An image captured from the rear seat of a two-seat aircraft, with seats arranged fore and aft. At the left side of the frame is the helmet of the person sitting in the rear seat. They are reaching forward with their hands to equipment used to control the feature film cameras the aircraft carries. Forward of this position, it's possible to see the headrest of the person sitting in the forward pilot's seat, but not the actual pilot. The camera is positioned just to the right of the after seat's occupant's head. It's a wide-angle shot with views out both the right and left sides of the bubble canopy. The predominant view is out the left, which reveals a rolling, desert hills landscape. The tip tank at the end of a straight wing is also visible. The tip tank is painted dark blue with white stars. The wing is painted red and white with a US Air Force roundel partially visible. Out the right side, a sunlit body of water can be seen. The sky is completely clear, and the sun is on the horizon on the right side of the frame. A smallvideo screen is visible between two seats, and close examination reveals two or three aircraft being captured in the frame, presumably with the cameras mounted on this aircraft. Superimposed on the bottom right corner of the photo is a grey, BluFly logo consisting of the words « Blu » on one line and then « Fly » on the next line. Both words are contained within a grey box. The former is shaded blue, and the latter is shaded white. The logo letters are ‘see-through' such that elements of the photo can be seen through them. Below the logo are the words « July, 2025 » in a similar typeface in white. The caption from the source reads: « Our glorious cover photo this month is from the rear seat of Film Knight 2, a Lockheed T-33 lovingly known as 'Stars and Stripes'. Up there, behind the forward headrest, is Pilot-in-Command Robert 'Scratch' Mitchell, and in the rear seat controlling the cameras is Director of Photography Peter Degerfeldt. It was captured in April 2024 near Lake Roosevelt, Arizona. » (📸 Robert 'Scratch' Mitchell | The Film Knight)
Our glorious cover photo this month is from the rear seat of Film Knight 2, a Lockheed T-33 lovingly known as Stars and Stripes. Up there, behind the forward headrest, is Pilot-in-Command Robert 'Scratch' Mitchell, and in the rear seat controlling the cameras is Director of Photography Peter Degerfeldt. It was captured in April 2024 near Lake Roosevelt, Arizona. (📸 Robert 'Scratch' Mitchell | The Film Knight)1
July, 2025
« There are those moments when you shake someone's hand, have a conversation … and suddenly you're all bound together because you share your humanity in one simple moment. »  —  Ralph Fiennes
By Terence C. Gannon
In The Air

Mywife, Michelle, and I were having lunch at the CAV-OK Grill at Springbank a number of years ago, and having settled into our soup and sandwiches, we turned our attention to everybody’s favourite sport: that is, nosily listening in on the conversations at the adjacent tables which, we both agree, are almost always more interesting than ours. Our thirty-plus years together, and having not even attempted to kill each other so far, are testament to this pastime’s positive contribution to a happy marriage.

A group of eight to ten people taking pictures from the aft cargo door of a boxy aircraft. It is viewed from below and slightly to the right while in flight. They appear to be taking pictures of the aircraft from which this picture is being taken. (📸 The Film Knight)This one time, though, it wasn’t just the content, but the medium as well. In addition to phrases like the cameraman hanging out the cargo door and where best to position a P–51 to get the best angle on it drifting across the restaurant, there was something about one of their voices that was haunting me: I knew I had heard it somewhere before. Eventually, this fascinating conversation wound down and the table vacated, but I could still hear the voice as we finished our meal. Then, like a bolt out of the proverbial blue, it occurred to me:

That was Scratch Mitchell, I said to Michelle. She didn't bat an eye. Y’know that ‘Airshow’ show guy! Discovery Channel had recently completed running the aviation series2 on local television. We had watched it faithfully and some glimmer of recognition appeared on her face. Back then, I was producing The WorkNotWork Show, a podcast about people who worked jobs you might not know were jobs, given the passion they trigger in those called to them. He’d be perfect for the podcast, I continued, Michelle’s eyes rolling. Let’s see if we can chase him down … I distractedly trailed off, as I hastily made for the door leaving my lunch half-eaten. The eternally patient St. Michelle of the Perpetual Planespotter, suitably unimpressed and sighing, followed behind me.

Track him down we did, near one of Springbank’s communal dumpsters responsibly disposing of some post-shoot flotsam or jetsam. I introduced myself and St. Michelle, and I have to say he was absolutely charming with us, a skill undoubtedly honed while Team Lead of the RCAF Snowbirds jet demonstration team along with many other public-facing aviation roles he has had. Celebrity was still something he enjoyed, it seemed.

I did, in fact, end up producing an episode of The WorkNotWork Show with Scratch.3 Setting all modesty aside, it was one of my best. Moreover, the first two minutes of that episode are the single best audio I have ever produced, regardless of the show. I still can’t listen to these two minutes without tearing up a little.

So what does all of this have to do with this month’s cover photo? Well, Scratch continues to make himself a great living combining the roles of aviator, actor, producer, and director. His most recent endeavour, amongst many, is The Film Knight, which coincidentally just produced an excellent ‘behind the scenes’ video4 of the absolutely fascinating work they do. In that, I found one moment, in particular, that embodied both the technical and aesthetic aspects of The Film Knight’s work in a compelling way. This screen-captured moment is the cover for the July issue that will be with us all for all this month, and then forever, in the archive.

Scratch is truly one of aviation’s good guys. He is also still one of the best working in this rarified field and would highly recommend checking out his website. If you have an aviation-related film project in mind — I’m looking at you, Simon Brading5 — you’d do well to drop him a line using the contact page on his website. He just might be able to help your dreams come true, too.

The WorkNotWork Show

Looking back on the experience, having a great excuse to call up my aviation heroes and invite them to be guests was likely one of the reasons I started The WorkNotWork Show in the first place. Unlike today, when anybody who can fog a mirror has a podcast, there was some novelty in what I was doing back then. In addition to Scratch, there were a few other notable aviation folks who I was able to hornswoggle out of an hour or two of their time and record an interview.

At the remote intersection of staggering accomplishment and local boy teamed with local plane made good, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sean Loutitt,6 the chief pilot on both the first and second life-saving rescue flights to the South Pole launched smack in the middle of the Antarctic winter. Both of these missions were conducted in the indefatigable De Havilland DHC–6 Twin Otter. Most surprising in the interview was how easy and routine Sean made it all sound. However, when it’s so cold that jet fuel can turn into a kind of slush, and when Sean tells the story of how the Twin Otter's skies froze to the Antarctic terrain, you know with absolutely certainty the flights were anything but ordinary. Literally, it couldn’t be anywhere further from that.

Then there was the episode featuring Wingwalker Carol Pilon,7 who was also featured on the same Airshow series. Of all the people I interviewed for The WorkNotWork Show and the wide variety of professions in which they worked, Carol struck me as the person who had sacrificed the most to do that which she loved the most. You really have to listen to her tell her story to know precisely what it is I mean by that. Suffice it to say I was, and will always be, in awe of her courage and tenacity. That's something intrinsic to her character, and goes well above and beyond the physical courage and tenacity it also takes to get up on top of the top wing of her Stearman.

Two men sit at a table in a hotel meeting room, having a discussion. They are both in profile on opposite sides of the table and looking directly at each other. On the left is interviewer Terence C. Gannon, and on the right is Dr. Robert Thirsk, who is being interviewed. They both have access to computer screens but do not appear to be looking at them. They are both wearing headsets that have both headphones and a speaker attached. A pitcher of water and two glasses are positioned between them. (📸 The WorkNotWork Show)Although we officially don’t do ‘space’ here at BluFly, there is also the interview with Dr. Robert Thirsk,8 the veteran of two epic spaceflights as well as a long list of other accomplishments both inside and outside of aviation. Amongst many things, what I learned from my interview with Bob is that becoming an astronaut is actually pretty easy: all you have to do is dream about becoming one when you’re, say, five years old and then focus every waking moment on virtually nothing else for the next thirty years. Presto, you’re an astronaut. All kidding aside, someday, when I grow up, I want to be just like Bob Thirsk.

In addition to these great ‘gets’, I also ended up bumping into all sorts of interesting people in all sorts of interesting jobs. I look back with both pride and fondness on the scant nineteen episodes of the The WorkNotWork Show. If the subject ever comes up, I always describe it as being in hiatus, as opposed to out of business entirely. There are still many great aviators out there, and I am thankful I still have the business cards for the show close at hand. I hope I still may be able to jump on these opportunities as they arise and record a new episode, now and again.

Aviation Industry Door-Knocking Campaign

The lack of participation by nearly every well-known aviation enterprise is a chronic deficiency with Bluesky. Despite there being, as of this moment, 36.9 million registered users, Bluesky still has only a handful of easily recognisable aviation names counted amongst them. BluFly maintains the BluFly 🛩️ Verified Aviation Starter Pack9 as our way to keep track of these companies. Currently, there are only a meagre thirty-three in their number.

Regardless, if you believe getting the aviation industry writ large on board is critical to building a robust aviation community here on Bluesky — I absolutely do — this has to change, and soon.

An image of one of the main static exhibit areas at the Paris Air Show in 2019. It captures a wide variety of both military and civil aircraft along with many people milling around them. The sky above is vivid blue with many cumulus clouds. From the original source: « This image is a panorama consisting of multiple frames that were merged or stitched in software. As a result, this image necessarily underwent some form of digital manipulation. » (Matti Blume via Wikimedia under CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped)So far as corporate aviation is concerned, the network effect is currently working actively against Bluesky. Until such time as there’s a critical mass of these companies on the platform, there’s little obvious incentive for any individual aviation company to join. Without these companies, there’s no way to build the necessary critical mass. It’s a negative feedback loop, and the only job of these is to keep things in the same state. It’s why getting new social networks off the ground is very hard to do.

Sadly, there’s no easy solution. However, an asset at our collective disposal is none other than the aforementioned 36.9 million registered users. Let’s assume only one percent of these are actually active. This leaves 369,000 users, of whom I’m willing to bet, at least one knows at least one person at every aviation, aviation-oriented, or aviation-adjacent company in existence and who may be in a position to call in some sort of favour from said person. The favour, of course, is to have the company for whom that person works sign up for Bluesky.

It’s noble work, off-limits for the faint of heart. There’s a lot of rejection involved and very little in it for any given individual, while also being all but thankless even when you do succeed. Furthermore, this approach will not result in a big bang, quick gratification response on any given day. It’s a classic example of it being better to enjoy the journey rather than the destination.

In fact, it will be almost the complete opposite: more like a game of inches in an ecosystem where miles are needed. But if we continue to aggregate these small, one-off gains over time, working together, we can begin to turn the network effect around so it finally starts to work in our favour.

If that doesn't scare you off, are you one of the 369,000 who knows somebody who knows somebody in the social media department of one of these target companies? If so, can we rely on you to call in any favours you may be owed to get them to sign up for Bluesky? In effect, knock on the door and be prepared to take no — or maybe even the occasional yes? — for an answer? If so, this grand undertaking may be for you.

Finally, if you’re successful and manage to get a new sign-up, can you tell the world you did? Also, by all means, let us know and BluFly will help tell the world you did, too. Each additional company brings us all a measurable step towards the positive feedback loop needed to make this whole, great Bluesky aviation community really take off.

Oh, yes, and one more thing: when these companies come online, don't forget to like, repost, and quote post the heck out of them. If you have the social media chops, why not consider helping them create their first few Bluesky posts? Having succeeded in the monumental effort of getting them here, we all want them singing Blue Skies and not cryin’ them.

***

Have any thoughts on July you would like to share? I would love to hear those.10 In the interim, thank you so much for reading and also for engaging with BluFly’s posts on Bluesky and LinkedIn. 11 I always love hearing from each and every one of you.

Until next month … 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 the month of July, with most recent at the top:

While we don't do 'space' at BluFly, we're slipping this in under 'atmospheric flight' — just not Earth's 🌍 atmosphere. 'Skyfall' is the follow-on to the Mars 'Ingenuity' helicopter, from the brilliant minds at AeroVironment. (📸 AeroVironment/NASA/JPL) | 🛩️ 🚁 📡 ⚡️ 📰 🥇 | 🔗 www.avinc.com/resources/pr...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 30, 2025 at 3:23 PM

On this day ninety-five years ago, the elegant, almond-shaped R-100 cast off from Cardington on its historic transatlantic flight to Canada. For this occasion, we return to August 2020 for this superbly detailed Skies Magazine article by Kenneth I. Swartz. If only we could turn back time … | 🛩️ 🎈 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 29, 2025 at 8:40 AM

When so many podcasts are just two people yammering into a couple of BestBuy RØDEs, it's a pleasure to partake of exquisite, three-dimensional, aviation-oriented storytelling with sound, as per @jennchavez.bsky.social and Emily Hamilton on the new episode of The Evergreen on @opb.org. | 🛩️ 🎙️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 28, 2025 at 5:16 PM

Last week, we were left with the grim prospect of a looming invasion of the homeland by Prussian forces massing on the French coast. Scarlet, the diminutive reconnaissance pilot, along with her nimble Hummingbird aircraft, had been dispatched on a low-level observation flight … | 🛩️ 🎭 ⚔️ 📚 | 🧵 1/5

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 28, 2025 at 2:58 PM

An interesting new article by @scottsimmie.bsky.social‬ of InDro Robotics, wherein: « a newly funded research initiative that will explore delivering healthcare supplies by drone to three separate rural Indigenous communities … » Continue reading with link below. | 🛩️ 🚁 ⚡️ 📹 🥇 | 🧵 1/2

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 27, 2025 at 6:46 PM

There are a few perennially popular subjects within the BluFly community: to wit, Ercoupes. For those of this persuasion, here's a unique story by William E. Dubois in General Aviation News. Despite the puzzling title, it’s a story of love lost and found again, and it's a perfect Sunday read. | 🛩️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 27, 2025 at 12:00 PM

We like these Friday Fédèle photos for their seeming candour: it's as if Azari was strolling around and just happened on this scene and photographed it. (📸 Fédèle Azari [1895-1930] | Digital image courtesy @gettymuseum.bsky.social's Open Content Program) | 🛩️ 🎨 🦆 🥇 | 🔗 www.getty.edu/art/collecti...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM

The new, digital edition of Northwest Aerospace News just dropped and includes: « The Iconic Boeing Backdrop »: an entire photo essay on Boeing's use of iconic and nearby Mount Rainier in their press photos over the years. They are *spectacular*. | 🛩️ ⚔️ 🥇 | 🧵 1/3 | 🔗 viewer.joomag.com/northwest-ae...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 24, 2025 at 1:05 PM

« magniX and Robinson … to Develop Battery Electric R66 Helicopter Demonstrator » Significant, as it represents a measured step from these companies’ existing platforms rather than clean sheet innovation. Read their joint press release with link. | 🛩️ 🚁 ⚡️ 📰 🥇 | 🔗 www.magnix.aero/detail/magni...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 23, 2025 at 11:38 AM

Okay, here's one for all the unsung heroes volunteering at aviation museums around the world. 🌎 It's by Seraphina Gilbert, a summer student worker at @catpmuseum.bsky.social. Although her comments are about her particular museum, there are universal truths in her piece … | 🛩️ ⚔️ 📍 🇨🇦 🥇 | 🧵 1/3

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 22, 2025 at 10:31 AM

Just out: « Brussels Airlines Launch Customer for New Virtual Reality Pilot Training Within Lufthansa Group ▫️ Lufthansa Aviation Training and Airbus developed new software to enhance pilot trainings. » Let us just say … | 🛩️ 📰 🥇 | 🧵 1/2 | 🔗 press.brusselsairlines.com/brussels-air...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 22, 2025 at 7:36 AM

The Misfits were flying at least three sorties a day and even as many as six or seven in the fine weather and long days of the lingering English summer. The Squadron’s ‘kills’ were piling up. Ironically, regardless of the carnage they were inflicting on the Prussians … | 🛩️ 🎭 ⚔️ 📚 | 🧵 1/5

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 21, 2025 at 4:50 PM

« Bell Textron Canada Donates 700 Aircraft Components Valued at 4.4M CAD to Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies » This is the second such investment in SIIT by Bell, with a combined value of over $10M. Press release with link. | 🛩️ 🏫 📰 🥇 | 🧵 1/3 | 🔗 news.bellflight.com/en-CA/251797...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 20, 2025 at 10:22 AM

The tragic news of Felix Baumgartner having gone west far too soon left us feeling very sad 😢 here in the home office. We choose to memorialise him this way: with the best TV commercial ever made, which he both narrates and in which he's featured. His words therein are all that need be said. | 🛩️ 📹

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 17, 2025 at 6:45 PM

From the @newyorker.com's 'Annals of Aviation' last month, this lavishly long-form article by Laurie Gwen Shapiro caught our attention. Like a lot of people, Amelia Earhart is an endless source of fascination for us, which made this piece well worth reading. | 🛩️ 🥇 | 🧵 1/3

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 17, 2025 at 12:05 PM

Official Account Alert 🫆 Another significant aviation industry player has joined @bsky.app. As @flyswiss.bsky.social put it in their inaugural post: « Finally, a channel that is named after our biggest passion. ✈️ 💙 Watch us take off. » Join us in offering them a warm 'welcome aboard'. | 🛩️ | 🧵 1/3

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 17, 2025 at 10:41 AM

Based out of Bingen, Washington, a hotbed of UAV innovation, Zepher Labs by Heven has announced: « Heven Demonstrates Fuel Cell UAV Flight at 12,000 ft | Milestone marks progress toward next-generation hydrogen-powered UAS performance » | 🛩️ 📡 🚁 ⚡️ ⚔️ 📰 🥇 | 🔗 www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 16, 2025 at 10:35 AM

H55's « Across USA » Tour is now in Centennial, Colorado and reporting interesting results from the 'high and hot' environment it encountered: it « performed in conditions of 36°C (96.8°F) and a 9,500 ft density altitude with stability and strong climb rates, at 500 feet per minute. » | 🛩️ ⚡️ 📰 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 15, 2025 at 7:32 AM

The 2025 FAI F3K World Championships is coming up July 26 through August 2, 2025 in Tarp, Germany. For the first time, winners will be recognised in both men’s and women's events. These hand-launch gliders require mastery of both finesse and fitness. | 🛩️ 🪽 📡 📰 📅 🇩🇪 🥇 | 🔗 www.fai.org/news/2025-fa...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 14, 2025 at 10:27 AM

With their sojourn to London rudely interrupted by the reappearance of Die Fliegertruppe, Gwen, Kitty, and Scarlet were summarily ordered to return to Badger Base. All leaves had been cancelled. So much for a few days of much-needed rest and relaxation for the three Misfits. | 🛩️ 🎭 ⚔️ 📚 | 🧵 1/5

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM

In this new opinion piece, Chief Executive Officer of Windracers Simon Thompson discusses the UK-based cargo drone manufacturers' use of internal combustion engines rather than an electric alternative. It's a more complex and nuanced issue than it first appears, he asserts. | 🛩️ 📡 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 12, 2025 at 8:35 PM

These two technologies — both of which have mixed reputations — have been combined in an interesting way and put to work for a higher, more noble purpose by the Oban Mountain Rescue Team. The article, by Darryl Ashford-Smith, appeared in the Emergency Services Times earlier this year. | 🛩️ 📡 🚁 ⚡️ 🤖 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 12, 2025 at 1:46 PM

The terse headline reads « Entering Retirement: The RV-3, RV-4, and RV-6 » which somewhat disguises the 'end of an era' moment for Van's Aircraft. With literally thousands of these designs flying, a credible argument can be made … | 🛩️ 📰 🥇 | 🧵 1/3 | 🔗 www.vansaircraft.com/2025/07/ente...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 10, 2025 at 11:48 AM

How did we miss this? 🤦🏻‍♂️ That is, 2024's feature documentary « The Flight of Bryan » from @altitudefilms.bsky.social about Paul MacCready's eventually successful quest to win the Kremer Prize. Check out this summary, from their website: | 🛩️ 🎬 🪽 🥇 | 🧵 1/3 | 🔗 www.altitudefilment.com/film/sales/1...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 9, 2025 at 4:16 PM

Noted journalist @elanhead.com has a great interview centred on Robinson's retention of: « the most controversial feature of its existing product line: a teetering two-bladed main rotor system that, like all such rotor systems, is susceptible to the hazardous phenomenon of mast bumping. » | 🛩️ 🚁 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 9, 2025 at 7:53 AM

Last time, Gwen, Kitty, and Scarlet were decked out in impressive but nonetheless completely impractical ceremonial uniforms for their audience with the King. This was a short ride, by steam-powered Rentley-Joyce, to Buckingham Palace now with its twelve-storey glass and steel … | 🛩️ 🎭 ⚔️ 📚 | 🧵 1/5

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 7, 2025 at 7:27 PM

If you needed an additional excuse to visit Seattle's Museum of Flight — trust us, you don't — then here's one. This looks like a fascinating exhibit which is beautifully written up by @hbaskas.bsky.social for @runwaygirl.com. Both the exhibit and the article tick all of our boxes. | 🛩️ ⚔️ 🎨 🥇 📍 🇺🇸

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 7, 2025 at 9:40 AM

Just out, from Glenn Zorpette in @spectrum.ieee.org: « The other development involves a different group of startups that are using the tape to build electric motors with very high power-to-weight ratios, mainly for use in electric aircraft. Among that latter group of startups is Hinetics … » | 🛩️ ⚡️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 4, 2025 at 8:51 AM

« [N]amed the Taraia Object Expedition, [it] will begin when a field team organized by ALI visits, by sea, the Pacific island Nikumaroro in November 2025 to confirm whether a visual anomaly known as the Taraia Object, seen in satellite and other imagery … is what remains of Earhart’s plane. » | 🛩️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 3, 2025 at 8:19 AM

Another great example of the small coterie of companies we follow which are doing very interesting things while flying under the figurative, if not literal, radar. In particular, we love when they let their actions — and accomplishments — speak for themselves, for the most part. | 🛩️ ⚡️ 🚁 📰 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 2, 2025 at 10:45 AM

Can anybody believe 2025 is already half over? We can't. 🤦🏻‍♂️ However, it's a new month 💥 and we have another Springbank story from @terencecgannon.com. He then segues into some of his other notable aviation interviews, and wraps with an idea for juicing the aviation industry's @bsky.app usage. | 🛩️ ⚔️

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) July 1, 2025 at 9:55 AM

Note that the embedded posts above are from the Bluesky 🛩️ Custom Feed 12 which is the reference feed for BluFly.

1 The Film Knight — « We represent the evolution of aerial cinematography, coupling military safety and precision with cinematic expertise and creative solutions. »

2 Airshow — « Documentary about pilots who perform acrobatics in various airshows across North America. Behind the scenes look or preparation, practice, and performance. The highs and lows of their life style at the fields during airshow season. »

3 Scratch Mitchell — The WorkNotWork Show S1E9: « Imagine taking advantage of virtually everything a modern air force has to offer and living that life to its fullest for two decades. Now imagine that while acknowledging the amazing life you have led to that point, there are still things that you want to do … »

4 Behind the Scenes with The Film Knight on Vimeo and also the source of this month's cover photo. It provides a all-too-brief look into the time and effort that goes into capturing on film high preformance planes in beautiful landscapes.

5 The Battle Over Britain — It may be you're not aware we're currently running Simon Brading's delightful novel in weekly instalments over the course of the summer. Simon describes it as: « an open-ended Steampunk series set in an alternate World War II, chronicling the adventures of a squadron of elite British pilots flying purpose-built machines against the Prussian Empire. » Clockwork fighter aircraft … what's not to love.

6 Sean Loutitt - The WorkNotWork Show S1E13: « In time, Sean would join the legendary Kenn Borek Airways in Calgary, the firm which was quickly gaining the reputation as the company to call with the most demanding flying missions in some of the remotest and harshest parts of the world. The Arctic and Antarctic were part of the regular routine for them … »

7 Carol Pilon - The WorkNotWork Show S1E15: « Sometimes life changing inspiration comes in an instant and from an unexpected source. In Carol Pilon’s case, it was the split second clip of a wingwalker she saw advertised for a local airshow in 1993. She was transformed by the experience and knew that it was something she simply had to do … »

8 Dr. Robert Thirsk - The WorkNotWork Show S1E4: Our guest « isn’t ready to write his autobiography – yet. You would think someone who qualified first as a mechanical engineer then as a medical doctor and then became an astronaut and is now a university chancellor there would already be lots to put in at least one book … »

9 BluFly 🛩️ Verified Aviation Starter Pack — « Aviation-oriented companies and organisations vetted for authenticity and preferably employing a custom domain. These are intended to be primary sources of information as opposed to organisations reporting on these companies. »

10Rather than splitting comments onto multiple channels, they are being collected 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.

11Yes, of course we're on social: here's where you can find us on Bluesky and LinkedIn.

12The 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. 🛩️