Pilot lands aircraft on artificial island

Have you ever been to the islands of the Maldives ? If so, then you should instantly recognize this airport in the ocean – the paradise islands airport is located on an artificial island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Below, Malé City Council. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient Maldive Royal dynasties ruled and where the palace was located. The city was then called "Mahal". Formerly it was a walled city surrounded by fortifications and gates (doroshi). The Royal Palace (Gan'duvaru) was destroyed along with the picturesque forts (kotte) and bastions (buruzu) when the city was remodelled under President Ibrahim Nasir's rule after the abolition of the monarchy.

Landing Aircrafts stop road traffic in city

Gibraltar Airport is a very unusual airport. It is only 500 meters from Gibraltar's city center and has the distinction of being the closest airport to the city that it serves.

"British Gibraltar has very little area, and the important airport runway takes up a major portion of land. To drive from Gibraltar to Spain, vehicles get across the runway."

Gibraltar Airport is one of the few Class A airports in the world and has a runway which actually intersects with a regular public road. When a plane has to take off or land, traffic is shut down

Catch a low flying Aircraft at the Beach

Maho Beach is a beach on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten. The French side is called Saint Martin.  The Dutch side is famous for the Princess Juliana International Airport adjacent to the beach.

Arriving aircraft must touch down as close as possible to the beginning of runway 10 due to the short runway length of 2,180 metres, resulting in aircraft on their final approach flying over the beach at minimal altitude.

Due to the unique proximity of low flying airliners, the location is very popular with plane spotters. This is one of the few places in the world where aircraft can be viewed in their flight path just outside the end of the runway.

Watching airliners pass over the beach is such a popular activity that daily arrivals and departures airline timetables are displayed on a board in most bars and restaurants on the beach, and the Sunset Beach Bar and Grill has a speaker on its outside deck that broadcasts the radio transmissions between pilots and the airport's control tower.

There is a danger of people standing on the beach being blown into the water because of the jet blast from aircraft taking off from runway 10.

The local government warns that closely approaching and departing aircraft can "result in serious injury and/or death." An additional fence has been added recently behind runway 10 to prevent irresponsible tourists from hanging on to the main fence surrounding the runway to be blasted by the jet flow.

Our Group Scouter had the pleasure of talking to a HamSphere operator from Philipsburg, Sint Maaten. The operator Airon advised that their biggest tourist attraction is the Maho Beach and sent a QSL card (confirmation of contact card) showing an aircraft on final approach.

Aircraft crashes into 4 buildings

Brace yourself before looking at the image below.

A pilot at low level has no control over his aircraft.

It narrowly misses a crowd gathered for the airshow and slams into four buildings.

One can only imagine the horror of the occupants inside those buildings.

Model Spitfire at 1/5th scale

As the builder says himself: “The degree of detail is probably obsessive”


Below are pictures of a scratch built 1/5th scale Supermarine Spitfire MK 1 by an English model builder. It's hard to imagine such infinite detail can be accomplished even with super human devotion and dexterity. The pictures and accompanying text are by the model maker, David Glen.

Detail of website http://hsfeatures.com/features04/spitfiremkidg_1.htm


Detail provided by Scout parent

Where Do Astronautz Hang Out?

We are sure the picture below will give you the clue.

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> AT THE SPACE BAR

NOTAM ( NOtice To AirMen )

Here's what happens when you don't properly "NOTAM" an airfield that’s having major repairs done.

A pilot flew a Hercules C130 Sherpa flew into a US operated airfield in Iraq during the day and saw there was construction equipment on the runway!!!  Yet there was NO NOTAM (NOtice To AirMen) issued to pilots using the airport. He complained, but nothing was updated.

A repair trench was being dug in the runway to fix a large surface crack, and it was not NOTAMEd.  But work continued….. And no one switched off the runway landing lights that night either……

It seems the construction continued into the night, and it still was not marked or NOTAMed.  The next C-130 arrived that night and the pilot lined up to land on the runway and didn't see or know about the construction works.  It wound up going through what is now a large deep pit on the runway.

The 4 engine C-130 was totaled / trashed. There were several injuries to the crew and the few passengers that were on board, but luckily no one was killed.  Quite the set of major failures somewhere in the system regarding this improper construction and no notifications regarding it.

Pilots, remember to check for NOTAM messages before landing.

The Biggest Aircraft : Antonov 225

Pictures of the biggest aircraft in the World.

32-wheels for landing

6 jet-engines for flying

Can accommodates large trucks and large items.

Scouts, you definately need a pilots licence for flying this one.