United Airlines delays flight for man to see dying mother

(CNN) -- If Kerry Drake missed his connecting flight, he wouldn't get to the hospital in time to say goodbye to his mother. Drake got the news on the morning of January 24 that his mother, who had been ill for years from rheumatoid arthritis and had been especially sick the last four months, was dying. (www.cnn.com) More...

Huge spelling mistake on Cathay Pacific plane

(CNN) — Sometimes, a massive typo is right in front of your eyes and you can't see it. For Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific, it was between the "i"s -- on the livery of its Boeing 777-367. In a move that's had the Internet asking "WTF?" ("Where's the F?"), photos emerged Wednesday morning appearing to show a plane on the tarmac at Hong Kong airport, proudly emblazoned with the words "CATHAY PACIIC." (www.cnn.com) More...

First images of the world's largest airplane

Holy crap, it's real! Behold the first glimpse of Paul Allen's crazy space venture: The largest airplane in history, a 385-foot (117-meter) wingspan beast designed to carry and launch a giant rocket to space, with a combined weigh of 1,200,000 pounds (540,000 kg)! Check out the mind-blowing photos. (sploid.gizmodo.com) More...

Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier, dead at 97

Chuck Yeager, the historic test pilot portrayed in the movie “The Right Stuff,” is dead at the age of 97, according to a tweet posted on his account late Monday. "It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9pm ET," said the tweet, attributed to his wife, actress Victoria Scott D'Angelo. "An incredible life well lived, America’s greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered… (www.foxnews.com) More...

The Ultimate Ground Speed Check - Tales from the Blackbird

There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment. (oppositelock.jalopnik.com) More...

How NASA brought the monstrous F-1 “moon rocket” engine back to life

There has never been anything like the Saturn V, the launch vehicle that powered the United States past the Soviet Union to a series of manned lunar landings in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The rocket redefined "massive," standing 363 feet (110 meters) in height and producing a ludicrous 7.68 million pounds (34 meganewtons) of thrust from the five monstrous, kerosene-gulping Rocketdyne F-1 rocket engines that made up its first stage. (arstechnica.com) More...

The Time A Tanker Saved A Fighter That Was Falling Apart Over The Atlantic

On the 5th of September, 1983, 4 USAF F-4E Phantom jets were flying over the Atlantic en route to Europe along with the support of a KC-135 known as “North Star.” These five aircraft were part of a larger number of Phantoms and tankers on a routine trans-Atlantic flight. To make the crossing, the Phantoms would need to tank a total of 8 times to fill their thirsty engines. (foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com) More...

Boeing says some of its 737 Max planes may have defective parts

Boeing on Sunday said some of its 737 planes, including many 737 Max aircraft, may have faulty parts on their wings. It's the latest problem Boeing faces as it tries to get its most important and popular airplane, the grounded 737 Max, back in the air. Working with the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing said it has reached out to airlines that fly 737 planes, advising them to inspect their slat track assemblies on Max and NG aircraft. The 737 NG series includes the 737-600, -700, -800… (www.cnn.com) More...

A fire at a Florida airport destroyed more than 3,500 rental cars

A fire that spread through a grassy area of Southwest Florida International Airport has destroyed thousands of rental cars, fire department officials said. The blaze began Friday, spanned 15 acres and originally involved only 20 cars in the grassy rental car overflow area at the airport in Fort Myers, fire department officials said. But by the time it was extinguished, the flames had destroyed more than 3,500 rental cars, a Lee County Port Authority spokesperson told CNN affiliate WINK. (www.cnn.com) More...

The flight tracker that powered @ElonJet has taken a left turn

A major independent flight tracking platform, which has made enemies of the Saudi royal family and Elon Musk, has been sold to a subsidiary of a private equity firm. And its users are furious. ADS-B Exchange has made headlines in recent months for, as AFP put it, irking “billionaires and baddies.” But in a Wednesday morning press release, aviation intelligence firm Jetnet announced it had acquired the scrappy open source operation for an undisclosed sum. (arstechnica.com) More...