Airline Secrets Exposed

11/06/2026

Before computers, before ipads we used a real manual flight computer. Manual, mechanical slide-rule flight computer used by pilots for navigation, flight planning, and flight training last century :p

Often referred to affectionately by pilots as a "whiz wheel," it requires no electricity or batteries. A circular slide rule used to calculate time, speed, distance, fuel burn, unit conversions, true airspeed, and density altitude. It features a sliding grid card to graphically calculate wind correction angles (WCA) and groundspeed based on crosswinds.

10/06/2026

We found an Aviation Theme Hotel in the Huadu District of Guangzhou, China. About a 10-minute drive from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) and 8 minutes from Sunac Mall/Paradise.

The hotel features a decommissioned aircraft where guests can visit the cockpit and cabin. It also houses three aviation science museums offering professional guides and VR flight simulations, including a "lunar landing" experience.

Meihua Aviation Theme Hotel http://meihuaaviation.hotels-guangzhou.com/

10/06/2026

The Antonov An-225 Mriya requires a runway length of at least 3,500 meters (11,500 feet) to safely take off and land when operating at or near its maximum payload capacity

The massive six-engine cargo aircraft—which was the heaviest plane ever built with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes—relied on this distance for a full fuel and cargo load, along with standard emergency safety margins.

09/06/2026

A former Air Canada captain has been arrested for piloting over 900 domestic and international flights for 16 years using a forged license, including 777, 787, 767, from 2009 to 2025

June 9, 2026, Canadian police in Peel announced the arrest and indictment of a former Air Canada captain on charges of fraud and document forgery, among other offenses, for flying large passenger aircraft for approximately 16 years without the proper license

The person arrested is former Air Canada captain Jeffrey Wall, 59. The arrest stems from an anomaly found in documents he submitted during a routine qualification review conducted by Transport Canada in January of this year.

Air Canada said Wall, 59, held a valid commercial pilot license, but was promoted to captain without the required airline transport pilot license.

The airline said he was removed from active duty once it was discovered that he did not have the correct license and that it was voluntarily reported to Transport Canada, the regulator. The pilot is no longer employed by the airline.

Source - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/09/air-canada-former-pilot-charged-license

09/06/2026

You are an American citizen flying New York to Paris. When you go into the bathroom at 35,000 feet you are American and when you come out of the bathroom you are American. But what are you when you are IN the bathroom??

Photo Cathay Pacific First Class. Photo by Richard Moross

09/06/2026

Australia's first new Airport to fly international passengers in over 50 years, Western Sydney International Airport, will welcome its first passengers on October 25.

Jetstar will operate the airport's first commercial passenger flight with an Airbus A320 jetting off to the Gold Coast.

The brand new full-service airport will begin freight operations on July 26, with Qantas Freight to begin regular flights to and from WSI on July 27.

From November 1, WSI is expected to take advantage of not being subject to the 11pm–6am curfew that Sydney Airport at Mascot remains under.

The domestic and international terminal at Badgerys Creek, located 44 kilometres west of Sydney's CBD, is expected to serve up to 10 million passengers annually.

Daily flights to Changi via Singapore Airlines will start on November 23 and Air New Zealand will commence flights to Auckland on October 26.

After 15 years of planning, seven years of construction and a year of testing, Western Sydney International Airport has confirmed its opening date for passengers.

09/06/2026

Bensen B-10 Propcopter. The pilot sat astride a beam that had an engine mounted at either end of it, each driving a rotor to provide lift. Each of these rotors was surrounded by a system of four pivotable vanes to direct its downwash, and linked to a control stick for the pilot, this provided control of the craft. Only a single prototype (registered N56U) was built.

09/06/2026

Janet Airlines operates out of a private, highly secure, and fenced-off terminal located on the west side of Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is situated across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Luxor Hotel and Casino.

The terminal is closed to the general public and heavily guarded by military contractors. Passengers must hold high-level government security clearances to enter the building or board a flight.

While officially managed by defense contractors like Amentum (formerly AECOM/EG&G), the callsign "Janet" has famously inspired the backronym "Just Another Non-Existent Terminal" due to the classified nature of its operations.

The fleet—consisting of unmarked white Boeing 737-600s with a distinctive single red stripe—transports Department of Defense civilians, military personnel, and contractors to highly restricted government sites. Its most famous destinations include Area 51 (Groom Lake / Homey Airport), Tonopah Test Range (TTR), Edwards Air Force Base, Palmdale Plant 42 and China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n288dp

09/06/2026

The Dash 7 is rare for a reason. With only a small number still flying today, keeping this aircraft in service takes experience, specialized maintenance, and the right kind of operation. For Air Tindi, it continues to make sense

Air Tindi is an airline based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. It operates scheduled and on demand charter services. Its main base is Yellowknife Airport and the airline was previously owned by the Arychuk family

The Dash 8 design has better cruise performance than the Dash 7, is less expensive to operate, and is much less expensive to maintain, due largely to having only two engines.

09/06/2026

Boeing 747 Dreamlifter (operated by Atlas Air) lost a main landing gear wheel during takeoff from Taranto-Grottaglie Airport in Italy, bound for Charleston, South Carolina. The 100 kg wheel detached immediately after lift-off, but the aircraft continued safely to its destination and landed without further incident. October 11, 2022,