Aircraft, airlines, history, and the future of flight.
Picture Charles Lindbergh somewhere over the middle of the Atlantic, thirty-something hours into his flight, fighting sleep with his bare hands. He’s prying his eyelids open. He’s sticking his face into the slipstream through the side window just to feel the cold air bite. Beneath him: nothing but ocean. Ahead: an entire continent holding its…
Stand at a gate and watch a Boeing 777X taxi in, and there’s a moment — easy to miss if you’re not looking for it — where the outer sections of those enormous wings begin to rotate upward. Six feet of wingtip, folding like a bird settling its feathers. It happens slowly, almost casually, and…
Picture this: you’re somewhere over the North Atlantic, coffee in hand, seat belt off, and then without any warning the floor drops. The kind of turbulence that sends drinks to the ceiling and puts flight attendants in their jump seats for the next forty minutes. Now ask yourself: what if the aircraft had known it…