Flight Memory

by Willy Volk on

Flight Memory is a geeky but fun way to let you keep track of where you’ve flown. After inputing your data, Flight Memory will tell you your total time in the air, distance flown, and even keep track of aircraft types and airlines.
However, the really cool part of the service is that Flight Memory will produce a nifty looking map of your travels.


Useful for travel bloggers, general travelers, business travelers, pilots, and some stalkers, Flight Memory will even produce a high-quality poster documenting your RTW trip. What a cool way to visualize the trips you’ve taken! Want to be super-cool? Plot out your travels in advance, so the lines on your Flight Memory map spells out your name!

[Via MeFi]

Blind Pilot Makes Successful International Flight

by Jonathon Morgan on

If there’s one thing common to all adventure travelers, it’s the drive to overcome adversity. One British man exemplifies this spirit — flying 13,500 miles from London to Sydney even though he’s completely blind.

Under the supervision of a sighted co-pilot, Miles Hilton-Baber took to the skies for 59 days in a microlight aircraft, competing with snowstorms, freezing temperatures, and torrential downpours. When the trip was completed, not only had Hilton-Barber fulfilled a life-long dream, but he’d also raised a possible $2 million for Seeing is Believing — a charity that works to prevent blindness in developing countries.

And if you think that’s impressive, you should also know that he’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Blanc, run marathons in the Sahara and Gobi deserts, and made an attempt at the South Pole. This man is proof that people really can do anything they set their mind to.

Beautiful Video of US Flight Patterns

by Willy Volk on

Aaron Koblin collected a single day’s worth of mundane air-traffic data from the FAA and rendered the associated traffic patterns and density output as a gorgeous video. He then laid a gentle, trance-y soundtrack over the top of it, and the result is an abstract, interpretive map of the US.

Equal parts genius and beauty, the light-display-map shows familiar shapes, drawn by flight patterns, emerging from the darkness. Can’t spot Hawaii? You will in about 5 seconds.

[Via Collision Detection]

Count Calories While You Fly

by Adrienne Wilson on

Thanks to our healthy friends and sister site, That’s Fit, I just stumbled upon this awesome article out of the Seattle Times focusing on the nutritional value of those in-flight snack packs. You would think with cheese, crackers, peanuts and an occasional cookie one wouldn’t shoot their entire diet to hell, but beware!!! (Cue horror music.) If you thought the danger was in flying you were wrong – it’s in the honey roasted nuts! The story in the Seattle Times notes both Delta and U.S. Airways have the lowest health score, for more reasons than high in calories. The system is based on factors like how helpful the airline was in providing information, the cost of the snack pack (if any) and the exercise equivalent to burning off the calories found in each pack. Let’s take the Delta snack pack for example since it ranks the absolute worst. According to their info you’d have to walk 197 minutes to burn off the 766 calories found in Delta’s bag of treats. That’s a lot of walking for so little food.

On the upside, those flying with United need not worry so much as a frequent Delta or U.S. Airways flyer. United Airlines ranks tops. The snack packs offered on board are vegetarian friendly and trans-fat-free. Although the cost is $5, they have the largest selection of snack choices. Surprisingly, you’ll need to do a good amount of walking to burn off the calories found in an United pack (up to 231 minutes for munching on a Smartpack), but at least you’ll know that your balancing it all out.

I highly recommend reading this one if you’re trying to keep track of your diet every step and flight on the way to your holiday destination and beyond.