There is a difference between stupid and uneducated. I am uneducated about a lot of things and people educated in those areas can help me learn. I know that a tomato is a fruit but I don't put it in a fruit salad; the person who titled the article may (1) just have been uneducated or (2) knew that Boeing has been in the news a lot recently and having "Boeing" in the title would be a good 'hook' to get people to read the article, and that's his/her job.

(Written on 26-02-2021)(Permalink)

If memory serves, American Airlines had a DC-10 cargo door open over Windsor, Ontario, and lost a casket of human remains which, to my knowledge, has never been found. Turkish Airlines also had a cargo door open on a flight to Paris and unfortunately that resulted in a multiple fatality crash.

(Written on 19-02-2021)(Permalink)

Question: Are you any relation to one of the greats, Bob Buck? I flew with him at TWA.

(Written on 27-11-2020)(Permalink)

So what? I don't like stopping at red lights or (often) staying below a speed limit, both of which are government mandated, but I do like the rules for pure milk, which is also a set of government mandates. This whole mask thing is a tempest in teapot and an excuse for bratty behavior by a few people. Follow the rules, or go to the ballot box and vote in people who will put in place the rules you want.

(Written on 30-10-2020)(Permalink)

The issue goes beyond masks or not. If the airline says "that's our rule" then the passenger is obligated to follow the rule or not fly, even if the passenger thinks the rule is stupid. Airlines are generally interested in acting in what they think is the best interest of both their companies and their customers and following the law/regulations in all its forms, because it serves them to do so. I, as a passenger, am not interested in flying with a passenger who intentionally flouts any rule, no matter how stupid they might think the rule is. If an airline has a potential passenger who has stated or acted in a way that ignores a rule, the they have every right, and even duty, to refuse them carriage. One might think that it's "my right" to carry a loaded firearm on board, but most people don't think so, and those who do simply are prevented from flying, as they should be.

(Written on 30-10-2020)(Permalink)

While the timing may not appear to us mere mortals to be bad, it's pretty hard to argue with David Neeleman's record for success in the industry. Perhaps he sees opportunities we don't.

(Written on 30-10-2020)(Permalink)

I worked for TWA in the early days of the 747. Two of our stations, LAX and SFO, both had over-the-wing Jetways, to enable two-door boarding/deplaning, something everyone thought would be needed, given the pax load of a 747. The agents, even experienced Jetway drivers, were very concerned about making a driving mistake with bridge and damaging the airplane. The mating section of the bridge was cantilevered out over the wing and the physics meant that the end of the Jetway would move around, a lot, until mated with the fuselage. Eventually, with all factors considered, we decided that single door boarding/deplaning would suffice. The otw at SFO ended up as a storage area for office supplies.

(Written on 11-09-2020)(Permalink)

Like the Bible, NEJM can be misinterpreted by those who start with a foregone conclusion. NEJM says that masks don't protect the WEARER, and virtually any person knowledgeable in the subject will tell you that. They're not intended to protect the wearer, they're intended to protect the community at large FROM the wearer, and if everyone wears a mask, whether or not they are symptomatic, the risk to the world at large is thus minimized. That assumes, of course, that one cares about anyone else.

(Written on 11-09-2020)(Permalink)

Further, as it happens, I understand the frequency of the precession was a harmonic of the wing's natural frequency and therefore amplified the forces until structural failure. I've got about 1,500 hours in the P-3A and B, and so had a keen interest in what happened. I always found it to be a great airplane, with exception of its pitch stability due to the Navy's reduction in fuselage length (we had noticable problems with airsickness, since the operating crew sat sideways) and its stiff landing gear, which made it a challenge to land smoothly.

(Written on 22-08-2020)(Permalink)

Question: Isn't it precession? As in the propeller "disk" began to precess, like a toy gyroscope precessing as it slows down?

(Written on 22-08-2020)(Permalink)