Blog Archives
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Good Goshamighty
- Monday September 18, 2006Boeing has flown the damndest aircraft you’ve ever seen from Taipei to Seattle. Called the Large Cargo Freighter (LCF), the airplane looks like somebody stuck a 747 into a giant hot dog bun. That’s logical enough since it’s an adaptation of the 747-400. It will be used to carry the wings of the new Boeing Dreamliner—expected out in 2008—from the Orient to the USA. Could anybody over 50 possibly look at this behemoth without thinking of the Guppy airplanes of yore? I doubt it. In fact, can anyone who ever saw a Guppy ever forget that unbelievable first impression? I can’t. The Guppy was largely the brainchild of John Conroy and Lee Mansdorf. An extensive modification of another Boeing, the 377... -
Surprise in the Family
- Tuesday September 12, 2006I am amazed. Wife (of 39 years) Gail is the last person I would have suspected. I hear my airline-pilot friends complain about passenger behavior (passengers won't listen, they won't behave, they don't know what they're doing). Usually, I have chalked it up to poor customer service. After all, why should we expect infrequent flyers to know the ropes? I may be forced to change my thinking. This morning (at 6:00, BTW) I took Wife Gail to the airport for her first airline flight since the foiled terrorist plot in London. Last night I suggested she check one bag with everything in it that she could possibly live without for a few hours. Now bear in mind that this is an intelligent woman. She keeps up. She reads. Also, she has... -
What Are They Thinking?
- Monday September 4, 2006Less than a month ago this BLOG reported amazement that the airlines were increasing capacity. We are more amazed today. I just bought a ticket roundtrip from Huntsville, AL—we are not a major hub and have no discount airline service—to fit my schedule, on a legacy carrier, for a grand total (including fees and taxes) of $258.19! I also got a quote from here to Boston and return for an all-up total of $296.60—again, to fit my schedule, on a legacy carrier. (I didn’t buy that one yet. I’m waiting on prices to go down!) Is there any hope for the airline industry? What is their competition? Not driving, that’s for sure. Gas alone on the Phoenix trip would be more than the airline ticket. Gas... -
Black Sunday
- Monday August 28, 2006The safest five-year period in U.S. airline history ended abruptly Sunday morning in Lexington, KY. By now we know the details and several of the theories. It seems to be fact that the Comair flight tried to take off on the wrong (short) runway. The experts are now working to figure out why, and how to make sure it never happens again. I spoke for the International Society of Air Safety Investigators—NTSB is a member—last year, and never met an aviation group that impressed me more. I trust these folks. Accident investigation is something we do well in this country. The truth will out, changes will be made, and airline travel—already the safest means of transportation in the history of the world—will become... -
The Hassle Factor
- Monday August 21, 2006Last week I flew an 864-mile roundtrip on the airlines instead of driving. Wish I had driven. Location, location, and location are the major factors in real estate. For airline travel major factors are hassle, hassle, and hassle, particularly at ATL. Let it be noted that I think the airport management at ATL does a remarkable job of trying to do the impossible. The airport simply has too much traffic. They just opened a new runway (the original estimated cost was $1.2 billion—wonder what it really cost?). Near as I can tell, the new runway just allows them to make even more people miserable. My arrival gate was at the south end of T Concourse, my departure gate at the north end of D. In between were so many people it seemed to... -
The Bogeyman Did It!
- Monday August 14, 2006After a big story like last week’s foiled terrorist plot—which come first, the jokes or the conspiracy theories? I don’t know, but the conspiracy theories do come fast and furious. It’s hard to believe so many theories can come so fast from a plot that failed. The most believable might be the theory that the terrorists planned all along to get caught, because all they want is publicity. I could almost believe that one except for the realities of 9/11, et al. I have heard that it was a plot by Dick Cheney to further his oil interests, but nobody ever explained how that would work. Then others say Cheney was mad because Halliburton didn’t get a certain big contract recently. One pilot told... -
Airlines Increase Capacity
- Tuesday August 8, 2006"Here We Go, ‘Round Again…" Front page, center, USA Today on Tuesday, August 8: "Airlines to add year-end capacity. Fliers could see relief from rising airfares." Lord, Lord. They finally make a profit, after all of the bad years, and the first thing they do is raise capacity (that means adding airplanes, of course)! Who was it who said that the airline industry can’t stand prosperity? The USA Today article states that "decisions to add seats generally reflect greater optimism in the industry about its prospects for making money." Humphf! Does anyone remember what Warren Buffet said about the airlines way back in his annual report to stockholders for 1992? "We have no ability to forecast the economics of the... -
The Worm Turns!
- Monday July 31, 2006How many times have we heard it said of light sport aircraft? "Oh. They might sell a few, but they’ll never have any effect on real aviation." "They’ll never amount to anything on my airport." "I mean, like, for crying out loud, don’t they have snowmobile engines in those things?" The worm has turned. Cessna showed up at Oshkosh last week with an LSA with a Rotax engine. True, it was a "proof-of-concept" airplane. Even if, as seems likely, it goes into production there is no guarantee that the final version will have a Rotax engine. Makes no difference. Cessna—the 800-pound gorilla—has an LSA with a Rotax engine. Cessna is taking LSA seriously. The world will never be the same again. The interesting... -
Honda's Surprise Alliance
- Monday July 24, 2006(NOTE: To see the "update" of 7/25/06, see the comment to this BLOG.) I just received one of the most interesting and well-done press releases I have ever seen. It came from Honda, and it never mentioned a product. A Ms. Alicia Jones of Honda e-mailed this release to invite me to "a major Honda news conference on Tuesday, July 25, 2006, at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis." Furthermore, she said I can attend in person, via webcast or via teleconference. Talk about hype! I wouldn’t miss it for the world. And she never mentioned a product! She never said what it was about at all. Just that it’s "major". Of course we all know—or think we know—what this is all about. It’s certainly no secret that Honda... -
Ask Not For Whom The Bomb Falls—It Falls For Thee!
- Monday July 17, 2006Back in the early 1960s, when the "Cold War" was in full swing, we college boys would sit around, smoke our Kaywoodie pipes (thus demonstrating that we were "cool") and argue about such heady subjects as where the first Soviet bombs would fall. Some said Washington, DC, the seat of guvmint. Others opined it would be the financial center, New York, NY. One of us—I forget who—said it would be the transportation centers, such as Atlanta. If I remember right, we didn’t pay much attention to him. He didn’t even have a Kaywoodie. That was over four decades ago. No nuclear bomb has fallen in anger in the entire world since then, but if that argument arose today, I would pay more attention to the transportation...
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