CommentsDisplaying afroggy's 10 most recent comments.

• Group Films Launch of 200 Paper Planes From Edge of Space

  January 31, 2011 at 8:09pm

  In reply to demsaredumb.

  For KnotACLU,

  Here in the US we do a coordination(s) with the FAA and yes, ingesting a 2X4 at .80 mach ist nicht sehr guht fur das RB211. I don’t know what they do in Germany for coordination with ATC, but I would be very surprised if it wasn’t coordinated. In the US these “unmanned free balloons” need radar reflectors or coatings as well. I don’t think a 2X4 has a significant radar cross section so they must have different rules over there. It’s a big sky, so the odds are with you not hitting it. Actually, the big sky theory seems to protect us more than it hurts us.

• Group Films Launch of 200 Paper Planes From Edge of Space

  January 31, 2011 at 10:36am

  Well, it’s a neat idea. Having been in on the launch of a few high altitude balloons it’s nice to see it being done. I hate to be downer on this, but there is no way that one of those planes could have glided to South Africa or California. That’s a hoax, and a bit too “magical”.

  I suppose it could have happened, but the probability is akin to monkeys flying out of one of my orifices. Considering that it is ~5,600 miles from Germay to California (and much farther than that with a prevailing westerly flow). Run the numbers yourself, and remember that it takes a jet 10+ hours to make the journey at 500+ miles per hour. My guess is that most of them ended up in Germany with a few beyond that. Otherwise, they’d have to show me how the reporting methodology worked to prevent scam reporting. It’s the same for South Africa.

  Still it’s a fun project, and one that I might try since it is so low cost. I wouldn’t let some goofy reports take away from it, though their PR efforts shouldn’t have mentioned the outlier results.

• Colorado Student Pays $14,309.51 Tuition Bill One Dollar at a Time

  January 17, 2011 at 3:18am

  In reply to TruthTalker.

  No Way!!

  Some journalist got “buffaloed” on this one.

  According to this,

  http://www.colorado.edu/bursar/lib/pdf/ugres10-11.pdf

  I don’t see how tuition would come to over $14,000. Maybe, if you add in food & housing and a lot of other fees (health insurance) it might come up into that range. But that figure is way too high for just tuition. Look at the official “swindle sheet” and tell us what you come up with. Sounds like it’s just another example of some low brow journalist that either busted out of dumbbell math as an undergraduate, or just never bothered to confirm his/her story. It was the New York Times, so I’m leaning towards both probabilities.

• Compassionate Pilot Delays Flight For Grieving Grandfather

  January 14, 2011 at 5:06pm

  In reply to expatinontariocanada.

  This is not an uncommon occurence. It happens all of the time in the airline industry. What is different about Southwest is that they have a truly wonderful PR department that feeds these human interest stories to the press. That is where the greatest difference is. This is a admirable way to do business. SW gains stature, and no one really loses in the transaction. Twelve minutes on a TUS-DEN can be compensated for enroute, and no doubt it was. Those tricks are what pilots are paid to accomplish.

  Other carriers do this sort of thing all of the time (30 years of experience in the “pointy end” on this one). Most folks in the industry view this as common behavior. It is NOT unusual, but it is certainly commendable when it is done by any carrier. It is unfortunate that other airlines put less emphasis on “tooting their own horn”, but that is their loss and Southwest’s gain.

• AP EXCLUSIVE: Pilot Duped AMA With Fake M.D. Claim

  December 13, 2010 at 1:25pm

  In reply to sWampy.

  “Good for him, the education system in is a load of crap”

  I would prefer that a doctor is a “real doctor”. I’m just funny that way.

  I’ll see if you whistle this tune just before your first cardiac bypass operation.

• AP EXCLUSIVE: Pilot Duped AMA With Fake M.D. Claim

  December 13, 2010 at 1:22pm

  In reply to PatriotDaze.

  Snork!!

  You’re quite correct. An MD can only kill one at a time. A fake airline pilot has far more potential. ;-)

• AP EXCLUSIVE: Pilot Duped AMA With Fake M.D. Claim

  December 13, 2010 at 1:20pm

  In reply to ahough.

  As I recall, those retirement benefits went south some years ago. There still a cursory retirement, but nothing even close to what the “brain surgeons” used to be able to retire on.

• AP EXCLUSIVE: Pilot Duped AMA With Fake M.D. Claim

  December 13, 2010 at 1:26am

  In reply to Chett.

  ” I think it speaks to a over amount of trust we put in degrees.”

  So how would we address this…..person?

  Dr. Captain Hamman MD, ATP, ASMEL, LSMFT……..? Eventually these titles become comic. Of course, he isn‘t many of these anymore because he’s unemployed!

  I agree with you to an extent. My thought is that even professionals are quick to seize on a title to establish credibility. It makes it easier to pigeonhole the person. However, as soon as you know how the guy operates, you can form your own opinion of his credibility. Sounds like this yahoo was a “helicopter specialist” (drops in for the day and gone by dinner time).

  As I learned in grad school, anyone is an expert when they’re 40 miles from home. This guy just proves it, and he ain’t the only charlatan out there.

• DA: Teen Found Near Boston Likely Fell From Plane

  December 11, 2010 at 3:42pm

  In reply to afroggy.

  Dear Loveoursoldiers,

  “what? as a pilot you know if someone is in the wheelwell?”

  Indeed, you might know this as a pilot. On some Boeings (I seemed to have driven them mostly), there are wheelwell viewing ports located at the overwing section in the pax cabin. As a passenger, you would not know where they are, but we do. In the event that the cockpit indication of the gear position is unavailable (defective gear indicators), the position of the gear can be ascertained by removing the carpet and port covers in the floor at those locations. Looking through a window in the floor, and through the use of strategically placed mirrors within the wheelwell, one can view the necessary indicators direcly in the wheelwell environment. I never had to do this during my career, but it is always available had we needed to confirm main gear position.

  Of course, there are other things that can be seen in the wheel well through this system. I shall leave it to your imagination as to what that might be. Also, if the “foreign object” in the wheel well is not completely clear of the gear as it is retracting there may be a cockpit indication that the gear is “in transit” when it should be fully retracted. Consider that as well.

  The old joke was that if you ever have to view the gear directly, and you are questioned by an astounded passenger as to what you are looking for through the floor, the proper answer is, “Rats”.

  Thus, there are a couple of methodologies that might indicate an additional fellow traveller is aboard. As a pilot, you might know about it. You might not. It just depends depends on what cues may become available to you in the cockpit.

• DA: Teen Found Near Boston Likely Fell From Plane

  December 11, 2010 at 1:50am

  1,
  “a member of the ROTC (intelligent) actually thought he could survive stowing away in a wheel well of a plane? Doubt it.”

  I certainly don’t. Primarily because I’ve known too many ROTC kids. Don‘t think I’m picking on them though, as I don’t put them any higher, or lower, than any other college student when it comes to intelligence. Ask folks that have been through ROTC about that.

  As to the probability that he was actually in a wheel well, it happens very commonly. Granted, a person has to be suicidal or stupid to attempt it, but ROTC does not make you immune to either of those diseases. That was demonstrated by the AF A-10 driver out of AZ that decided to “disappear” and ended his life by trying to tunnel through the top of a mountain in CO. The A-10 is tough, but not that tough. Military or not, there are certain laws of physics and biology that cannot be violated.

  As I stated previously on this story, I never swung my gear on someone in the wheel well that I knew about, but I know those that have.