David Brooks

Friday's Fabulous Flyer

I’ve been working in a secondary school in Liverpool, England for the past six years. My job is working with children across the behavioral and special needs spectrum in assessing their needs. I do this using standardized assessment... I won’t lie I have the best job in the world, I get a kick out of seeing my kids achieve (All 1554) of them!

I graduated University in July 2008 with a BSc in Psychology and Forensic Human Biology. During the course I studied various modules that included:

• Foundations of Psychology and Research Methods.
• Biological, Cognitive and Social Psychology as well as Research Methods & Statistics.
• Evolutionary Psychology.
• Applying Psychology to industry, Human Factors, Perception and Attention, Psychopathology.
• Developmental Psychology, Personality and Individual Differences.
• Research Project based around the Cognitive Neuroscience discipline.

For several years I have become increasingly interested in the field of aviation. During my time at university I majored in Psychology, many of my essays related to aviation and looked at visual perception and load on the human brain. My minor was Forensic Biology. In this part of my course I looked at how bird strikes affect aircraft engine performance, using a case study at Manchester as a base to carry out a forensic reconstruction of events leading to an aircraft encountering a bird strike. I also carried out a DNA analysis of the remains from the aircraft engine to find which species of bird had entered the engine. This related to cost, blame and adequate aerodrome bird control systems.

So why aviation?

Well I won’t lie to you...the first time I stepped aboard an A321 back in ’03 I was terrified! Needless to say the thought of hurtling through the sky at 500mph filled me with one word, dread. I was a tad scared. So when I returned home I resolved to learn exactly how aircraft work, the rules of the air, IFR/VFR and the principles of flight.

When I returned to the sky aboard a Thomas Cook Airlines Boeing 757-300 in the Summer of 2005, I knew exactly what lay ahead. A love affair was born. Since then I have traveled to continental Europe, the Greek Islands and Canada. Each time the passion for aviation has grown stronger.

I first started ‘spotting’ in August 2012 at Manchester International Airport over here in the UK. My first up close and personal encounter with an aircraft at the side of the runway was a 767-300/ER. I remember being in awe, seeing the two chaps in the front office, the flash of the anti-collision beacon and the white strobe flashing. Sat there on the taxiway, perched somewhat precariously between the ground and free flight. The two engines at idle, before the crescendo of spool up and departure.

The blog is my way of reporting, tongue in cheek about the industry as a whole, where is it headed and how it is perceived by those ‘on the ground’ as opposed to those in the air? Its light hearted and serves to remind us that aviation is a huge part of our lives.

For the future

In the short term, continue working with the best bunch of kids in the City of Liverpool...as far as the future goes I’d like to end up a human factors psychologist...and yeah you guessed it, for the airlines!

Social Media - I can mostly be found tweeting my spin on the aviation world under the moniker @AirNewsX, compiling my blog for my ever growing list of readers and snapping aviation photographs at Manchester with my partner in crime and cousin @Mr09Los...

You can follow me on 

Twitter: @AirNewsX, 

Instagram ‘DavidA773’ 

and my blog www.airnewsx.com

Enjoy the Journey!
XO Karlene