Mighty Models
In 2014, Boeing delivered a record 723 jetliners to airline customers. Airbus wasn’t too far behind, with 629 deliveries. But those numbers are nothing, compared to the 983,533 aircraft delivered by Herpa Wings, a company based in the small German village of Dietenhofen. Each aircraft conveniently comes in a box. And is about 6 inches long. Herpa Wings has been making highly-detailed, scale aircraft models since the early 1990s, in both die-cast metal, and plastic.
Flight Fatigue
We’re a chronically sleep-deprived society, thanks to the demands of our jobs and personal life. We’re extending our waking hours, exchanging our sleep for other activities. We try to convince ourselves that “it’s ok, I don’t need to sleep as much.” But when we do this day-after-day, and night-after-night, we end up with a “sleep debt,” and we’re fatigued. “Fatigue is a state that results from sleep loss, continuous hours of wakefulness, disruptions of your body clock, and workload, that affects you both mentally and physically,” says Dr. Melissa Mallis, of M3 Alertness Management.
“Queen of the Skies” Reigns No Longer
It’s been 44 years since the first 747-100 was delivered to Air Canada, in February 1971. That was barely a year after the industry-changing wide-body aircraft entered service with launch airline Pan American Airways, and just two years after the 747’s first flight. In Canada, different versions of the 747 transported passengers on Air Canada, CP Air/Canadian Airlines, Nationair, and Wardair for over 30 years.
“France is in the Air” Inaugural Flight to Vancouver
C’est magnifique! Air France’s first flight to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) touched down in a huge spray of water on a soggy Sunday afternoon. The Boeing 777-200ER landed on YVR’s Runway 08L, after a nearly ten-hour flight from Paris – Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG).
Agile Operator
"How did Nolinor get its name? Everybody asks that,” laughed Dave Morgan, Nolinor Aviation’s director of sales and marketing. “It was in the early days of the company, and the partners decided to combine the French word ‘nolise,’ which means ‘to charter,’ with the word ‘north.’ They couldn’t decide whether to use the French ‘nord’ or the English word, so they compromised and chopped some letters. So, we’re Nolinor,” explained Morgan.
Active Sidesticks: A New Way to Fly
Pilots flying the upcoming Gulfstream G500 and G600 business jets will control their planes with an advanced version of the ubiquitous side-stick. In the first civil-aircraft installation of the technology, BAE Systems’ “Active Inceptor System,” not only provides pilots with tactile feedback, but the pilot’s and co-pilot’s sticks will be electronically coupled. The stick movements made by one pilot, or the autopilot, will be seen and felt by the other.