The closest I’ve been to flying something factory fresh was when one of the planes from 1987 got a major engine overhaul by a mechanic who’s considered to be a guru of the type... He managed to finetune everything and set it up perfectly, better than any mechanic since. Such a joy to fly that plane afterwards.

They are cool planes (and stab in the dark; not as fragile as certain simulator addons make them seem). They really don’t catch fire that easily and the geared turbine doesn’t really have any huge problems that sets it apart.

Well, hunk of junk because everything is old and worn, things rattle and such. If mechanics adjust one thing, another thing accidentally gets ruined again. And it’s not exactly a passenger friendly plane.

A hunk of junk called the Jetstream 31/32, by British Aerospace. Just a humble 19-seat turboprop. Built until 1993, but the ones in my company are from 1983-1987. Good fun to fly, but probably not long for this world anymore with modern regulations and requirements.

Really cool jet. I would absolutely take this over a more modern business jet, as a pilot. But I already fly a plane that is older than I am, so I’m used to it.

Why does that Batman look like a Gundam version of The Tick? God, it's a good thing I don't follow these comic storylines... Batman should be Bruce Wayne and that's final! Now get off my lawn, you rapscallions!

My shortest commercial flight so far is 6 minutes and 12 seconds over a distance of about 22 nautical miles (25 statute miles/40 kilometers). It's a company record as far as I'm aware :-). I know some people over at Loganair, seems like a nice place to work.

Probably, but that is basically taking a long way around I think. Lots more post processing. You could probably get some cool effects by stacking short interval shots though (but with the same exposure).

Bracketing won't really work well if you're moving since every shot will be slightly further along the road, even at high shutter speeds. Probably too much for software trickery to correct. I'm guessing just editing, maybe single exposure tonemapping.

And this is why you never land on a public road/highway unless you are 100% sure that it is clear... It is one thing for you and your passengers to accept any risk that comes along with going flying, it's another to endanger the lives of people just driving along a highway. Plenty of open fields near that airport, I'm…

I'll bite one more time ;).

No offense intended to helpdesk technicians, but unless they are responsible for the lives of anywhere between 1 and 600 passengers, it's apples and oranges...

How about we remove the toilets in aircraft entirely and give each passenger just a small bottle to do their business in... Kind of kidding, but not really.

HUD or HUGS in Boeing-speak I believe (head up guidance system).

Depends on the type of aircraft, but basically redundancy. On a type without modern engine management systems that automatically set power when the throttle levers reach a certain range or detent, the second set of hands can be used to fine tune the power setting so the PF (pilot flying) can focus on other things. Or…

Such a culture of fear.

I don't know where you get your info from, but a large part of both the type rating and any proficiency check afterwards consists of engine failure drills and single engine procedures. For me personally, it's about 4 hours of just those kind of drills and scenarios every 6 months.

It is really only mind bending if you compare it to piston engine powered versions.

I'm going to sound like a jerk, but density altitude depends on pressure altitude and temperature. Just saying it was 50F/10C outside doesn't say much :P. To get a density altitude of a couple of thousand feet below sea level with 50 degrees Fahrenheit you would need a pretty hefty high pressure area (around 31.3…

I rented a Ford Escape in May of 2013. The Sync/MyFordTouch or whatever it was called was absolutely fine. The four quadrants seemed self-explanatory and for any input while driving I mostly used the steering wheel controls and the voice recognition (it actually worked 90% of the time, and that's without being a…