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It's like a bank robber complaining that the cops drove the wrong way on a one-way street on the way to arrest him. Some of these people either are defrauding the Government (e.g., getting paid for a disability that doesn't actually disable them) or committing perjury (lying on their medical...

I find MMO keeps the elephants from my hangar. Good enough for me! :) Actually, my first A&P in the Fly Baby world had gotten his start at Northwest Airlines, keeping the Constellations flying. He recommended MMO in the Fly Baby, and I've been using it since. Ron Wanttaja

Can't afford that...does that mean I can't live anymore? But if you're asking if $10.7 million in OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY to save my life is worth it, then the answer is a resounding "yes." Kinda like how I was forced to put a quarter of the value of my plane into equipment that makes other...

I've heard (and would be interested in any reference to confirm) that when medical requirement were instituted by the Department of Commerce in the '20s and '30s, the purpose was to identify pilots who would be medically fit to become Army or Navy pilots in a national emergency. Made sense in...

Having floats <> Being able to land anywhere on the water. Floats lets planes land in relatively calm waters like lakes and bays. They aren't really suitable for open-ocean landings, depending on the wave heights. Even the big flying boats generally didn't land in open waters; some examples...

NOT about 100 LL (low lead), which wasn't introduced until 30 years later....just plain 'ol 100 octane fuel. Lest we forget Jimmy Doolittle's role in this... https://www.shell.com/business-customers/aviation/100years/more-uptime/high-octane.html Ron Wanttaja

Sorry, but this a classic example of "Correlation does not equal Causation." You could use the same plot as an explanation on why "Saturday Night Live" is not as funny as it used to be. Regulations had some to do with the rise in costs, but a good bit of the new regulations were due to the...

In my opinion, it wasn't regulations that brought about the demise of General Aviation, but Dwight David Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter. Before Ike, the US was connected by a series of two-lane roads. The roads went through every town on the way, slowing one down. Often, they were unpaved, which...

Believe that was a bit of scene dressing from the "Rocketeer" movie. As long as we're talking fake flying machines ending in "...eer...." Ron Wanttaja

Coincidentally, I visited an EAA chapter today where a member described his laser incident. He was flying solo at pattern altitude at night when he got hit. He completely lost his night vision. Could only see the brightest objects on the ground, and couldn't see his own panel. He managed to...

Squareplane? Ron Wanttaja

Ron Wanttaja

News tonight quoting government sources stating it had propellers and a rudder. News tonight also said the balloon was 200 feet across. That's a flat-plate area of 31,000 square feet. That's the equivalent of approximately 175 feet square. Would'a need some really good motors and...

Then again, "Airship" could just be a translation issue. Perhaps "balloon" in Chinese implies a children's toy. Seems like propulsion would be difficult with a spherical balloon. The pictures show no streamlining, no fins. Santos-Dumont figured that out 120 years ago. Totally asymmetrical...

Can you point me to a source on this? I've seen it in other places (e.g., Ward Carroll) and would like to see the original Government statement on it. They're basically saying it's a blimp, not a free balloon, and it doesn't have the the physical characteristics of one. Just the envelope...

This is the first time I've seen a claim that the balloon has propulsion, and I'm a bit skeptical. Assuming the picture making the rounds is the actual balloon, it would be tough to make a usable propulsion system. That balloon is massive, and it would take a lot of power to counteract even...

Real pilots never miss a piece of tail. Ron Wanttaja

Paying about $650 a month at an airport just south of Seattle. Twin-sized hangar (got my old pickup in it as well as a ton of airplane tools and supplies) just seven minutes from my house. Current wait for a hangar at my airport is five years. Ron

A long time ago, Jay Leno on the Tonight Show pitted two telegraphers against two teenagers with text messaging on their phones, to determine which method was faster. The Morse guys wiped the floor with them. Ron "ditditdit dahdahdah dahditditdit" Wanttaja

Hogmanay. May your first foot be dark. Ron Wanttaja