Wings

On 15 February 2026, in Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye, Dario Costa looked at aviation… then looked at a moving cargo train doing 120km/h… and said, “Ja, that’ll do.” The project… charmingly titled Train Landing… was not some back-of-the-napkin boerie-roll brainstorm. It was a world-first dual manoeuvre: land a race aircraft on a moving cargo train… then take off again from the same container… immediately into a vertical climb. Because apparently landing on …

The only thing more dramatic than an airline takeover… is an airline insisting it’s not dramatic. Because while half of South Africa was busy arguing about diesel prices, FlySafair quietly confirmed that its shareholders have signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Harith and affiliates to acquire the airline. Subject, of course, to the usual alphabet soup of regulatory approvals. Cue the panic? Not quite. According to FlySafair, it’s very …

Because while your neighbour’s kid is busy buzzing a R2 000 quadcopter over the braai like an irritating mechanical mozzie, this thing arrives on a trailer...or in a van, flattens your lawn, scares the dog, and then casually sprays an entire field like it’s late for harvest. Yes, technically it’s a drone. But calling it that feels wrong. This is more airborne farming equipment than toy. It doesn’t film sunsets. …

Some people collect fridge magnets… others casually design bits of fast-moving military hardware and then photograph it like a proud parent at a school sports day. For those that do not know… I designed the tail on “Talon” the Hawk. Yes, that Hawk. The one that slices through the sky with the subtlety of a V8 Supercar and the attitude of a RedBull-addicted Bird of Prey. And late last year, …

Imagine a Boeing 747 that doesn’t give a hoot about first-class champagne service, runway glamour, or Instagram engine selfies. Instead, it’s built to survive the end of the world and still organise it with a cup of lukewarm coffee in hand. This is the E-4B Nightwatch — the United States’ airborne command post for when everything else goes black. What is the Doomsday Plane? The E-4B Nightwatch is the U.S. …

January 2026 disappeared faster than a coffee break at an airshow—blink and it was gone. The year has roared into life with plenty happening across our little corner of the aviation world. But before we dive headfirst into 2026’s hottest stories, it’s only fair to glance in the rear-view mirror and see what the AviationMedia team got up to in 2025. 2025 may not have been the full-volume rock concert …

AI is fast. AI is flashy. AI can remix reality in seconds. But when the sky turns orange, the wind turns violent, and lives hang in the balance... AI doesn’t show up. Humans do!

Two years ago, I was that designer... waiting to hear if a drawing born from caffeine, obsession, and far too many late nights would actually land. And it did. Not on a screen. Not on a render. But hand-painted onto the tail of an 85 Squadron Hawk Mk120 fighter trainer. Yeah. Painted. By humans. With brushes. On a jet. Fast-forward to now: the aircraft has a name... Talon! There I …