aviation

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A hero Battle of Britain pilot has taken to the skies at the tender age of 99 for the last time - in a Spitfire.
World War II ace Archie McInnes is one of only six surviving RAF pilots who took part in the vital Battle of Britain - known as The Few.

The war hero took to the skies above Kent last week in a refurbished Second World War Spitfire - accompanied by the plane he flew during the war.

The flight was organised and photographed by pal Jonny Cracknell, working alongside the Battle of Britain Museum. Jonny said: 'There are only eight Battle of Britain airmen left, and out of them, Archie is the most active.

There are only six pilots and two aircrew left out of the thousands of heroes who risked everything to protect Britain from the Nazis.

Archie joined the RAF in 1938, the year before the war, and completed pilot training in August, 1940.

After the Battle of Britain ended, on Ocotber 31, 1940, Archie's illustrious career took him on board HMS Victorious - where he was part of the team that hunted the Bismarck.

Archie then took part in the North African campaign, where he was shot down and lost his arm.

Pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain are known as 'The Few' after an iconic speech by then-PM Winston Churchill: 'Never was so much owed by so many to so few.'

The flight was organised ahead of the 78th anniversary of Battle of Britain Day, on September 15.

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Not even James Bond had an Aston Martin like this.
The British sports car maker revealed a concept version of a flying car, the Volante Vision Concept, at the Farnborough Airshow this week.
Aston Martin has billed the futuristic vehicle as a luxury car for the skies. The autonomous hybrid-electric vehicle, which has room for three passengers, is designed for urban and inter-city travel, the company said. It’s also capable of vertical take-offs and landings. The vehicle could fly at top speeds of around 200 miles per hour, according to Reuters.

Aston Martin unveiled the Volante Vision flying car concept on July 16. Like many other personal air-transportation concepts, the Volante Vision utilizes vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technology, so it can land on a dime in tight urban areas. It packs hybrid-electric power and is capable of autonomous flight (as far as concepts are capable of anything).

This is the first time the British car brand, traditionally known for its luxury sports cars, has ventured into aircraft design.
Named after the Italian word for flying, the Volante was debuted on 16 July 2018 at the Farnborough Air Show, alongside other aircraft designs including Boeing's hypersonic aircraft concept.

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Image courtesy Aston Martin

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2018 - Year of the Bird
2018 marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the most powerful and important bird-protection law ever passed. In honor of this milestone, nature lovers around the world are joining forces to celebrate the "Year of the Bird"” and commit to protecting birds today and for the next hundred years.

Stunning Video Shows a Man Flying With Birds
What started as a conservation effort in the 1990s now puts tourists into the air, soaring alongside geese and cranes.
When Christian Moullec saw that lesser white-fronted geese were struggling with their migration from Germany to Sweden in 1995, he took to the skies to help them. Today, weather permitting, he soars with birds on an almost daily basis.

A meteorologist by trade, the 58-year-old Frenchman didn't start out as a pilot. But inspired by an Austrian zoologist known as "the man who walked with geese," Moullec adapted a two-seater ultralight aircraft to fly alongside the vulnerable species to guide them on a safer migration route. Now, from March through October, he takes tourists up to fly with birds.  read more »

Partnering with Nature is a time-honored tradition, Dutch police training golden eagles to catch drones

Prince Williams has flown for the Air Ambulance Service since 2015; a lethal drone comes within HALF A SECOND of Prince William's air ambulance.

A golden eagle grabs a flying drone during a military training exercise at Mont-de-Marsan French Air Force base, Southwestern France.

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February 8, 2016  read more »

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January 13, 2017
Finnair flight 666, at 13 o'clock on Friday the 13th with a 13 year old aircraft

Finnair Flight 666 took off from Copenhagen, Denmark on Friday the 13th bound for HEL.
Helsinki, Finland, that is.
HEL is Helsinki’s airport code.
This according to air traffic site FlightRadar24.com.

Finnair flight 666, at 13 o'clock on Friday the 13th with a 13 year old aircraft, has landed safely in HEL https://t.co/0kWfkcARmO pic.twitter.com/OPvpyyq4F4
- Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 13, 2017

It departed Copenhagen at approximately 1:07 p.m. local time, touching down again at 3:41 p.m.

May 13, 2016
Who wants to get Flight 666 to HEL on Friday 13?

Can it get worse?
Flight 666 to HEL on Friday
— Mike (@FR24mike) May 13, 2016

How’s that for an ominous journey?
Maybe they should have driven – and taken the highway to HEL instead.
… Sorry.
H/T @FR24Mike

How’s that for an ominous journey?
But luckily for everyone, despite being very ominously named the plane landed safely in Finland after all.

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Photo courtesy @FR24mike and TOBIAS SCHWARZ / AFP / Getty Images

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Jan. 10, 2017
On January 15, 2009, Flight 1549 struck birds, lost all engine power. pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River, saved all 155 people aboard. US Airways Flight 1549 was an Airbus A320-214 which, three minutes after takeoff from New York City's LaGuardia Airport on January 15, 2009, struck a flock of Canada geese just northeast of the George Washington Bridge and consequently lost all engine power. Unable to reach any airport, pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River off midtown Manhattan. All 155 people aboard were rescued by nearby boats and there were few serious injuries.

The incident came to be known as the "Miracle on the Hudson", and a National Transportation Safety Board member described it as "the most successful ditching in aviation history." The pilots and flight attendants received the Master's Medal of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators for a "heroic and unique aviation achievement".

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Image courtesy Wikipedia and @CaptSully

Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown discusses Luftwaffe Aircraft - Published on Apr 23, 2014

Readers' comments -
"A great man he was the Last of a rare breed"
"Capt.Brown, a classic sort of guy"
"An amazing man. Superb achievements in pretty much every aspect of his career."
"Thanks for the video. It is good to see the Pilots telling their stories in what they did in the second world war. The real warriors of the sky and the planes they fly."

Vedio: Capt. Eric 'Winkle' Brown: the first Mosquito carrier deck landing, Published on Jul 16, 2015

In March 1944 the De Havilland Mosquito undertook carrier deck landing trials on HMS Indefatigable in the Irish Sea, giving the then Lieut. Brown the chance to make the first deck landing of a British heavy twin-engine aircraft. In this video the Patron of The People's Mosquito talks about the aircraft and the challenges he faced when presented with the task of landing it on deck.

Reader's comment: "Capt Eric 'Winkle' Brown truly is one of the finest examples of the Greatest Generation. What an honour to watch this video."

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