Flying: Past & Present

30/12/2025

A group of British Pl***oy Bunny girls (Kathleen Bascombe, Dolly Read, Catherine MacDonald and Doreen Allen) arriving at Heathrow.

02/12/2025

The BN2T-4S Islander has received Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) type certification.

The BN2T-4S is the largest variant in the Islander family with greater range, increased payload, higher operating ceiling and longer fuselage allowing for 12 seats, subject to local air operation regulations.

The approval, granted under the TCCA Type Certificate A-92, also incorporates several additional modifications, including an increased Maximum Take-Off Weight of 8,925 lbs.

This certification complements existing approvals with the UK CAA, EASA, and FAA, providing operators in one of the world’s largest remote and regional aviation markets access to a proven, rugged short-field aircraft capable of year-round operation.

Read more: https://britten-norman.com/britten-norman-bn2t-4s-islander-type-approved-by-tcca-in-canada/?version=1764668447

01/12/2025

G-APMD, DH 106 Comet 4B of BEA at Amsterdam Schipol in July 1969. In the background is a Swissair DC9. Photo by Peter Scharkowski.

28/11/2025

Standard VC10, G-ARVF, which appears in an earlier post, had an interesting history. When retired from British Airways she was operated by the government of the UAE, and today she is preserved at Flugausstellung Hermeskeil.

26/11/2025

Wonderful picture of a BOAC Standard VC10 at Heathrow in March 1964. In the background, you can see a Vickers Viscount, a Comet 4B, an HS 748, a Trident 1, an Airspeed Ambassador and a DC3. There's even a delightful BEA Ford Anglia van in the foreground. Photo by Ken Fielding.

26/11/2025

16/06/2025

There is speculation that the RAT (Ram Air Turbine) was deployed on the Air India B787 which crashed on take-off at Ahmedabad. The RAT is a slipsteam-driven turbine which generates electrical power in an emergency. The first civilian airliner to use one was the Vickers VC10, and the RAT was used succesfully on at least one occasion. Pictured is the Ram Air Turbine on a Dassault Falcon 7X business jet.

15/06/2025

01/06/2025

In 1946 a Railway Air Services DC-3 crashed into a house in Rusilip shortly after taking off from London Northolt. Incredibly, no one was injured! The crew escaped by climbing down the loft ladder and a child who was sleeping in one of the bedrooms didn't even wake up.

20/05/2025

The Britten-Norman Islander is one of the best-selling commercial aircraft in the world and the only complete civil or military aircraft to still be built in the UK. It has been manufactured continuously since 1965, with 1,299 aircraft built to date. Islander aircraft are currently in daily use with some 200 companies and organisations in over 70 countries worldwide.

03/05/2025

Starways Douglas DC-4 G-ARIY at Liverpool Speke (Today's John Lennon Airport) in 1964. Photo by Ken Fielding.