Aviation BS and Photo Thread

Wow that whole blackhawk situation looks sketchy

 

Had a buddy on one of those birds from yesterday. The area they touched down on was roped off, but yeah, lots of interesting choices made. Everyone's alive, but some of them are banged up pretty decent.

 

I noticed long ago that my friends who flew helicopters were always kinda nervous and twitchy.

 

Amazing how things have changed. When I was trying to build time I started towing banners and hauling jumpers.

 

I just watched the Downfall documentary on Netflix about the 737 Max. Boy does it paint Boeing in a bad light

 

I watched it a few days ago too. Being an insider, I would say they embellished a bit in their story telling to play up the evil corporation narrative. But sadly there was an awful lot of truth there as well.

I was only a kid when the MD merger happened but my dad had been with the company for 20 years at the time and growing up in Everett where the main widebody factory is, half of my friends parents worked here too. It really was a turning point for the company. I remember that even then everyone around here had a sense that it was not a change for the better and over the next few years it became a completely different environment. Especially after the move to Chicago.

For my families sake and many others, I really hope they can turn things around and do the right things needed to regain some trust from the public but the response so far hasn't been terribly inspiring.

 

I never knew about all the changes involved with the merger with MD. That looked really crummy.

 

I live in Indiana, and flew out of GYY for years. Boeing keeps their corporate fleet there, I see their BBJs and Challengers going in and out from time to time. Chicago and the state of Illinois must've given them a real big tax break to move there, plus it's pretty hard to smash and grab a large jet.

 

I'm not trying to start a discussion about taxation is theft or anything like that with this, just merely pointing out a strategic business decision: You'll notice that the fleet is parked at Gary (Indiana) and not Illinois for financial reasons. Using GYY or ENW as home base is quite common for the same reason.

This is very common whenever there is a state line near by and certain advantages reveal themselves. Just like one of my bosses when he talked about the drinking age in home state was 21, but the neighboring state was 18 (all before 21 became nationwide law in 1984).

Also, one of the most successful airplane repo guys, before the TV show existed, is based at GYY. Nick Popovich made a career out of recovering assets from all over the world.

 

I agree with you. I flew with Popovich a couple times LONG ago when check hauling was a big thing. I drove past the airport yesterday, and I saw his sign was gone from the hangar he was leasing. I can't imagine what hangar rents are these days at MDW. Fuel there is absolutely crazy. Rwy 12/30 at GYY was stretched out to 8900ft. from 7000ft. a few years back. UPS runs A320s out of there now. It's changed A LOT since I first worked there in the 70s...good times.

 

Maybe a little long.
Sent to me from a female USAF Col. and met shooting Glocks.

This is a wonderful true story. You will be glad that you read it, and I hope you will pass it on.
It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean.
Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier.
Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp. Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself. The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now.
Everybody's gone, except for a few joggers on the beach. Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts...and his bucket of shrimp.
Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier.
Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, 'Thank you. Thank you.'
In a few short minutes the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn't leave. He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place.
When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.
If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem like 'a funny old duck,' as my dad used to say. Or, to onlookers, he's just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp.
To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem altogether unimportant .....maybe even a lot of nonsense.
Old folks often do strange things, at least in the eyes of Boomers and Millennials.
Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida ... That's too bad. They'd do well to know him better.
His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero in World War I, and then he was in WWII. On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft.
Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger and thirst. By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. No water. They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were or even if they were alive.
Every day across America millions wondered and prayed that Eddie Rickenbacker might somehow be found alive.
The men adrift needed a miracle. That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle.
They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose. Time dragged on. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft...suddenly Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap. It was a seagull!
Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move. With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck. He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal of it - a very slight meal for eight men. Then they used the intestines for bait. With it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait....and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued after 24 days at sea.
Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull... And he never stopped saying, 'Thank you.' That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.

PS: Eddie Rickenbacker was the founder of Eastern Airlines. Before WWI he was race car driver. In WWI he was a pilot and became America's first ace. In WWII he was an instructor and military adviser, and he flew missions with the combat pilots. Eddie Rickenbacker is a true American hero. And now you know another story about the trials and sacrifices that brave men have endured for your freedom.
As you can see, I chose to pass this story along as it was passed to me from my father. It is a great story that many don't know...I think it exemplifies a couple of life's lessons to be remembered. You've got to be careful with old guys, you just never know what they have done during their lifetime. It also speaks to me about how we never know what we adversity we might face, but when we put our talent both mentally and physically together, we can overcome, but we must never forget what we learned and to remember to thank those that helped pull us through even if it was as something seemingly meaningless as a seagull and to pay it forward.

 

An increase in gusts from 20 knots to 80 knots in a 15 minute time span. That makes for some tough landings.
Watch: Jet's tail strikes London runway while attempting to land in ferocious windstorm (foxweather.com)

 

RIP
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a32162223/antonov-225-mriya/


R/C Blackhawk.
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-u...bited-first-autonomous-black-hawk-flight.html

 

Interesting picture. What’s your connection to propilotworld.com and FC?

 

In the latest edition of "supply chain issues.." Oil filters. I decided to order some last week in anticipation of needing an oil change on the Cardinal in the next 20 hours and they are backordered until almost the end of April!

Also, after six weeks of hanging out since I completed my Sovereign type it seems I will be going out to fly on Friday. Time to open the books and see what all I forgot.

 

Got in a mountain wave on the east side of San Francisco Peak (Flagstaff) while doing my IFR training at night when I went to ERAU after shooting approaches into Winslow. We started losing altitude while in supposed level flight in the pitch black and even full power and max AOA we were still descending in the 172SP. Finally popped out of it and climbed back up to a safe altitude. I still don't know how close to the ground we got. Scariest moment my instructor and I had in my time in Prescott.

 

Good friend of mine had aerial photo business and operated a 177RG. I used to fly for him, and he had a camera port installed in the floor for grid mapping. Had some fun, flew the hell out of it before he retired.

 

I loved instructing. Where else can you do a job where your clients will find unique ways to try to kill you every day?

 

Asked my instructor how tf he did it all day.. “cigarettes and alcohol”

 

I love the RG birds. My friend has a 1976 RG with the IO-390 and composite 2-blade prop. That thing is fast! Mine is the fixed gear. Cheaper to insure and operate, and better for unpaved strips