Category: Aviation

Good Luck Felix


Today, weather permitting, Felix Baumgartner will make his second attempt to try to become the first man to break the sound barrier.

In free fall that is, from 120,00 feet or some 22 miles somewhere over New Mexico. This height puts him up in the earths stratosphere.

Not only will this jump set a new height record but it is hoped that Baumgartner will reach about 720 miles per hour and break the sound barrier.

To protect him during his jump Baumgartner will be wearing a special suit, similar to a space suit. This suit, which is pressurised, will provide oxygen, thermal protection, soak up any moisture that forms inside. And if the suit fails ? This is what Art Thompson, technical project director for the Red Bull Stratos Mission

“At that altitude, if the suit were to tear open — by any means — you’d start bleeding from the mouth,” . . . . “With that cold exposure, minus 60 degrees, your saliva starts to freeze up, you start oozing fluids from your eyes. The level of horror is straight out of a science fiction movie.”

The Telegraph is providing a live feed to this record attempt.

I wish Felix the best of luck.

Bloody Red Baron – Killed


Yes, on this day in history the “Bloody Red Baron” of Germany, Baron Manfred von Richthofen was shot down in France.

Richthofen was shot down and killed near Amiens on 21 April 1918. There has been considerable discussion and debate regarding aspects of his career, especially the circumstances of his death.

A Canadian captain, Arthur Roy Brown was officially credited with the kill but we all know different.

Don’t we !!!

Shall We / Shan’t We Defence Policy


The continuing saga of the shall we / shan’t we defense plan.

Apparently this is the plane that the Labour government had ordered but was rejected by the current government. Now, it appears, they have changed their minds on discovering the mind-boggling costs of installing a catapult system to our new carriers.

Personally, I think I would be doing some serious auditing of the costs being put forward here.

A whole carrier can be built for £5.2bn but just one catapult system fitted to one ship will cost £1.8bn !!!

I believe that the shilly-shallying of successive governments has brought the defence of this once great nation to its knees. Yet the government is still committing the support of our forces without the relevent infrastructure being in place.

This is akin to writing cheques on an empty account.

Defence of the nation, protection of the oppressed is not cheap. Face up to it and get on with the job.

Or else, let’s forget about colonialism, worldwide policing, protection of the oppressed and let’s declare ourselves neutral and rely on other nations to protect us.

Royal Navy jet’s future up in the air – Local – Portsmouth News.

Landing a Rafale an aircraft carrier. At night. A video shows why a night trap is the scariest and most demanding kind of flying.


Who wants to give this a try ? Not sure I would want to be a passenger let alone in control. Now where did they put that carrier ?

David Cenciotti's avatarThe Aviationist

Ever wondered how’s landing a jet on an aircraft carrier at night?

This French Navy Rafale’s HUD (Head Up Display) video gives a hint. Barely visible at the beginning of the footage (a very little light) is the (pitching) deck, filled with planes, people and an “island”.

Alongside the Eurofighter Typhoon, the French “omnirole” combat plane was extensively involved in Libya as well as shortlisted in the estimated $11 billion India’s Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender whose winner should be made public in the next three weeks (for these reasons, I used a video of a French plane and not one of an American jet, to show you the thrill of a “night trap”).

Thanks to Riccardo Braccini for the heads up on FB.

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