Saturday, October 28, 2006


Don't underestimate him. Houston saw off a dog three times his size the other day. Far from taking a back step, he chased after the dog when it realised it had met a furry, needle claw-equipped ball of ginger and white death. Offense being the best form of defense, and all. Mind you, the presence of a fence twixt feline and canine may have influenced his strategy.

I can't tell you how proud I was.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Hitting the roof over jet's dropped bolt

Turns out the bolt came from a passing Singapore Airlines 747, have have since admitted culpability, their insurers doing that thing they actually get paid for, and agreeing to compensate the rained upon party from Five Dock.

Could be worse though. I remember when a friend of mine lost the door off his aircraft. It happened over a popular area, if you can call Revesby popular, but no one ever complained.

"Bankstown tower, alpha bravo charlie, reporting our door is missing."
"Alpha bravo charlie, your door is open?"
"Negative, door is missing. It fell off."

That door never did turn up.

I had a cargo door open in flight once, but I didn't even know about it until the tower told me while I was on short final. I had no spare brain cells left to process that information, so I simply said, "copied." Once I was taxying back in I was certain the toolbox had fallen out and flattened some poor grandma, but no, it was safe and sound.

I also seem to remember a 500lb practice bomb falling off a military aircraft near Darwin airport, but I don't remember anyone owning up to it. I don't blame them.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Small plane makes emergency landing

This;


Click Here
to view the photo



is a small plane, apparently. Small planes are bigger than trucks. In other news, News Limited has run out of adjectives. Commuter plane? Turboprop? How about airliner? Passenger plane?

Has anyone noticed a trend? Why are the only aviation news stories I post here about aviation disasters, or the mistakes contained therein? Why can the popular press not report;

A. positive aviation stories,
B. report them accurately.

The answer to A. is - positive stories don't sell newspapers.

The answer to B. is - reporters are lazy and ignorant.

If anyone can persuade me otherwise, comments may be posted below.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

If a truck crashed into a building in Manhattan, killing the two occupants, would we be seeing the same sort of hysteria as when the same thing happens to a light plane?

Thought not.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Two killed in Bathurst jet crash

A joy flight in a Strikemaster has a tragic end. High performance military jets are tricky aircraft to operate. No clue as to the cause of the crash and I'm not going to speculate. All in all, a damn shame.

Update - early evidence indicates the right wing separated from the aircraft. If this happened at high speed and/or low level, escape would have been almost impossible, ejection seats or no.