By Don Harward.
You know, sometimes, life can be normal—even when it isn’t; let me explain. While getting ready for a mission one morning, I was in the shower trying to rinse off the sleep just like millions of people do every day all across the world. While trying to figure out which bottle was the shampoo and which ...
After 35 years of service with Air New Zealand, former Boeing 747 flight instructor David McAlister was demoted to the position of First Officer by Air New Zealand when he turned 60 in 2004, in an attempt to comply with US regulations in force at that time which prohibited the position of pilot-in-command being filled by a person over ...
Swiss Precision—The Pilatus PC-12 NG
The 900th Pilatus PC-12—a PC-12 NG—was delivered to a private American owner who had owned four PC-12s before it. When Graeme Mollison flew an Australian PC-12 NG in New Zealand recently, he soon understood how the aircraft’s qualities might develop such brand loyalty.
Biggin Hill 2009
Whenever Glenn Alderton ...
Bob Keys, an Australian and ex-Cathay Pacific Airways 747 skipper, has launched a small domestic airline in the Solomon Islands, initially using a Beechcraft 18 and a Convair 580. According to Solomon Islands’ CAA principal flight standards officer, George Satu, Key’s airline, “Solomon Island Seaplanes” has been granted a temporary license to operate by the CAA, while its ...
Australian Aerospace Limited’s Deeper Maintenance Workshop at Brisbane Airport recently closed a long-running chapter in the history of Australia’s defence aerospace industry when it farewelled the last DHC-4 Caribou transport aircraft from its facility.
This last Caribou—serial A4-140, which is a veteran of three years’ service in the Vietnam War (1968 to 1971)—is one of a ...
According to Will Whitehorn, President of Virgin Galactic, the WhiteKnight Two space-launch vehicle is ready for its appearance at the EAA AirVenture airshow at Oshkosh on Monday 27 July. The aircraft will fly on two other show days and remain on static display for the rest of the week before returning to its Mojave base on Saturday ...
Twenty-eight-year-old New Plymouth man Ben Gaastra was the pilot in command and sole occupant of a Cessna 152 aircraft which crashed en route from Auckland to New Plymouth on Tuesday 21 July.
The aircraft collided with a steep bush-clad hillside in rugged terrain about 41 kilometres south-west of Te Kuiti. A search commenced at about 7.30 p.m. ...
By Graeme Mollison.
When Pilatus Australia sent a PC-12 NG demonstrator on a New Zealand tour recently, Graeme Mollison took the opportunity to put the aircraft through its paces and was impressed with what he found.
Perhaps most famous historically for its magnificently rugged PC-6 Turbo-Porter, which is still in production after 50 years, ...
By Don Harward.
I am always amazed by soldiers, seldom by politicians and almost never by celebrities. Here on the front, we get to see a lot of all of the above. The politicians are always buzzing about seeking answers, or maybe just wanting to get out from inside the beltway and “hang out with the boys.” Some time ...
