It’s surprisingly difficult to find a reasonable photo but mobile stairs are commonly used for boarding the rear of the plane while the bridge is used for the front in New Zealand. Sydney airport utilises stand-off bays for smaller jets sometimes so stairs have to be used then as well.
In the photo you can see the bridge and stairs on the far A320 and the painted walkway for the near one.
We flew an A320 or 737 or similar to Key West a year ago and there are no jetways. Mobile stairs at the front, unless I’m totally mis-remembering but I don’t think so.
Long Beach, CA (LGB) has no jetways. It’s also the easiest airport to drive into and out of in the LA basin. It’s always my first choice if I have to fly.
I was thrilled when I recently stumbled across this article (via DamnInteresting) on restoring a WW2 Mosquito:
The reason why it was such a delight is that I went along to the airshow where this plane made its public debut in 2012. A few pictures from that day: the Mosquito in flight, and with a Vampire and a Spitfire.
Really wishing I could get to another airshow like this sometime soon…
looks like it has the single stage Merlin engines.
The late entry of the Mosquito was a huge mistake on the part of the British. If it wasn’t for Geoffrey de Havilland’s vision it never would have happened. there was no support for this design. It’s easily the most versatile plane of the war.
Had they listened to him they would have had a mass produced fighter/bomber with enough legs to take the fight to France early on. The Battle of Brittan would have been a much more decisive battle.
A truly great airplane.
Nice photos.
Was that in New Zealand?
Nitpick, the fighter is a P51 Mustang.
Yah but it had a Merlin engine so it’s close enough.
Thanks for the compliment, and for picking up the misidentified Mustang!
Yes, this was at Ardmore in New Zealand - the public interest in this plane was really quite extraordinary.
My ambition is to get to ‘Wings Over Wanaka’ sometime - although that might be at least a couple of years away.
I’ve always felt there was a lot of interest in vintage aviation in New Zealand.
Warbirds Over Wanaka is a great show. I went to every one up until 2000 when I left the country to “further my career”, as it says on my resume.
I’ve only been to one since, but it was still good. I highly recommend attending the practice day. More relaxed, fewer people, mostly the same acts.
Only available to PopMech members, alas.
Nice pics of yours, though. Why did the RAF use a different roundel on the wings and on the fuselage of its planes? Why not use the same design in both places?
I can read it (not a member).
Wikipedia has some information on roundels but I didn’t see your specific question answered, though there are hints. There are competing priorities with military aircraft paint schemes. On one hand they need to be identifiable as “one of ours”, on the other hand they need to be difficult to spot in the first place. The fuselage roundels are high visibility designs with the yellow intended to make the roundel stand out more from the dark camouflage colours. The wing roundels are low visibility designs (known as “night roundels” pre WW2).
You mean, “The authorities were hot on my tail” ? 
The Mosquito and P 38 are on my list to see in-person. I don’t know how likely that is but you never know. If I could fly any plane, I think it would be the P 38. In the meantime, I’ll fly my glider and make machine gun sounds whenever I get behind another one.
I may have seen that Mosquito at Oshkosh. They had 2 of them one year. One had a single stage Merlin and one had a 2 stage Merlin.
I worked for British Aerospace in North Wales in the early 90’s. It was where the last flying Mosquito (at the time) was based, it was something special seeing that buzzing around on my lunch breaks. Sadly it crashed and was completely destroyed at an airshow in 1996.
Here’s a local General Aviation story on this morning’s news. (The video is the same as in the broadcast.)
Good on them!
People complain about municipal airports and their ‘little airplanes’ that are ‘rich boy’s toys’. (Yes, I’ve read the latter in the local paper.) But these small airports will be critical in case of a natural disaster because they may be the only way to move supplies. Delivering PPE isn’t a natural disaster, but it shows the utility of General Aviation aircraft when it comes to delivering supplies to more remote areas. (Bellingham isn’t remote, and BLI is an international airport; but we do have several reservations in the area.)
For GA planes can anyone in the second seat talk to ATC (outside of an emergency)?
I saw this YouTube video where the pilot’s SO was talking on the radio and, occasionally, operating the navigation equipment. I have come across this channel before and I have never, ever, seen her fly the plane.
She may well be a licensed pilot (I really do not know). But, for the sake of argument, let’s say she is not but has just gotten used to flying with her SO and can do some bits while flying.
My question is, is that legal? I guess since they broadcast this on YouTube it is legal. So, either she is a full-blown licensed pilot (and she may be) or, as long as she doesn’t actually fly the plane, she’s allowed to do all those other bits. Is that ok (legally)?
She seems really adept at talking to ATC (and other comments she makes while flying) so I am guessing she is a licensed pilot but the question remains.
(And before anyone starts…this has nothing to do with her being a female…same would go for a guy…just happens to be a woman in this example)
The operator of an aircraft radio doesn’t need to be a pilot, but does have to hold a restricted operating certificate - aeronautical. Pilots get them as part of their training and have to pass the radio exam before their first solo if they plan to use a radio. I believe anyone can get one, but you also have to be able to speak in a way that follows the rules for air traffic.
This in Canada, but I believe the regs come from the ITU, so they should be roughly equivalent in the U.S.
Not necessarily. Lots of things are technically illegal but a blind eye is turned if no harm is done. Having someone who isn’t licensed twiddle some knobs and say a few words on the radio may be illegal (I’m not going to search the rules sorry) but I doubt anyone would bother prosecuting.
One clear case where a non licensed person can do all sorts of things in an airplane is when the other pilot is an instructor. This could be the case in your YouTube video.
