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BluFly 🛩
@blufly.media
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A humans-in-the-loop feed for the aviation community. If made by people and flying between the surface and the Kármán Line you'll find it on BluFly. Read the current issue at https://blufly.media/2025/12. (📸 ©2024 Terence C. Gannon, all rights reserved.)
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blufly.media
So, Boxing Day. 📦 See what we did there? | 🛩️ 📹 📍 🇨🇦
December 27, 2025 at 1:28 AM
blufly.media
We simply can't believe another year has come and gone already — where does the time go? 🎅🏼 In any event, all of us here at the home office wish you and yours all the best for a happy and healthy Christmas. (📸 @usnhistory.bsky.social) | 🛩️ 🚁 ⚔️ 🥇 | 🔗 www.history.navy.mil/our-collecti...
A black and white photo of a group of eight men posing in front of a twin-rotor helicopter tentatively identified as a Piasecki UH-25, also known as the Piasecki HUP Retriever. The aircraft is oriented so as to point at the right side of the frame and slightly toward the camera position. One of the men is dressed as Santa Claus, standing next to the helicopter's pilot who is wearing a leather jacket and might have his helmet tucked under his left arm. These two are surrounded by another six men dressed as elves. The helicopter windscreen is decorated with icicles and falling snow. Painted on the side of the fuselage are the words « Merry Xmas » along with candy canes, stars and other seasonal items. It appears to be a sunny day given the hard shadows being cast. Original caption from source: « Santa and elves arrive by special helicopter for a children's Christmas party at Naval Air Station Oakland, 23 December 1956. » (📸 Naval History and Heritage Command)
December 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
blufly.media
Official Account Alert 🫆 We're grateful and thankful for top-drawer @bsky.app users like @robpegoraro.com getting the word out (see below) about new, aviation-industry participants like @united.com coming on board. Please consider giving *both* a like/follow. (📸 United Airlines) | 🛩️ | 🔗 united.com
The tail of an airliner painted with the United Airlines livery, oriented so the nose of the aircraft is pointed to the right. That said, the photo is tightly cropped to the vertical stabiliser, part of the right horizontal stabiliser, and the fuselage to just forward of the rear door on the right side of the fuselage. The photo appears to have been taken from the ground. The only other distinguishing characteristic is the number « 7252 » painted in black letters just above the rear door. (📸 United Airlines)
December 23, 2025 at 3:01 PM
blufly.media
Christmas 🎄 has indeed arrived a couple of days early this year, what with this great new article 🎁 by veteran aviation journalist @markep.bsky.social writing for the National Air and Space Museum. Not to mention it's about airships, a perennial favourite around here. | 🛩️ 📡 ⚡️ 🎈 🥇
The New Age of Tiny Airships
How the smallest Airship drones are performing jobs that conventional drones can’t.
airandspace.si.edu
December 23, 2025 at 2:03 PM
blufly.media
« Leveraging learnings from Wisk’s previous five generations of aircraft and more than 1,750 test flights, Gen 6 is the first-ever candidate for an FAA-certified commercial autonomous passenger aircraft in the U.S., with launch markets including Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami … » | 🛩️ ⚡️ 🚁 📰 🥇
Wisk Completes First Flight of Generation 6 Autonomous eVTOL
Wisk is dedicated to delivering safe, everyday flight for everyone with its revolutionary all-electric, self-flying eVTOL air taxi.
wisk.aero
December 22, 2025 at 11:21 PM
blufly.media
Okay, this looks like fun, at least if you live in the vicinity of beautiful Colorado Springs or happen to be passing through. Makes us wonder how many restaurants there are where you can similarly dine inside an aircraft; do you know of one? | 🛩️ 🍽️ 📍 🇺🇸 🥇 | 🔗 theairplanerestaurant.com?utm_source=b...
An aerial photo of The Airplane Restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Of note is that the dining establishment consists of a red-roofed building and, immediately adjacent, a mothballed Boeing KC-97 tanker in-flight refueling aircraft. The entire right wing is visible, whereas the left wing is incorporated into the red-roofed structure. The aircraft is marked with the livery of the « TEXAS AIR GUARD », which appears on the upper side of the middle fuselage. The words « US AIR FORCE » appear on the lower part of the fuselage towards the nose. There are three additional inset photos: bottom-left, an interior view of the aircraft's cockpit; bottom-middle, the interior of the fuselage which has been converted to accommodate dining booths; bottom-right is an interior view of the boom operator's position presumably inside the lower aft part of the fuselage. (📸 The Airplane Restaurant)
December 22, 2025 at 5:45 PM
blufly.media
From the Tekniska Museet, via the DigitaltMuseum website, an artefact with the intriguing caption reading, in part « from a box marked: "Bernt Balchen" » and furthermore marked « The glider and the C-47 after landing at the North Pole ». Just wow. | 🛩️ ⚔️ 🪽 📍 🇸🇪 🥇 | 🔗 digitaltmuseum.org/021011319916...
A black and white photo of a C-47 (military version of a DC-3) on the right side of the frame and a military troop glider tentatively identified as a CG-4A, on the left, on a snowy plain. The sky above appears to be clear, and the shadows being cast indicate that it's sunny. On the side of the C-47, above the passenger windows, are the words « AIR RESCUE ¶ UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ». Also, the number « 149565 » is painted on the vertical stabiliser of the same aircraft. The troop glider is darker in colour and has the number « 55399 » painted on its vertical stabiliser. Original caption from source: « Fotografiet kommer från låda märkt: "Bernt Balchen". Text på baksidan: "2/ Glidflygplanet och C-47-an efter landning vid Nordpolen. I förgrunden synes den anordning i vilken glidarens bogserlina fästes för att sedan kunna "fiskas upp" av det bogserande planet.", "2", "10th Rescue Sqdn. Ft. Richardson, Alaska". » Translated by Google: « The photograph comes from a box marked: "Bernt Balchen". Text on the back: "2/ The glider and the C-47 after landing at the North Pole. In the foreground is the device in which the glider's tow line is attached so that it can then be "fished up" by the towing plane.", "2", "10th Rescue Sqdn. Ft. Richardson, Alaska". » (📸 Tekniska Museet in Stockholm, via the DigitaltMuseum in the public domain)
December 21, 2025 at 10:17 PM
blufly.media
As far as tributes to the anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight a couple of days ago, this is going to be hard to beat, as documented in this story by Caroline Parker writing for the @educationnc.bsky.social website. | 🛩️ 🏫 📍 🇺🇸 🥇 | 🧵 1/2
First Flight High School unveils plane on Wright Brother's 122 year anniversary
For over two years, the students at First Flight High School had the goal of building a plane where the Wright brothers first took off.
www.ednc.org
December 20, 2025 at 10:51 PM
blufly.media
It's been a while since we've had a Fine Art Friday, and we're inclined to re-launch this series having stumbled on these two, possibly related works by John Northcote Nash. There is this finished product, found at the @rafmuseum.bsky.social, and then there appears to be ... | 🛩️ ⚔️ 🦆 🎨 🥇 | 🧵 1/2
Sunderland Flying Boat in Hangar by John Nash, oil on canvas
John Nash represented this Sunderland flying boat when he was commissioned through the War Artists' Advisory Committee to paint Admiralty subjects in the Second World War, as an Official War Artist.
collections.rafmuseum.org.uk
December 19, 2025 at 11:14 PM
blufly.media
We think everybody wins in this story: @lanetitans.bsky.social and the students participating in their Aviation Unmanned Aircraft Systems program; the Oregon Department of Aviation; the people of Oregon state, not to mention the great forests the initiative is helping to protect. | 🛩️ 📡 🏫 🥇
Lane drone students team up with Oregon Department of Aviation to fight wildfires
www.lanecc.edu
December 18, 2025 at 4:52 PM
blufly.media
If you needed yet another reason to visit the @shuttleworthtru.bsky.social — there are currently fifty-three — here's another one: this exquisite, privately owned Hurricane will now reside amongst the collection. (📸 ©2025 The Shuttleworth Trust) | 🛩️ ⚔️ 📍 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🥇 | 🔗 www.shuttleworth.org/about/about-...
A Hawker Hurricane is pictured while parked on a field of closely mown green grass adjacent to a line of trees. It is shown in profile and pointing toward the left side of the frame. It is painted in green and brown camouflage on the upper surfaces. The letters « WX » are visible on the side of the fuselage, just aft of a Royal Air Force roundel. The « X » seems to overlay a number with the only part of it clearly visible being « 935 ». A small red and white chequerboard is painted on the side of the fuselage just aft of the single-seat cockpit. A red, white, and blue 'fin flash' is painted on the vertical stabiliser. The trees appear to be in their winter state. The sky above is nearly gin-clear blue. (📸 ©2025 The Shuttleworth Trust)
December 18, 2025 at 4:03 PM
blufly.media
On this December 17th, there's no better way of marking the 122nd anniversary of the Wright's first flight at Kitty Hawk than reading their original diary, presumably written on the day and available with this link to the marvellous @librarycongress.bsky.social. | 🛩️ 🥇 | 🔗 www.loc.gov/resource/mss...
A screenshot of the Wright Brothers' notebook written on December 17th, 1903, and documenting their first powered, controlled flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The only words that are absolutely clear are « Thursday, Dec. 17th », which is underlined and appears on the left page. The other words are more difficult to discern. (📸 Library of Congress)
December 17, 2025 at 5:57 PM
blufly.media
We have previously mentioned the retirement of the Harrier AV-8B to the Tillamook Air Museum. Turns out there was another reporter in the crowd on hand: Lillian Battey, on assignment for the TEACH-NW student publication … (📸 Lillian Battey) | 🛩️ ⚔️ 🚁 📍 🇺🇸 🥇 | 🧵 1/2 | 🔗 sites.google.com/teach-nw.com...
A Harrier AV-8B is parked on the ramp at Tillamook Airport, Oregon, and is surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. The aircraft is shown in profile and oriented such that it points to the right side of the frame. It is parked between two beige-coloured, corrugated hangars. It is painted entirely in military grey. The word « MARINES » is visible on the vertical stabiliser. The number « 82 » is painted on the fuselage just forward of the aircraft's cockpit. The crowd is dressed for warm weather. Tree-covered hills are visible in the distance. The sky above is partially cloudy with blue patches visible. A dog on a leash can be seen at the bottom right of the frame. (📸 Lillian Battey)
December 17, 2025 at 4:11 PM
blufly.media
Official Account Alert 🫆 It's been a while since we had an opportunity to do one of these, so we're thrilled to see startup EVIO Aircraft (@evioaircraft.bsky.social) arrive on @bsky.app. Please join us in welcoming them and consider giving them a follow. (📸 EVIO Aircraft) | 🛩️ ⚡️ | 🧵 1/3 | 🔗 evio.aero
A computer-generated rendering of EVIO Aircraft's future 810 aircraft. It's a low-wing regional airliner with four engines, which appear to be turboprops. It has a T-tail. In the image, the aircraft is shown flying toward and to the left of the camera position as it gently bank to its left. The terrain below is a series of islands in a sunrise/sunset-lit sea. A line of clouds is visible on the horizon, which is also tinged with orange. (📸 EVIO Aircraft)
December 15, 2025 at 11:07 PM
blufly.media
As winter settles in, we're reaching back to this past summer for this great story by Kevin Garrison, writing for @avbrief.bsky.social, entitled « Flying Is an Art » and accompanied by this summery image of one of Van's RV-12s near Sunriver, Oregon. (📸 Ed Hicks) | 🛩️ 🥇 | 🔗 avbrief.org/flying-is-an...
A small aircraft is pictured in silhouette flying either at sunrise or sunset. It is flying from left to right in the frame and slightly toward the camera position. There appear to be rolling hills in the distance, also in silhouette. The sky is clear blue fading to orange at the horizon, with some wispy clouds in the distance. Original caption from source: « RV-12 SLSA N251VA. Shot for Van's Aircraft at the Sunriver RV-12 Expo. » (📸 Ed Hicks, used with permission.)
December 15, 2025 at 9:47 PM
blufly.media
There are few newsletters we more eagerly anticipate than the ones from AirCorps Aviation out of beautiful Bemidji, Minnesota. Work on 'Shillelagh', their P-51B project for the Dakota Territory Air Museum of Minot, North Dakota, continues apace. (📸 Chuck Cravens | AirCorps Aviation) | 🛩️ ⚔️ 📍 🇺🇸 🥇
P-51B Shillelagh FALL Update | AirCorps Aviation
www.aircorpsaviation.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:24 PM
blufly.media
New from @dlr-en.bsky.social: « Climate Strategy Put to the Test: Reducing Contrails ▫️ DLR is working together with 17 partners from research and industry to investigate how contrails can be avoided, reduced and made more climate-compatible. » (📸 See ALT) | 🛩️ 🏫 📰 🥇 | 🔗 www.dlr.de/en/latest/ne...
Bottom right: a view from an aircraft looking down at a cloud deck. Extending outwards toward the horizon is a contrail which leads to a jet just near the horizon. The ground below is mostly obscured by the cloud deck, but the sky above is clear blue. A red and white sensor problem is visible in the bottom left of the frame. Original caption from source: « As part of the A4CLIMATE project, DLR and 17 international collaborators from research and industry are investigating how contrails can be avoided – and how this can reduce the climate impact of aviation. Using DLR’s Falcon 20E research aircraft, contrails are captured and measured directly where they form. The cockpit image of the Falcon 20E shown here depicts a measurement flight behind a TUIfly passenger aircraft. » (📸 DLR under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) Top left: A business jet parked on a taxiway or runway. A grassy bank is visible beyond the concrete in the background. The aircraft is primarily white with a blue stripe with gold borders running horizontally along the fuselage. The rudder is painted bright orange. The registration « D-CMET » is painted in black, block letters on the vertical stabiliser, as is the DLR logo. Original caption from source: « Since 1976, the Falcon 20E research aircraft with D-CMET registration has served as a platform for German and European airborne research into the Earth and atmosphere. Many unique modifications and modern equipment make the Falcon a truly versatile platform for research applications. It is operated by the DLR Flight Experiments facility in Oberpfaffenhofen. » (📸 DLR under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) Background: A map of the world overlaid with a regular grid pattern. Streaks of red, yellow, and orange highlight busy flight routes. Original caption from source: « The graphic provides a global overview of the radiative forcing from contrails in 2019. Darker red tones indicate stronger warming caused by contrails. » (📸 Adapted from Teoh et al., ACP, 2024., via DLR)
December 11, 2025 at 4:10 PM
blufly.media
Another story we have been tracking for a while is the immaculate — but, sadly, non-flying — restoration of Lufthansa Group's Lockheed Constellation Super Star at their new conference centre at Frankfurt Airport. More photos with link. | 🛩️ 📍 🇩🇪 🥇 | 🔗 newsroom.lufthansagroup.com/en/tail-sect...
An image of the Lufthansa Lockheed Constellation Super Star, registration « D-ALAN », while it is in the process of being restored at their Lufthansa Group Hangar One conference and visitor centre at Frankfurt Airport. The aircraft is contained within a room only slightly larger than the aircraft itself, which is pointed to the left of the frame and away from the camera. The triple vertical stabilisers are closest to the camera and the most dominant feature of the image. The aircraft is primarily white on upper surfaces and grey on the lower surfaces, with a gold-bordered blue stripe separating them at the line of passenger windows. A floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall storage area is visible behind the aircraft. There are storage boxes, both opened and unopened, arranged below the aircraft as well as forklifts and other maintenance equipment. (📸 Lufthansa Group)
December 10, 2025 at 6:29 PM
blufly.media
A new episode of the Behind The Wings® podcast just dropped: this time, retired test pilot Rogers E. Smith speaks with host Rick Crandall. Fans will delight in Smith's *detailed* description of flying the iconic SR-71 Blackbird. (📸 Jim Ross | NASA) | 🛩️ 🎙️ ⚔️ 📍 🇺🇸 🥇 | 🔗 wingsmuseum.org/resources/po...
A head-on view of the SR-71 Blackbird while in flight over a grey landscape where some surface details are visible. Original caption from source: « Dryden Flight Research Center EC97-43933-4 Feb 1997 This head-on view is what the aerial tanker boom operator or "boomer" sees as NASA Dryden's SR-71A #844 approaches for refueling. (NASA/Jim Ross) »
December 9, 2025 at 3:56 PM
blufly.media
This is a story we've been following for a while, so it's nice to see it finally come to commercial fruition: today Bombardier presented the keys for its first Global 8000 delivered to its new owner, Canadian entrepreneur Patrick Dovigi. The entire press release with link. (📸 Bombardier) | 🛩️ 📰 🥇
Bombardier Celebrates Entry-into-Service of the Global 8000 Aircraft, the World’s Fastest Business Jet
Bombardier Celebrates Entry-into-Service of the Global 8000 Aircraft, the World’s Fastest Business Jet
bombardier.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:42 PM
blufly.media
« MIT Engineers Design an Aerial Microrobot That Can Fly as Fast as a Bumblebee ▫️ With insect-like speed and agility, the tiny robot could someday aid in search-and-rescue missions. » by Adam Zewe | MIT News (📸 MIT Soft and Micro Robotics Laboratory) | 🛩️ 📡 🦅 🤖 📹 🥇 | 🔗 news.mit.edu/2025/mit-eng...
An image consisting of many instances of a small, insect-like robot bumblebee as it moves first horizontally, at the bottom of the frame, and then turns sharply upwards into vertical motion on the right side of the frame. It then inverts at the top of the frame and then begins a descent down the left of the frame. When it approaches the initial, level flight path, the robot levels out and flies horizontally along its original path. Original caption from source: « A time-lapse photo shows a flying microrobot performing a flip. » (📸 MIT Soft and Micro Robotics Laboratory)
December 8, 2025 at 10:41 PM
blufly.media
One might think flight operations at a gliding club are already pretty green. However, Dave Unwin, writing in an interesting new article for the @aerosociety.bsky.social, believes there are still many opportunities for improvement, including the use of Gravitation Potential Energy (GPE). | 🛩️ 🪽 ⚡️ 🥇
Are airfields electric?
Is a fully electric airfield feasible? DAVE UNWIN investigates Gravitational Potential Energy and how it can be used to reduce the cost of recreational flying.
www.aerosociety.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:30 PM
blufly.media
We regularly feature the diverse range of great missions flown by @lighthawk-org.bsky.social. However, of the unusual projects in which they have been engaged, this sets a new bar: flying endangered masked bobwhite quail destined for release in … | 🛩️ 🥇 | 🧵 1/2 | 🔗 www.lighthawk.org/what-we-do/c...
A Pilatus PC-12 is pictured just after take-off, although the landing gear has not yet retracted. The aircraft is shown in profile, moving from left to right in the frame. There are no registration marks, which suggests they have been removed digitally. The aircraft is primarily white on upper surfaces with grey, black, and dark blue accent stripes curving along the fuselage. A small Swiss flag is painted on the vertical stabiliser. The sky in the background is twilight blue over a brown forest. Original caption from source: « Jack Long’s Pilatus PC-12 takes off loaded with endangered masked bobwhite quail juveniles headed for their new home in Arizona, where they will be released to the wild. Photo: Don Wolfe | Pilot: Jack Long. »
December 6, 2025 at 8:03 PM
blufly.media
An interesting-sounding webinar coming up Monday, December 8, 2025: « Beyond Batteries: Why Hybrid-Electric Solves What eVTOLs Can't » presented by Hangar X Studios, and featuring panelists from VerdeGo Aero, SMG Consulting, and Horizon Aircraft. | 🛩️ ⚡️ 📅 📍 🌎 | 🔗 hangarxstudios.com/beyond-batte...
An artist's rendering of a front-on view of the Horizon Aircraft Covorite X7 shown in a darkened studio. The aircraft is almost entirely black and is of canard configuration. Moody blue smoke rises from the aircraft in the background. (📸 Horizon Aircraft)
December 6, 2025 at 12:01 AM
blufly.media
Based on the paper magazine emulation platforms we've come across so far, we think Joomag does the best job: nice and quick, intuitive navigation, and individual pages can be shared, as we're doing here. The folks at Northwest Aerospace News employ it: give it a try and see what you think. | 🛩️ 🥇
Northwest Aerospace News — Issue 47 October | November 2025 | Page 8
Northwest Aerospace News highlights the aerospace manufacturing industry in the Pacific Northwest and more.
viewer.joomag.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:17 PM