Flightglobal's brilliant team of bloggers have traversed the globe this year to bring you all you need to know in the aviation world, and although the sun is quickly setting on another year, we felt it was fitting to celebrate the best stories from 2009.
From the Beast of Kandahar, to Ryanair calendar girls, 787 programme updates to a big debate sparked from a rather large passenger, our blogs have had it all.
Here's a list of the top ten stories and some other notable blogging highlights:
10. United Airlines Boeing 767 trashed by firefighting system
In February, Kieran Daly posted some extraordinary pictures of a United Airlines Boeing 767-300 which got a little damaged while in mid-refurbishment after the firefighting system went off, for the third time in three weeks.
9. First Pictures & Video: 787 taxi tests underway
Undoubtedly the biggest aviation story of 2009 was the Boeing 787 programme and whether the aircraft would make its much anticipated first flight this year.
In July, Flightblogger Jon Ostrower gave us a first glimpse of the 787 in action by unveiling a video of the first taxi tests in Paine Field, Seattle. This of course was to prepare us all for what happened on the 15th December, when the Dreamliner made its first flight.
From the Beast of Kandahar, to Ryanair calendar girls, 787 programme updates to a big debate sparked from a rather large passenger, our blogs have had it all.
Here's a list of the top ten stories and some other notable blogging highlights:
10. United Airlines Boeing 767 trashed by firefighting system
In February, Kieran Daly posted some extraordinary pictures of a United Airlines Boeing 767-300 which got a little damaged while in mid-refurbishment after the firefighting system went off, for the third time in three weeks.
9. First Pictures & Video: 787 taxi tests underway
Undoubtedly the biggest aviation story of 2009 was the Boeing 787 programme and whether the aircraft would make its much anticipated first flight this year.
In July, Flightblogger Jon Ostrower gave us a first glimpse of the 787 in action by unveiling a video of the first taxi tests in Paine Field, Seattle. This of course was to prepare us all for what happened on the 15th December, when the Dreamliner made its first flight.
4. Kandahar's Loch Ness mystery plane returns
A mystery that matched the enigmatic creature in Loch Ness eventually revealed itself as RQ-170 Sentinel , but for a while at least the mystery created plenty of debate on the DEW Line.
3. Ten days of Oshkosh in five minutes
For the aviation enthusiast in us all, enjoy the highlights of Oshkosh 2009:
2. Crazy Ivans ... or, what Russian Su-35 pilots will do for a buck
I will leave this to Stephen Trimble to explain:
1. Passenger creates big debate at American - I mean big!
This story traversed the internet, landing on the New York Times and the Telegraph website among others. It sparked the debate that the blog heading intimated, with 364 comments on this post alone.
Other notable stories from 2009:
A mystery that matched the enigmatic creature in Loch Ness eventually revealed itself as RQ-170 Sentinel , but for a while at least the mystery created plenty of debate on the DEW Line.
3. Ten days of Oshkosh in five minutes
For the aviation enthusiast in us all, enjoy the highlights of Oshkosh 2009:
2. Crazy Ivans ... or, what Russian Su-35 pilots will do for a buck
I will leave this to Stephen Trimble to explain:
"Here's how it goes: A Russian movie company hires two Sukhoi pilots to film a couple of stunts. The pilots agree to take off without a canopy.
Apparently following a plot-twist in the film, the back-seat pilot ejects from the aircraft while the front-seater keeps flying."
1. Passenger creates big debate at American - I mean big!
This story traversed the internet, landing on the New York Times and the Telegraph website among others. It sparked the debate that the blog heading intimated, with 364 comments on this post alone.
Other notable stories from 2009:
- Design Q reveals new high-density seating concept (Runway Girl)
- VIDEO: China's "Top Gun" features the J-10 fighter (Asian Skies)
- A flying hotel helicopter? Or is it an early April Fool? (Image of the Day)
- WhiteKnightTwo cockpit and interior (Hyperbola)
- Delta you can't come to Nigeria with that clapped out 767 (Airline Business)
- The launch of the 2010 Ryanair charity calendar (The Flight Blog)
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