BluFly 🛩️ | 2024

I like to think of myself as a Christmas curmudgeon. Bah, humbug! However, like many aspects of my personality, what I want it to be — and what it actually is — are quite different things. Mostly for the worse but, in this case, for the better. You see, I’m blessed by pretty good self-perception, which means I likely know before anybody else when I’m out of sync with who I actually am.

If you scrape away the curmudgeonly patina, I’m actually a sucker for Christmas. This is built on a solid foundation of happy childhood Christmases. While I dislike it starting before Hallowe’en, I actually like all the corny decorations and Christmas music piped into every nook and cranny of every public space. I even like the aroma of pumpkin spice in the air — y'know — everywhere. I don't like how it tastes, of course, but the unique smell — 'tis the season. I’m usually a little sad when the decorations finally come down again and the music abruptly stops with a scratch so the decks can be cleared for Valentine's Day.

While my father was a medical doctor, he chose the more modest material rewards of institutional medicine. This was so he could be reliably guaranteed evenings, weekends and holidays with his beloved family. Dad worked to live and not the other way 'round. Christmas was prime family time for him and he wasn’t going to miss a second of it.

Mum absolutely devoted herself to raising her three kids. This was not because it was ‘the thing to do’ but because it was her life’s calling. Mum was a great mum — the greatest. She loved us more than anything. There was only one thing that could possibly diminish the splendid Christmas dinner she prepared each year: my lack of appetite caused by a predictably upset stomach resulting from gorging the Christmas candy non-stop.

An institutional doctor’s salary meant we were never wealthy. That said, we never lacked — not even for even a second — for anything essential. However, Mum and Dad still managed to conjure up a little magic every Christmas — what showed up under the tree still had the ability to shock and amaze. I remember a Guillow's Javelin 2 being a huge hit one December 25th, as was a RCM Basic Trainer 3 on another. One special year in particular, I was given a copy of Aircraft Aircraft by John W.R. Taylor. 4 It changed the course of my life but that’s a story for another day.

Missing both Mum and Dad every day — including the one day of the year called Christmas — makes me both sad and happy. Of course, these feelings are particularly intense at this time of year — as anybody with an empty seat ‘in the back’ along with a vacancy at the Yuletide table waiting at destination knows all too well.

I realise the BluFly community, in 44 countries all around the world, is made up of all manner of folks with all manner of differences. Yet, we are united by our shared love of anything that flies and made by human hands. Some of us believe in the religious underpinnings of the Christmas season. Some don’t. Some of us have other faith-based beliefs and traditions for this time of year. Still others in our number celebrate by not celebrating at all. Some make the best of the wintry snow and cold while others hit the beach in mid-summer. I want you all to know — united by that profound love of aviation in all its forms — it's all good with me.

Based on my own tradition I hope you’ll allow me — on behalf of all of us here at BluFly — to wish you the very best of the Christmas season. If you celebrate in some other way, whatever that might be, I wish you the very best of your tradition, too. If it's nothing more than a damn good excuse to eat and drink too much I wish you the very best of that, too. Health, happiness, peace and prosperity to all.

Also, my humble and heartfelt thanks to you all for being part of this journey so far. Publishing, these days, is not about broadcasting from on-high to a sea of nameless, faceless readers. It's about creating an ongoing,two-way dialogue with those who have some sort of shared interest and having a chance to get to know them. So far, I really like what we've all been able to do in this regard and I hope we'll collectively continue building on it in the coming year. I know we will.

In conclusion, if I’m now a curmudgeon about Christmas I suppose it’s only from the chronic exhaustion of a late middle age littered with not-yet-and-maybe-never-fulfilled dreams. But then I see a photo like the one by our friend and Yakamanian Wade Wright gracing this edition — and I hear Chuck Berry's Run Rudolph Run belted out from beyond the grave — I’m still prepared to believe Santa is cleared to land on 34R and, yes, there is still a little magic in the air.

That’s it for this month’s column — please let me know what you think of it along with the rest of what BluFly has on offer this month. 5 Until then, thanks for reading and engaging with our posts on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Instagram and Threads. 6

Until such time we have our Table of Contents pages up and running, we are providing the most recent posts from the feed:

We bring the month, and year, to a close with another great piece by @cessnateur.bsky.social. This time, a never-built regional airliner foreshadowing the ubiquitous twin-turboprop regionals of today. We also think its post-war marketing faintly echoes in that of new aircraft like Electra's EL9. | 🛩️

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 31, 2024 at 9:27 AM

Might someday the re-supply aircraft arrive without a crew? « Merlin currently conducts operations in New Zealand … and home to many remote communities heavily reliant on air transport. In these areas, highly automated aircraft are poised to revolutionize the delivery of perishable goods. » | 🛩️ 📡 📹

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 30, 2024 at 4:11 PM

We're truly overdue for some aviation fine art. Here's a great example to break the fast: watercolour by Norman Wilkinson, 1928. From the collection of the Science Museum Group — yet another must-visit-someday destination. More details with link. (📸 Christie's South Kensington Limited) | 🛩️ 🎨 ⚔️ 🦆 📍 🇬🇧

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 30, 2024 at 3:07 PM

We once watched — with fascination — a crewed helicopter in an elaborate aerial ballet while inspecting and then cleaning high voltage power lines. We also wondered if it was just a matter of time before an uncrewed aircraft might take its place. This article sheds some light on the subject. | 🛩️ 📡 🚁

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 30, 2024 at 1:44 PM

Friday Fédèle: the second in our monthly series from the Getty's Fédèle Azari aviation photography collection. The Getty's caption: « Men grouped in front of a Caproni Ca.3 airplane ». (📸 Fédèle Azari (1895-1930) via @gettymuseum.bsky.social in public domain) | 🛩️ ⚔️ | 🔗 www.getty.edu/art/collecti...

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 27, 2024 at 3:01 PM

Given it's Boxing Day 📦 we wanted to provide a little inspiration for what to do with all the empty ones cluttering up the living room. At least the ones in which the cats aren't sleeping. 🐈 Looks like a good project although we do recommend against scaling it up to crew-carrying size. | 🛩️ 📡 🪽

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 26, 2024 at 1:12 PM

We're wondering how many hopelessly optimistic RAF crew wrote "London, Christmas" on some long-forgotten duty request and wound up here: London on what in 1956 was called Christmas Island (now Kiribati). In August. (📸 Navigator Dennis R.H. Hobbs via Wikimedia in public domain) | 🛩️ ⚔️ 💺 | 🧵 1/3

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 25, 2024 at 12:43 PM

What to do when a V-12 isn't providing enough oomph? Why bolt on another 12 cylinders sharing the same crank, of course, to make an X-24. 🤦🏻 That's our contribution for 2AC-24 along with your final 2AC selections for 2024. Please browse all 11 and don't forget to ❤️ your favourites. | 🛩️ 📍 🇺🇸 | 🧵 1/11

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 24, 2024 at 6:15 PM

It's a little hard to imagine there are red-blooded avgeeks amongst us who did not see 'The Shepherd' last Christmas. However, if you somehow missed it (and even if you didn't) do you have a treat in store for *this* Christmas. The trailer will get you started. | 🛩️ ⚔️ 🎬

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 24, 2024 at 8:38 AM

We've always liked the no nonsense C-23 'Sherpa' — our choice for 2AC-23. There are some great aircraft in today's gaggle: check them out and please don't forget to review all 13 posts in the thread and ❤️ your favourites. (📸 See ALT) | 🛩️ ⚔️ | 🧵 1/13 | 🔗 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_C...

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 23, 2024 at 6:02 PM

A new article out of Australia by ABC News. We always think it's interesting to see how aviation is covered by traditional media — quite often it can be sadly deficient. However, reporters Sally-Anne Young and Rachel Holdsworth seemed to do a good job in the concise format afforded them. | 🛩️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🪽

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 23, 2024 at 2:46 PM

Two wings, big round engine, rotund airframe, eye-catching paint scheme — what's not to love about our contribution to 2AC-22 courtesy the inimitable National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Now, here is the interesting array of '-22' aircraft you found today. | 🛩️ 📍 🇺🇸 | 🧵 1/11

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 22, 2024 at 7:13 PM

If your New Year's resolutions include finally getting a start on your lifelong dream of building your own aircraft, you're in luck. Cayla McLeod, writing for Kitplanes magazine, describes the upcoming series of seminars. Her articles also includes the EAA registration link. | 🛩️ 📅

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 22, 2024 at 5:34 PM

We were surprised to find this 'other' Stearman for 2AC-21: the XA-21. It was an unsuccessful entry in the competition « resulting in the Douglas A-20 'Havoc', Martin A-22 'Maryland' and North American B-25 'Mitchell'. » (📸 See ALT) | 🛩️ ⚔️ | 🧵 1/6 | 🔗 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearma...

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 21, 2024 at 7:33 PM

« [A]t Spaceport America® … the solar powered aircraft flew for 24 hours climbing to more than 66,000 feet and cruising in the stratosphere, before successfully landing in a serviceable condition … it was ready to fly again just two days later. » Read entire press release below. | 🛩️ 📡 🛰️ ⚡️ 📹 📰

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— BluFly 🛩 (@blufly.media) December 21, 2024 at 12:47 PM

Note that the embedded posts above are from the Bluesky Custom Feed 7 which is the ‘reference’ feed for BluFly. Check out said feed if you want to see what else we posted about this month.

1 All kidding aside, crack photographer Wade Wright did capture this beautiful photo at Yakima airport where he works ‘behind the fence’. For his efforts, we're pleased to present Wade with one of BluFly's logo merch hats. Congratulations and wear it well, Wade. Thank you for the opportunity to feature your exquisite work.

2 Believe it or not the Guillow's Javelin is still available directly from the original manufacturer. We think it would make a superb park flyer if retrofitted with a tiny electric motor and one of today's micro radio-control rigs. Suffice to say we think Paul would think that's pretty cool.

3 The same is also true of the RCM Basic Trainer except not from the original manufacturer like the Javelin. Google will reveal many sources of supply or, if prefer, you can find the free plan on Outerzone.

4 It's still fairly easy to track down copies of Aircraft Aircraft (ISBN 9780600301240) what with all the online bookstores such as AbeBooks for example. However, we recommend you first try your local used bookstore — they could use your business a lot more than the online outlets.

5 Rather than splitting comments onto multiple channels we are collecting them on the Bluesky post for this article. Please leave your comments as a reply 💬 to this post, where they will get prompt attention. Note, however, that will require you to sign up for Bluesky — not a particularly onerous task and of course, free of charge.

6 Here's where you can find our social feeds (in priority order): Bluesky, LinkedIn, Instagram and Threads.

7 BluFly 🛩️ is the Bluesky Custom Feed on which this page is based. For more on this concept, check out First Things First: What's a Bluesky Custom Feed? in our Guide for Followers and Trusted Contributors.