERY close by, and usually you think such passing distances are OK.

(Written on 09/16/2015)(Permalink)

Sorry, but it would've been a pleasant addition if the editing wasn't so disjointed, jerking back and forth at least twice as much as necessary. I really like the view OUT from fighter jets, not looking back at a pilot who is unrecognisable, and in this video, the view IN shots took up what seemed like half the time.

(Written on 07/03/2015)(Permalink)

Oops, after reading all the story, I realise it was only a piece of plastic or somesuch on the runway in Sydney. Obviously the short-notice of the need to divert caught them out, as only three aircraft were diverted. It surprises me that, in daylight, it'd take 35 mins to re-open the runway. In Brisbane there are vehicles continually driving up and down taxiways and the runway looking for debris. And also, the treatment at Canberra appears to be a bit second-rate. Canberra has a commercial airport terminal, as well as a (separate) military base that uses the same runway, so why weren't the passengers off-loaded at a more travel-friendly location, rather than the concrete wasteland area they ended up in? And the toilets being too full for the passengers to use? I'd be a bit peeved too if I couldn't go to the dunny for 4 hours.

(Written on 12/14/2014)(Permalink)

There have been very severe storms in and around Sydney on most days this last week, so debris on the runway probably would have been on all runways. Better to be cautious than suffer a puncture.

(Written on 12/13/2014)(Permalink)

Reminds me of one accident on our farm - the pilot had to fly either under or over a powerline that was across the middle of one field, which was about 100 acres. Close to the pylons, he flew under the wires, but they hung too low in the middle, so he was going up over them and down onto the crop again (similar to the video here, where the pilot went up over trees and back down again). On one pass he got the tail wheel caught on a wire as he came back down. The wire stretched and the speed dropped to zero as he levelled out a few feet off the crop, and about the same time that the pilot realised he was in deep do-do, the wire broke, at the same time as he cut the throttle. The plane just dropped the last 2 feet onto the crop. No forward speed, just sat it down in the mud - the crop was being irrigated and the black soil there was just glue when it was wet. The 'landing' was about 200 yards from the nearest road, and it took over a week before they could get the plane out. It took

(Written on 08/26/2014)(Permalink)

Bit of confusion here - the Qantas Group is not just the airline known as Qantas, but also includes Jetstar. The new 788's are going to Jetstar, which in itself is a 'group' comprising Jetstar Airways, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Japan, and Jetstar Pacific. Here's the link: http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/about-us/our-fleet

(Written on 08/25/2014)(Permalink)

Yes, there are health effects for some. As a teenager I too was doing flagman duties on our cotton farm near Wee Waa (in northern New South Wales, Australia) about 50 years ago, and about 10 years later developed severe sinus infections that needed operations, and at the time the medical complications were blamed on exposure to the sprayed chemicals - 2-4-5-T and Deildrin are names I remember. Back then, nobody knew that there may be health problems, so very few precautions were taken - we waved flags to help the pilot line up on the crop rows, then ran a certain number of rows across the field for the next pass, but we ran to get out of the path of the plane, not to dodge the spray. The health effects are not what I remember most about that time though, it's the sheer joy I had of flying as a passenger in a single seat Piper Pawnee when it was crop-dusting. Those of you who know that plane will realise how that must've looked when I was sitting on the window ledge with my bum,

(Written on 08/25/2014)(Permalink)

Harry, the original comment, as I recall, was referring to the Qantas fleet as a whole, and Jetstar is part of that group, so yes, they ARE getting 788's, just flying them under a different name.

(Written on 08/24/2014)(Permalink)