Cheerful Curmudgeon

Woo hoo! This afternoon, I passed my glider pilot checkride in N5751S, a Schweizer 2-33A! I am now officially allowed to fly airplanes with either one or zero engines.

I owe it all to the Silver Creek Glider Club and the good folks there.

For a change, American Airlines is making a good business decision. Instead of whining about how it cannot run profitably, it is doing something about its bottom line: raising its prices. There has been lots of news coverage about the $15 fee which American Airlines is charging for the first piece of checked luggage. Good for them. It’s not personal; it’s just business.

When a business is losing money, as most airlines are doing, the business gets to do at least one of a very few things:

1. Increase revenue
2. Reduce costs

The airlines have reduced costs, sometimes admirably and sometimes ruthlessly, to such an extent that anything even vaguely resembling customer service has largely vanished from the entire industry. Everyone I know who flies commercial airlines dreads the experience.

For the last several years, the airlines have been trying to increase revenue by a) waging a price war and hoping to make up the difference in volume of tickets, and b) pleading with the US government for more tax relief. With luck, yesterday’s announcement marks the beginning of a new airline industry phase, one in which the airlines charge enough for their products that they can

• safely transport passengers,
• in comfort,
• while fairly compensating their employees.

Yes, it can be done and charging a fair price for the product delivered is a key piece of the puzzle. Here’s hoping that they improve product quality while raising prices. It’s about time.

Now I’ll readily admit that I’m no expert in windsocks. I’ve seen my share but never paid ‘em much mind. I’ve certainly never delved into the technology which makes ‘em work. Obviously, I have ignored somethin’ which ought not be ignored.

I just read this NOTAM:

Trenton NJ (Trenton Mercer) [TTN]: May NOTAM #5
Aerodrome 16/34 WINDSOCK out of service between taxiway A, H

Obviously, a WINDSOCK ain’t just a sock, whippin’ about in the wind. Obviously, a WINDSOCK’s got some high fallutin’ technology which can either work or be “out of service.”

Well now. I guess I done learned somethin’ tonight.

Here is a little bit of just “plane” fun to brighten your Monday. Watch Boeing build a new 777 in just four minutes.

The Silvercreek Glider Club returned to the battlefield on the Saturday after Halloween to make another attack on a target in the middle of a farm field. The weapon of choice: pumpkins!

You have to hear it to believe the noise a pumpkin makes when it hits the ground after falling 1,000 feet. Twenty-two intrepid bombardiers let fly a veritable hailstorm of gourds (“pumpkin sized” hail?) on the inanimate target, alliteratively quaking in its boots, though it lacked boots, feet, and even legs. For three hours the skies echoed the silent swish of the Schweizer 2-33A glider, making attack run after attack run on the drop zone.

When all was said and done, when the terrible destructive forces had run their courses (which would all be downward, since none of the pumpkins had been equipped with either engines or guidance fins), when the tow plane’s engine sputtered anthropomorphically into relieved quietude, it turned out that, again this year as in most years past, the safest place to stand would have been directly on top of the target.

That’s me in the 2-33 taking my “best shot.” Click the picture to see more photos of the grand event, including an exquisite shot of our custom ordnance.

On a more serious note, I also took “Kermit” up for a flight. Kermit is a Schweizer 1-26 single seat glider and much more responsive and fun to fly that the 2-33. I realized as I was strapping in for my first take-off that this was the first time I had ever flown a single seat airplane.

See how serious that was? Did you ever think you would see a lime green airplane?

That last chapter in our vacation saga is, unsurprisingly, the trip home. I had spent much of this vacation looking for ways to extend it indefinitely and, as had happened during all such prior investigations, I failed to discover the necessary magic incantation. As a brief aside: I am available to be adopted by the right set of parents who are willing to support me in the style to which I want to become accustomed. Read the rest of this entry »

Check out Keith Breazeal’s video of an F-22 Raptor flying in Sacramento, CA. Along with beautiful photography, he includes an interview with the pilot. Major Paul “Max” Moga explains what he and the plane are doing moment by moment through the entire airshow routine.

Awesome!

1. I am the plane that brought you out of the clouds and storms. You shall have no other plane but me.
2. Thou shalt not idolize any plane with the “wings on top.”
3. Remember the EAA breakfast and keep it holy.
4. Honor thy flight instructor.
5. Thou shalt not take the FAA in vain.
6. Thou shalt not crash.
7. Thou shalt not buzz the tower.
8. Thou shalt not siphon thy neighbor’s fuel.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s airplane.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s hanger.

The first chapter of this travelogue takes us from St. Louis, MO to Jackson Hole, WY. Click on through for pictures and narration. Read the rest of this entry »

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children’s children.May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

I hope it is not disingenuous to wish ourselves this Irish blessing but I am doing it anyway. We leave in a few minutes for another grand, cross country adventure with our airplane. This time we are headed to the Tetons for some much needed R&R, followed by a couple of days of business in Lost Wages Las Vegas.

Once before, I flew across the Rockie mountains, but that trip hardly counts because I crossed where they are “low.” In 1988, I flew my Piper Archer from Long Beach, CA, to Manchester, NH. I crossed at the south end of the range, between Phoenix and Albuquerque. This time, we are going into the high country and I am looking for gorgeous photos.

As a flatlander, this is an exciting trip. For a change, the road is, literally, rising up to meet us.

Today is the longest day of the trip, seven hours in the air, nine hours total with two fuel/food/rest stops. We will end in Lander, WY, nestled up against this side of the Wind River range of the Rockies.

Tomorrow morning, we should have a beautiful flight up into Jackson Hole with the sun lighting the eastern face of the Tetons.