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4:02 AM
@voretaq7 for comparison, MKC is about the same size as FRG. So, imagine a 747 landing there and taxiing around.
 
@BretCopeland ...they've dumped Air Force One on FRG before
 
@voretaq7 ever been there to watch it come in?
 
@BretCopeland nah, I'm not that impressed by things that tie the airport in knots and drop a big red cylinder in the middle of our airspace :)
also I had to work
there are color ones around somewhere too
 
@voretaq7 that's not one of the 747's though.
 
no, we used to get the islanders 747
this was before we had the EMAS on 14/32 so they probably didn't want to chance bringing their 747
(particularly given your description of their quality landing skills :-)
 
4:09 AM
If I had been those AF1 pilots, I think I would have just gone around, but apparently when AF1 has a go-around it makes national headlines.
 
I'm sure it does
 
@BretCopeland Same when it's Michelle Obama's plane
@BretCopeland Ah, USA Today. Everyone's favorite aviation publication.
 
lmao
Alright all, time to walk the dogs and head to bed. Have a good night!
 
@lnafziger sounds very domestic of you.
 
4:16 AM
I just found the hot chocolate I made 2 hours ago to the side of me..... mmmmm... chocolate milkshake! :p
 
@DannyBeckett . . . oh dear
 
full as well
lol
 
@BretCopeland Well, I do have to go into the office in the morning. ;-)
Cya all later.
 
so my 'what does forced induction mean to pilots/owners' question either needs rewriting or some different answers
or both
 
@egid Sorry, all of my engines are normally aspirated. I despise turbo lag on the ground, and zomg kerspensive in the air :P
 
4:28 AM
i guess i need to rephrase it as "how do supercharged engines differ in operation from turbocharged engines" and break the cost/maintenance stuff into a separate question
because Falk's answer just isn't doing it for me
 
hmmmm
 
there is an answer to one of my questions buried in the middle of it: "The great advantage compared to a turbocharger is that a supercharger works fine at all RPMs while a turbocharger needs some higher exhaust pressure to start working properly which makes it effective only at high power settings."
but the rest of that answer is more or less useless information or opinion
As a pilot you don't need to take care of some additional switches but must of cause take care to don't overpower your engine(s). You should also be aware of this kind of delay I've described if you operate a turbocharged engine.
rewrote the question.
maybe that'll help!
 
per a discussion in the other room, opinions on removing the word 'clouds' from the weather report?
SKC:	'Clear',
CLR:	'Clear',
CAVOK:	'Ceiling & visibility ok',
FEW:	'Few clouds',
SCT:	'Scattered clouds',
BKN:	'Broken clouds',
OVC:	'Overcast',
OVX:	'Obscured'
 
4:43 AM
/me votes remove
 
!!weather KPAE
lemme see
 
@egid PAE/KPAE: Snohomish County (Paine Field) Airport • Observed: 51 mins ago • Wind: 190°/S @ 13kts • Visibility: 10.0mi/16.09km • Sky (AGL): Overcast @ 1,200ft • Temperature: 7.8°C/46°F • Dewpoint: 5.6°C/42°F • Pressure: 29.69" Hg/1,005mb • Conditions: MVFR
 
@DannyBeckett can you do a test to see if there are clouds, and if there are, label the section "Clouds (AGL):" rather than "Sky (AGL):"?
then the clouds themselves can just be "few @12,000ft" etc
 
Sure, but you might have "Broken clouds @ 1,000ft; Overcast @ 2,000ft", e.g.
 
if you're really searching for space to trim character counts, I'd also suggest you remove the spaces after (and possibly) before the @
erm, I'm not sure you'd see that, ever
obscured is when there's fog and the ceiling is indeterminate
 
4:45 AM
I'm not really searching for space to trim
I'm still gonna need to split the message anyway, once gust and flag info is added
It was just a suggestion from Bret
 
I don't think you can have a METAR that first has a cloud layer and then has an obsc layer
 
I thought I saw one...
 
I could be mistaken; OVX isn't used in the US
 
oh, obscured? yeah I meant overcast... already edited that
 
at least not often
ah
broken is understood to be clouds, then
 
4:46 AM
@egid I've seen it a few times actually
2 days ago, by Otto the Autopilot
@DannyBeckett KJFK: LIFR • Observed: 4 mins ago • Wind: 180°/S @ 19kts • Visibility: 0.0mi/0.0km • Sky (AGL): Obscured @ 0ft • Temperature: 10.6°C/51°F • Dewpoint: 10.0°C/50°F • Pressure: 29.67" Hg/1,005mb
 
you would show "Clouds (AGL): Broken 800 ft; Overcast 1,200 ft"
ok
but note that it's literally at 0 feet
you can't have a layer above it
anyway, i would suggest you replace sky with clouds when the conditions would normally be printed with "... clouds"
 
yeah I see that
 
otherwise, print "sky:"
i think that's a more subtle way of doing it that reads well
 
I also concur that the @ is unnecessary and removing it might even help readability.
 
i'd suggest dropping the wind cardinal directions
Wind: 180°/19kts
which could become Wind: 180°/19kts, gusting 25kts
 
4:50 AM
either 180°@19kts or 180°/19kts would work
 
true
the @ does make more sense there
 
gusts could be 180°@19-25kts to save space
 
the only things with that are 1) my compass points aren't brilliant as a non-pilot. I obviously know 180 is South, but I'd have no idea 59 is East/North-East
 
@voretaq7 true but then you're not doing a ton of decoding
 
and 2) the / sign for all other things shows "or", i.e. celcius/fahrenheit
!!weather lpl
 
4:51 AM
@DannyBeckett maybe print the condensed version first, then (SE) in parentheses?
 
@DannyBeckett LPL/EGGP: Liverpool John Lennon Airport • Observed: 1 hour ago • Wind: 270°/W @ 4kts • Visibility: 6.21mi/9.99km • Sky (AGL): Few clouds @ 1,000ft; Broken clouds @ 1,800ft • Temperature: 6.0°C/43°F • Dewpoint: 6.0°C/43°F • Pressure: 29.44" Hg/997mb • Conditions: MVFR
 
@voretaq7 Disagree, if you're going to do that, you might as well write 180/19G25 and have it be untranslated.
 
yes, the @ makes sense for winds, but seems unnecessary for clouds.
 
@SteveV. yeah agreed
 
@egid I think most people can figure out 19-25kts means "19 to 25 knots" - saying "gusts to xxx kts" is probably better decoding though
 
4:53 AM
ok I'm gonna go work on the suggestions, cheers guys
 
maybe "180° @ 19 gust 25 kts"
 
@voretaq7 I think you're right that people would understand that the winds are variable, but that's technically a different meaning to NOAA, right? :)
 
(want this finished with so I can start on the !!airport command)
 
Bret's is probably the best: "180° @ 19 gust 25 kts"
 
to be honest, the issue with < 500 chars is this: the URL takes up 300
 
4:54 AM
@DannyBeckett tinyurl it
;D
 
@egid true, the gust measurement is a discrete instantaneous measurement, not a continuous varying range
 
@egid can't, it has a variable in the middle
I could proxy it though
 
@DannyBeckett what' the URL?
 
and gusts are different than variable winds, imo
 
!!weather lpl
 
4:54 AM
gusts are bursts, variable just means it's inconsistent
 
you can probably strip half of it out
 
@DannyBeckett LPL/EGGP: Liverpool John Lennon Airport • Observed: 1 hour ago • Wind: 270°/W @ 4kts • Visibility: 6.21mi/9.99km • Sky (AGL): Few clouds @ 1,000ft; Broken clouds @ 1,800ft • Temperature: 6.0°C/43°F • Dewpoint: 6.0°C/43°F • Pressure: 29.44" Hg/997mb • Conditions: MVFR
 
@voretaq7 the bit that's clickable there ^
it's 300 chars long, in Markdown - a bit less without the MD
still a lot
 
@DannyBeckett build the url, then create a tiny version of that
 
doesn't have to be the whole thing :)
 
@voretaq7 that shows different data
 
theoretically you could stash 'em and reuse it later rather than building new urls each time ;)
 
oh you need the chk_metars=on bit
 
presumably also chk_tafs=on
 
and the chk_tafs bit if you specify chk_metars
yeah - it's a pretty crappy tool. Government. :P
 
4:57 AM
Maybe I'm late to the party but why link it at all?
 
to see all records
 
aviationweather.gov/adds/metars/… saves a few characters :)
 
@voretaq7 I can strip &submitmet=Submit though
 
yeah and the hours bit
 
yeah :)
will do that
 
4:59 AM
;)
 
:O they even offer JSONP
 
see why I think you should just build your url and then shorten it? :)
 
ok, we're talking "bot" again in the main room. switching to the other room if anyone wants to follow (np if not)
@egid yeah that's a v. good idea actually
would save me splitting the msg
 
potentially yeah. 300 -> 20 chars is a pretty significant savings.
it can at least postpone the need
 
absolutely
 
5:00 AM
you could always just truncate it anyway
... at the end, there's a link at the start
most of the crap at the end of a METAR is pretty garbage anyway ;)
what if you replaced "Observed" with the IFR/VFR/etc status?
MVFR: 1 hour ago
 
actually Bret just found a workaround
so there's no max limit, he's a ninja
 
@egid Depends on the METAR, ours often has rain began/ended/thunder storm began/ended stuff in the remarks
 
yeah, i know, but that stuff is probably nonessential for a chatbot to decode every time
 
And once in a while you see RMK FUNNEL CLOUD...you miss all the fun if you strip that.
 
what, so it's going to be VFR and clear with a funnel cloud? :D
 
5:03 AM
RMK TWR COLLAPSED 0332
 
RMK TFR IN EFFECT
sorry, no sympathy :)
 
RMK TWR DOOR JAMMED AGAIN SEND FLAT FOOD LIKE STEAK QUESEDILLAS
6
 
alol
don't forget, they'll have to collapse words unnecessarily
QSDILLAS
 
IBM engineers and ATC go to the same school
"Everything must be abbreviated to 3 letters by removing vowels. For the purposes of our system the letter Q counts as 3 letters.
RMK GND AND CLNC DLYD DUE TO LIGHTGUN FIGHT . . . so that's why the tower looks like they're going all Disco Inferno up in there!
 
 
5:10 AM
In those skates? Bullshit. He's going to a booty call.
 
... I prefer Garfunkel & Oates :)
 
5:44 AM
aaaaand speaking of simulators earlier: avweb.com/avwebflash/news/…
 
@voretaq7 well, we want to make sure pilots with sleep apnea aren't spending their nights in the simulator.
 
hey! The NTSB said fatasses were dangerous!
(then again have you seen the NTSB? Scrawny bastards - does the government even FEED them?!)
 
Well, Stack Exchange feeds us exceptionally well, and I weigh less than 120 lbs.
 
...scrawny bastard
 
It's bothered some girls that I've dated that I weigh about the same, if not less than her.
 
5:53 AM
the majority of the US population is obese
 
@BretCopeland It's only an issue if you can run faster than her in heels:P
 
but it's odd that a girl'd prefer fat guys
holy shit, 8.5 stone?!
that's not much at all
 
@DannyBeckett I think it's a matter that girls expect to weigh less than their boyfriend.
[being totally stereotypical]
 
@BretCopeland well how tall are you?
 
lol, oh well, good for fat guys I suppose ;)
 
5:55 AM
5'8"
 
...and you weigh 120?! You are a scrawny bastard :)
 
ah, beloved feet, a measurement we use here too
 
A healthy person my size should generally weigh about 135-140lbs
 
I think I weigh about 170
 
I look at it this way: I don't occupy much useful load.
 
5:56 AM
@BretCopeland you are in fact less than an FAA Standard Adult
 
@voretaq7 which is how much?
 
you may carry 50 lbs of additional crap with you, though you may have to put it in your lap
 
@voretaq7 I refer back to
3 mins ago, by Danny Beckett
the majority of the US population is obese
 
@BretCopeland I think they still use 170 as a "standard adult"
@DannyBeckett shrug I'm 6'2 180-185lbs depending on the day
 
I'm talking statistically
 
5:58 AM
@voretaq7 that seems pretty normal.
 
@BretCopeland technically I'm overweight by the stupid formulas
 
74.1%
Obesity in the United States has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent decades. Like the U.S., many industrialized countries have experienced similar increases, underscoring the severity of the problem. The United States had the highest rate of obesity for large countries, until obesity rates in Mexico surpassed that of the United States in 2013. From 13% obesity in 1962, estimates have steadily increased. The following statistics comprise adults age 20 and over living at or near the poverty level. The obesity percentages for the overall US population are higher. r...
 
I'm also an ex runner and I can pretty much ostrich kick through someone's ribcage with these legs, so.... yeah :P
I "should" weigh 170
 
@voretaq7 eh, same order of magnitude, close enough.
 
to be fair though, you have awesome food there
deep fried shit
yum yum, lol
 
6:00 AM
@DannyBeckett dude, we'll deep fry ANYTHING
even shit.
and people WILL eat it :)
 
in a few chippies in Scotland you can get a deep-fried Mars bar
I don't even think you have chippies in the US though
 
@DannyBeckett unaware of what that is.
 
@DannyBeckett we have pubs, we can't be missing much :P
 
the chippy was the 1 thing I missed in Holland and Norway
they don't have them either
fish & chips shop :D
 
@DannyBeckett I'm guessing it's like a fish-n-chips stand?
 
6:02 AM
yeah lol, they're literally everywhere here
 
we have those on LI... well technically it's fried clam strips and other things
 
you guys heard of haggis?
 
@voretaq7 I was probably more upset than I should have been when I found out that you can't buy beer between 3am-8am on a Sunday in NYC. Literally any other time of day or week is fine, but those five hours the government thinks it's really important that you don't buy beer.
 
@DannyBeckett I have in fact eaten haggis
 
@BretCopeland in Norway it's any day after 8pm, and not at all on a Sunday
 
6:04 AM
@BretCopeland dude, you haven't lived here long enough to remember the OLD blue laws
nothing with alcohol AT ALL from 3 AM Sunday to 3 AM Moday
 
@DannyBeckett most places in the US have way more strict alcohol laws.
 
@voretaq7 what was it like? I've never had it... I imagine it being revolting
 
@DannyBeckett it was not the worst thing I've ever eaten
 
@voretaq7 that looks like a very posh chippy
to UK standards :p
 
the 7-11 by my house still doesn't have their liquor license
 
6:05 AM
you're lucky if they don't piss in the oil here
 
@DannyBeckett they try to be swank, but it's a fried fish joint.
 
here, hang on...
that's our local dive
"don't put things on the floor because it sometimes floods during high tide and...yeah."
 
ah you see, there aren't tables at chippies here usually (unless you go to the ones on the seafront in port towns) - takeaway only
generally run by the Chinese
at least, the best ones are
gonna get a link to my local one, so you can see what I mean
 
@voretaq7 oh look, there's one in my zipcode too.
 
6:08 AM
@BretCopeland I've actually never been to the one in NYC
 
I usually go to McSorley's or The Blind Tiger or something
 
that's a chippy
complete with man eating chips outside :p
(even though it's shut :S)
 
@DannyBeckett that's not you?
 
6:10 AM
"Chinese and English food"..... odd combination
 
@voretaq7 the cellar in the pub in AMS I worked at was like that - you had to put a pair of wellies on to change a barrell
 
then again we had a Jamaican Chinese place
 
@voretaq7 not over here, that's standard
 
y'all strange over there
lets see....
 
you order something like Deep Fried Shredded Beef & Chilli sauce... + chips :p
oh, I just realised, I mean fries
chips are something else in the US - y'all strange ;)
I made that mistake once. American tourists in the pub: "y'all got chips?"... Me: "sure, they'll be with you in 5 mins"... American tourists: bemused look, "OK"
 
6:13 AM
@DannyBeckett we know what you mean you limey bastard - just make sure my beer isn't piss-warm :)
 
needless to say they weren't happy with their "fries" when they arrived :p
 
@voretaq7 combo places scare me. I've made it a point to never go to the Chinese place I order delivery from here, out of fear I may never want to order from them again.
 
Useless tourists should learn the local dialectic differences when traveling to other places
 
there was a great little "scam" with the Irish tourists actually: in Ireland they call Magners, Bulmers. Everywhere else in the world, Bulmers is a cheap copy of Magners. End up pouring Bulmers, when they wanted Magners.... = free cider for someone
 
like how in new york "Yo" means "Kindly step aside so that I may proceed unimpeded on my way" (and "Hey! Move" means "Listen, if you're not out of my way in 3 seconds I'm just going to take you with me.")
 
6:16 AM
^ lol!
 
I was looking for a good picture of my favorite delightful coffee shop with the leopard print wall, but all the Google images suck :(
 
ah, you see, "coffeeshops" are something totally different in AMS too
I much prefer the Dutch coffeeshops :p
 
That's only available by prescription here and it's really hard to get!
 
haha that's awesome - watching
 
I love Garfunkel & Oates
 
6:20 AM
"for asthma or your mother-fucking tourettes!" :D
 
It's not legal at all in new york
and it's still illegal on the federal level
 
last I heard, it was something like, in 42 states it's either legal, decriminalised, or pending legislation
which is a far cry from the UK, where it's a class B/illegal on all levels (highest drug is A)
 
Well the states can say whatever they want, when the feds raid your grow-op it's the US attorney and federal court that are gonna say "Yeah, that's a Schedule 1 controlled substance, you're going to jail."
 
yeah I understand
> Hamilton Island Airport, Queensland Australia (HTI / YBHM). The AIP says for this airport: "Yacht masts may infringe Rwy 14-32 apch slope clnc. "
that's an interesting one
 
. . . ok
 
6:27 AM
?
 
you'd think they'd put a buoy out there
 
lol yeah
 
do not anchor past this point or a plane will remove your mast.
 
hahaha! yeah
here's the whole post:
> I've been on the opposite side of this as the skipper of a sailing yacht near Hamilton Island Airport, Queensland Australia (HTI / YBHM). The AIP says for this airport: "Yacht masts may infringe Rwy 14-32 apch slope clnc. "
Typically during races the finish line is not far from the Runway 14 approach and when aircraft are inbound, a call is made over marine radio to ask yachts to do their best to stay out of the way. Hopefully we share the airspace in a friendly way; I haven't heard of any go-arounds due to yacht masts here, though I suppose it's likely to have happened at some point i
unrelated (NSFW):
 
safe for work :)
 
6:38 AM
lol that's pretty funny too
 
@voretaq7 I think the G and the Z are the only two I still haven't ridden... because, why?
 
you can tell the difference between the English and Americans just between them videos :p
 
@BretCopeland I have, at various points in my life, traveled every mile of revenue track (and a good portion of non-revenue track) in the NYC subway system
and the G train is useless.
 
@voretaq7 what non-revenue track?
I think the MTA actually considers the turn around for the 6 train (old City Hall station) to be revenue track because so many people ride it just to go through the old station.
 
@BretCopeland city hall loop (which keeps flopping back and forth between being "revenue" and "non-revenue"), parts of Coney Island Yard, the footings at the GWB (which are technically a "yard" but were going to be an extension into Jersey)
@BretCopeland sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't -- when they're actually aggressive about kicking people off they're back to calling it "non-revenue" again (or the threat level has gone to polka-dot and they don't want anyone under city hall for some ridiculous reason)
 
6:41 AM
I don't think I'll ever ride every mile of the subway.
 
@BretCopeland A bunch of my friends tried to do the full coverage run (all stations, one swipe, within 24 hours)
they came close.
 
I did almost ride the G train on new years eve, but thought better of it.
 
@voretaq7 that's one of the worst ways I could imagine spending my time.
 
@BretCopeland We took over the last Q express train before they retired it. There were stereos and fog machines involved.
 
6:44 AM
@voretaq7 ever take the 9 train?
 
(it's not that we're deranged - we're just deranged)
@BretCopeland nope, I'm never on 7th avenue and it got re-retired again long before I would have needed it :)
Fun Facts: There is an ✈ train.
or rather there's a roll-sign designation for one (8th avenue line)
 
@voretaq7 at the 168th street stop, the elevators are still labeled as the 9 train.
 
@BretCopeland probably 'cuz someone peeled off the stickers that relabeled it as the 1 again
 
@voretaq7 there's a train station in the middle of AMS airport. Pretty cool
 
(or forgot to peel off the sticker creating the 9 :P)
 
6:47 AM
no, they're metal plates with a 9 inside a circle.
 
takes you to the centre (about 20 mins away)
 
@BretCopeland don't worry, the signs will be correct again one day :-)
 
@DannyBeckett we still don't even have a train to LaGuardia airport.
 
We still have signage that refers to "BMT" "IRT" and "IND", so....
 
And the PATH train doesn't take you to Newark airport.
@voretaq7 wait, WHAT? Where?
 
6:48 AM
@BretCopeland N to Astoria Boulevard, transfer to the M60 bus. Just kill yourself, you're going to LGA anyway, you 're going to want to die.
@BretCopeland all over. Look at the tiles in the walls some time, they're not just decorative :)
 
hmmm, I'll have to look. I feel like I would have recognized those initials if I had seen them.
Also, IRT vs BMT/IND which are incompatible with each other... talk about a legacy system.
 
@BretCopeland IRT trains are compatible with all other lines (just don't step into the gap)
 
well, yeah.
 
B/C division trains will run on A division track without a problem, but you'll need to get them up to pretty high speed in order to shave off the platform so they fit through the station :)
and technically a lot of what's in "C" (maintenance/yard) is old IRT equipment now so they can send it anywhere :P
Old Redbirds Never Die - we just duct tape the everloving shit out of them and repaint them yellow and black :)
 
@voretaq7 haha, just reminds me of youtube.com/watch?v=4Zr3H8inpNw
 
6:55 AM
@BretCopeland It's Lorimer Street all over again :P
 
@voretaq7 I don't get the reference
 
I'm pretty sure it was Lorimer - one of the few actual derailments of a subway car (back when they were wood, so yeah...)
 
I want to go to the transit museum sometime
 
still not as funny as the "11th avenue bound L train"
 
@voretaq7 um, what?
 
6:59 AM
@BretCopeland I'm trying to find a picture - it was a long time ago. an L train at 8th avenue stopped, discharged all its passengers (as they are wont to do at the end of the line), then closed its doors and...um... kinda tried to keep going
ran right into the bumper block
 
That's my favorite overrun
 
2003 - straphangers.org/diaries/… no good pictures though
@BretCopeland That's everyone's favorite overrun
I did however find this delightful picture of an R46 (in original "hideous blue stripe" paint) with the airplane rollsign:
 
Oh wow, never seen that before.
Was that essentially just an A train?
 
@BretCopeland basically
it would run super-express and terminate at Howard Beach
all the 8th avenue trains still have the airplane on their rollsign (if they have rollsigns) - if you've got an allen key and some spare time with nobody watching you can scroll through and find it :)
 
URL is now tiny
!!weather lpl
 
7:07 AM
@DannyBeckett LPL/EGGP: Liverpool John Lennon Airport • Observed: 18 mins ago • Wind: 320°/NW @ 13kts • Visibility: 6.21mi/9.99km • Sky (AGL): Few clouds @ 1,200ft; Scattered clouds @ 2,400ft • Temperature: 6.0°C/43°F • Dewpoint: 3.0°C/37°F • Pressure: 29.50" Hg/999mb • Conditions: VFR
 
@DannyBeckett shh. You'll give it a complex!
 
@DannyBeckett yay
 
(tinyurl.com has no rate limit - is.gd does - didn't check any others)
 
OK, tis bedtime for me - laterz all
 
7:13 AM
night mate!
 
night
 
roe
morning! :)
 
please don't remind me :P @roe
been in this room since midnight - it's now 7.20am
 
The FAA would consider this night.
 
roe
@BretCopeland We had sunrise a minute or so ago here (can't tell, it's overcast), but that would put us 30 minutes into daytime according to the LBA...
 
8:16 AM
@PatoSáinz This has now been fixed
 
8:50 AM
@called2voyage I believe the pressure sensor had a glitch and didn't return any information to ADDS. I've added a check to all items for these kinds of glitches now, and you'll simply see "Unavailable" for anything like this in the future. The command you ran is now working:
!!weather mge
 
@DannyBeckett MGE/KMGE: Dobbins Air Reserve Base Airport • Observed: 55 mins ago • Wind: 40°/NE @ 3kts • Visibility: 10.0mi/16.09km • Clouds: Clear • Temperature: -2.7°C/27°F • Dewpoint: -9.2°C/15°F • Pressure: 30.43" Hg/1,030mb • Conditions: VFR
 
9:13 AM
!!metar EBBR
 
@DeltaLima BRU/EBBR: METAR EBBR 090850Z 22021G32KT 9999 -RA BKN024 11/09 Q1006 NOSIG
 
 
3 hours later…
12:17 PM
posted on January 09, 2014 by Bryan Swopes

9 January 1941: Test pilot Captain Harry Albert (“Sam”) Brown, OBE (1896–1953) makes the first flight of the Avro Lancaster prototype, BT308, at RAF Ringway, Manchester, England. Throughout World War II, 7,377 of these long range heavy bombers were produced for the Royal Air Force. The majority were powered by Rolls-Royce or Packard Merlin V-12 […] The post 9 January 1941 appe

posted on January 09, 2014 by Bryan Swopes

9 January 1942: At the insistence of the Army, Boeing Chief Test Pilot Eddie Allen made the first flight of the Lockheed L-049 Constellation prototype, NX25600, from Burbank to Muroc Field (now, Edwards AFB). Lockheed’s chief test pilot, Milo Burcham, was the co-pilot. When the flight ended, Allen stated “This machine works so well that […] The post 9 January 1942 appeared fir

 
 
1 hour later…
roe
1:33 PM
Hmmm.. I wonder if a GPWS warning would make for a good alarm clock sound, would make you want to pull yourself out of bed, eh?
ok, bad pun, sorry
 
2:27 PM
!!weather MGE
 
@called2voyage MGE/KMGE: Dobbins Air Reserve Base Airport • Observed: 30 mins ago • Wind: 0°/N @ 2kts • Visibility: 10.0mi/16.09km • Clouds: Overcast @ 1,300ft • Temperature: 1.6°C/35°F • Dewpoint: -11.3°C/12°F • Pressure: 30.47" Hg/1,032mb • Conditions: MVFR
 
 
1 hour later…
3:33 PM
@DannyBeckett Instead of "Unavailable", "Missing" is the standard FAA response.
 
 
1 hour later…
4:41 PM
@lnafziger "Sky condition: Missing" . . . um, I hope someone brings it backbecause I'd really like to use it
@Qantas94Heavy Props for pointing out that "the impossible turn" is more than 180 degrees - lots of people don't recognize that rather important fact.
 
Joel Spolsky (Stack Exchange CEO) promoting the aviation site on twitter. Feel free to retweet! (picture is of me)
5
 
Somehow I get the impression that Aviation has a slight... advantage over Space...
 
Lot more pilots than astronauts :)
 
@egid Well yeah...
 
4:56 PM
@BretCopeland is Joel a pilot?
 
I'd sure like to get in to aviation...
But I am 14, and....
 
Anonymous
@Undo in chile you can get your license at any age... are there problems in america?
 
@PatoSáinz No idea.
I know that the age limit is less than it is for a driver's license, but I've just never looked into it far enough.
 

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