irrational fear of flying

[bigbill]

I watched my son fly today. It was emotional for me when he took off and flew south to Artesia for a series of touch-and-go. I tracked him on an app and counted 12 passes before he headed back to Roswell. In Roswell, we were in a good spot to see him fly over the runway and break 180 degrees, fly the downwind leg, lower his landing gear, and make a nice landing. I've got pictures but I'm waiting on his approval before I share. He should solo in about 12 days.

[Mabouya]

I've got pictures but I'm waiting on his approval before I share.

Bill, I spoke to him, and he said it was OK, so I'm going to go ahead and post one: ; )

[rwsaunders]

Another laptop battery fire on a plane, diverting an LAX-PIT flight to ABQ. There was smoke in the cabin and a passenger was burned trying to stomp out the fire. Masks didn’t deploy in the passenger area, as I understand that the masks only deploy in a pressure loss situation, but the pilot/FO were wearing smoke hoods. From a quick search, this looks to be occurring often enough to be rather frightening

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/352137

https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/frig...I55I3PA4KRXG4/

https://www.dailybreeze.com/2023/02/...of-california/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzanne...h=e3b3ed4bb04b

[j44ke]

Once the plane reaches 16,000 feet the door will blow off and then the masks will deploy.

[72gmc]

Worth watching (as American Experience tends to be): https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexp...s/fly-with-me/

[thollandpe]

Pilatus is a great aircraft. The PC-6 Porter is one of the ugliest (in detail) but most beautiful (in function) aircraft ever.

Boeing, sadly, is no longer a great aircraft company. As a third generation aerospace engineer who worked (but no longer works) on aircraft, I hope this situation is not terminal. Boeing deserves better than its recent management. This a brutal assessment, but damn it seems to hit the mark.



Warning: video includes description of incest, dromedary porn, and unearned shareholder value.

[bigbill]

I'll work on the pictures. We just got home from the ten-hour drive from Roswell, NM, to Hackberry, AZ. This morning, he was driving the truck with the landing lights down to Artesia as the "gear down" observer for touch and go. If they're approaching the runway with gear up, he gets on the radio and says, "Wave off, wave off, wave off," and turns on the red lights. Everyone takes a turn having that job. I remember when I was stationed in Norfolk, we'd go cycling around Pungo, and there were some outlying fields the Navy used for carrier approach touch and goes. A pilot did a gear-up touch and go a Tomcat, somehow got it back in the air, and returned to Oceana for an emergency landing. It's probably a career move.