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one of these things is not like the other

Someone in this picture doesnt belong. Can you guess who it is?

I'll be back later with the whole story.

UPDATE: When the "Uniform of the day" is "Blue Dress A", you dont show up in badly pressed "Blue Dress C".

The character in the khaki uniform is indeed 59-year-old Reggie L. Buddle of Puyallup Washington. Convicted of his crime of unlawful wearing of U.S. military medals and decorations, Mr. Buddle will now attend to the graves of those who died in the service of the country.

Interestly enough, Mr. Buddle previously and quite legitimately served honorably in the U.S. Army.

The story is interesting to me on many levels. I am continually astounded by the desire of the human psyche to protect itself from shame, even if it means acting absolutely shameful in the process. It appears to me that Mr. Buddle had a hole in his soul that he wished to fill with a lie. It started small, someone asked him if he was a Marine, and instead of saying no, he said yes. It wasnt much, but it started the ball rolling and once it got started, it just kept going. For the microsecond of standing on a peak of pride by saying "Why yes maam, I am a Marine!" he went on to create a deep crater for himself and his life, which no amount of good work will ever fill. He could develop a cure of AIDS, and people would still talk about how he "...pretended to be a Marine".

There are some sentences for some crimes which can never be satisified even when the debt is fully paid. That is the nature of shame, that is why Lady Macbeth went mad while slowly washing her hands of blood that wasn't there. Sure, you couldnt see any blood on her hands, but she could and always would, and that was all that mattered.

I run into people all the time who try to be more than they are and for some reason, fake military experince is one of the most common versions of an "glorious invented past" that I've come across. I once was entertained by a date of a friend who was trying to pass himself off as a "Former Navy SEAL" who seemed quite ignorant of the most rudimentary facts about the well known layout of San Diego Harbor and its environs; including his colorful description of the water temperature as "almost tropical, so it really wasnt so bad!"

Now, I'm not a SEAL and never wanted to be one. I know precious little about what goes on there, but I do know that Basic Underwater Demolition Training takes place in San Diego and I also know from my own experience as a Californian that the water temperature in San Diego harbor is defintely - not tropical.

To say such obvious and silly things almost speaks to a desire of the individual to actually be caught and exposed as a fraud, as if thats their actual goal. Just like forgetting to ask a simple, routine thing like "What's the Uniform of the Day, Dress A? " for the event you are attending, is another form of a not to subtle "tell" that gives away your hand.

For the life of me, I can't understand what drives someone to feel that bad about themselves that they would willingly expose themselves to such ridicule. For what purpose? To hide what? For Lady Macbeth, it was obvious; guilt and shame at having bumped off Duncan and a host of others; for people like Mr. Buddle, well, I just dont get it.

What other people think of you means nothing if you know ( and you do know ) that you are in fact, a fraud. You can put on all the medals you want, you can wear all the right uniforms, but you will always know what a total fraud you are, and that sort of deep seated fear and flopsweat can be smelled through 6 inches of bulletproof glass across an empty auditorium. You will be exposed, its just a matter of time. You're not hiding anything from anyone for very long; it's really just a form of "soul suicide" to pretend otherwise.

I wonder if this need for pretense is what drives actors to do what they do; to hide themselves within the lives of others to help fill the hole in their own souls.

But I don't get it. I really, really don't.

Posted @ July 31, 2007 07:59 AM | Comments (3)

iiiieeeee! Get back everyone, grandpas off his meds!

Thorozine? Gee Dr. "Baby Boomer", It's a little fast to go right the the major Class A felony pharmaceuticals right off the bat, dontcha think? Why not just give back the TV remote and get out of his chair like hes been asking you do to for the last 30 minutes?

Gosh, no wonder the old mans angry, he repeatedly asks you not to sit in his chair or turn the tv channel, you insist on doing so, he communicates in the old school way and the next thing you know, its a side order of horse traquilizers with his cream-o-wheat.

Senile? Are you sure? look, the man managed to dress and both tie and wear a tie. A judging by that backhand, he looks like he's ready to throw down with the spartans. Pissed off, yes, but senile? I think you might be projecting a bit there Mr. "Madison Ave.".

You realize of course, that this man is probably only 60 years old...

( more "Creepy Ads From The Past" can be found here)

Posted @ July 30, 2007 05:52 PM | History file | Comments (0)

Mojave Explosion: Follow up

In total, Three men died in the accident:

Charles “Glen” May, 45
Eric Blackwell, 38
Todd Ivens, 33 died that later in the evening.

Several other employees remain hospitalized in Bakersfield, CA.

I consider the efforts towards private enterprise in space an essential part of the growth of the species. This was not something specific for space travel, it was a very serious industrial accident and rest assured that in every industry that pushes the envelope of human performance, people will probably die in that effort.

Before we start to think of the impact to ourselves, its worth taking a moment to just stand in recognition of the loss of these men. They had a choice in where they worked and what they did. As a result of a flaw or a mistake, a loose conspiracy of simple errors that spun together into a web of catastrophe; these men died.

The safe jobs were always open to them the schoool librarian, the store clerk or perhaps just maybe instead of those safe things, work with something that has never been done before. Many of us choose the former, but our lives are better because a small number of men and women who choose the latter.

They chose do do this work, this effort of "pushing the envelope" and because they made that decision, we live in a better world for it.

The human race and civilization itself depends on people who chose not to do the careful and safe thing; to go on living behind the safety that has been provided in the past by the pioneering efforts of others; it depends on those who choose against all logic to work on the frontier, choose to hack a new path out of the dark woods and make the lands on the far horizon accessible to the rest of us.

If you would like to help their families, please feel free to donate to the following location:

Scaled Family Support Fund
c/o Scaled Composites
1624 Flight Line
Mojave, CA. 93501
Acct # 04157-66832

Wire transfer ABA Routing #1220-0066-1

Please make checks payable to the account number or to the name of the fund.

He knew that we gave constant lip service to the dictates of safety and howled like Christians condemned to the arena if any compromise were made of it. He knew we were seekers after ease, suspicious, egotistic, and stubborn to a fault. He also knew that none of us would have continued our careers unless we had always been, and still were, helpless before this opportunity to take a chance.
— Ernest K. Gann

Posted @ July 29, 2007 05:25 PM | Aviation | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Mojave Explosion

Scaled Composites: SpaceShipTwo(from astronautics.com)

Word from afar is that there has been an explosion that has killed two people in Mojave and that it involves Scaled Composites.

Speculation is that the explosion involves the N20 tank.

for a detailed view of this, click here.

At this point we don't know who, what or how, all we know is two people are dead at this point.

Rand Simberg is running updates every few minutes as information arrives. He is the go to guy for this material.

It comes as a surprise to me, but Scaled had its own internal Rocket Propulsion Team for SS2, and at the moment it appears that it would be members of the Scaled team who were killed in the accident. For SpaceShipOne, this critical component was subcontracted. I do not know the reason (design?, cost? control? speed of implementation? proprietary fears? )for the decision to take this work internal.

UPDATE: confirmed, its Scaled Team members who have been killed:

From ABCNEWS.com
"Aerospace designer Burt Rutan, who heads Scaled, was away at the time. He sounded distraught in a phone call with The Associated Press as he was en route to the scene. "We've lost a couple of our employees. It's a very big deal," Rutan said."

Update II: via CNN.com

"Rutan told CNN he was not at the spaceport at the time of the explosion, which he said happened during a "cold fire test".

Posted @ July 26, 2007 07:43 PM | Aviation | Comments (1)

Coming up next, The Boeing 797?

Boeing has restarted its prototype testing of the X-48b ( a scale model of the BWB design, pictured above ) in Mojave. Full story can be found here.

So, its still about 10 years off, but you'd be surprised how fast 10 years goes by in "design and engineering" time.

In depth coverage of the advent of the BWB design can be found here.

I'm very happy to see this design move forward. I was unhappy with Boeing for backing away from this in the 90's because I was still thinking in terms of competition from Airbus with the A380. I think this design is the way to go, but I can see now why they needed to do the 787 first before moving into the BWB. The BWB design is heavily dependent on new manufactuing techniques with composite materials. The 787 and its radical new approach in both materials and assembly will make the construction of the BWB all that much easier because of the experience gained with these new materials and systems.

Then again, Norman Bel Geddes can take heart that his 1929 idea for aircraft design:

Norman Bel Geddes - Airliner #4.

is finally starting to take shape.

Posted @ July 26, 2007 08:51 AM | Aviation | Comments (0)

And now for a moment of clarity

Now children, wasn't that refreshing?

(When things go bad, they always call for the sonsabitches - Admiral Ernest J. King)

Posted @ July 25, 2007 02:51 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Iraq: Better than Vietnam!

In Soccer, that is...

Lesson #1: It doesnt matter whats going on in your country, there always time for soccer.

Lesson #2: "Charlie Dont Surf?" Well apparently he doesnt block or run with the ball very well either.

Lesson #3: How's that Taliban team doing in the cup this year?

Lesson #4: We left Vietnam years ago, so why isnt it paradise yet?

I wonder why theres no exhibition game between Iraqi players and American teams?(ans: we would get our ass stomped thats why, but it might be good for Iraqi national morale...)

You know, It's funny how much more motivated the Iraqi players are, now that they don't live under the constant threat of dismemberment at the hands in the Husseini crime family.

Posted @ July 25, 2007 08:22 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)

Forced Perspective

Back when paved roads were new and travel by car across the country was a spectacular adventure, various organizations printed detailed maps and travel guides to assist the driver in his quest.

One such guide was the Mohawk-Hobbs Travel Guide. This guide provides the intricate details of the "Victory Highway" which is today known as Highway 80. This highway crosses the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Nevada and Utah deserts and cross the rockies into the great plains.

The guide,(available online here) is an interesting read for anyone who has ever made the trip across country by car. It gives you a perspetive that has been lost on the nature of the people living at the time.

It must've been something to see that road back in the day. All two lanes and gravel shoulders, no signs, snowplows, tow trucks, buses to casinos or a McDonalds every 10 miles. Every town different from the next, every garage noted with detail for the help they could provide that you would most surely need. Those of you who tinker with old cars and say nostalgically that "They dont make them like that anymore!" rarely hear the answer from those of us who have sat beside the road with the said same "they dont make them like that " car rendered useless because of some mechanical oversight, often at the worst possible time in the worst possible conditions;

"And Thank God for THAT!"

I dont hold much nostalgia for cars of the past. I like the way they looked, but the idea of going back to an era of "points, plugs and condensers" every 3,000 miles vs. electronic ignition, compression ratios and maintenance schedules of the modern engine and I'll take todays engines any day of the week against anything produced in the past.

Travel guides are relics of the past. Today you zoom along at 80+ miles an hour in air conditioned comfort, listening to hours of MP3's or satellite radio under the watchful guidance of GPS, telling you of every gas station, restaurant along the way, all the while knowing that if anything were to wrong the Cellphone is there to help you out of your trouble. A written guide telling you theres a mechanic in the next town? ("just one"? you say.) Whats the sense? every town is the same as the next, there's the McDonalds, the gas station on every corner, the Wal-Mart and so on. You drive on radial tires that go 40,000 miles betweeen replacement, a feat in the old days of "re-cap" tires was simply unheard of. You have no idea what "vulcanization" is much less understand why the Mohawk-Hobbs guide tells you if there is someone who can do it in every town along the way. "It must be important" you say, but its lost on you as to what it is or why they cared so much about it.

Occasionally today you see the past expressed along the side of the road with a the sign that stares back at you like a mute ghost baring silent testimony to a world that no longer exists. For example, the sign "RADIATOR WATER" as you drive up the Grapevine from the valley floor up Tejon pass on California I-5 harkens back to a time before pressurized radiators, when any water would do and to car engines that had barely enough power to pull the bulk of the cars of that age, over that pass.( again, look great, generally drove like hell, no power steering, no power brakes, and ahem... no power!)

Today, even the smallest economy car flies right over the pass with nary a thought of the regular travails of those who stood at the side of the road, radiator cap in hand, to a fountain of hot steam being ejected from a too small radiator, temporarily scalded and stranded there on the roadside on the way to the promised land that was just over "the hill".

Every time I go over the Grapevine, I'm painfully aware of what it means. I smile as a fly over at 80 miles an hour with the engine temperature not even taking notice. The "RADIATOR WATER" sign passing on my right, marking the base camp on so many earlier summits of the great pass. I usually see someone in the side of the road, filling their late model beater car with water and I always say a quiet prayer for the poor bastards trying to force the last bit of work from the old piece of detroit iron. Another alumni from the school of "been there done that" trying to make do with what they have.

Deep from within the Mohawk-Hobbs travel guide for the old "Victory Highway", (printed between 1926 and 1936), I noticed the following entry for the road between Golden Colorado and Denver:

U.S. Veterans' Hospital. used mostly for gassed soldiers of the World War; about 4,000 patients. The largest of its kind in the country.

A simple entry. They might as well be describing the existence of the local Wal-Mart. There was no cure for victims of poison gas. This was, sadly, not much more than a warehouse for men to live out their days in some level of dignity that would be unattainable anywhere else. What stuck me most of all with this, is the mundane nature of the entry. From the perspective of their time, this was to be expected and was routine; it was simply a part of life, worth comment as an "aid to navigation" for the travelling public, but no emotional reaction was necessary or expected.

From my modern eyes and sensibilities, its evidence of a horror. The certain horror of mechanized industrial war.

Somewhere along a very rudimentary two lane road that streched from coast to coast called the "Victory Highway", thus named to denote a War fought far away, stood a Veterans Hospital. Built at a time when the surrounding community had less than 1,000 people, what was then known as Hospital 21 and later as Fitzsimons medical center.

Today, the facility is closed, its original use as a tuberculosis ward and a warehouse for men injured by the horror of poision gas, is thankfully, no longer necessary. Aurora Colorado is now a large population center with several hundred thousand people living in the area. The "two lane road" is now a true highway eight lanes across and all concrete, well marked and kept clear of snow all year long, and never smaller than two lanes in each direction across all three thousand miles of it.

None dare breathe the word "Victory" in the modern world, lest they be mocked by the intelligencia as nothing more than a country bumpkin. Might as well revert to its original Greek term "Nike" for all the use we give it.

Poison gas attacks and the victims they produce, seem to be made of the sticky web like threads of a bad dream. People tell you that such horrors exist, but you yourself have never seen anyone, much less ever known of anyone who experienced such a thing. The men who were once warehoused in this facility who were victims of poison gas attacks in the "World War", and the families who knew them, have all long since passed. Since their entry into the facility, no fewer than four major wars have occured with wounded far in excess of the 4,000 that were once housed here for one unique type of wound.

Weaponized Poison Gas. Once upon a time in the not too distant past there was a large government run hospital in far off Colorado, dedicated just for living victims of this terror. The dead of course, stayed in France; about 85,000 of them. Today, the area is probably on its way to becoming an IKEA where crappy swedish furniture made from sawdust and formadelhyde can be sold on the cheap. The history of the hospital and the lives and experiences of the men who once lived there, lost under the trolley wheels of so many shopping carts.

When I look back at history, I'm never quite too sure if we've come a long way, or if we have a long way to go. I suppose it all depends on your perspective, whether you are stranded on the side of the road, radiator cap in hand or zooming by at 80 miles an hour, whether you are a witness yourself to poison gas attacks and the effects that they cause or if you have no idea what that phrase really means.

The century which started with such promise, was in fact one long war, with an occasional armistice seemingly given only for the convienence of the combatants to reload their weapons. Peace, what there was of it, came only at the end of the century with the brevity and meaning of an afternoons daydream.

With the turn of the century came a new war, and with it a new perspective but a perspective forced from a view made without the council of those who faced the horrors of the past, like a driver broke down on the side of the road, stuck wondering and not really knowing if its going to be ok to take the radiator cap off the hot engine or not.

With that generations passage, the generation that knew trench warfare and "no mans land" and yes, "poison gas attacks" came the curse of ignorance to which we are in some ways, still afflicted. With that generations passage went the sure knowlege that comes from witnessing the horror of war to be replaced with the air conditioned comfort of ignorance.

Posted @ July 23, 2007 10:26 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)

How "airplane people" see the world

Tom Cruise as "Count von Stauffenberg", from his new film "Valkyrie"

Normal people: Hey look, its Tom Cruise!

Airplane people: Hey look at that, its a Junkers JU-52! Wow I'll bet its that one that Martin Caidin used to own. I sure hope its not just a movie prop. I wish that dork actor would get out of the way of the shot so I can see the landing gear. I wonder if there will be any scenes of it flying in the movie? Wow, that will be cool!

And Mr. Cruise, being an airplane guy himself, would know exactly what I mean.

Posted @ July 19, 2007 02:02 PM | Aviation | Comments (0)

Being Kicked While Down

Dennis Kucinich, Leftist Presidential Candidate, a "Vegan", has fallen victim to a bout of food poisoning.

I do not wish the man ill (He is 60 years old) but once again we see evidence that God (or Gaia) has a wicked sense of humor, much in the same vein as that expressed by activists dedicated to the lives of wild animals, who are then attacked and eaten by bears.

However the article, written by a newspaper in Ohio, notes the following fact:

"Kucinich, a former Cleveland mayor, typically polls in the low single digits."

Jeez. I hope Dennis is wearing a cup when he reads that. That's like saying:

"Dennis Kucinich, former mayor of Cleveland Ohio, Crown Prince of Barsoom and heir to the throne of Emperor Norton ignited a firestorm of controversy in the James Madison High School Chess Club by answering a students challenge and insisting that Spock was only half the Vulcan that Tuvok was. Reaction to this controversial stance was fiercely expressed by the audience of high school students that as a result of his spoken stance on the controversial "Spock vs. Tuvok" debate, had now become a transformed into a makeshift mob. After withstanding a withering firestorm of pencil erasers, spitballs, cat calls and hisses, Candidate Kucinich backed away from the podium and made a hasty retreat from the School Auditorium under the watchful eyes of the Principal and custodial staff, waving his arms wildly in a futile attempt to deflect the projectiles from doing harm. When reached later for a reaction from the campaign his manager(known as "mom") could only add that she was sure that President Bush was somehow to blame... "

Remember that little throwaway line "polls in the low single digits..." every time he appears on TV or in a "debate" as somehow a serious candidate for President. This guy would have to go up 5 points just to be considered a joke.

I dare say that any one of us could also be said to "...poll in the low single digits" and nobody knows any one of us from the guy next door.

Posted @ July 18, 2007 05:16 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)

Passchendaele: Color Photos from Hell Itself

Passchendaele. A battle in World War I. A single battle that resulted in losses of 448,000 British Empire and French killed and wounded and 260,000 killed and wounded of the German Empire.

Today, the Queen will attend a Last Post ceremony in Passchendaele at the Menin Gate, where a memorial arch is engraved with the names of the 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died with no known graves.

Newly discovered rare color photgraphs of the battlefield can be found here. The photo above is from that sample. I just want to point out the look in their eyes, that look is a reflection of horror that no Hollywood actor has ever captured.

Posted @ July 18, 2007 11:44 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (2)

Life is too short

14,000 ft Mr. Shasta as viewed from the top of 10,500 ft Mt Lassen.

A fantastic weekend and another mountain successfully climbed. Other than a burned neck ( oh yes, I guess I really am a "redneck" now...), all is well. It makes a huge amount of difference to climb it after camping at 8,000 feet the day before, than to do what I did last time and go from sea level directly to the top. That climb was quite painful, this one was a breeze.

The next climb is White Mountain Peak in Owens Valley in August. That will be my first 14,000 foot peak.

Posted @ July 16, 2007 07:09 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (2)

The nature of freedom and Platos 'allegory of the cave"

Shin Dong Hyok, a North Korean defector, is pictured at his residence in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday.

So you defy the government and you get thrown in a gulag. You know that there is another world and therefore you struggle to survive and to get out. You know the gulag as punishment as something to be avoided, but what if you were born in a Gulag? what if thats the only life you've even known? What if its your only frame of reference?

"...Shin, now 24, was a political prisoner by birth. From the day he was born in 1982 in Camp No. 14 in Kaechon until he escaped in 2005, Shin had known no other life. Guards beat children, tortured grandparents and, in cases like Shin's, executed family members. But Shin said it did not occur to him to hate the authorities. He assumed everyone lived this way."

end snip.

Read the full story here.

Imagine all of North Korea as a real life version of Plato's "Allegory of the cave". The very idea of it makes me gasp in horror.

Posted @ July 13, 2007 12:55 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)

Why Atari failed

"Dance Dance Immolation", a modification of the "Dance Dance Revolution" video game where players match the steps displayed in the game, has taken a step forward by promising to Immolate the players with a flamethrower if they make a mistake.

Apparently, beeping sounds and flashing lights just isnt enough anymore, being sprayed with hot burning naptha is the "new hotness" in video games.

ti,ti,ta,ta,do,re, mi, fa, so --- BONK!

Mom: Now kids, dont forget your firesuits and kevlar!

Oh Pong!, where is thy sting?

(From cnet news...)

Posted @ July 13, 2007 09:23 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)

Quote of the day

"The Democrats in the Senate need to explain how making Iraq into a "Darfur" is good for Iraqis or Americans."

Joseph Lieberman. Statesman.

UPDATE: Ok, so I didnt hear so well...

From Hugh Hewitt Transcript:

snip..

"...But honestly, who are we fighting there? We’re fighting al Qaeda and Iran. And that’s the consequences. You know, one of the generals when I was over there last time, said to me a month ago, when you talk to your colleagues in the Senate, tell them if they don’t like what’s happening in Darfur, they’re going to really hate what happens here in Iraq if we pull out too soon".

end snip.

Posted @ July 12, 2007 04:41 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)

Sheehan/Pelosi: Evidence

I was joking the other day that there would be people in San Francisco that would consider Cindy Sheehan "too right wing", but the fantastic site "zombietime" has documentation of that exact scenario for all to see at a 2006 Berkeley Rally.

Click here to view the event.

She's reading questions from the audience when someone asks, as if it matters, "Do you drive a vehicle and if so what is its approximate gas mileage rating"

There it is, "Gas Mileage" as the new moral standard.

That site makes me laugh every time I see it.

Posted @ July 12, 2007 01:08 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)

Easter Surprise

It started nice enough, unseasonably cool, with a nice light marine layer hanging over the valley. This time of year the valley can be a blast furnace. But today, aaahhhh, light marine layer, 60 degrees.

I think to myself, cool! I can take the dog out for a walk first thing in the morning, without working up a big sweat, what a treat.

But, no. I end up on the phone for nearly three hours. No walk for me, the dog gets to go out, thanks to the wife. So my dog gets out, but me, I get to sit inside and talk on the phone. By the time I'm finished, its back to good old fashioned blistering valley heat. Oh yeah, and it did manage to sprinkle a little overnight, which is nice, but it didn't really rain enough to really get anything wet, just enough to make the normal dust layer on your car into little dirt marks.

So now my car is dirty. Like a thousand cats with muddy paws took a walk over it.

Then I decide to make some chicken buillion for lunch. I take a mug from the cupboard and procede to fill it with the broth and then I go back to my office for, you guessed it, yet another phone call. A few minutes later I go back into the kitchen, where my wife tells me that my teeth and lip are "bright green".

Well she doesnt just tell me, in an offhand way, like " say honey I was talking to the broker the other day about what we needed to do to get a vacation home, oh by the way your teeth are green, and he said we really aught to open an IRA..."

No, nothing dignified like that. Instead of that, she keels over laughing in real panty wetting spasm of laughter that goes on for at least 10 minutes.

Well, at least I've got that going for me. I can make my wife laugh.

Apparently the last use for this particular mug was for this years Easter Egg decorating session, and it wasn't washed out well enough when it was completed.

I rather foolishly assumed that dishes kept in the cupboard were in fact, clean. My lifes experience as an older brother and a father of two tells me that I should have known better and to always assume that your taking your life in your hands when you use kitchenware, but there you go, I let my guard down just once and what do I look like?

I look like what Andy Warhol thinks I should look like.

So there I am, unproductive as hell and literally "green in the face".

Then my son adds insult to this existing injury, and asks to go to Fry's.

I love Frys. All techies love Frys. It's our store. Its a no hold barred no compromises, we carry not just one motherboard kept behind the counter away from the public, but 20, 30 sometimes 40 motherboards proudly displayed for all to see. No insulting "Geek Squad" style service plans for us Frys shoppers, we are the Geek Squad!

But no, I don't get to go to Frys today because one of my 'little miracles' is being less than a miracle today, and I'm back on the phone again, talking to some middle manager in Pigsnuckle, Arkansas about why some fantastic piece of software is now splattered all over the screen doing little more than mocking its user instead of doing what its supposed to do.

I get through this little nightmare, its now 3:00 in the afternoon. Its practially quitting time and I've barely gotten started on what I wanted to get accomplished for the day.

Then to make matters worse, I find out that a set of reciepts for my expense reports have once again gone missing. I hate expense reports. I hate making them, I hate turning them in, I hate using them. It doesnt matter how close I follow my expenses, how much I put every possible dollar on the expense report, I always seem to come up in such a way where I am out two or three hundred dollars at the end of the Quarter.

So naturally, I then spend the rest of the afternoon...

ON THE PHONE WITH AMEX!!!!

I hate the phone. I hate talking on the phone, I hate talking on the phone with a set of neon easter egg green teeth. But I really hate chasing down receipts for expenses that I've already turned in - TWICE. Because after I'm done with the phone, I then have to go to the AR department and ask them where the hell are my receipts!

I hate having to go to the office. Go.To.The.Office. Just the words alone grate on my nerves.

So I drive to the office, the actual real life office, the one with other people in it, that office. "Why arent these people at home working?" I always say to myself on the odd occasion that I am forced to go into the office. I always wonder just whats wrong with these people that I've now been forced against all common sense to come visit.

Think of it, having to spend your own money to "go to work", its downright barbaric.

Go to work? I am my work, whats this "go to work" stuff? isnt that right up there with "Hey pardner get me a sasparilla!", and "Jethro, go throw a shoe on that Mare before she goes lame"?

Go to work... I feel like Fred Flintstone rapidly paddling my feet under the car to visit the rock quarry.

These people arent on my vibe, they are leaving work, they are going home for the day. My day, thanks to all the interruptions hasn't even started.

So I go down to AR, I find the right clerk, and ask my pointed questions.

She goes through the files. Snapping gum.
Ah yes, the final kick in the crotch, the gum snapper. the close talker and the gum snapper all in one package. You know the kind, the kind that calls you "hun" and gives you a hip check in the hall and laughs like a donkey.

Yeah. that's the one. Everybodys got one. Doesnt matter where you go, everbodys got at least one, like OSHA fire extinguisher laws.

She finds the defiled expense reports, find the missing reciepts in the wrong place** and then she says in a chirpy "didnt quite make the audition for "Alice's Flo" sort of way...

"Say hun, didjall you know you've got some really green teeth"?

and before she finishes the word "teeeeeeh", shes all the way buckled over in a full gut bustin' laugh.

I have no defence. I just cant run off like I'm Marsha Brady and wait for a commercial break. I try explain to her the nature of how it happened, the easter egg dye and all that, which of course just makes it worse.

In between her trying to catch her breath and explain to everyone else as she was now busy trying not to laugh and explain it to the now gathering crowd, I used basic hand signals to ask " are we ok, expenses done?, im outta here..." to which she just threw her hands over in the universal clerk hand signal for "at this point buddy, you could requisting an whole helicopter for yourself and a years avgas too and I would approve it"

I got one thing finished today. Expenses paid.

oh well, it could be worse...

**- not my fault.

Posted @ July 11, 2007 07:21 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (3)

a local perspective on the sheehan - pelosi race

You know, I've worked in San Francisco for years and Ive seen it all; I've seen every naked bike ride for cetacean sexual rights, every vegetarian street fair, ever annual "world cant wait for (fill in the blank removal of whatever non Democrat president currently running the country).

I watched them writhe in horror over the mere existence of Ronald Reagan, the nightmare years of George H.W. Bush and his illegal war in Iraq, (the one with the UN support), and I watched them cry as they put US flags on their buildings after 9/11( not because of 9/11, but because to many of them, the national expression of patriotism at a time of grief was worse that being forced to live in Hitlers Germany), and yes it has come to my attention that there is a small but determined group in San Francisco who apparently arent big fans of George W. Bush or his illegal war against Iraq(the one without UN support).

So today I awake to see that Mrs. Sheehan has decided it would be in her best interest to run as a candidate for Nancy Pelosi's Congressional seat, which is, you guessed it, San Francisco( and parts of Marin...)

Pelosi...Sheehan...Pelosi...Sheehan....Pelosi...Sheehan...

It's a hell of a thing for an electorate to be put in a position to have to choose between such statesmen(er, uh stateswoman, oh I mean "stateswomyn"), such intellectual giants, such legislative drive and verve. I swoon at the idea of a real televised debate between these two. Just who will use the words "Trotskite". "Lackey", "Youre a Republican - no you are!", first? What side do you take on an issue? How can anyone see any daylight between these two?, they are more closely matched than Incan masonry.

I'm not there today, but I can bet you anything that somewhere within all that metropolitan wonder, sitting at a non corporate co-op barrista there is a group of black clad SF city workers all huddled together reading "the daily worker" and a enjoying their frothy "fair trade" java, when one will say to others "Its nice that someone is finally running against Nancy, but I think Mother Sheehan is just too "right wing" for my tastes". And you know, the others in the group will silently nod their heads in agreement, because to them the truth about that statement is self evident.

Once again, Democracy and this evil paternal culture has failed to bring them a candidate that truly represents their constituency and they will have to settle for the candidate who is the lesser of the two evils.

Posted @ July 11, 2007 08:04 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Oregon Man goes to 13,000 ft and travels 193 miles - by lawn chair

Snip...

"...Last weekend, Bend gas station owner Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some drinks and snacks — and a parachute.

Attached to the lawn chair were 105 balloons of various colors, each 4 feet around. Bundled together, the balloons rise three stories high.

Couch carried a global positioning system device, a two-way radio, a digital camcorder and a cell phone. He also had instruments to measure his altitude and speed and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as a ballast — he could turn a spigot, release water and rise.

Destination: Idaho."

Read the whole thing here.

Next up, a 9 year old kid from Lakewood California puts wings on his bike and flies!

Posted @ July 10, 2007 08:31 AM | Aviation | Comments (0)

And I ask you...

Official: Iraq Gov't Missed All Targets

I ask you, other than for quarterly fundraising for their phoney baloney campaigns, when did our government ever hit a target for anything?

Balanced budget? Miss...
Compliance with all legal statutes? Miss...
Accountability and integrity? Miss...
Defending the nation? Miss...
Build a frikkin' fence? Miss...

I mean come on, if we start expecting governments everywhere to actually make goals and to achieve them, I mean what next? cats and dogs living together?

Are we going to say with a straight face that Pelosi, Reid and Bush " got it goin' on when it comes to governance" but the Iraqis, well there just a bunch of incompetent boobs who cant do anything right, so lets make sure they never get the wise idea to try to be a democracy again by leaving them to the tender mercies of the Iranians?, yeah that's a great idea, because once youve been betrayed and your nation stripped bare for genocidal retirbution, you're always willing to listen to reason, why just look at what that strategy did for the Cambodians!, say where are all those Cambodians anyway...

Let's see:

American Political Class Scorecard:

Despite every attempt to sink it, Booming economy. check...

Living in a peaceful democratic Western society for 231th straight year. Check...

Assassination level for elected leaders - near zero. Check.

Little threat to your personal health and safety, just for saying you might want to consider being a democracy? Check.

Accomplishments:
Exactly Dick.

Iraqi Political Class Scorecard:

Actually having a "political class" instead of an inbred bunch of murderous thugs from Tikrit running the place. Check

Booming street corners. check...

Living in the remnants of a fascistic wasteland that you are risking life and limb to convert to a westernized democracy for oh, what exactly 2 whole years. Check...

Assassination level for elected leaders - 50 percent. Check.

Little chance of maintaining your personal health and safety, just for saying you might want to consider being a democracy? Check.

Accomplishments:
Still in theregoing to work every day, taking their life in their hands trying to make that squalid crack house of a country into something to be proud of, and laying down their lives every single day to do it, no thanks to you, you freaking ungrateful egg sucking cowardly liberal dogs.

Who the frig said that Democracy was going to be easy?

Who?

George "I Froze my ass of in Valley Forge, got chased across the continent by an army for eight god damned years while my layabout congress "dwiddled, diddled and resolved", before we finally started to win " Washington?

Thomas " 36 ballots before Congress to break a tie between me and that contemptable curr Aaron Burr" Jefferson?

Dolly, "Got my ass shot off evacuating the White House from an invading army intent on buring it to the ground" Madison?

Abraham" I just got here and the whole country split in half,brother fighting brother and I got a bullet in the head for my troubles" Lincoln?

John F. "You cant say Dallas doesnt love you " Kennedy?

Yes boys and girls, democracies, as we can witness by our own sad example of playhouse politics writ large, suck when it comes to effectiveness. That my dear friends is precisely what makes them so attractive in the first place!

Tyrannical governments are effective, spit shined, trains run on time, "man as machine" nightmares.

Democracies, are a heard of drunken asses running for the shade.

Exhibit A: Pyongyang, North Korea.

Orderly, no crime in the streets, everyone knows their place. You can just tell that this scene smells like bleach, even in midsummer.

Not A Democracy...

Exhibit B: Manhattan.

A town so loud and boisterous, you are required by law to drink heavily, just to stay somewhat sane.

Yessiree, the reeking stench of mid afternoon "curb urine" is just nature's way of saying "Welcome to Democracy"!

Iraq is a new Democracy in a really bad neighborhood. It like opening a new IKEA in the worst neighborhood in the world, only instead of the locals stealing the shopping carts, they hold the employees hostage for money. Just because the locals commit crimes against IKEA, doesnt mean that you shouldn't build new businesses in bad neighborhoods, else, wont they always be bad neighborhoods with all the problems therein? You have to take chances. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. You hope for the best, even when its against common sense. Its what makes us a Democracy. Think about it, democracies dont make sense, they suck, they always have, but you still vote, you still work at it.

Its not that they dont suck, its that they just suck considerably less than the alternative.

We are an old Democracy, and frankly, we still suck at very simple things. But give it time folks, they will eventually produce a line of politicians that will outdo even ours at "slipperly weaselness".

And on that day, we can be truly proud. It took us 60 years to provide Germany with the comfort and guidance it needed to produce that Moray eel-like bastard Gerhardt Schroder. So give it time, ok?

But for now, our little brothers have some growing to do. and we best stick around and help them do it, else

This man will, with our help, teach the world that democracy isnt worth the work, which will only make it more necessary for more of our kids to go more places around the world and die in bigger numbers.

We have a choice for the future and so do they, they have chosen democracy, they have stood in the face of horror and flipped it the finger. We should stand with them, instead of running away like the selfish gutless cowards they have been told we are.

The choice for Iraq is to be the "new West Germany", or the "new Somalia". Our choice is to be lying cowards or remain true to our words and ideals.

Posted @ July 09, 2007 07:48 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

What’s all this “revolutionary’ stuff?

So you say “The 787 just looks like a typical commerical jet to me, so whats all the hubub about”?

To better answer this, lets take a walk through the last 80 years of aviation.

Let’s take a look a this aircraft

Fokker Tri-motor

In the 1920’s this was “high tech”. A Metal passenger aircraft with three engines, this aircraft started the idea of commerical aviation as a reality. This aircraft is also a monoplane, meaning it has one wing, rather than a being a more typical biplane. Now, the reason why people flew biplanes in the good old days wasn’t because they were dumb, it was because the materials that were avaiable in those days determine the structures used.

Curtiss Condor. The standard prior to the Tri Motor

Biplanes arent just about providing two wing surfaces as much as it is also about providing a strong, structure for the wing(s). A structure that resembles that much like that found on an old bridge. Guy wires, struts, look at any old bridge and you see something that looks like it might belong on a biplane wing.

Remember, monoplanes were new in the 1920s. There had been a few examples prior to the 1920’s but large, passenger carrying aircraft, well for that, you wanted a biplane. That is until Mr. Fokker came out with his “cantiliever wing” and changed the paradigm.

Model of a DC-3 wing.(shown for its detail)

This wing design allowed all of the strength of the wing to be made by structures inside the wing itself. No wires, no “bridge like” structures for the wing, just a wing much like we know it today.

Mr. Fokker did this with the material that had the best chance of handling the loads and the material that he and his team had the most experience. That material wasn’t metal, but wood. The outer skin would be made of metal (giving the aircraft its affectionate nickname of “tin goose”), but the internal structures themselves would be made of the world's first “original composite” material, good old fashioned trees.

This revolutionary idea went along fine, the three engine layout provided enough power to get an aircraft under load through most trouble, and it allowed a start up airline enough safety to reassure a skeptical public that flying was a possibility. It wasn’t yet cheap enough for the masses, but it was getting closer.

Then in 1931, this happened.

Fokker Trimotor Crash, carrying "Knute Rockne" - All American.

It happened because the main wing spar failed. Remember, while the aircraft exterior is made of metal, the wing spar itself was made of wood. The wood decayed and Mr. Knute Rockne and the rest of the passengers died. Commerical Aviation came to a near halt almost before it got started.

Engineers and aircraft manufacturers got to work on new designs. Cantiliever wings would stay but wooden wing spars would go.

In 1933, Boeing came out with this aircraft.

Boeing 247.
A Multi Engine, cantiliever wing passenger aircraft. An all-metal canteliever wing. Now we are getting somewhere!

Unfortunately, the Boeing engineers did one thing wrong with the design:

Yes, Theres the wing spar, right there in the cabin with you! Right there where you can see it, touch it, step over it. Get to know your friend the wing spar, we don’t hide anything here at Boeing, step right up kids, be the first on your block to touch the wing spar!

Now, down in sunny Santa Monica California, Mr. Douglas was working on another design, The DC-1. Today we know the most famous version of this design as the DC-3.

A Multi-engine, All metal cantileiver wing. Oh, and no wing spar to step over. The DC-3 was, revolutionary because it managed to do something no other airliner before ever managed to do.

It made the airlines money. For the first time, you could fly people and cargo reliably and safely for less than the investment in the equipment. There wasn’t anything revolutionary in the technology that was used on the DC-3, it was just for the very first time, it was executed properly.

There were also a tremendous amount of other changes that occurred with the advent of the revolution of the DC-3. Prior to the DC-3, large aircraft had always been Seaplanes.

Dornier Do-X

Boeing 314

Short Brothers “Empire”.

This lead many people to believe that the future of air travel was the same as taking a sea cruise. So many large cities planned their air transportation around the idea of seaplanes being the primary carrier for passengers.

Laguardia Pan American Seaplane Base

San Francisco Seaplane Base

You say you don’t live in a big city near the coast? Well back of the train for you then.

The DC-3 changed all that. It didn’t just teach airlines that they could make money, in an odd sort of way, the DC-3 brought flying to the masses. Unlike with seaplanes, Air travel could be in any town or city anywhere. Cities began to build “airports” with formal runways (instead of “Fields”) and all of the infrastructure that came with it.

Now World War II, like all wars, greatly affected the technology of flying. The wartime DC-3, known as the C-47 brought the science of logistics and forward deployment of armies into reality. That lesson was brought home in a very different way in 1947 with the Berlin Airlift.

C-47's at Berlin during airlift

Without the products provided by the DC-3 and its progeny, the people of Berlin would have starved.

Now, the next revolution in aircraft is the revolution of “pressurization”. Pressurization means that the part of the aircraft that you sit in is pressurized to maintain an atmospheric pressure equivalient to a lower altitude.

“Lower altitude than what” you say?

Well, that’s where the revolution comes into play. Flying at high altitude provides you something that most people today don’t think much about. Weather.

In the good old days of aviation, back in the DC-3 era, you flew through storms, I mean right through them, not just during landing or takeoff either, but for hours you and your hapless pilot, crew and the rest of the passengers had to endure hours of being pounded by rain, hail, snow and ice. It was awful.

The way to get out of that weather; was to fly higher. To fly higher, you need to pressurize the cabin so that the passengers will survive the trip.

Now, to pressurize an aircraft fuselage, you do it the same way you blow up a ballon, you fill it with air, and yes, that means that the fuselage is like a ballon in that it that inflates and deflates each time it takes off and lands. Typically you pressurize a fuselage at the equivalent altitude of 8,000 ft. Thats why those people give you fluids on flights, its not to be ice ,its because at that altitude, you easily get dehydrated and that tends to make people who live at sea level pass out and have all sorts of other health problems. 8,000 feet is an average. Ideally, you would want to pressurize for sea level, but thats really difficult to do.

For the folks who flew back in the DC-3 era, being pressurized at all was something of a miracle. Flying over the weather rather than through it, made a world of difference to the flying community. Heres another example that illustrates how much different things were in just a single two year period, thanks to pressurization.

The Boeing B-17 (Circa 1943)

Heavy jackets, oxygen masks. This is how you did it in the 1930’s.

The Boeing B-29 (Circa 1945)
Pressurization in action.
The flight crew working in Shirt Sleeves and No oxygen masks. This is how you would do it from now on.

Boeing and Lockheed both made commercial aircraft that took advantage of the presurization.

Boeing 377 (Based on the aforementioned B-29)

Lockheed Constellation

Using the runways provided by the activies of World War II, Commerical air travel for the masses was starting to arrive.

There was just one problem left to solve. Time.

To cross the Atlantic, you needed to stop in Canada, Ireland, Iceland or Scotland and finally you would get to the Continent. It could be done, you could now fly to Europe, but it would take all day to do it. Every stop was a potential problem with weather and the mechanics of aircraft.

There was also another problem. The aircraft that were most capable of this flight, while magnificent beauties, were complex expensive beasts to fly. These aircraft required a 5 member flight crew, one of which was responsible for just watching the engines ( known the the flight engineer). The pilot had enough to do just flying these great beasts a man had to be set aside to do nothing but watch the various gauges and keep the engines running.

Flight Engineer Seat

Or at least try to:

Boeing 377 “Soveriegn of the skies” Ditching at Sea, 1956

This happened a lot more often than we like to remember.

So, how do we go higher and faster, and yet cheaper still than we already have?

Theres only one way to go.

Jets.

The Canadians and the British got there first, but both answers to the problem failed to answer the more important problem with commerical airlines, and that is the profit question. The DeHavilland Comet was the world’s first commerical jet and it was a magnificent aircraft. (By the way, they beat the Canadian effort by one day.)

With just two flaws.

The first is in this picture:

See it? It’s right there in front of you. Look closely at those windows. Those "Square" Windows?

Failed Comet Fuselage

Those “square windows” are killers. You don’t see square corners in pressurized aircraft. Remember what I was saying earlier about the act of pressurizing a fuselage being like blowing up a long kids ballon. Sharp right angles don’t tend to survive cycles of inflation and deflation very well,and on the de Havilland Comet, they didn’t survive very well either. And in two very sad accidents, the world of Commerical Jet aviation took a serious setback.

As is often the case, the first is not always the one to get it right, but unlike the Boeign 247, it would be Boeing this time that would get it right.

The Dash-80.

The Boeing Model 367-80 (known as the “Dash-80”) was the one that got it right. The final commercial version, known as the 707 brought Commercial aviation to the masses. World wide travel on a budget, in comfort and safety that could be accomplished by the middle class was a reality. This aircraft changed commerical aviation forever, not just because it was jet powered but because of one other thing that was seriously missing on the De Havilland Comet.

Look at the size.

Just eight windows (eight square windows…)
b707_04

One look says it all. The Comet could only carry 36 passengers. The 707 carried 165. At the end of the day, the airline business is a “butts in seat” business.

Again, if the airline flying your aircraft can’t make a profit, it doesn’t matter how cool it is. All of that engineering is wasted if the people in a position to buy the aircraft in the first place can’t make money flying it.

And that brings us to today. Today is the day that the Boeign 787 arrives, and as I’ve said, its revolutionary, not evolutionary.

Up till now, we've had Cantiliever wing, multi engine, pressurization and jet power as the revolutions that have driven the airline and aircraft industries.

Now we have a new revolution and it goes all the way back to our first example, the Fokker Trimotor.

Remember, Mr. Fokker used wood in his main wing spar. He did that because it was light and because it was a material that his engineers felt most comfortable working with.

So what is a “Main Wing Spar”? If you stand at the edge of a wing and look towards the fuselage, imagine a big I-Beam running straight down the wing all the way to the other wing tip. That is the “main wing spar”. That structure, and its ability to be strong and yet flexible, is what drives the all decisions for what materials are chosen for aircraft design. The "Main Wing Spar" and the technology that drives it, is what determines nearly everything in aircraft design.

The next time you fly, look out your window and watch the wing. It bounces, it flaps and flops around. It is not – solid. Its not supposed to be, its precisely that ability to flex that allows it to survive all of the things that the pilots and the atmosphere can throw at it.

So we’ve gone from wood spars, to metal spars. And today we take another step, and it’s a big step forward. The main wing spar of the 787 is made of composites. That’s right, the main wing spar is made of materials that come from a laboratory. Why is this big and "revolutionary"? Because the spar is not only made from materials that are man made the main spar is also contructed in a very different way. It’s also machined by computers! The use of composites represents not just a change in what aircraft are made from, but how they are made and who makes them.

Composite materials are made from highly computerized machines, which are then fed into other highly computerized machines. These parts, the main wing spar, and the sections of the fuselage itself are milled from start to finish by – computers.

Composites are attractive for aircraft designers because they are both light and strong. Lightness is essential to Aircraft engineers because a everything you take up in the sky has to have some element of lift and thrust in order that it fly. Composites have been used in components of aircraft for awhile now, and aircraft have been manufactured using nothing but composites.

Beech Starship.Pioneer in Composite aircraft construction.

But now, for the first time, the entire main structure of a commercial aircraft, the main wing spar, the wing structures itself and the fuselage are using composites and not just the skin (like was done with the old the “Tin goose”).

Now, take a look at the “factor floor” of the last generation of aircraft.

And…

Boeing737airframe-DaveWilliams-WichitaEagle

Now take a look at what it took to make the 787:

Whats missing? People. On Aluminum aircraft, you have thousands and thousands of rivets to bring all that metal sheeting together. All those boxes in the background of the factory? Rivets.

On composite aircraft? No rivets – ergo – no people.

Well, not as many people anyway. And what people are involved are now distrubuted all over the globe to take advantage of the world economy, for while the aircraft components are build all over the world, they are all finally assembled in Everett Washington.

No aluminum also means no corrosion, no corrosion means no downtime for inspections. Remember, aircraft sitting around do not make money. Making major componeneets out of composites makes everything about owning an aircraft that much cheaper.

The aircraft that is rolling out today, has been assembled with a very small staff in a little under 30 days from parts built all over the world, using structures that were created by machines from materials developed in a laboratory.

The result is an aircraft that before its first flight has already impacted every aircraft manufacturer in the world. That is the true test of a revolution. There were lots of great prop planes in the 1950s but after the Boeing 707 came out, it didn’t matter; they were finished.

Worldwide sales for the 787 have already surpassed over 600 airframes, and virtually every single manufacturing slot from Boeing that has available until 2013 is now completely sold out. There is simply no more capacity to be had to make more of these aircraft, and all of the “costs going up” excuses aside, Boeing is actually rasing its price for the 787, not because it costs more, but because they can get more for it. Selling it at a discount is not in the cards when you are at capacity and there is no real competition. And for the next few years, there is no real competition for the 787.

In 10 years, any aircraft that is not made entirely of composite mateials will seem as out of date as anachonistic as the “Tin Goose” or the DC-3.

So today when you watch the 787 roll out, watch it with an eye towards the future because someday your going to tell your grandkids that you once flew on jets that were made entirely of metal and they will look at you like you rode into town on a covered wagon.

How do you know a revolutionary idea from an evolutionary idea?

- Once presented, a revolutionary idea changes the existing paradigm.

- Once presented, a revolutionary idea set the new standard.

- Revolutionary ideas cause a complete re-write of the metrics on systems.

Monoplanes were revolutionary to biplanes, metal revolutionary to wood and fabric, and now composite main structures.

Now that Boeing has done it, be they successful or not, there will never be any "going back" just as once metal aircraft fabrication was perfected, there would be no return to wooden aircraft ( for the sake of argument, Let's look past the example provided by the Mosquito).

From here on out, to be successful in the aircraft business, you will need to use composites at every level. Right now, theres only one group that is capable of delivering it, and thats Boeing.

Posted @ July 08, 2007 03:55 PM | Aviation | Comments (6)

Boeing 787 Rollout Celebration

July 8th 2007, or 7/8/7 for those of us in the US is the day that the public will get its first look at the revolutionary aircraft, the Boeing 787.

If you are a DISH or DirectTV subscriber, you can watch the activies live at 3:30 PDT(For more details, click here)

If you dont have either of those things, you can watch it live here on the internet by clicking here.

I'll be back later today with another post on exactly why the 787 is the most revolutionary aircraft since the the DC-3 or the 707.

Posted @ July 08, 2007 10:19 AM | Aviation | Comments (0)