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Aviation History

What Happened to Trump’s Airline: The Trump Shuttle?

Donald Trump is a name that conjures up images of real estate, reality TV, and, of course, politics. However, fewer may remember Trump’s foray into the airline industry with the Trump Shuttle. This venture was as bold and brash as Trump himself, featuring luxury amenities that were unprecedented for short commuter flights. The Trump Shuttle…

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Emirates Flight 407: The Miraculous Escape from Disaster – A Tale of Vigilance and Lessons Learned.

In the quiet hours approaching midnight on March 20, 2009, Emirates Flight 407, a fully loaded Airbus A340, began its take-off from Melbourne Airport bound for Dubai. The routine departure soon turned into a heart-stopping ordeal as the aircraft, carrying nearly 300 passengers and crew, struggled to ascend into the night sky. Little did the…

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15 Years ago Today: Miracle on the Hudson

It has been 15 years since the “Miracle on the Hudson”, when US Airways Flight 1549 made history by successfully ditching in the Hudson River, resulting in no fatalities. This event is considered one of aviation’s greatest survival stories. As we reflect on the 15th anniversary of this incident, let’s delve into the story of…

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What’s The Story Behind JetBlue’s Nose Gear Incident?

On September 21, 2005, 18 years ago, a JetBlue flight from Burbank to New York City had to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. The incident was brought on by the nose gear failing. But what transpired that day? Let’s look at it more. JetBlue operates flight 292 regularly between Bob Hope…

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Flight Through Time: Top 5 Airlines of the 20th Century

Air travel has come a long way since the Wright Brothers’ first flight in 1903. In the 20th century, airlines played a crucial role in shaping the world of aviation. From the introduction of jumbo jets to the development of computerized flight reservation systems, airlines made significant contributions to the industry’s evolution. In this article,…

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Air India’s First International Journey: A Look Back at The Historic Flight 75 Years Ago

Today marks the 75th anniversary of an iconic event, Air India’s first international journey. A Lockheed Constellation L-749A, aptly named the ‘Malabar Princess,’ ventured on its maiden international voyage. The flight, commanded by Captain KR Gujdar, originated from Mumbai and touched down in London. Departing just past 11:00 pm local time on June 8, 1948,…

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Stockport Air Disaster: A Tragic Incident in UK Aviation History

In the late 60s, the UK witnessed a devastating aviation accident involving a British Midland Airways’ Canadair C-4 Argonaut aircraft. Although nearly six decades have passed, the tragedy remains etched in the annals of UK aviation history. This article aims to shed light on the incident that has since become known as the Stockport Air…

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The Mystery of the Second Antonov An-225: Why Was It Never Completed?

The devastating loss of the first and only operational Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world’s largest aircraft, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has shaken the aviation world. As the aviation community mourns the demise of this unparalleled marvel of engineering, attention turns to the enigmatic second An-225. A partially-constructed behemoth that never took to the…

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The Deadliest Mid-Air Collision in History!

Let’s take a short trip to the past, specifically on the 12th of November in 1996 over the Indian village of Charkhi Dadri; Flight SV763, a usual flight from Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in India to King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) in Saudi Arabia, with a stopover at Dhahran International Airport (DHA), operated by Saudia…

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What Do You Know About The Historical Boeing 377 Stratocruiser?

Boeing returned to the commercial aviation industry following World War II with the Stratocruiser, a new long-range airliner (Model 377). Like its military counterpart, the C-97, it was based on the B-29 bomber and was the first Boeing commercial transport since the Stratoliner. It had every speed and technological advancement a bomber could have at…

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Crashed By a Crocodile – The 2010 Filair Let L410 Crash

On August 25th, 2010, something very unusual happened to result in the crash of a Let L-410 which was carrying 21 passengers and crew, of which only 1 survived the disaster and flying under the registration 9Q-CCN. The most common causes of plane crashes tend to be pilot error, mechanical error, or weather issues. However,…

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How Do World Leaders Fly?

Air Force One, the plane that carries the US President is one of the most secure aircraft in the world, equipped with heat-seeking missile decoys and extensive sets of defenses, and according to several sources, Air Force One is so durable that the plane’s body can withstand a nuclear explosion. Other than the USA, which…

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A brief history of the Star Alliance

The Star Alliance celebrated its 25th Birthday on May 14th, But why was it started and which airlines formed it? Join me as I take a brief look into the history of the alliance. When was it formed? Star Alliance is the world’s largest alliance, being formed by 5 airlines in 1997. The 5 founding…

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The Deadliest Crashes in History

Air transportation is the safest way to travel, however, our world has witnessed some terrific unforgettable air crashes. In this article, we are to list the Top 10 deadliest air disasters of all time listed in an article written by Patrick Smith. Pan Am Flight 1736 and KLM Flight 4805, 1977 (583 fatalities) Japan Airlines…

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The Miracle in the Hudson

“This is the Captain,” the captain’s voice said over the intercom, “Brace for impact!”. A hush fell over the passengers. They thought they were going to die as the flight attendants were screaming: “Brace! Brace! Brace! Heads down! Stay down!” On January 15th of 2009; a US Airways flight 1549 from New York’s LaGuardia Airport…

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Qatar Airways Reveals New Retro Livery 777

To celebrate its 25th Anniversary, Qatar Airways has painted one of its Boeing 777 aircraft in its retro livery. The newly painted aircraft was rolled out last Tuesday and made its first flight with the livery on February 16th. The Boeing 777-300ER repainted with this retro livery is registered as A7-BAC and has been with…

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Kite – the origin of our current airplane

The first powered, “heavier than air”, controllable plane took place back in 1903 whilst kites have been used for centuries and centuries, and it’s said that the first kite was launched 200 B.C in China. Kites used to have diverse uses in the human history as a children’s toy for generations as we all know…

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The story of America’s only ever unsolved hijacking

On the afternoon of November 24th, 1971, a man under the name of Dan Cooper hijacked a Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 flying between Portland and Seattle. The Hijacking today remains the only unsolved hijacking in American history, hundreds if not thousands of people came forward claiming to know the real Dan Cooper, but was one…

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Dark Tourism

What is dark tourism? Dark tourism, also known as black tourism, morbid tourism, thana tourism, and grief tourism, is the tourism that includes visiting historical places related to death and grief. One of the reasons for the attraction of this kind of tourism is the value history of these places rather than its relation to…

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The Fastest Airplane in the World

In the old times of war where there were no satellites to spy on the enemy regions, it was so hard to sneak through for short instances of spying. The ideal solution, back then, was the SR-71 Blackbird! Spy Plane A spy plane was the best solution to spying on war enemies. It was designed…

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Iconic US Airlines That No Longer Fly

Many airlines roam the skies of America, there used to be a whole lot more, but what happened to these once glorious airlines? Read on to find out! 1. Pan American World Airways This one is an absolute classic, Pan Am, as it’s informally known, was the star of the skies above the USA and…

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How did Aviation Changed Life?

Before inventing planes, people could only travel by foot, buggy, horses, and train or ship. Travel was taking a very long time, about weeks or months. The same in delivering and receiving goods. The invention of airplanes changed the world from different sides. The movement from one country to another became faster and easier, not…

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The history of male flight attendants, where were they?

Digging through the history of aviation industry, you will find that men have monopolized the aviation career as for decades the flight attendant career was permitted for women only to occupy, which wasn’t out of any logical or respectful perspective for neither women nor men. To get to know why men weren’t allowed to be…

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Onboard the Concorde: Luxury at 60,000 feet

Concorde wasn’t just a jet; it was an exclusive club. Imagine having the ability to get caviar on board an airplane while flying at 60,000 feet in the air. As special as Concorde was, it was limited for the elite to fly in. Concorde still has the distinction of being the only commercial supersonic aircraft,…

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Lufthansa Retiring Last MD-11

Last Friday, Lufthansa announced the flights for its final remaining MD-11 freighter. The aircraft, registered D-ALCC, will perform its last flight with Lufthansa on October 15th. D-ALCC will be Lufthansa’s last MD-11 out of a total fleet of 19 throughout the years to leave the airline. For the MD-11’s last couple of flights, Lufthansa has…

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The rise and fall of economy airline food

We all know how it was when aviation was relatively new, with full dining service with proper tables and tablecloths, but why has it become like school food? (If you are not from the UK, and it isn’t similar to how it is here wherever you are, UK school food is meant to be awful)…

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Male or Female: You Can Be a Pilot

According to several studies, the existence of women in the workplace give positive outcomes. Many people think that only males can work as a pilot. When many women are asked why they want to be pilots, they answered that no one can explain love. Despite different women’s contributions in working as pilots, there is still…

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Ballistic Aircraft Parachute

Also known as emergency ballistic reserve parachute, a parachute system within the aircraft systems. And here comes the question: Do all the aircraft have a parachute in their systems? Well, the answer is no. Do not confuse it with a drogue parachute designed to decrease the speed of the object or aircraft in the landing stage. We…

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From Dream to Reality: The History of Aviation

Flying was an ancient dream of a man, the legend of Icarus, Pushpaka and Vimana in the epic Ramayana confirm this. You always have the desire to fly, whether you take a flight or not, but have you ever asked yourself how that miracle plane that takes you by air from one place to another…

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The Jet Age and Pan Am

The 1950s saw the world’s first commercial aircraft to be powered by jet engines. This was the start of the Jet Age. It was only until the late 1960s that turbine-powered aircraft became a common sight, this was because Boeing, one of the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers at that time and still today, introduced the…

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The only person able to fly

23 May 1848, Anklam Prussia, born and raised with his siblings, worked together on technical, social, and cultural projects. Then they started to study the flight of birds, dreaming with the idea or the fiction of human flight. After years of other studies in other fields and life situations, he got the idea for his…

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The Puffin: A Personal Aircraft

It is “personal” because it has a crew capacity of one, only one person who is the pilot of the aircraft. Electric, low noise, capable of reaching a speed of 150 miles per hour, and how it works, it seems to be a fancy vehicle. The inventor, the aerospace engineer Mark Moore idealized the concept…

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Critical Mach Number

When talking about Mach, it is pretty common to relate it with supersonic aircraft, but not always. This number of airflow velocity helps to determine the limits of the aircraft performance in terms of maximum airspeed. The critical Mach number (Mcr) is the lowest Mach number of the plane in which the speed of sound…

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Wing Strakes

It is considered as another way to produce lift, and if this is attached to the wing then it is called a leading-edge extension. But, why put an extension on the wing? What kind of benefits does it bring to the plane? The leading edge extension creates vortices in a controlled way. It improves the…

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Why Was the Concorde Retired?

Almost 50 years ago, the first commercial supersonic jet was introduced into the world, revolutionizing air travel and opening a new chapter in the way people flew. Flying at 2 times the speed of sound and faster than the spin of the Earth, Concorde was a peak of innovation in aviation, and it allowed people…

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Baggage Tag and Its Purpose

Whenever you check in a bag, you get a baggage tag. The baggage tag (also known as luggage tag or bag tag) with some barcodes and some more, some less encrypted information. Why do you need them? What information do you find on them? Have they always existed? This article will expand your knowledge about…

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Nemeth Parasol

An unusual prototype with circular wing in parasol configuration, built in 1934 became a successful STOL airplane, making the way to circular wing aircraft such as the Flying Pancake the AvroCar among others. Using a fuselage from an Alliance Argo biplane and powered by a 90 hp Lambert engine. The media at that moment wrote…

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What’s behind the Murphy’s Law?

Everyone has ever heard about the Murphy’s Law or probably is familiar to people who has mentioned it. And everyone knows that this law is neither positive nor optimistic. In fact, the law says something that at first glance gives you some pessimism. The Murphy´s Law states “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”.…

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The Origins of Aviation & Airlines

For anything in this life, there is a beginning. For aviation the beginning is considered to be a little different and unique, simply because, who in the ancient times ever thought that humans can fly?! Since humans first observed the flight of birds, birds became the idol of those humans who have been dreaming to…

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NACA

Have you ever wondered about the beginning of one of the most important aeronautical research institution? NACA, stands for: “National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics”, it’s an agency founded on March 3, 1915 in the United States to prioritize aeronautics during World War I. As we may know Wilbur and Orville Wright have studied aviation in…

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Worst Airport Disaster Ever

Car accidents happen everyday, thus are quite common. But what about the most reliable means of transport – airplanes? They could crash as well, but those accidents don‘t happen as often. Let me tell you about the worst disaster in aviation history. 27th of March, 1977 – a day to remember. The day started off…

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The Experimental Aircraft Association

Founded by a dozen of aircraft homebuilders in 1953, the Experimental Aircraft Association became one of the most important forces in general aviation. It’s based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since it’s foundation, EAA has become increasingly internationally known with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapters worldwide, and it’s been established that the EAA hosts…

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Lion Air: The Low Cost Airline that Operated the 747

Lion Air, an Indonesian low cost airline used to operate the Boeing 747-400 until they were retired and sold in 2017. The jumbo jet was a regular sight at many airports across Indonesia and in Saudi Arabia. The airline operated only two of the double decker aircraft, which were under the registration of PK-LHG and…

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Airborne Observatory

It seems like an airplane to observe, that is the name and the meaning. But all the aircraft seem to work under the same? Recognizance, spy or aerial surveying aircraft for mapping, they work in different scenarios and have different instruments to carry out the required task. An observatory as known is a location to…

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The Revival of Ultralongrange Flights!

Introduction & History Since the starting days of aviation, the technology has improved and new records were often achieved; aircraft could reach higher altitudes, became faster, and could fly longer distances. When it comes to longer distances, there is no single definition. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a flight of more than 16…

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Convair Sea Dart (The only supersonic seaplane)

Navy Strategy, the need of a supersonic interceptor plane in time when Jet engines were not as advanced as now. The need of an aircraft that could take off from the sea or a floating deck. There were many options and ideas that came up, planes powered with propellers were still being used in aircraft…

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V bombers

The United kingdom´s strategic nuclear strike force, officially known as the V-force or Bomber Command Main Force was formed by the Royal Air Force, during the 1950s and 1960s. They used the three aircraft that represented the V`s. The Vickers Valiant, Avro Vulcan and Handley Page Victor, one aircraft with a striking shape. These aircraft…

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Eating a Cessna 150 for dinner?!

Imagine your dinner is ready and a you cannot wait any longer to taste the delicious and spicy propeller of a Cessna. Mmmmh! Well, this seems strange to most of us, but not for Michel Lotito. Michel was a french artist born in Grenoble, France. He became famous for eating indigestible objects such as metal…

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ValuJet Flight 592: The Crash That Changed Aviation

In 1996, a Douglas DC-9 aircraft operated by ValuJet Airlines took off from Miami International Airport bound for Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport in Georgia. Only eight minutes later, a fire that had started during take-off, started to spread throughout the cargo hold, eventually engulfing the cabin and cockpit, which caused the electrical systems to fail.…

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Flying Saucer “Avrocar”

A flying saucer made for the U.S. military, devised in the Cold War (period 1958-1959) by Canadian Scientists, was a completely top secret project. Avro Canada, a Canadian aircraft manufacturing company, designed and built two prototypes of this aircraft, under the funding of the U.S. military that believed on an “alien” looking plane. At those…

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The first woman to Fly the U-2 spy plane

Colonel Merryl Tengesdal, born in the Bronx, New York, in 1971 was the first and only African American woman to fly the United States Air Force’s U-2 spy plane, the unique and famous aircraft used to spy and reconnaissance flown in the Cold War over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, and Cuba. Merryl overcame and…

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The Flying Pancake

A weirdly shaped, not very aesthetic plane that looks like a saucer that can never fly. This is the Vought V-173, an American prototype with a circular airfoil with large-diameter propellers on the wingtips. Developed in 1940 for the Navy, it is an aircraft with capabilities of short take-off and landing, it can fly at…

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The first high speed frontier.

260 years of unsolved and unknown regime of high speed dynamics of gases were broken with the significant flight of the Bell X-1 research vehicle installed under the B-29 bomber of World War II vintage, on October 14, 1947 in the Mojave Desert in California. At an altitude of 25,000 feet the X-1 was dropped…

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The beginning of the helicopter era

The desire of vertical flight was always present, and it grew after the first successful flight of the wright flyer, but the technical limitations for reaching this did not give the needed result. Leonardo da Vinci illustrated a sophisticated “rotary-wing” similar to a helicopter, the main sketch that remain for years without any success. It…

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The anniversary of the dream of world flight

A normal day like today, 14 december, 1986, the Voyager aircraft departed from Edwards Air Force Base in the Southern California using approximately 4.3 km of runway and a huge amount of fuel to fulfill the world record endurance without re-fueling and go around the world. Setting a world record that remains today it is…

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One engine rule (ETOPS)

We all wonder how a plane could fly if an engine fails, but it is more worrying if it is in the middle of miles and miles of ocean before finding a place to land safely. These same concerns were expressed by aircraft manufacturers and operators when they wanted their aircraft to cross the oceans…

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Missile hit at Baghdad

In November 2003, Baghdad airport was the home to American troops in Iraq. The US Air force flew in daily to supply the troops and help at its best to help rebuild the country. Around and outside the airport are terrorists therefore Apache helicopters are deployed full time to check and eliminate any kind of…

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The smallest acrobatic microjet

It is not necessary to look like a mighty fighter to be an aviation gymnast and reach incredibly high speeds. This is a light bullet that can be manned by daredevils due to the high acrobatic performance only awarded by fighter jets. Just seeing how this plane flies is shocking because of its small size.…

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Australia’s close call: Emirates flight 407

During the night of 20th of March of 2009, An Airbus A340 was to fly out of Melbourne to Dubai with 275 people on board. The flight was to depart Melbourne at 10:25 local time and the flight time was 14hrs 8mins. As the crew prepared for departure, the pilots were busy in the cockpit…

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The longest flight on a plane

It is already hard for people to be in a confined space for a few hours, imagine now being for many days and within one-meter-wide and about three meter in length of cabin interior. This is the space where it a plane was piloted to get a world record of flight endurance, specifically a Cessna…

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Have you ever heard of the Airbus A321LR?

The A321 is a member of the A320 family of narrow-bodied, commercial passenger jet airliner with two engines. This specific type of aircraft was launched in 1994 after the A320 and carries 185-265 passengers. It has a common rating with all other A320’s made…..let us know how this plane is winning. The A321LR is an…

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How planes became spaceplanes

After the first manned flight of the Wright brothers, it did not take more than 20 years to consider space flight, with the concepts and dreams of two men interested in reaching outer space. Herman Oberth, one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics, and Wernher von Braun, his student, later known for helping Germany’s Rocket…

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The birth of the first airline

Many of us have heard about the oldest airline or the first plane that was invented, but what about the first airline in the world, that first had a successful project. The recognition goes to DELAG, acronym for Deutsche Luftschifffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft, that means German Airship Travel Corporation, founded on 16 November 1909. This was the world’s…

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The Military version of an Antonov Airliner (The An-12)

Some airliners turn into military aircraft as well. This is the An-12 “Cub”, a military aircraft that had a version of a passenger airplane in the Soviet Union. Constructed simultaneously with the An-10 “the airliner” but with structural differences to allow military operations, one of them is a defensive tail gun. This airplane was Designed…

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The Queen of the Skies’ Success Story

There is perhaps no other commercial airliner as iconic as the Boeing 747. A presence in our skies for over fifty years, it has transported millions of passengers across the world. Since its introduction with Pan American Airlines in 1970, it has persevered as one of the forerunners of commercial flight. Often labeled as the…

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A supersonic tragedy: Air France 4590.

20 years ago, on the 25th of July 2000, an Air France Concorde thundered down 26R at Paris; Charles De Gaulle airport. However, what no one knew was that this flight would mark the beginning of the end of the supersonic aircraft. The accident: On the day of the accident; F-BTSC, a 25 year old…

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A HOPE FROM MIDDLE EAST: ETIHAD PLANE LANDS IN MEXICO WITH STUCK COMPATRIOTS AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES

The morning of July 15th, an airplane of Etihad Airways coming from the United Arab Emirates landed at Mexico City’s International Airport. The aircraft was carrying medical equipment and supplies intended to the medical authorities to attend the COVID-19 patients and mexican citizens previously stranded in the arab country. The flight EY9973, which took off…

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