Ben Sandilands
Editor of Plane Talking @PlaneTalking
Ben Sandilands has reported and analysed the mechanical mobility of humanity since late 1960 - the end of the age of great scheduled ocean liners and coastal steamers and the start of the jet age. He’s worked in newspapers, radio and TV in a wide range of roles as a journalist at home and abroad for 56 years, the last 18 freelance.
The final development of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet, the 747-8 is airborne in America on the first of its certification flights.
The CASA investigation into the Pel-Air incident last year has been shrouded in secrecy, despite the regulator indefinitely suspending the pilot licence of the captain who flew the Westwind jet.
The US backlash against the Joint Strike Fighter F-35 project needs to spread quickly to Australia, before more damage is done to Australia's defence interests.
Forget the moon race of half a century ago: the new space race is to lead the space industry, designing, making and selling space ships and cleaning up space junk, says Ben Sandilands.
The US is cutting off the public funding of moon missions and passing the baton on to the private sector. But ceding the moon to nations like China and India is going to be very hard for proud and patriotic Americans to swallow.
The latest addition to the Angry Flyers Lounge sees flyer Tom frustrated with Jetstar's customer service after his flight from Tokyo was delayed. Does it really take one or two weeks to send a letter between Melbourne and Adelaide?
The iPad could fix a few things that really bug some travellers, says Ben Sandilands -- and not just reading and writing in cramped conditions. How about tracking flights and automatically checking in? Is there an app for that?
Jetstar announced a new pay-per-use lounge at Auckland Airport last week, and the concept is already very popular overseas. So why aren't there more of them in this country? asks Ben Sandilands.
Enormous problems with Australia’s multibillion dollar commitment to the Joint Strike Fighter project have emerged from an audit review just delivered to the US Congress.
Will airlines be forced to charge excess baggage for beer guts, love handles and other bits on the cellulite-infused porkers? There's no "fat controllers" yet, but how do we battle the bulge and the budget carrier?
