Canada has banned fruitcake from their airports because it’s so dense that not even the latest x-ray equipment can see through it. As if anyone needed proof that this “food” was unfit for human consumption, fruitcake now joins lead as the only substances x-ray machines cannot penetrate. I have a feeling the Society for the Protecton and Preservation of Fruitcake… Read more →
Category: Aviation
Yes, They Were First
Ah, I love big anniversaries–they always bring out the crackpots and conspiracy theorists. Whether it’s the Kennedy assassination or the Wright Brothers first flight, there’s never a lack of entertaining material to read. The 100th anniversary of the brothers’ achievement is a week from today and the press has run out of things to talk about. So CNN has picked… Read more →
Angel Flight
Yesterday I flew my first Angel Flight in quite a while. Angel Flight is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free transportation to people who are too sick or poor to use the airlines. Angel Flight does a lot of other stuff too. We transported blood after September 11th. We fly human organs. Sometimes we’ll transport a terminal patient’s family… Read more →
The Ultimate Airbag
CNN is reporting that Goodyear’s west coast blimp just crashed. Perhaps “crashed” isn’t the right word. As ususal in these cases, no one died. It’s pretty hard to get killed when your trusty steed is a giant airbag with a cruise speed of 30 mph. These blimps are quite rare, even by aviation standards. Goodyear is one of the best… Read more →
Hartzell vs. McCauley
More than one person has had to decide between Hartzell and McCauley when selecting a prop for their aircraft. To make a long story short: Hartzell, hands down. Here’s my reasoning. Read more →
Luck and the Wright Flyer
The media is focusing more and more on the upcoming 100th anniversary of powered flight. In case you’ve been living in a hermetically sealed bubble, that date is December 17, 2003. That’ll mark one hundred years since the Wright Brothers achieved powered flight on the windswept expanse of North Carolina’s Outer Banks with an aircraft that I still can’t believe… Read more →
Jumbolair
When a 50 year old zooms down the road in a flashy red sports car, we think “midlife crisisâ€. When a young punk does the same thing, he’s “compensatingâ€. So what are we to think when a guy buys a 250,000 lb, 600 mph Boeing 707 jetliner? Read more →
The Concorde and the Starship
It’s painful to watch an airplane die. They have a spirit, much like people. It’s tough to describe, but if you fly planes or work on them, you’ll know what I mean. There’s a connection there. It’s a combination of the quirks, smells, dings, and history of a particular aircraft. The most interesting thing about it is that this “heartbeat”… Read more →
Assessing the Damage
Ahhh, fresh air and rain–manna from heaven! It seems that Mother Nature has accomplished what 15,000 firefighters, dozens of aircraft, and millions of dollars could not. The fires are finally under control. It’s been two weeks of pure hell for many Southern Californians, not to mention something like a million acres of land and a couple thousand homes burned. Disasters… Read more →
“Real” Flying
One fine summer afternoon, a tiny Cessna 150 was flying in the pattern at a quiet country airfield. The instructor was getting irritated at the student’s inability to maintain altitude in the thermals. Just then he saw a twin engine Cessna zoom by 5,000 ft. above him and thought “Another 1,000 hrs of this and I qualify for that twin… Read more →