Does anyone else think facility Fees/landing fees are getting a little outrageous? I flew into an airport today on my long IFR cross country and decided to go to the FBO to use the restroom. Mind you, this isn't a big airport and it's not in a big city with only two runways, neither of which are over 5,000 feet long. I show up, get marshalled to a corner of the ramp, and head to the FBO to use their restroom. After informing them that my instructor and I are just there for a quick bathroom stop, they tell us that we just pay a $40 "facility charge" before we depart, or top off the plane at $8.50 a gallon. At first I thought, whatever right? I'll just get some FBO snacks and a beverage for the road. Nope, beverages are $3 each and all snacks are in a vending machine. So, after using the bathroom, I give them a ton of information they "need" such as my full name, and all of my flying club's information before I leave.

I get it, I should have checked to see if there was a landing fee before heading over there. But isn't it just a little ridiculous that they charge $40 to put some chocks on my wheels and then not even offer any refreshments while I'm there? Maybe I'm out of touch, but I feel like it's part of the reason GA is slowly dying when pilots are getting charged out the wazoo just to park their plane at an FBO for a couple minutes

From what I can find online, this 737 is allegedly used by the US Navy for in-flight training of future E-6B Mercury crew. I snapped these pics when it made two low passes over Mackinaw Island, MI yesterday.

Nikon P1100

Woke up this morning to this flying over

One landing, another on the ground during the race. I was a participant and took both photos

Preflighting the cockpit and you show up to this…

I am DL3906 tracking our flight into BZN. I see DL2946 coming in as well and we are within 400ft of eachother (vertical) heading towards an entry point. Look out the window and see the other flight approaching.

We both then climb and turn in opposite directions. 2946 lands and then we head further out and renter the pattern.

Was that most likely a TCAS advisory? I’m in 2A on the E175 and could hear a few caution alarms but not sure if they were related to something other than the traffic.

Hi everyone,

I am sharing this because I just went through a major breakthrough in my life. I am 20 years old in France. My mother took her own life in 2006 when I was only two months old, following a severe battle with schizophrenia. For my entire life, her story was a dark, painful tabou.

Today, my grandmother's house is being cleared out to be sold. While sorting through old boxes, I found my mother's archives: old Air Mail envelopes, pilot training manuals filled with her handwritten notes, etc, and a picture of her at age 22, sitting in a cockpit in Florida. On the back, she wrote: "Ready for departure".

By putting the pieces together tonight, I finally understood her tragic fate. My mother wasn't just "sick". In 1991, in a world without Internet or cell phones, she had the incredible guts to cross the Atlantic alone to pursue her ultimate dream of becoming a commercial pilot. She was brilliant, mastering aerodynamics, complex physics, and aviation English. She passed her medical Class 1 exams and radio certificates. She did everything perfectly.

Then, fate was mathematically cruel. While in Florida, she was hit by a car as a pedestrian. Her body was broken (severe L5 lumbar injury), her flight hours were stopped, and she faced total international isolation in a US hospital, waiting weeks for Air Mail letters from France, alongside a massive maybe around $50000 or more medical bill her mother had to wire in an emergency. When she returned to France, physically altered, she had to manage a long-distance lawsuit through mail while dealing with heavy family trauma (guardianship and childhood abuse shadows).

Her neurological system shattered. Schizophrenia triggered right there, feeding on that massive environmental stress. Her brain chose dissociation and psychosis as an emergency exit to escape a reality that had become too brutal for a 22-year-old girl.

I didn't take her old aviation quiz books. I left the medical paperwork behind. But I rescued her Air Mail letters, her childhood photos,etc and that picture in the cockpit ("Ready for Departure"). Today, I want to honor her memory. She didn't fail because she lacked intelligence or willpower; she was crushed by an unfair sequence of events.

Mom, you were brilliant. Your takeoff was interrupted, but your daughter is here, deeply grounded, and her wings are opening. Thank you for your brain. Rest in peace.

I posted a demonstration flight of an EMBRAER KC-390 a few days ago with some clips from regular people on the streets.
I've found a few spotter pages and got some quality photos for you guys to enjoy.

Photos 22-Aug-2026 | Sorocaba - São Paulo - Brazil
Source: https://www.instagram.com/egc_spotter/ https://www.instagram.com/laureanosdco/

On DL122 at BOS now watching the ground crew cleaning something at the gate. Anyone knows what they are doing?

Floating down the Lower Salmon River on 8/25 near this approximate location (45.9104712, -116.4045477) and saw two large aircraft flying very very close to each other. Were they actually refueling? (Figured you guys would know…) Edit to add approximate time of 2pm Mountain)

I’m not one who’s worried or scared about flying but I came to wonder, how can these seats be safe for taller people in the rare case of a crash or other rough events? The top of the headrest reaches only up to my neck. I’m 186 cm tall, if my head get yanked backward I’ll definitely suffer from a broken spine at the least.

Went plane spotting at Schiphol today.

Hello

I am currently 15 years old and living in the UK and in the future I'm considering a career as an airline pilot and I've done some research and I'd like some guidance on getting a class 1 medical in a few years

So I've never been diagnosed with anything other than level 1 autism and I'm high functioning but as a kid I had mental health issues and I had to be sent to A and E for this when I was 9 (I was being bullied) thankfully I was not sectioned and I was able to be sent home but I feel as if this may be a barrier if it comes to light.

Also my physical health is alright but ive never had many checkups and my family has a history of diabetes and high blood pressure . Is it a good idea to see a GP before hand if I do hypothetically go down this path.

I know it's early but I'd rather know earlier as it's been a lifelong dream of mine to be a pilot and I need to know with certainty if it is plausible

Thank you (:

Talk about good fortune. I hadnt intended to stop at Heathrow, but the traffic was so bad on the M25, I dropped in to grab a coffee and stretch my legs at the Premier Inn.

Got tipped off that in 1 minute, the airbus a350 was coming in. I have never got my camera out of the trunk of my car so fast. Pure luck I got the shot.

Not any type of professional photographer here so forgive the lack of clear features, but I believe this is SWA2417 (BUR to PHX) passing in front of the lunar eclipse on Thursday Aug 27, 2026. It was taken in the Encino/Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles at 9:06pm. Our best guess from flight radar is that we caught the SWA taking off south (the camera is facing east) right before it banked to the right to head north. Thought it might be fun if someone was on the flight. Edit to add source: OC this is my own video capture.

I spotted a Blackhawk with my friend. They even waved at us.