The interior of an airliner cockpit looking out the starboard windows onto the jagged, snow-covered mountains visible while on approach to the airport at Innsbruck, Austria. The sky above is almost entirely blue with layers of white clouds at the horizon over the mountains. A part of the aircraft's control panel is visible at the lower edge of the frame. Original caption from source: « Flying into Innsbruck, Austria has a multitude of challenges. The peaks topping over 9,000 feet require pinpoint navigation accuracy to safely descend into the valley. The weather can be challenging with snow showers, icing conditions, low clouds over the city, or treacherous föhn wind creating severe turbulence and windshears. Engine-out performance is critical, requiring tailor-made engine-out departure routes through the winding valley. All aspects that make aviation interesting are combined at this one airport. But the amazing views make it all worth it! » (📸 Raymond Esveldt)
« Flying into Innsbruck, Austria, has a multitude of challenges. The peaks topping over 9,000 feet require pinpoint navigation accuracy to safely descend into the valley. » (📸 Raymond Esveldt) 1
March, 2025
« The way up to the top of the mountain is always longer than you think. Don’t fool yourself, the moment will arrive when what seemed so near is still very far. »  —  Paulo Coelho
By Terence C. Gannon
In The Air

There was a time in BluFly’s evolution when the notion of an ‘issue’ was ephemeral, at best. The calendar hit the first day of the new month, the banner photos were updated, a few links changed to the current month’s In The Air, and that was it. The regular posting continued, with the new month more or less looking like the old one other than the passing of the twelve-times-a-year milestone.

This was always intended to be an interim phase — simply the first step in giving BluFly’s publication month a contour and shape. At the very least, there was a beginning and an end to bracket a collection of aviation-related posts to delight, surprise, and amaze — hopefully — even if they didn’t have much in the way of theme or structure.

The interior of an airliner cockpit looking out the starboard windows onto the jagged, snow-covered mountains visible while on approach to the airport at Innsbruck, Austria. The sky above is almost entirely blue with layers of white clouds at the horizon over the mountains. A part of the aircraft's control panel is visible at the lower edge of the frame. (📸 Raymond Esveldt)A few signs of the next stage of the continuing evolution have already appeared. For quite a few months now, the post of one of Jason McDowell’s excellent pieces from his History’s Unique Aircraft series was a sure sign the calendar was soon to roll over. Also, this past month featured the fourth instalment of Friday Fédèle, which comes out on the fourth Friday of each month. There has also been the occasional celebrations of National [worthy cause] Day here and there, which are also anchored to specific months in the calendar.

Periodicals — which is what BluFly aspires to be — should have, well, a period. They should also have rhythm and cadence. You may have to squint a little to see it, but the first signs are now there — a faint-but-growing BluFly heartbeat rising out of the primordial ooze of continuous publication.

All these things are intended to foster the concept of regularly setting expectations in the minds of our community, and to which I will be glad to be held accountable. If said expectations are met or exceeded on any given month, it is my hope BluFly will have earned another visit from you next month for the regular features I sincerely hope you grow to love.

Coming Up This Month

InThis spirit, there are some interesting features coming up in the March issue of BluFly. Most notable of these is Women of Aviation Worldwide Week coming up the 3rd through 9th, where there will be a preponderance of stories for, by, and about women in aviation. There are some great ones already scheduled, and we’re on the hunt for more — do you have one you would like featured?

The interior of an airliner cockpit looking out the forward and port windows onto the approach to the airport at Innsbruck, Austria. The sky above is almost entirely blue with puffy white clouds at the horizon over the mountains. The pilot, seating in the left seat, is visible in the bottom right corner of the frame. (📸 Raymond Esveldt)Also on tap for March, we’ll have another article from Ross Sharp, who I can attest has forgotten more about aviation history than I — and I dare say many others — have ever known. Also, I can’t wait for you to see the photo we’ve selected for this month’s Friday Fédèle on the 28th. We will wrap up the month with a link to another article from one of those great McDowell articles on the 31st. Of course, there will be the Story-of-the-Day for each day of March. Then there's the next instalment of the BACKSTORY 2 series in the works, as well. It all adds up to an intoxicating mix of aviation culture coming to you all throughout the month.

Oh yes, and a Jobsian ‘just one more thing’: if all of the stars line up the right way, there is going to be a blockbuster of an article penned by an author whose name will be familiar to virtually everyone in the aviation community — a true living legend. Please keep your fingers crossed this all pans out. Assuming it does, then prepare to be blown away.

Ongoing Tweaks

This last month, the BluFly 🛩️ Custom Feed was reintroduced in a series of posts. Mostly, this is so that everybody is once again made aware of this really valuable resource, which aggregates the high-quality posts of our Trusted Contributor team. I sincerely hope you like the feed and pin it. It really helps when you do.

Incidentally, and speaking of Trusted Contributors, there was also the first of an ongoing series of posts to introduce and, in some cases, re-introduce members of this highly valued and highly capable team. Early adopter and prolific poster Jason Hampton led this off. Watch for more of these introductions over the course of March. Also, if you’ve thought of joining the TCs, by all means, please get in touch. I would love to hear from you in this regard. Actually, I would love to hear from you in any regard.

Oh, yes, and what about the titular ‘tweaks’ above? I have received quite a bit of feedback, which makes me think there is some understandable confusion between BluFly — the account — and BluFly — the feed. To help clear this up, you’ll notice we have changed the name of the account to BluFly 🛩️ Media and the name of the feed to BluFly 🛩️ Custom Feed, as shown in these screenshots:

That’s it from me for now — please let me know what you think along with the rest of what BluFly has on offer this month in the March issue.3 Thanks for reading and engaging with BluFly's posts on Bluesky and LinkedIn.4 It's always a delight to hear from each and every one of you.

As always, fair winds and blue skies.

Terence C. Gannon
Managing Editor

This Month's Stories

This is what we managed to put together for you for this month, with most recent at the top:

Jon Davison of Eye in the Sky Productions has been involved in air-to-air photography for over twenty years. He recently kicked off a new publication on Medium with some of his best photo shoots and stories behind them. Here's just one of many and all of them are well worth taking a look. | 🛩️ ⚔️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 25, 2025 at 9:22 AM

« I remember well the day in 1957 when I made a conscious decision to get serious about collecting aviation books, magazines, and photographs. My father had just returned from a business trip and, as was customary for him … he brought me a gift. It was a book … » Continue reading with link. | 🛩️ 📚 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 24, 2025 at 9:09 AM

You may have already spotted this new @balloons2drones.bsky.social article, but we thought the quality of the research and writing warranted whatever amplification we can provide. Also, there's a strange resonance with current events — but maybe that's just us. Looking forward to Part II. | 🛩️ ⚔️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 23, 2025 at 10:48 AM

« The testing [is] part of the Rotary Wing Uncrewed Air System (RWUAS) Technology Demonstration Programme (TDP), known as Proteus, delivery and is the first uncrewed platform model to be tested on site … to assist the design team in producing an accurate flight profile of the model. » | 🛩️ 📡 🚁 ⚔️ 📰 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 22, 2025 at 11:13 AM

This looks like a spectacular event, which if you're in the area will be well worth attending. If you do, please consider posting some pictures and/or video so we can all live vicariously through your experience. We've linked the event website below. | 🛩️ 📅 📍 🇦🇺

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 21, 2025 at 12:42 PM

« [L]ed by the Woodland Trust, high-tech drones weighing 110kg and carrying up to 58kg of seeds have scattered 75,000 seeds across the rolling hills around Bodmin. ¶ The drones, which hover just a few metres above the ground, can reach areas inaccessible for human planting … » | 🛩️ ⚡️ 📡 🥇 | 🧵 1/2

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 21, 2025 at 10:20 AM

We enjoy and value the insightful, albeit succinct, writing of Orlando Spencer. In his latest, he provides a sober — some might even say sombre — assessment of the prospects for the Net Zero Initiative. What do you think of his analysis? Would you say « right path » or « crash and burn »? | 🛩️ ⚡️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 20, 2025 at 11:05 AM

It's been a while since we featured an update from Electra. However, they've been busy filling their order book with $9 billion (with a 'B') worth of pre-orders for their EL9 'Ultra Short' aircraft. Definitely one to watch in the advanced air mobility space. Their press release with a link. | 🛩️ ⚡️ 📰

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 19, 2025 at 6:28 PM

The @lighthawk-org.bsky.social « flight focused on collecting digital imagery … highlighting iconic Redrock terrain currently in the crosshairs of extraction and expansion. The flight route took passengers along the border of Arches National Park, offering a striking aerial perspective … » | 🛩️ 💺 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 19, 2025 at 4:23 PM

« Addressing the Challenges of Hypersonic Flows with Numerical Simulations » by J. Guerrero, E. Segalerba, T. Di Fabbio, G. M. Zampa, I. Spisso (Leonardo, Strategy and Innovation) and F. Piscaglia (Politecnico di Milano, Department of Aerospace) | 🛩️ 🏫 🖥️ 🥇 | 🔗 www.leonardo.com/documents/15...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 18, 2025 at 12:55 PM

It's St. Patrick's Day 🍀 and we're marking it with some aviation stories with an Irish twist. First up is Alcock and Brown, who (despite what some might say) made the first non-stop transatlantic flight, ending at Derrigimlagh Bog, near Clifden in County Galway, on June 15, 1919. | 🛩️ 🥇 📍 🇮🇪 | 🧵 1/5

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 17, 2025 at 9:37 AM

What's interesting to us is the number of design features, if you squint a little, shared by the S-42 and the REGENT 'Viceroy' we featured yesterday. How many can you spot? Regardless, don't miss James Baldwin's 2015 article recently republished on the @airwaysmag.bsky.social website. | 🛩️ 🦆 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 16, 2025 at 1:39 PM

While it just slips — by a whisker — into our surface-to-Kármán Line coverage mandate, we're really intrigued with this project wherein their 'Viceroy' skims over the waves in ground effect, with that flight regime seemingly like a kind of cheat code for aerodynamic efficiency. | 🛩️ 🦆 ⚡️ 📹 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 15, 2025 at 10:01 AM

We're always looking for something to celebrate, and for today, it’s π Day. As in 03-14. So, for that, here's a 'Pi 3' from ADVANCE Paragliders of Switzerland. We think it would be good karma to order one on this particular day. | 🛩️ 📹 🪽 | 🔗 advance.swiss/en/products/...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 14, 2025 at 11:08 AM

We received such a positive response to AirCorps' P-51B project last month, here’s another one: in particular, we love their resident historian and author Chuck Cravens’ inclusion of lots of detailed, captioned photos of their work along with notes and images for historical perspective. | 🛩️ ⚔️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 14, 2025 at 9:20 AM

We love an aviation startup which just quietly gets on with it, as was the case recently with UK-based Skyfly: « Axe VCA (Vertically Capable Aircraft) completes first piloted fixed-wing flights in major project milestone » Their press release with link. | 🛩️ ⚡️ 📹 📰 🥇 | 🔗 skyflytech.com/skyflys-axe-...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 13, 2025 at 9:14 AM

« [T]he 115 pound (52kg) twin prop-rotor prototype has demonstrated operational stability and maneuverability across all flight regimes, and the potential to scale … to larger sizes requiring hybrid-electric propulsion. » Continue reading their press release with link. | 🛩️ 📡 ⚡️ ⚔️ 🚁 📰 📹 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 12, 2025 at 11:27 AM

We usually leave airline travel stories to the folks who focus on them and already do an excellent job. However, in this case, we couldn't resist the Connie — in Qantas livery, no less — captured in striking black and white. All this, courtesy of the good folks at @australianaviation.com.au. | 🛩️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 11, 2025 at 9:03 AM

In what could almost be the second part of the Construction Physics article, by Brian Potter, we presented earlier this month, he now turns his attention and research skills to a sober analysis of Boom Supersonic. Worth reading, and we'd love to hear what *you* think about Boom's prospects. | 🛩️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 10, 2025 at 8:56 AM

Up next in our introductions to our amazing Trusted Contributor (TC) team is Cheryl Goodwin, who splits time between the foothills of Alberta, Canada, and Costa Rica. She combines extensive travel with interests including flying, sailing, climbing, diving, motorcycles, and skiing … | 🛩️ ⚔️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🛡️ | 🧵 1/2

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 9, 2025 at 9:31 PM

We are marking, at least in part, the last day of Women of Aviation Worldwide Week for 2025 with a gift that will keep on giving year-round. Lisa's (@peacewind.aero) work on this has been both meticulous and tireless. Follow Lisa and we encourage you to take a look at her great Starter Pack. | 🛩️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 9, 2025 at 10:48 AM

March 8 is International Women's Day which, by remarkable coincidence, is also the day in 1910 when « Frenchwoman Elise Deroche, AKA Baroness Raymonde de Laroche, became the first woman pilot in the world to earn an airplane pilot licence. » More with link. | 🛩️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🥇 | 🔗 www.fai.org/news/celebra...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 8, 2025 at 2:50 PM

This past October, we featured our friend Julie Boatman's (@julietbravofoxmedia.com) eloquent, graceful, and thought-provoking story about her later summer visit to this remote Idaho airstrip. Honouring Women of Aviation Worldwide Week was all the reason we needed for an encore. | 🛩️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🥇 📍 🇺🇸

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 7, 2025 at 2:26 PM

Not all stories of women in aviation sweep across history or continents, although many do exactly that. Some are at a smaller scale but are no less important. This one, for instance — by Sparky Barnes for General Aviation News — utterly charmed us. What's not to love about Betty, indeed. | 🛩️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🥇 📍 🇺🇸

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 6, 2025 at 7:23 AM

We hope we will be forgiven for featuring one of our favourite women in aviation for a second year in a row at this time of year. There's so much to her story — it has all the elements that would make it a perfect Christopher Nolan movie. Anybody out there know him and can pass that along? | 🛩️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 5, 2025 at 3:41 PM

When Wally Funk finally made it to space in 2021, it was a remarkable accomplishment. However, achieving her lifelong dream risked overshadowing her also lifelong, multifaceted, and even more remarkable career as an aviator, leaving shattered glass ceilings in her prop wash. | 🛩️ ⚔️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🥇 | 🧵 1/2

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 4, 2025 at 8:29 AM

Thanks to a mention in the @hiddenherstory.bsky.social feed, we're kicking off our series of posts honouring Women in Aviation Worldwide Week with this extensive article by Charles Morgan Evans writing for ROTOR Magazine about this remarkable pilot and physician. What a story. | 🛩️ 🚁 ⚔️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🥇 | 🧵 1/3

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 3, 2025 at 7:17 AM

Like many of you, we love a long, detailed, well-researched, aviation-oriented article, and to that end, Brian Potter, writing for Construction Physics, has penned an excellent treatise that ticks all of our boxes. Coffee ☕️ poured, cat 🐈 fed ... now treat yourself to some Sunday 'me time'. | 🛩️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 2, 2025 at 3:45 PM

After a scant twenty-eight days, yet another new month has rolled around already. In this month's 'In The Air', @terencecgannon.com describes the evolving « shape and contour » of BluFly's monthly issues and then foreshadows what's ahead for this month. (📸 @ray737pilot.bsky.social) | 🛩️ 🥇 📍 🇦🇹

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) March 1, 2025 at 4:38 PM

Note that the embedded posts above are from the Bluesky 🛩️Custom Feed 5 which is the reference feed for BluFly. Check out said feed if you want to see whatelse we posted about this month.

1 The photos this month are from our good friend Raymond Esveldt of the Netherlands, who was a also a contributor to BluFly's predecessor publication, the New RC Soaring Digest. We're currently in discussions with Raymond about a series of articles related to his career with Transavia Airlines. With respect to the photos above, he continues: « The weather can be challenging with snow showers, icing conditions, low clouds over the city, or treacherous föhn wind creating severe turbulence and windshears. Engine-out performance is critical, requiring tailor-made engine-out departure routes through the winding valley. All aspects that make aviation interesting are combined at this one airport. But the amazing views make it all worth it! » Thanks so much for the opportunity to feature these beautiful photos and insightful commentary, Raymond.

2 This is the ongoing series describing — in excrutiating detail — the history, inception and continuing evolution of BluFly. Here's where you can find Part I: Combing through the Wreckage. If you're sufficiently intrigued there's also Part II: More Contemplations from the Edge of the Crater and even Part III: Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters.

3 Yes, of course we're on social: here's where you can find us on Bluesky and Linkedin.

4 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.

5 The BluFly 🛩️ Custom Feed is the reference for the index above. For more on this concept, check out First Things First: What's a Bluesky Custom Feed? in our Guide for Followers and Trusted Contributors.

 

Thanks for reading. 🛩️