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Flight Simulation

Losing four engines on a C-130 Hercules in flight simulation

Wanting to add an almost impossible flight in the “unhinged virtual flights” section of my web site, I tried a flight with the Blue Angels C-130 Hercules (Captain Sim) where the aircraft gradually lost all of its engines. I am aware that the Blue Angels mechanics are real professionals, so I assumed that the engine […]

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Flight Simulation

Around the world in flight simulation (7).

A surprise awaits us as we depart from the Sandane airport (ENSD) for Sweden, Stockholm-Bromma airport (ESSB). A Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk drone is at the airport. This long-range surveillance aircraft has an autonomy of around 35 hours and a range of 22779 kilometers. It flies at altitudes of up to 60,000 feet (18288 […]

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Flight Simulation

Around the world in flight simulation (2)

For this second leg of the round-the-world flight simulation, the aircraft departs from Iqaluit (CYFB) in appalling weather conditions, but soon find itself above cloud and approaching an area of high pressure. The sky becomes increasingly clear as I approach runway 09 Kangerlussuaq (BGSF) in Greenland. The map shows the planned itinerary: departure from Iqaluit […]

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Aviation Pioneers War

Books : Hans Baur : J’étais le pilote de Hitler.

The book “J’étais le pilote de Hitler” tells a true story that was originally published in 1957. The 2020 French edition, presented and annotated by Claude Quétel, improves our understanding of Hans Baur, one of the founders of Lufthansa in 1926, Hitler‘s personal pilot, but also a high-ranking Nazi SS officer and a close friend […]

War

Au nom du Japon Even though World War II is over and the armistice was signed in 1945, four Japanese soldiers continue to hide on Lubang Island in the Philippines, awaiting official orders from their superior to surrender. They have been forgotten there in the jungle and continue to survive as best they can, dodging […]

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Aviation Pioneers

Books : Our Transatlantic Flight.

Newfoundland Before 1949, Newfoundland was called Dominion of Newfoundland   and was part of the British Commonwealth . In 1949, it became a Canadian province. The first non-stop flight eastward across the Atlantic. The book « Our transatlantic flight » tells the story of the historic flight that was made in 1919, just after the First World […]

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Real life stories as a flight service specialist (FSS): Iqaluit FSS

Two airline captains forced to delay their departure from Iqaluit

(Precedent story: the « Amalgam Chief » military exercise: B-52 bombers in northern Canada). This story is about a 1990 winter day where very bad weather conditions prevailed in Iqaluit, on Baffin Island, Canada. Bad as it was, the weather still allowed for takeoffs. Two airline companies, respectively owning a Boeing 727 and 737 had […]

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Real life stories as a flight service specialist (FSS): Rouyn-Noranda FSS

Propair, Caribous (DHC-4) and the Irangate

In 1986, the Propair Company’s hangar was located very close from our flight service station in Rouyn-Noranda. There were frequent exchanges between their staff and our FSS’s. One day, one of their employees told us that two American pilots had just come to the airport to take delivery of a Caribou DHC-4 cargo aircraft that […]

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Flight Simulation

Flight simulation: just in time for a BBQ in Bear Gulch

Hi, I’ve just added a new VFR flight in the “flight simulation” section, under “standard virtual flights”. An Alabeo WACO takes off from Cushman Meadows, heads south-east towards the Skokomish Reservation, then flies over the Bremerton airport to the north-east and ends up landing  at the Bear Gulch aerodrome, just in time for a BBQ. This […]

Real life stories as a FSS in Iqaluit

Carrying a .357 Magnum to Iqaluit In 1988, I left Rouyn-Noranda for the Iqaluit flight service station, on Baffin Island. Iqaluit is Nunavut’s Capital and a designated port of entry to Canada for international air and marine transportation. Located at the crossroads of both polar and high North Atlantic air routes, Iqaluit airport can handle […]