Jalopnik: Planelopnik

TSA Agents Singling Out Sexy Women For Multiple Body Scans

Erin Gloria Ryan — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:10:00 EST

Several women who flew through Dallas/Fort Worth's airport have filed complaints against the TSA claiming that officials asked them to walk through the body scanners multiple times. Why would female agents do such a thing? So the male agents viewing the scans could get a better look at their bodies. Ew. More »

This Giant New Helicopter Is Like A Greyhound Bus For The Sky

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST

Most non-military helicopters tend to be small flying machines incapable of carrying more than a few passengers. Unveiled this weekend, the 525 "Relentless" is not most helicopters. Holding 16 passengers plus two crew, it's now the largest and most advanced civilian chopper ever built by Bell Helicopter. More »

Boeing 787 Turns America Into Giant Etch-A-Sketch

Raphael Orlove — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been in service for no more than a few months and already some Boeing test pilot has tagged the American Northwest like an Etch-a-Sketch with a 787 logo. Damn hooligans. More »

The New Delta Boarding Pass Is Easy To Read

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST

The modern boarding pass is a mess, so it's great to see a major airline like Delta put so much thought into their new one, launching today. It's clearer, easier to read, and no longer looks like splatter art done with random bits of information. More »

Watch These Fake Flying People Freak Out New York City

Casey Chan — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:45:00 EST

We don't usually geek out to manufactured viral marketing fluff, but trust us, this video is pretty good. The marketing team behind the movie Chronicle flew three human shaped RC planes around NYC to make it look like real people were magically flying. From the ground, it really looked like you were watching a superhero do its flyin' thang. More »

A Cold War Spy Plane Just Killed Its Robot Drone Replacement

Sam Biddle — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:15:00 EST

The Lockheed U-2 was designed to keep tabs on the Soviet Union over half a century ago. The RQ-4 Global Hawk drone was designed to replace this 50s antique. But how strange you are, fate! The U-2's replacing its successor. More »

Cat Hijacks Canadian Plane

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST

Oh… Canada. The Japanese will fly around with an albatross lodged in airplane's nose, but you let a cute little kitten take over the cockpit of one of your airliners and ground the plane for four hours. More »

A Drone Spotted This Disgusting River Of Meat Blood In Texas

Sam Biddle — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:00:00 EST

A Dallas drone hobbyist was flying his rig around one bright Texan afternoon, scouting the skies, when he hovered across something perturbing: an enormous, oozing river of blood behind a meatpacking plant. That's gross and illegal! Here come the cops. More »

Here's What Happens When An Albatross Strikes A Japanese Coast Guard Plane

Raphael Orlove — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:30:00 EST

A Japanese Coast Guard plane hit an albatross while flying over the South China Sea last week. The long-winged ocean bird smashed a fairly sizeable hole in the plane's nosecone, but the plane managed to continue flying for another hour before safely landing. More »

Anti-TSA Senator Rand Paul Detained By TSA

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:45:00 EST

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul doesn't like the Transportation Security Administration's procedures and has traded words with TSA administrator John S. Pistole in the past. Now, according to Paul's staff, the Senator is being detained by the TSA in Nashville at this moment. More »

Europe's First Stealth Drone Looks Like An Angry Cylon

Sam Biddle — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:30:00 EST

Europe's collaborative nEUROn drone may be late to the invisible death from above party, but it sure is compensating with some scary looks. Check out the Cylon mug on this puppy as it greets the world for the first time. More »

The Future of Air Travel Will Have Even Less Legroom

Mario Aguilar — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:30:00 EST

Southwest Airlines is completely retrofitting its planes in an effort to reduce costs and "protect the environment." Sounds great, except that the redesigned seats will take away some of the precious few comforts you had left in the air. More »

Those Air Force Drones Are Bigger Than You Think They Are

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:45:00 EST

I keep forgetting about how damn huge some drones are. Most people think they are tiny, like toy planes. As this photo of a Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk shows, they are actually big. Big as in pretty damn huge. More »

Watch This If You Are Not Scared of Flying

Jesus Diaz — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:30:00 EST

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People scared to fly didn't like the video of the crazy crosswind landings at Düsseldorf. This one doesn't show any extreme situation, just beautiful landings and take-offs in Brazil, from an Airbus A320 cockpit. Still, it may cause some vertigo. More »

Don't Watch This If You Are Scared Of Flying

Jesus Diaz — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:30:00 EST

There was a storm over Düsseldorf's airport last week. Things got rough, with strong crosswinds that made landings pretty hard—and even caused some missed approaches. I get all wimpy looking at them, but I can't stop watching. More »

A Drone’s Eye View Of The Nürburgring

Wes Siler — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST

Airborne drones are set to revolutionize car videos in the same way they've revolutionized remote bomb dropping. Here's what the Nurburgring looks like from a drone's perspective. More »

The Top Ten Craziest Things Caught At Airport Security In 2011

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:30:00 EST

The Transportation Security Administration has released a list of the worst/best/most crazy things caught by their airport agents in 2011—including a whooping 1,200 loaded firearms. I picked my favorite top ten because theirs is not right. More »

This Chinese train is faster than an American airliner

Raphael Orlove — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EST

Yesterday, China's state press outlets unveiled the CRH500, a new challenger to the record for conventional-wheeled high-speed trains. Its target is to break 310.7 miles per hour (500kph), which would make it as fast as the regional planes that have been flying everyone home for the holidays. More »

Man gets top secret fighter jet's canopy for peanuts — now selling it on eBay for $620,000

Jesus Diaz — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 13:15:00 EST

Back in the 80s, the United States Navy wanted a stealth aircraft to replace the A-6 Intruder. McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics came up with an ultra-secret flying wing design, an alien-looking aircraft called the A-12 Avenger II. It never flew. More »

This overrunning Boeing 737 was stopped safely by concrete

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:00:00 EST

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There's a simple reason why this Boeing 737 wasn't destroyed this week at Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport, China, and instead destroyed this concrete runway using its landing gear: it's neither a runway nor concrete. At least, not in the traditional sense. More »

Plane crashes on busy New Jersey highway (Video)

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:15:00 EST

This video shows the aftermath of the plane crash that has just occurred on New Jersey's Interstate 287, near exit 35 in Morris Township. At least five people have been killed, several news outlets report. More »

Our drone pilots are burning out

Sam Biddle — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:30:00 EST

Three years ago, a Navy study showed UAV pilots were suffering from the stresses of their job. Three years later, nothing has changed—and that's very bad news. More »

Did the military really try to smuggle a UFO through Kansas in plain sight?

Jesus Diaz — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:45:00 EST

An UFO was seen on top of a military truck four days ago travelling down US 77, said residents of Cowley County, Kansas. They thought the military were trying to haul an alien spaceship wrapped in plastic. In plain sight. More »

The view from an F18 fighter jet never looked more amazing

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:30:00 EST

I've logged a lot of hours playing flying simulators and raced around in a doorless Gyrocopter, so I thought I had a decent concept of what it's like to to be in cockpit of a fighter jet. This GoPro video from the inside of a Navy F18 shows just how wrong I was. It's so much better. More »

Did NATO's lost drone have its GPS hacked by Iranian engineers?

Jamie Condliffe — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 09:30:00 EST

Earlier this month, NATO lost a spy drone in Iran. Initially NATO admitted that its pilots lost control of the craft, but new reports claim that the Iranian military hacked its GPS systems. More »

Yes, this engine's got a cannon mounted on it

Raphael Orlove — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST

A relic from the early days of using planes as weapons of war, this 11.8-liter WWI-era Hispano-Suiza engine has a 37mm cannon mounted directly between its cylinder banks. In other words, it is perhaps the most badass engine of all time. More »

Buyer's Remorse: How much has the F-22 really cost?

Brian Barrett — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:30:00 EST

The 196th and final F-22 Raptor has rolled out of Lockheed Martin's factory in Marietta, Georgia. That means yesterday marked an end to more than 14 years of production for what's widely considered the most fearsome jet fighter in history. And also one of the costliest. More »

The mighty United States Air Force summarized in two minutes

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:00:00 EST

The F-22 may have not been a resounding success, but this video gives a good idea of the power of the US Air Force, complete with some pseudo-Wagner(ish) music that makes me want to invade Poland More »

Let's not lose America's newest killer drone in Afghanistan

Sam Biddle — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:30:00 EST

General Atomics' Avenger—the newest iteration of the classic Predator—is headed to war for the first time, Danger Room's David Axe reports. It's got F-35 sensors, loads of stealth weapons bays, and terrain-sweeping radar. Iran: start licking your lips. More »

Trillion-dollar jet has thirteen expensive new flaws

Sam Biddle — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST

The most expensive weapons program in U.S. history is about to get a lot pricier. More »

You have never seen so many F-16s ready for battle in your life

Jesus Diaz — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:30:00 EST

Unless you're part of the United States Air Force, you have never seen something like this: Twenty-seven F-16 Fighting Falcons taxying down the runway, fully armed and ready for immediate take off and battle. More »

Boeing took the 787 Dreamliner on a record-setting 10,710-mile flight

Mike Spinelli — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:30:00 EST

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner — the sixth 787 Boeing's made so far — took off from Boeing Field in Seattle in December 6, 2011. Yesterday, it landed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, having flown 10,710 nautical miles to set a distance record for a commercial jet of its weight. It's also a victory, of sorts, for carbon fiber. More »

FAA chief arrested for DUI

Wes Siler — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:30:00 EST

In a bizarre convergence of Planelopnik and Daily DUI, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has been placed on leave following an arrest for driving under the influence near his Fairfax, VA home. This is probably the first DUI arrest of which President Obama was immediately informed. More »

Did you know Pandas fly business class?

Ray Wert — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:45:00 EST

How do you transport a giant Panda from China to the United States? Why, business class on China Airlines, of course — if this picture weren't a hoax. More »

Did Iran kill this advanced U.S. stealth plane?

Jesus Diaz — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:20:00 EST

The Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel is one of the most advanced stealth airplanes in the United States Air Force. It was secret drone until the end of 2009. The Iranians just claimed today they have killed one. But have they? More »

Configure your own Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Patrick Frawley — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:30:00 EST

Car configurators are one of the all-time great online time-wasters. If you want to dream bigger, though, Boeing will let you (virtually) paint a new 787 Dreamliner. More »

Why turning off your devices during takeoff might have merit

Kevin Purdy — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:30:00 EST

When you're flying these days, you'll usually hear the flight crew instruct you during takeoff and landing to turn off "any device that has an off button"—not just activating airplane mode, but physically turning off the device. This makes very little sense to most tech-savvy types, but James Fallows at The Atlantic has a few theories on the seemingly arbitrary rule. One is that the pilot and crew need your attention, in case something goes wrong. The other theories revolve around the actual devices: their capabilities for interference, and their likelihood of annoying other passengers. More »

American Airlines files for bankruptcy

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:03:00 EST

American Airlines, which can trace its history back to 1926 and Charles Lindbergh, filed for bankruptcy protection through its parent company AMR Corporation it announced today. It's the last of America's major airlines to file. More »

Extremely high-wind landing is extremely scary

Raphael Orlove — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST

In pilot-speak "Crabbing" refers to angling the nose of a plane in order to compensate for a crosswind, as can be seen in this video of an extraordinarily high wind landing in Calgary this weekend. We'll just call it opposite lock for planes. More »

Mount Vesuvius caused more Allied bomber losses than a Nazi air raid

Peter Orosz — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:30:00 EST

The Italian Campaign of World War II happened to coincide with the last major eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Bad news for the 340th Bombardment Group of the US Army Air Forces, which happened to be based at Pompeii Airfield at the time of the eruption. Yeah. That Pompeii. More »