Hangar Flying --- HL 375 (1)

Amazing Video of F-35 Shows Its Insane Maneuverability

 

https://youtu.be/UI5qaoZQ5G4?si=zsntjDUi4a8w9wsv

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Hangar Flying -- HL 374 (2)

Ahh, ORD in the winter time……..Yes, now those are memories!!!

Tony P

Subject: Fwd: Chicago O’Hare ORD winter ’68 /’69
To: Papandrea Tony <apapandrea@cfl.rr.com>

From my friend, Nick Deleo. Memories for sure. 

Date: 10/20/2025 12:05:02 PM
Time flys also. Enjoy

https://youtu.be/PrP8NjdfG_c?si=DVVAyRRvXzm7psOR

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Travis Foster

Retired flt att, Margie Nelson, sent me a great 48 minute Delta Video that I think you will all enjoy. Just click on the live link in her email below.

From: marjorienelson@icloud.com
To: THFoster6@aol.com
Sent: 10/9/2025 5:27:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Subject:  a century of flight delta - Google Search

 a century of flight delta - Google Search

https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=a%20century%20of%20flight%20delta&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:273f260d,vid:59cLxHGD5qI,st:0

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Hangar Flying -- HL 373 (2)

The Next Air Force One:

https://youtu.be/jW8KCizKwTA?si=4Jeup_bgSnseO-Cj

 

I Fly in the B-2 Stealth Bomber!

https://youtu.be/qEVU7AXGQW0?si=bEFVzKGMUH9eRnj5

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Hangar Flying - HL 372 (2)

Missed Oshkosh?  Here are some highlights;

Daily Oshkosh Highlights! Sunday (July 20) - EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025

 

https://youtu.be/z-snn9rlbjE?si=XA_uHxOWo59zwHJP

 

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Showed this before but worth another laugh:

Tom Cruise Terrifies James

https://youtu.be/v1iZtBM23bY?si=0IGOpMJBEiK8HtEq

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Hangar Flying -- HL 371 (2)

Where Delta Air Lines’ 339-Seat Ex-LATAM Airbus A350s Operate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAAiBRWdA64

 

Airbus A350 Cockpit Approach & Landing at SFO San Francisco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttJbexeh3m0

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Hangar Flying HL 370 (1)

In the Fall the Cinci Chapter of Pilots for Christ, of which I volunteer with, has invited former NASA SR71 Pilot Ed Schneider to address our National Convention here at CVG.  I was looking for a few neat videos of this incredible bird he flew and thought you might enjoy them.  As a side note, I flew into IAD years ago and noticed they had parked a Blackbird in the grass at the airport.  After a few years of seeing it rot there, I queried the controller why it was still parked and what it was doing there.  He replied, “Oh they’re going to build a museum around it.”  Well, I’ll be, they sure enough did build the Air and Space Museum ‘Annex’ out at Dulles and that Blackbird is inside right next to the WWII P61 Black Widow that my father flew in during the war.  If you haven’t been…..you should go.   Mark

SR71 Clips:

1.     https://youtu.be/n_4Bchis7aI?si=rEofbjG9BcOrnDfK

 

2.     https://youtu.be/-1250fZuhUg?si=rZipC0fwdyM6afzE

 

3.     https://youtu.be/xLoSLK7jmrc?si=jIhNHQx12fMpJOZE

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Hangar Flying - HL 369 (3)

SPACE X to the Rescue!  This has to be one of the most amazing achievements from a private contractor in decades. 

 

SpaceX Dragon capsule sticks splashdown landing as NASA astronauts return home after months stuck in space

Astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Suni Williams had been living on the ISS for over 9 months

A pair of NASA astronauts, who were stranded in space for more than nine months, returned to Earth on Tuesday, landing in the Gulf of America off Tallahassee, Florida, bringing an end to an unforeseen odyssey.

Barry "Butch" Wilmore, 62, and Suni Williams, 59, returned home after a new crew replaced them and two other astronauts reached the International Space Station (ISS) over the weekend. 

The four-person Crew-10 carried by a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft early on Sunday met up with the ISS, where Wilmore and Williams had been living since their planned roughly weeklong mission in June 2024 turned into a much longer one. 

"On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home," radioed SpaceX Mission Control in California.

"What a ride," replied NASA astronaut Nick Hague, the capsule’s commander.

READ MORE: https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/spacex-dragon-capsule-sticks-splashdown-landing-nasa-astronauts-return-home-after-months-stuck-space

 

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I’ve heard a few different versions of an ‘aircraft escape plan’ for Adolf Hitler.  Here is the story of the BV 138

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZlbyDdjJig

 

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Bob Hoover

Escaping A Nazi Prison Camp In A German Plane | Bob Hoover, An American Hero | Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWFOOJv0M4c

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Hangar Flying - HL 368 (2)

Neat tour of the New Air Force One the Boeing VC-25B.  Obama signed the contract and Boeing is still trying to complete the deal.  Doesn’t speak well of the process.

It may fly in 2026 and be delivered in 2027.  But do not hold your breath.

https://youtu.be/O8W1LrDWkow?si=f9nvzMMijcueVoy0

 

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What Life Inside The SpaceX Starship Will Be Like!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPWv4fDxYIk

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Hangar Flying - HL 367 (2)

Thanks to Capt Travis Foster for sharing this with us.

Subject: great Misty Fast FAC video

You’ve probably seen this……I have but it was good to see a great video about some heroes from SE Asia once again.

Quigley

 

Click Here:         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWxn-ijZJWA

 

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Thoughts about DCA AA5352 Tragedy:   My Two Cents

 

My heart hurts and prayers have been made for all those involved in the DCA air disaster.

 

Now, of course making a precise speculation as to what happened to cause this tragic midair is simply way too early.  However, this accident does reveal and highlight a few things that many of us have experienced and may have been contributing factors here. 

 

It gave me a flashback to an airplane chopper incident I had in PHX, that I share with you below. Over the course of my airline career I've had far too many ATC, chopper, and military situations that could have been bad.......like real bad. For the most part, all these incidences have made much less frequent after TCAS and ADS-B.  But a situation that still unfortunately exists are split frequency below in my suggestions.

 

 

PHX chopper near miss:

Last night I was still up at 1am listening to the press briefing of the tragic accident at DCA.   This isn't the only time that the interplay between fixed and rotor wing aircraft have been handled casually with scary close calls. Many of us have seen it many times but here below is my personal memory of one.  

Years ago, as a B727 capt, on a hot day with a full airplane, I was taking off from PHX when as reached V1 then V2, we had just broke ground and were slightly airborne.  In that vulnerable condition, I saw a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter (which took off from the West side of the airport FBO) flash from L to R across my windscreen.  We could do nothing.  Since we had just become airborne, getting our speed and our sea legs,  there was really no maneuver we could do to avoid the possible midair.  Fortunately, are path missed the chopper. But after we exhaled, I got on ATC hard  over their obvious mistake.  Our B727 full of pax, would have perished all because of their casual clearance for the chopper taking off without proper restrictions and at the wrong time.  Now in the moment at DCA, it appears that this may have been repeated. It sounds like the over taxed controller allowed a clearance for crisscrossing flight path separation to be solely maintained by the Blackhawk flight crew. When, while arrivals to 33 were in process,  precisely restricting course or altitude certainly would have been a better option.  Totally unfortunate and unnecessary and what I would an ATC roll of the dice.  What a tragedy.  

TUS Memory:

On another very memorable occasion, I was cleared at TUS from the NE to roll in on final to 29R.  Little did I know that ATC on a separate split (UHF) freq cleared a F16 to roll in from the S on final, probably to 29L (which if way to close simultaneous parallel approaches even in VFR). When i spotted the 16, we were both on opposite angling bases, on a collision course. He broke and rolled hard and I rolled into a collision avoiding steep turn and were belly to belly of which was far far too close for comfort.  We both waved off the approach and after a few deep breaths started to reset for another approach. It all happened due to split UHF VHF communications.  And afterwards I never heard his choice words for ATC nor did he hear mine. A split freq situation is a set up for lots of problems - just like what happened at DCA.

Now of course we don’t know EVERYTHING about this accident, but we do know some of those things like weather and such that were not contributors and some items that may have been contributors.  

 

Out of many 'episodes' I have experienced here are four Ideas that could be helpful

to avoid a "no survivors" AA 5342 DCA crash:

 

1. ATC -No copter crisscrossing of active flight paths/or altitudes with fixed wing

2. Army - No flight with Xpndr off in Class B (They are allowed to turn it off)

3. No night-vision goggles during TakeOff or Landing in Class B (Train away from Joint Use or Civilian airports)

4. Cease all split freq ops in Class B ATA . ATC tower equipped with a Xmit mixer that pushes out every  “inbound” comm so all freqs ultilized would hear both sides of any conversation.

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Hangar Flying - HL 366 (2)

Aerial Christmas views of beautiful La Crosse, WI Riverside Park: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwmaoZpUyrU

 

 

Magical Christmas time walk in St Moritz:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LZJlKPBNg

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Hangar Flying - HL 365 (1)

Scariest Crosswind Landings caught on Video:

 (Some look like made worse by lousy piloting)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvcHVcQ8sPc

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Hangar Flying - HL 364 (1)

Electric flying car maker Alef secures mass manufacturing deal as pre-orders top 3,200

Peter Johnson

Flying cars are no longer just from sci-fi movies. Electric flying car maker Alef Aeronautics is one step closer to launching the new tech after signing a mass manufacturing deal this week for aviation-grade parts.

Although it may sound like something from the Jetsons, Alef has been advancing its flying car technology since 2015.

Alef set out to build an electric car that can actually drive and has vertical takeoff abilities. It also needs to be affordable.After showing a scaled prototype, the startup attracted Tim Draper, a prominent venture capitalist known for his early Tesla investments. Draper became the lead investor with $3 million in seed funding.

Read More:

https://electrek.co/2024/09/19/electric-flying-car-maker-alef-secures-mass-manufacturing-deal/

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Hangar Flying - HL 363 (1)

HistoryPilot: Too close For Missiles - Funny ATC 😂

Pilot: Too close For Missiles - Funny ATC#shorts #funny #atc 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/l0afZRKskLU

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qqjKZxkpvBQ

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/iDUNYG-p95Y

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9qvw-RbMPIw

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Hangar Flying - Hl 362 (1)

70th Anniversary of the Boeing 367-80

Seventy years ago this week, a graceful, swept-winged aircraft, bedecked in brown and yellow paint and powered by four revolutionary new engines took to the sky above Seattle. The Boeing 367-80, better known as the Dash 80, flew for the first time on July 15, 1954 and would come to revolutionize commercial air transportation when its production version entered service as the famous Boeing 707, America's first jet airliner.

 

 

Upon the Dash 80's successful first flight, Boeing clearly had a winner. The company quickly turned its attention to selling the airline industry on this new jet transport. The industry was impressed with the capabilities of the prototype 707 but never more so than at the Gold Cup hydroplane races held on Lake Washington in Seattle in August 1955.

Boeing had gathered airline representatives to enjoy the competition and witness a fly past of the new Dash 80. To the audience's intense delight and Boeing's profound shock, test pilot Alvin "Tex" Johnston barrel-rolled the Dash 80 over the lake in full view of thousands of astonished spectators. Johnston vividly displayed the superior strength and performance of this new jet, readily convincing the airline industry to buy this new airliner.

The Dash 80 is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

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Hangar Flying - HL 361 (2)

2024 Dayton Air Show was the bomb! 

World Class Expo and Air Show and this year I was there.  Our small Cinci Chapter of Pilots for Christ (which does charity flying for needy people) had a tent there and it was fun to meet so many people that stopped by and watch the show during the lulls.  And the show didn’t disappoint in every respect it was fantastic.

A collage of our tent:

 To watch a video of the 2024 performers on Sat. the 22^nd. 

Click this link: https://youtu.be/PGw7k5Yxdas?si=5FFJTOKH-i-xXZ-f 

 

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 Look at the date this was originally posted. Have things become any better (or worse) in the last 13 or so years? And it doesn't apply only to the combat pilot. I say it applies as well to the plane guard helo pilot and the cargo hauler. 

I say bring back Friday night happy hour and let it rip. We should start a tent city and protest anything less. 

Tony P

Life Is Good

In God We Trust

 

2024: Today is Armed Forces Day, a proclaimed National Day of Remembrance and Honor. Did you see ANYTHING in any media about Armed Forces Day?

We used to go to the Officers Club or NCO Club Stag Bar on Friday afternoons to drink, smoke, and swap lies with our comrades (and any others in attendance). Think about this when you read the rest of the letter below. What has happened to our Military?

 Drinking became frowned on. Smoking caused cancer and could "harm you." Stag bars became seen as ‘sexist’. Gradually, men quit patronizing their clubs because what happened in the club became fodder for a performance report. It was the same scenario at the enlisted's club and the NCO clubs.

 Today we don't have separate clubs for the ranks. Instead we have something called All Ranks Clubs / community clubs. They're open to men and women of all ranks from airman basic to general officer ... And no one is there. Gee, I wonder why?

 The latest brilliant thought out of Washington's politicians is that the operators ("pilots?") flying remote drones in combat areas from their duty station in Nevada or Arizona should draw the same combat pay as those real world pilots actually on board a plane in a hostile environment. More politicians' correct logic? They say that remote vehicle operators are subject to the same stress levels as the combat pilot actually flying in combat. ----- REALLY!!!???

Read on---------

There are many who will agree with these sentiments, but they apply to more than just pilots. Unfortunately, today, the ones with the guts to speak up or push for what they believe in are beaten down by the "system".

There is a lot of truth in the following text - supposedly, the Secretary of Defense has a force beating the bushes to learn who wrote this:

Subject: Where Have All The Fighter Pilots Gone?

--------It is a good question.---------Here is a rant from a retired fighter pilot that is worth reading:

It is rumored that our current Secretary of Defense recently asked the question, "Where are all the dynamic leaders of the past?" I assume, if the question is true, that he was referring to Robin Olds, Jimmy Doolittle, Patton, Burke, Boyington, Nimitz, Mitscher, etc.? Well, I KNOW the answer: In today's politically hostile environment, they were fired before they made Major.

Our nation doesn't promote those kinds of leaders anymore. Squadron commanders don't run squadrons and Wing commanders don't run wings. They are managed by higher ranking dildos with other politically correct goals in mind.

Can you imagine someone today looking for a LEADER to execute that Doolittle Raid or suggesting that it be given to a dare-devil boozer?? His attributes: he has the respect of his men, an awesome ability to fly, and the organizational skills to put it all together? If someone told me there was any chance of selecting that man in today's military establishment, I would tell them they were either a liar or dumber than a rock.

I find it ironic that the Air Force put BG Robin Olds on the cover of their company rag last month. While it made anyone extremely proud to see his face, today he wouldn't make it across any base in America (or overseas) without ten enlisted telling him to zip up his flight suit and shave his mustache off.

His response would be predictable and for that crime he would probably get a trip home and an Article 15 ... Our military has lost the war on rugged individualism and that, unfortunately, is what pilots want to follow; not because they have to but because they respect leaders of that ilk. We've all run across that leader that made us proud to follow him because you wanted to be like him and make a difference. The individual whom you would rather never disappoint him.

Our politicans better wise up! We're asking our young men and women to go to bad places; some with unbearable climates, never have a drink, have little or no contact with the opposite sex, not look at magazines of a suggestive nature of any type, and adhere to ridiculous regs that require you to tuck your shirt into your PT uniform on the way to the porta-potty at night in a dust storm because it's a uniform.

These people we're sending to combat are some of the brightest I've met but they are looking for a little sanity, which they will only find outside today's military establishment if we don't get some proper leadership. We can't continue asking people to live for months or years at a time acting like nuns and priests; even to get a beer.

Who are the politicians and senior military afraid of offending? The enemy already hates us enough to strap C-4 to their own bodies and walk into a crowd of us? Think about it.

I'm extremely proud of our young men and women who continue to serve. I'm also very in tune with what they are considering for the future and I've got news for whoever controls the White House, Congress, and our so-called military leadership. Much talent has and will continue to hemorrhage from our services, because wanna-be warriors are tired of fighting on two fronts - - one with our enemies, another against our politician's lack of common sense.

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Hangar Flying - HL 359 (2)

Fly the World’s Slowest Airplane::

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfTdg75G5sw

 

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As he said, we've seen these over the years and they are all accurate and true. I am sure there are many more.........

One of my favorites is: "the airplane doesn't know it is nighttime".

Tony P   apapandrea@cfl.rr.com

Life Is Good

In God We Trust

Subject:  An Old Pilot's Reflections

I've seen most, or all of these over the many years --- but my all-time favorite (not included here) is:

"When you're out of airspeed, out of altitude, and out of ideas ... you have crashed!"

And in 2nd place, I saw scrawled on the INSIDE of the of a stall door in the Men's room at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base:

"Don't just SIT there. TRIM!"    This one is new to me. 

Just sayin' ..

Bill

No snide comments on this one.

Pilots are people who drive airplanes for other people who can't fly.
Passengers are people who say they fly, but really just ride.
Fighter Pilots are steely eyed, weapons systems managers who kill bad people and break things. However, they can also be very charming and personable. The average fighter pilot, despite sometimes having a swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy and caring. (However, these feelings don't involve anyone else.)

Flying is a hard way to earn an easy living.

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the airplane; the pessimist, the parachute.

Death is just nature's way of telling you to watch your airspeed.

As a pilot only two bad things can happen to you (and one of them will):

a. One day you will walk out to the aircraft, knowing it is your last flight. 

b. One day you will walk out to the aircraft, not knowing it is your last flight.

There are rules and there are laws: The rules are made by men who think that they know how to fly your airplane better than you. The laws (of physics) were ordained by God. You can and sometimes should suspend the rules, but you can never suspend the laws. 

About Rules:

a. The rules are a good place to hide if you don't have a better idea and the talent to execute it. 

b. If you deviate from a rule, it must be a flawless performance (e.g., if you fly under a bridge, don't hit the bridge.)

Before each flight, make sure that your bladder is empty and your fuel tanks are full. 

He who demands everything that his aircraft can give him is a pilot; he who demands one iota more is a fool. 

There are certain aircraft sounds that can only be heard at night and over the ocean. Most of them are scary. 

The aircraft limits are only there in case there is another flight by that particular aircraft. If subsequent flights do not appear likely, there are no limits. 

"If the Wright brothers were alive today, Wilbur would have to fire Orville to reduce costs." (President, DELTA Airlines.) 

In the Alaskan bush, I'd rather have a two-hour bladder and three hours of gas than vice versa. 

An old pilot is one who can remember when flying was dangerous and sex was safe.

Airlines have really changed; now a flight attendant can get a pilot pregnant. 

And my favorite; You have to make up your mind about growing up and becoming a pilot. You can't do both.

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Hangar Flying - HL 358 (1)

75 most amazing aviation moments caught on camera:

https://youtu.be/EnSnBTZFElU?si=XOi4rxkqUobgWWBC

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