If you’ve seen Moscow‘s imposing Red Square, still regularly patrolled by Russian guards, imagine seeing a plane land there. This Guardian video shows the story of Mathias Rust who, 25 years ago, flew through the Iron Curtain on a peace mission to “build an imaginary bridge” between cultures. He was an amateur 19-year-old pilot, and managed to fly from Helsinki to Moscow without being taken down by Soviet air defense. After circling a few times to show he intended to land, he stopped on a nearby bridge and drove the Cessna into Red Square like a car. Though he was greeted by happy and supportive spectators, it was the height of the Cold War, and he was subsequently arrested and sentenced to prison for four years. He served only 14 months, but the unbearable conditions made him question his actions. As he states in his current day interview, it’s remarkable to see how far one person can go.
Daily Pampering: Cessna Citation Ten hits the skies
The need for speed isn’t too far off in the latest category of Cessna’s. This isn’t your ordinary 10-seater.
Cessna’s latest addition to their executive jets collection is the Citation Ten, which is said to be a more advanced version of the Citation X – the world’s fastest certified business jet.
The Citation Ten can seat 10 people and is powered by two twin Rolls-Royce AE 3007C2 high flow fan turbines. The engines give the plane a top speed of 1500 kilometers an hour (approximately 930 miles a hour).
Cessna plans to start delivery of its new ride in early 2013.
Want more? Get your daily dose of pampering right here.
[via Sybarites]
Plane makes a crappy landing in Washington state
Apologies for the attempt at humor in the title of this story. Yesterday, a pilot took off from Thun Field in Washington state in his Cessna 182 when his engine failed. He made it about 150 feet into the air, tried to turn around for a “normal” emergency landing, but didn’t quite make it.
Instead, he hit a fence, then bounced off a storage yard filled with portable toilets.
The plane did not make it through the ordeal undamaged, but the pilot was able to get out of his plane and walk away, all thanks to the cushioning effect of the portapotty.
Bad economy? Quit whining and buy a private jet!
Sorry about the rude title for this article, but it’s the heart of the message being delivered by the poor jet makers at Cessna.
See, they are fed up with the bad publicity the private jet has received in recent weeks. Fed up with the press complaining about broke automakers taking their jets to DC, fed up with the public complaining about their morally corrupt bankers flying the company jet to their vacation destination while you watch your retirement fund sink deeper every day.
So, if you make private jets, what do you do? You tell people to shut up and buy a jet!
The message Cessna is trying to deliver, is that the corporate jet is not a luxury item, it’s a business tool used to outperform your competitor, it’s apparently “all about availing yourself of the tools to do your job”.
This is all part of their new “leadership campaign“, and in this economy I guess its the only thing you can do – beg and grovel. And if you are one of the sad people who can’t afford a private jet, I guess you could always rent one for a little loving!
This is how to land a plane in an emergency!
Here is some footage of an absolutely brilliantly performed crash emergency landing. I’m by no means an expert, nor have I ever received training on how to land a plane in an emergency, but it is pretty clear from the video clip that someone was paying attention at pilot training.
The pilot was flying his Cessna 310 this afternoon when he contacted the tower reporting some issues with his nose gear. It took him over an hour of circling Van Nuys to burn up the 80 gallons of fuel he did not want to land with.
You’ll notice how the pilot kills the engines before touchdown, keeps his nose up as long as he can, and lands the plane as smooth as possible.
As soon as the plane came to a halt, both passengers opened their doors and walked away. Kudos to the pilot!
Source: LA Times