A man sits at the controls of a small, yellow aircraft while it is in flight. He is turned to the right, slightly, so the picture captures him, the interior of his aircraft as well as the view out the left side of the aircraft. The latter is of a mountain range stretching out to just below the horizon. The horizon itself is somewhat blurred. The sky above is gin-clear blue. 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 « August, 2025 » in a similar typeface in white. Original caption from source: « Selfie flying the plane. I have an oxygen cannula in my nose, sunglasses, and headphones on. The North Tetons and Jenny Lake are in the background. » (📸 Dan Yocum)
« Selfie flying the plane. I have an oxygen cannula in my nose, sunglasses, and headphones on. The North Tetons and Jenny Lake are in the background. » Taken on July 17, 2025 as our friend, Trusted Contributor and Kitfox builder/owner Dan Yocum heads for Oskhosh on July 17, 2025.1
August, 2025
« Never continue in a job you don't enjoy. If you're happy in what you're doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined. »  —  Johnny Carson
By Terence C. Gannon
In The Air

Unless you managed to accidentally lock yourself in the Apollo program’s Mobile Quarantine Facility2 on a summertime visit to the Smithsonian — in search of that one-in-a-million selfie, of course — you will have had a hard time avoiding all the coverage of the EAA's recently concluded Oshkosh 2025.

A grey wheel fairing from an RV-6 is pictured. In a script-like font, the following words appear: « Built By - ¶ Alex Doughty ¶ Harry Doughty ¶ Chris Doughty ¶ Terry Gannon ¶ Michelle Klement » The registration of the aircraft, not pictured, is « C-FYGI ». (📸 Alex Doughty)In this infernal era of social media, the pictures and text about the annual aviation extravaganza were all but wall to wall. The over 700,000 people/cameras and over 10,000 aircraft attending3 this year’s AirVenture, as some would have you call it, has come so far since 1953. Back then, when the event was held for the first time, it was an adjunct to the Milwaukee Air Pageant. Only a handful of homebuilt aircraft flew in and there were something like one-hundred-and-fifty registered visitors. A rounding error compared to this year.

Every red-blooded aviator or avgeek is all but obliged to attend at least once. However, I am sadly not yet able to count myself amongst this number. As the years roll up into decades which, in turn, seemingly fly by, I had better make plans before it’s too late. If that’s not the case already.

Attending in the next few years is out of the question, of course. When this unhappy period ends, I might actually be of the age where a good night’s sleep in my own bed, comfortable shoes and stretchy dad pants in my backyard may be more my speed than whatever it is that must be endured to attend Oshkosh in its current or future incarnation.

If you follow my personal Bluesky feed,4 on it this past month you will have seen me unjustifiably bragging about the beautiful RV–6 my wife Michelle and I had a small role in completing. We even earned our way onto the list of builders on the left wheel fairing. It’s one of my life accomplishments of which I’m most proud.

I will say this: if my amazing nephew Alex, who did the heavy lifting on this aluminum magic carpet and is now its proud owner and caretaker, ever says he wants to fly in to Oshkosh and in the unlikely event the right seat is spare, I pledge to go with him and finally check off this pilgrimage. It would be fitting in that it would be in a vehicle perfectly suited to the journey.

Until then, I’ll have to live vicariously through the adventures of people like friend and BluFly Trusted Contributor Dan Yocum, who took this one-in-a-million selfie gracing the August issue, as he made his way to Oshkosh 2025 a few weeks back. Thanks for the opportunity to present this great shot, Dan.

Here’s Johnny

Ona recent, relaxed meander through the wonderful collection of images of the San Diego Air & Space Museum,5 I came across this intriguing photo of TV legend Johnny Carson in the left seat of a 172. Black and white seems right for this photo and period. I also love the beautiful Skyhawk logo in a Mid-Century Modern font. Interestingly, there is nothing to indicate Carson was an aspiring aviator so it’s possible this was just a publicity photo intended to sell more Cessnas.

An old black-and-white photo of TV host Johnny Carson sitting in the left-hand seat of a Cessna 172 'Skyhawk'. He is turned outwards and looking outside the left of the aircraft. (📸 San Diego Air & Space Museum Image Collection)If I ever manage to track down a straight-tail 172 at a reasonable price, it would be fun to restore it to exactly this livery. It would be particularly quirky to do it in shades of grey to emulate the photograph, if for no better reason than freak everybody out. Carson is amongst my personal top three ‘funny men’. The other two are Bugs Bunny and Jerry Seinfeld so that puts Johnny in some pretty rarified, elite company.

As The Tonight Show’s presumptive Managing Editor, I agree with the fairly common assessment that part of Carson’s gift was, in addition to his priceless comedic timing and utterly arid sense of humour, an equally superb gift for curation. In particular, an unmatched record of identifying and presenting up-and-coming standup comedians. The aforementioned Seinfeld was one of his guests, although I don’t think Bugs ever made it to The Tonight Show stage. Pity.

I would think that over the course of his thirty-year run, there were tens of thousands of standup comedians who aspired to make it to Johnny’s show. Only one, maybe two a week, would make the grade. Furthermore, a vanishingly small number would get the call to Johnny’s couch for a follow-up chat. If that coveted call came, it was a virtual guarantee of future fame and attendant fortune.

Which made me think about the highly undervalued skill of editing down material to something more easily consumed by the audience. Particularly in this era of AI bots firehosing out a stinky slurry of everything from Shakespeare to fact-free slop and everything in between, in a variety of media formats, how are we collectively going to know what’s actually worth consuming?

I’m betting — or maybe it’s my fever-dream hope? — that we will collectively rely on humans, like Johnny, to provide that illusive recommendation of who or what is actually worth our time.

The Bluesky Honeymoon is Over

My beloved, dearly departed parents offered invaluable advice informed by their sixty-five-year marriage: keep both eyes open before the blessed event and one eye closed afterwards. The longevity of their long-lived life partnership is testament to their wisdom on this and many other matters.

A bar chart entitled 'Engagements per Post'. The vertical axis has thin horizontal bars that are labelled zero through twenty-five. The horizontal axis is labelled starting with « 2025-01 » for the first bar and « 2025-07 » for the last bar, for a total of seven bars. These are blue to match BluFly’s logo colour. The values of the bars range from 21.0 on the left to 5.1 on the right. (📸 BluFly Media)The Blu in BluFly is hopefully an appropriate appropriation of the Blu in Bluesky. My personal discovery of the new social platform, a couple of years ago, along with an understanding of its unique capabilities, was the trigger for BluFly’s launch. All that said, Bluesky and BluFly aren’t married. More like living together. Maybe even more just convenient roommates. However, we were once married enough that we certainly went through a honeymoon period along with lots of gaga eyes and more than enough Seinfeldian schmoopies.

Well, that’s over.

That doesn’t necessarily mean we’re headed for divorce court — or that we’re not, for that matter — but I’m breaking with my folks’ admonition and opening both eyes once again and seeing things for what they are, as opposed to what I wish them to be. Despite what you may have heard or read to the contrary, facts matter. I have a few that incontrovertibly indicate something is rotten in the state of Bluesky.

The Engagements per Post chart above — click for a higher resolution version — is the average total number of Comments, Reposts, and Likes per BluFly Bluesky post over the course of a given month. January of this year is over there on the left, and July is on the right.

I’ll save you the trouble: engagement is a quarter of what it was just six months ago.

Of course, if this chart illustrates the net output of BluFly’s Bluesky posting efforts, it totally omits the investment side of the equation: the time it takes to create them in the first place. This is being tracked very carefully and will be presented in a future version of this chart. However, I’m confident it will confirm the intuitive feeling I have: the amount of time creating social posts on Bluesky is actually increasing over time. More cause. Less effect.

It’s also entirely possible my editorial spidey sense isn't anywhere near as good as I think it is, and I’m signing off on the wrong content. Or that BluFly is doing a crap job of writing it up when I do. Setting all modesty aside, I really don’t think so, on either count. However, I would desperately love to know if BluFly is an outlier or bellwether for this disturbing trend.

***

Meanwhile, if the engagement rates on your aviation-related Bluesky social posts are going to the moon, I would love to hear from you.6 If there are examples of that being the case, then it's clearly not you, it's me. Even that information is useful. In the interim, thank you so much for reading and also for engaging with BluFly’s posts on Bluesky and LinkedIn. 7 I always love hearing from each and every one of you.

Until September skies beckon … 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 August, with most recent at the top:

Sometimes it's the big story behind a photograph and sometimes it's simply the aesthetics of the image itself, as is the case this time. We love an old glider. In particular we love a sepia-toned photo of an old glider in Norway. More info in ALT. | 🛩️ 🪽 📍 🇳🇴 🥇 | 🔗 digitaltmuseum.no/021011364740...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 30, 2025 at 12:35 PM

Continuing with our Antarctic theme — sort of — an excellent article by @flightradar24.com's Sebastián Polito about a delivery flight of this Basler BT-67 Turbo destined for cargo operations in that part of the world. It's also a pretty good primer on Flightradar24, if you're in need of that. | 🛩️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 29, 2025 at 12:33 PM

Not only is AirCorps Aviation the source of many absolutely outstanding restoration projects, they are also the source of some of the most interesting-sounding career postings, as well. Sounds like it could be the dream, entry-level job for the right person, and you are in their locale. | 🛩️ 🎨 🧰 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 29, 2025 at 9:56 AM

We've featured both Windracers and @bas.ac.uk in numerous previous posts, and now we have the opportunity to feature them both in one post, with a link to the Windracers description of their collaboration on some fascinating, deep science they completed recently in Antarctica. | 🛩️ 📡 🥇 | 🧵 1/2

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 28, 2025 at 12:07 PM

It's great to see UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles already thinking about the development of the next generation of airship engineers with their STEM-based outreach: « Maintaining Skills Today, Inspiring Engineers for Tomorrow » just out today. | 🛩️ 🎈 🏫 🥇 | 🔗 www.hybridairvehicles.com/news/overvie...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 27, 2025 at 5:10 PM

It's International Dog Day 🐶 For that, we love this dogs-n-airplanes story by @atcodinha.bsky.social that we've been saving from earlier this month. Moreover, if you had a story from Vogue being BluFly's Story-of-the-Day on your bingo card, your plane has officially pulled up to the gate. | 🛩️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 26, 2025 at 11:56 AM

Last time, the Misfits were headed into the fight of their lives: they were in the air for their second punishing sortie of the day. This time, they hoped they would finally expunge from the skies — once and for all — Hans Gruber and the nefarious Crimson Barons he led. | 🛩️ 🎭 ⚔️ ⏳ 📚 | 🧵 1/5

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 25, 2025 at 3:17 PM

From @ucalgary.bsky.social and Innovate Calgary: « Do you have [an] innovation that addresses challenges faced by the aerospace sector? If you need a boost to launch your solution on the market, this accelerator program may be for you. » Submission deadline is September 30, 2025. | 🛩️ 📡 🏫 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 25, 2025 at 9:29 AM

« Breaking Barriers and Soaring Into History: Pittsburgh’s ‘Three Helens’ During the Golden Age of Aviation » A compelling new account of aviators Helen Stinner Ball, Helen MacCloskey Rough and Helen Richey by @hxdil.bsky.social and Brian Butko. | 🛩️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🥇 | 🔗 www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smiths...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 25, 2025 at 8:45 AM

This month's Friday Fédèle has a historical component: on this day in aviation history "so, have I mentioned I'm a pilot?" 😎 was used for first time. (📸 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) August 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM

« British Paramotor Pilot Dan Jones Sets FAI World Record with Minutes to Spare ▫️ Jones managed to fly 516,95km for the world record, beating [previous record holder] Schulz’s 504,167km, set in 2011. » The whole story and more photos with the link. | 🛩️ 📰 🥇 | 🔗 www.fai.org/news/british...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 22, 2025 at 5:57 AM

We really like the term « lifeline transport services » and couldn't agree more on its importance to these remote communities. The choice of a @brittennorman.bsky.social 'Islander' is pure poetry. Incidentally, that Loganair livery wins the internet for today, everyone else tied for last. | 🛩️ 🥇 📍 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 21, 2025 at 8:11 AM

It's Bacon Lovers' Day 🥓 and we can attest that the intersection between bacon and aviation is pretty small. 🔍 But we cracked the case: it's one of the « [Ten] Weird Things Humans Have Sent Into the Stratosphere » as found in Smithsonian Magazine. | 🛩️ 📹 🎈 | 🔗 www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/1...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 20, 2025 at 6:03 PM

« KTV Working Drone Strengthens Partnership with Royal Caribbean for Star of the Seas, the World’s Largest Cruise Ship » This is actually an *extension* to a contract that started in 2023. Dare we say working drones are becoming routine, no? | 🛩️ 📡 🚁 ⚡️ 📹 🥇 | 🔗 ktvworkingdrone.com/ktv-working-...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 20, 2025 at 2:22 PM

We love the excellent This Day in Aviation website and today we learned: « Many sources give this as the date on which Pilot Officer John Gillespie, Jr., Royal Canadian Air Force, wrote—or began writing—his famous poem, “High Flight.” » | 🛩️ ⚔️ 🎨 🥇 | 🧵 1/2 | 🔗 www.thisdayinaviation.com/18-august-19...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 18, 2025 at 1:23 PM

We doff our hats 🎩 to Will Gadd and the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada for working tirelessly and tenaciously with Parks Canada to get this prohibition lifted. All the details in this new article by @carterblatz.bsky.social writing for the @calgaryherald.com‬. | 🛩️ 🪽 📍 🇨🇦 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 18, 2025 at 9:29 AM

Despite their status as the Misfits' archenemy, there was still a healthy respect for the Crimson Barons. To wit, last week's episode began with the sombre return of remains along with remnants of their downed aircraft. During a fleeting, fragile truce between warring parties … | 🛩️ 🎭 ⚔️ ⏳ 📚 | 🧵 1/5

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 17, 2025 at 10:18 AM

« [Twenty] years ago, Brussels Airlines proudly welcomed its first fully licensed female technician to its maintenance facilities. Carolien Sterckx began her career in the early 2000s … Today, Brussels Airlines employs 28 women in its Maintenance and Engineering department … » | 🛩️ 👩🏻‍✈️ 🧰 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 16, 2025 at 10:07 AM

« AV-8B Harrier Jet Arrival Draws Crowd to Tillamook » by Chelsea Yarnell of the Tillamook County Newsie. Here's an excellent example of independent, local journalism doing a much better job than most others covering this interesting story. | 🛩️ ⚔️ 📰 📍 🇺🇸 🥇 | 🔗 www.tillamooknewsie.com/av-8b-harrie...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 15, 2025 at 6:13 AM

We're intrigued with @ethz.ch's development of their aviation-oriented curriculum as noted in @deborahkyburz.bsky.social's Q&A with Dr. Peter Wild, ETH's Senior Lecturer & Program Manager Aviation & Sustainability. Particularly helpful for those developing similar post-secondary programs. | 🛩️ 🏫 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 14, 2025 at 9:02 AM

Meanwhile, in Switzerland: « [E]co-explorer Raphaël Domjan piloted the HB-SXA aircraft to an altitude of 9,521 metres [31,236 feet] above the Valais Alps — the highest flight ever achieved by a manned electric and solar-powered plane … fittingly celebrated with a well-deserved raclette! » | 🛩️ ⚡️ 📰 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 13, 2025 at 3:00 PM

Maven of « Direct Aviation » Electra keeps knocking out the base hits: this 91m x 23m (300ft x 75ft) postage stamp-sized 'runway' is one of the settings for the first of a new series of videos. The performance made our eyes pop. 😳 How about you? | 🛩️ ⚡️📹 📰 🥇 | 🔗 www.electra.aero/news/electra...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 13, 2025 at 7:39 AM

Many will know the name Russ Niles. It's likely even more will know AVWeb, that Russ edited for years. Russ has moved on and is now Editor-in-Chief at @avbrief.bsky.social. Here's an example of the great articles you'll find there. Signing up for AVBrief is easy to do and highly recommended. | 🛩️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 12, 2025 at 5:54 PM

Official Account Alert 🫆 @indrorobotics.com, a significant participant in the drone and robotics space, is yet another aviation industry player recently arriving on @bsky.app. Consider rewarding their 'early adopter' faith 🌅 with a follow. | 🛩️ 🚁 📡 ⚡️ | 🧵 1/3 | 🔗 indrorobotics.ca?utm_source=b...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 12, 2025 at 11:18 AM

Last week, the Misfits woke to the news that, given desperate times required desperate measures, starting immediately they would be required to escort bombers — *in daylight* — in an attempt to deter Prussian forces from what appeared to be imminent invasion. | 🛩️ 🎭 ⚔️ ⏳ 📚 | 🧵 1/5

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 10, 2025 at 6:55 PM

If our Lotto Max numbers come in, we're not going to announce it to the world, but there will be signs. 😎 Similarly, if we win this gorgeous, restomodded straight-tail 182A, there will be signs. We have our tickets; do you have yours? Details with link. (📸 JRBAF) | 🛩️ 🥇 | 🔗 jrbaf.org/raffle/?utm_...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 10, 2025 at 10:50 AM

Save these dates: September 5 and 6, 2025 for « Wings Over Windermere® » at Brockhole on Lake Windermere, in the UK's exquisite Lake District. It's a rare opportunity to see the replica 1911 'Waterbird' take flight. Details with link. (📸 See ALT) | 🛩️ 🦆 📅 🇬🇧 🥇 | 🔗 www.waterbird.org.uk/wings-over-w...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 9, 2025 at 4:26 PM

File it under ‘Frivolous Friday' or maybe because we're all rapidly running out of time to book a summer vacation: here's one for fans of Switzerland, VW Microbusses (in airline livery, no less), @flyswiss.bsky.social or any combination thereof. (📸 Swiss International Air Lines) | 🛩️ 📹 📍 🇨🇭

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 8, 2025 at 1:01 PM

We love retro livery here at the BluFly home office: « Unique Retro-Style Transavia Airbus Lands at Schiphol ▫️ To mark Transavia’s 60th anniversary, a special aircraft will arrive at Schiphol …an Airbus A321neo in retro livery. » (📸 Transavia) | 🛩️ 🥇 | 🧵 1/2 | 🔗 news.transavia.com/en/unique-re...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 8, 2025 at 11:29 AM

An great new story by Jamie Beckett in General Aviation News: « Our Heroes Affect Us » in which the author describes a chance discussion with a stranger about Richard Bach, on a New York subway, triggering his lifelong passion for flight. | 🛩️ 🥇 | 🧵 1/2 | 🔗 www.generalaviationnews.com/2025/08/05/o...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 7, 2025 at 11:05 AM

If you're lucky enough to have been to New Zealand, you likely haven't seen it from this perspective. 🌏 @dawnaerospace.bsky.social, along with their payload partner Scout Space, continues to make steady progress. Much more with link. | 🛩️ 📡 🛰️ 📹 📰 🥇 | 🧵 1/2 | 🔗 www.dawnaerospace.com/latest-news/...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 5, 2025 at 6:13 PM

Hey, we think Ozzy Osbourne International Airport has a certain je ne sais quoi. What do you think? 🤔 If you're really on board with the idea, there's a @change.org petition you can sign. (📸 JimmyGuano via Wikimedia under CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped) | 🛩️ 📍 🇬🇧 🎵 | 🔗 www.change.org/p/rename-bir...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 5, 2025 at 12:47 PM

« Goodyear to Donate Last Remaining GZ20-Era Blimp Gondola to the EAA Museum for a Children’s Exhibit » Also, as part of this same press release, they're « offering fans the unique chance to take home a piece of the Goodyear Blimp. » More with link. | 🛩️ 🎈 📰 🥇 | 🔗 news.goodyear.com/2025-07-21-G...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 5, 2025 at 11:59 AM

« Wind Tunnel Experimental Study on the Flight Parameters of a Bio-Inspired Bat-like Flapping-Wing Robot » by Bosong Duan, Junlei Liu, Shuai Wang, Zhaoyang Chen and Bingfeng Ju for Zhejiang University on July 8, 2025 via @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social‬. | 🛩️ 🏫 🦅 📡 ⚡️ 🥇 | 🔗 www.mdpi.com/3394180/?utm...

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 4, 2025 at 5:39 PM

In last week's episode, the Misfits were celebrating their recent dispatch of no less than four of their arch-enemy Crimson Barons along with a host of the aircraft they were attempting to protect. Seemingly, some operational breathing room had been created: the day after … | 🛩️ 🎭 ⚔️ ⏳ 📚 | 🧵 1/5

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 4, 2025 at 11:15 AM

This new article by Dominic Weeks of @zeroavia.bsky.social — which is « developing the world’s first zero-emission engines for commercial aviation » — nicely summarises the current state of aviation-related hydrogen-electric development from their perspective. Read with the link below. | 🛩️ ⚡️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 3, 2025 at 1:57 PM

We're back with a brand new issue. 💥 This time, Managing Editor @terencecgannon.com takes a crack at Oshkosh envy, the late Johnny Carson's *other* gift and its contribution to this month's editorial, and finally, some hard data and hard truths as to why the honeymoon is over with @bsky.app. | 🛩️ 🥇

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— BluFly 🛩 Media (@blufly.media) August 1, 2025 at 5:53 PM

Note that the embedded posts above are from the Bluesky 🛩️ Custom Feed 8 which is the reference feed for BluFly.

1 You're encouraged to follow Dan Yocum on Bluesky where his profile reads « Polymath. Linux. Physics. Astronomy. Airplanes. Music. Human rights for everyone. Not in that order. ¶ Bad Takes R Us ¶ Be Better. Do Better. ¶ He/Him » ’Nuff said. They broke the mould when they made Dan.

2 Mobile Quarantine Facility — From the National Air and Space Museum website: « This MQF was used by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins immediately after their return to Earth. They, together with a physician and a technician, remained in it for over 60 hours while the MQF was transported on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet … »

3 Oshkosh/AirVenture 2025 Stats — From the EAA website: « Approximately 704,000 – Highest total on record! (Previous: 686,000 - 2024). ¶ Highest total on record! This year’s success is a credit to our 6,000 volunteers, our staff members, and our partners as they continue to raise the bar on what’s possible as we bring the aviation world to Oshkosh. »

4 Terence C. Gannon on Bluesky, wherein his profile reads: « Managing Editor, BluFly Media … the humans-in-the-loop feed for the aviation community. » But don't be fooled, his feed contains an inordinate amount of homemade pizza, photos from Springbank Airport, as well as the occasional rant about Toronto Raptors basketball.

5 San Diego Air & Space Museum Image Collection — « The Museum has more than two million images of aircraft, aerospace personalities, events, equipment, and places of historical importance to aviation. Prints, negatives, and slides are included in this large, unique collection. » They also maintain a No Known Copyright Restrictions collection on Flickr. That's where we found the Carson photo.

6Rather 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.

7Yes, of course we're on social: here's where you can find us on Bluesky and LinkedIn.

8The 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.

 

A grey isosceles triangle with the vertex pointing to the left. This icon is used to represent a link to the previous article in the series. On the right, a montage of the thirty covers of the New RC Soaring Digest. Typically each of these covers shows a radio-controlled model glider along with one or more people. They are also set in spectacular landscapes. In the background is a picture of black smoke rising from a distant forest fire which is intended to reflect the line from the article which reads « as I continue to contemplate the still smoking hole in the ground that is the New RC Soaring Digest ». On the left are the words: « This month’s issue proudly presented by: ¶ BACKSTORY ¶ The ongoing story of the launch of BluFly. Click here to read. A grey isosceles triangle with the vertex pointing to the right. This icon is used to represent a link to the next article in the series.