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Military 101: The Dassault Rafale – History, Variants, Comparisons, and Export Success

Rafale French France Fighter Jet IAF Flight

The Dassault Rafale, a 4.5 generation, twin-engine, multirole fighter jet, was initially procured by India in a 2016 deal for 36 aircraft. These currently operate from IAF bases in Ambala (Haryana) and Hasimara (West Bengal). The Indian Air Force is also reportedly planning to acquire another 40 Rafale jets for its land-based fleet and 26 Rafale-M variants for the Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers, with a potential option to increase the Navy’s order to 62 aircraft. Image source: Capt. Jason Smith / Wikimedia

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Documentary 101: PBS Frontline – Boeing’s Fatal Flaw 2021

787 Dreamliner Boeing

On 14th September 2021, PBS Frontline ran an excellent documentary on Boeing’s series of shocking mishandling & process failure in the manufacturing of the new 737-Max passenger plane. The trigger point was the introduction of the new Airbus A320neo and the delay of Boeing’s next model, the 787 Dreamliner. Image source: PRNewsfoto/Boeing

There was tremendous pressure to bring the new plane into the market in time to counter Airbus’ A320Neo plane. In the end, a software glitch caused 2 major accidents that saw 346 passengers & crew died, Boeing & airlines suffered substantial financial losses due to glitch & grounded planes and caused the chairman & CEO, Dennis Muilenburg his job.

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Trip to Cape Verde 2019: Part 3 – Scary Flight And Return to Lisbon

cape verde tap air portugal lisbon flight

(Calm before the storm – this was taken just before we took off from Lisbon to Cape Verde)

This is our final leg of the journey from KL to Cape Verde and this time, we changed the airline from Emirates to TAP Air Portugal, flying on the smaller Airbus A320. And given the fact that we have been on transit in Lisbon for the last 8 hours, we were very anxious to get to our next flight and reach our final destination to Cape Verde for a hot shower, clean change of clothes and a good sleep on a soft bed.

We lined up at the boarding counter, cleared by the TAP staff after verifying the cabin luggage size and went down to catch the shuttle bus to the plane.

Read More »Trip to Cape Verde 2019: Part 3 – Scary Flight And Return to Lisbon