Please. It amazes me that people are willing to endure a 5+ hour flight on a 737. Had to endure that years ago on a flight to Cancun [due to limited overwater capability]. Never again! Same goes for Hawaii.

(Written on 05/05/2023)(Permalink)

I used to fly the SFO-IAD route more often than I liked in the 80's but I thoroughly enjoyed the UA DC-10 with the Deli. CH9 was a bonus. More often than not the flight wasn't full. And oftentimes I swear they had an under the table deal with American who also had a flight at the same time. And mysteriously one or the other would have a "mechanical" and they cancelled the flight and moved all the passengers to the other airline's flight.

(Written on 03/17/2023)(Permalink)

I used to fly the SFO-IAD route more often than I liked in the 80's but I thoroughly enjoyed the UA DC-10 with the Deli. CH9 was a bonus. More often than not the flight wasn't full. And oftentimes I swear they had an under the table deal with American who also had a flight at the same time. And mysteriously one or the other would have a "mechanical" and they cancelled the flight and moved all the passengers to the other airline's flight.

(Written on 03/17/2023)(Permalink)

I can recall many years ago while working on a Marine Corps Air Traffic Control project when I toured the SFO tower. I asked the controller how he managed to space the incoming aircraft [RWYs 28L/R] with the departing aircraft on the intersecting runways [RWYs 1L/R]. It was very scientific. He stood in one particular spot and lined up a seam in the tower's window and if an arriving aircraft hadn't passed that seam he would clear the departing aircraft for takeoff. Of course, he assumed the departing aircraft would commence his roll within a very short time. Otherwise all bets were off.

(Written on 03/03/2023)(Permalink)

Yes, please get rid of those 777-200s with that idiotic front/rear facing configuration in business class. But it still escapes me how people tolerate a 5hr flight on a 737 to Hawaii from the West coast. Back in the day you'd be on a 747 out of SFO.

(Written on 12/16/2022)(Permalink)

Yeah, I was waiting for it too [0:35] since I've flown into SAN countless times. I'm not sure if this is true but years ago I thought I read where the FAA actually made a mistake in their calculations in allowing that structure. Seems that under certain conditions a 747 would clip the edge if all the tolerances went the wrong way.

(Written on 11/25/2022)(Permalink)

I don't know, but it looked like an F-18, not F-16. Twin verts and engines??

(Written on 09/02/2022)(Permalink)

And not to put too fine of a point on it but if you insist on pushing EVs then by all means, use ONLY wind and solar to power them. If not, you are just trying to obfuscate the real source of your energy, which is primarily fossil fuels. I won't even dip into the dilemmas raised by having to resort to exotic materials sourced from not-necessarily reliable, or "clean" regimes to build your systems. Now, if you are willing to discuss nuclear then we have hope for making progress.

(Written on 07/27/2022)(Permalink)

I seem to recall Andrew Hunter in my days with the government. He was one of those democrat congressional staffers big on acquisition reform and later a Rapid Acquisition proponent even though he didn't really have the background, it just sounded good to his bosses I guess. I too managed quite a few large government acquisitions with the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. I was always frustrated by the user community that kept coming to me with "you know, we really need it to do this too, you can add that right?" Yeah, sure, send money and time to renegotiate that Fixed Price contract you signed.

(Written on 07/01/2022)(Permalink)

Yes they do. Back in the late 90's I was Test Director on a USAF program that involved KC-10s. We were in a MOA off the East Coast conducting flight tests that involved 60° banks to certify a particular installation. Sitting right behind the left seat pilot gave me good views of the ocean far below.

(Written on 06/03/2022)(Permalink)