Each year aircraft encounter birds and other flying animals in the same skies.  The majority of time this results in a near miss or no damage to the aircraft.  Sometimes if an aircraft comes in contact with large birds or groups of birds, it can cause damage to the aircraft and jeopardize the lives of those on […]

Everyone and their grandmother is on Facebook it seems. Twitter is becoming one of the largest growing social media sources on the Internet. All of that is great but what does it have to do with the Navy? A lot more than you might think. This generation of Sailors has adopted those channels of communication […]

Lately I’ve noticed a bunch of news coverage about flights experiencing turbulence especially after the Air France flight over the Atlantic. While as tragic as that flight was for those people, turbulence is not an uncommon thing. Anyone who has flown has probably experienced some level of turbulence. In fact it’s graded and is talked […]

Commemorative patch created after Irish peace protesters vandalized a C-40 twice at the Shannon airport (represented by two band-aids) In January 2003, during the initial build up for Operation Iraqi Freedom, a strange incident happened at the Shannon Airport in Ireland involving a brand new Navy C-40A and Irish peace protesters who were unhappy with […]

Ever wonder as you’re sitting in that window seat and looking out at the engine hanging under the wing just exactly how does it work?  I’d be willing to bet your extra bag of peanuts you scored from the flight attendant that a lot of folks don’t know exactly how it works. (most don’t even […]

I’m sure that everyone’s heard this question, “When we are flying, can a small hole in the airplane cause it to burst?” I know I have from new crew members in training as well as civilian passengers when I’m flying commercially. Its actually a very astute question but its based on the assumption that an […]

If you’re an instrument pilot, you’ve definitely got to have a sense of humor when you look at the approach plates and notice the different names for fix points at airports across the United States. If you’re not a pilot that statement may sound like geeky humor. And perhaps it is. But since I hope […]