Anyone interested in learning more about Bert Hinkler’s feats can visit the Hinkler Hall of Aviation in his Queensland hometown of Bundaberg. (Hinkler Hall of Aviation)
The Australian Geographic website has published an interesting story recognising the 84th anniversary of Bert Hinkler’s Avro Avian touching down in Darwin at the end of his solo flight from England to Australia. Taking off from Croydon and travelling around 18,000km over 15 days, the Queensland aviation legend made history by becoming the first person to fly solo from the UK to Australia when he landed in Darwin on February 22, 1928. You can read this story in full by clicking here.
This story has been all over the web this week, but if you haven’t caught wind of it then you’re in for a laugh. Last Thursday in the US, a pilot flying a Cessna 182 strayed into US President Barack Obama’s no-fly zone over Los Angeles and was forced to land at Long Beach Airport after being intercepted by two US Air Force F-16s. President Obama was flying from Orange County to Los Angeles aboard military helicopter Marine One, and the jets were called into action after air traffic controllers repeatedly tried to contact the Cessna pilot to no avail. As if that wasn’t bad enough, here’s the kicker – once on the ground the pilot was detained by federal agents and Long Beach police after they allegedly found 20lbs of marijuana stashed in the 182. Now that’s a serious case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time…
People’s Daily, a Chinese news website, reports that Chinese and Russian officials have signed an agreement which will see the countries jointly develop and manufacturer a fleet of GA aircraft that will include four-seat to 12-seat aircraft. At a ceremony in Beijing, China Oriental Sciences Group signed an agreement with China-Russia International Investment Company and a Russian aircraft design company to build a base for manufacturing the aircraft, a GA research base, a pilot training base, and an aviation club. Once up and running, the project will reportedly produce 400 aircraft a year.
Charter organiser Adagold Aviation has come to the rescue with supplies for a flood-ravaged western NSW community. Adagold’s challenge was to find an available aircraft that could land on a short strip and carry up to 10,000kg per day of supplies to Lightning Ridge. The company sourced an appropriate aircraft and began flying supplies from Bankstown last Monday.
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer has delivered its 300th Phenom personal jet. Of that number, 50 per cent have been sold into North America, 30 per cent into Latin America and three per cent into Asia Pacific. The remaining 17 per cent have been divided amongst Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Read our Phenom 100 flight test.
Germany’s AERO Friedrichshafen, the largest GA-specific airshow in Europe, is set to take place from April 18-21 this year. Reaching its milestone 20th year in 2012, organisers expect more than 500 exhibitors at the show, showing off everything from modern ultralights to powered aircraft, avionics, aircraft maintenance, as well as the latest business jets. You can find out everything you need to know about the event by clicking here – for those of you who were planning to a trip to Europe…
Anyone interested in learning more about Bert Hinkler’s feats can visit the Hinkler Hall of Aviation in his Queensland hometown of Bundaberg. (Hinkler Hall of Aviation)
