Cool! Got delayed once on a dirt strip in Namibia by an adult porcupine who decided the center of the runway was a good path to take. Pilot had to get out and encourage the critter to take the first unmarked runway exit. Brave pilot to me, those things weigh up to 25 kilos and can move fast when they want to and carry serious protection. Critters on the dirt runways in Africa are common enough to make the active checklist.

(Written on 2019/07/12)(Permalink)

If the hotel industry treated customers as the airlines do in seeking the cheapest rates, the hotels would be renting you a sleeping bag with directions to the nearest public park. Seat width and pitch are health and safety issues, something well within the proper realm of a regulatory agency in a vibrant capitalist economy. Requiring wider seats to reflect the growing waistlines of passengers and increased pitch to avoid DVT and similar issues, plus assuring passengers can have a strong chance of evacuating an aircraft in the terror and confusion of a major accident seem very reasonable goals—and what a responsible agency would seek. Government agencies do not function like private enterprise. See “Bureaucracy” by Ludwig Von Mises to understand why we in the private sector have expectations in conflict with the structure and authorities of an agency. Short answer for here: In general, Agencies need the cover of their supervising body (Congress here) to take any controversial actio

(Written on 2018/09/28)(Permalink)

Yes, if it is a certified companion cow. For a few bucks, your doc will write you a letter of need.

(Written on 2018/06/01)(Permalink)

Seems like a lot of money and time to develop a hobby aircraft. Let's hope they get this thing working soon so it can become an effective combat aircraft.

(Written on 2018/03/30)(Permalink)

This is similar to a Labor-Management observation that you get the unions you deserve. Short course on how to be a non-union shop and stay that way: Treat your people as you would expect to be treated, or better, and they will not need a union. Treat your people badly and you will get a bad union. The similarity: You get the Vendors you deserve. Many companies will not apply for a government contract as the process is a nightmare, and if you mistakenly win, the nightmare gets worse.

(Written on 2016/01/15)(Permalink)

With all those manual guages, wonder what the ratio of wiring weight to airframe weight was. Wikipedia has a photo of a design concept for a tracked landing gear (yep, like a tank) that was apparently under consideration after the tricycle landing wheels proved so huge as to be impractical. Someone intelligent in the Air Force killed the idea in favor of the now common four-wheeled bogeys (trucks). Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:B-36_tracked_gear_edit.jpg Here is a photo from the Castle Air Museum website of their B-36. This is a really big aircraft. The large bomb thingy next to it is a Mark 17 Hydrogen bomb (thermonuclear device) casing, 25 feet long, five foot diameter and weighed 42,000 pounds; yield 10-15 megatons. Total B-36 load capacity is shown at 86,000 pounds; B-17 bomb capacity was 4,800 pounds. http://www.castleairmuseum.org/convairrb36h

(Written on 2014/11/21)(Permalink)