I received a very special email last night. The totally amazing people at Bic Media have created a wonderful KU-themed song to get all the Jayhawk fans into the Final Four spirit. They sent it out with instructions to “pass it along to all the KU faithful” - so download it, enjoy, and disseminate! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
Update: KU beats UNC and advances to the National Title game. GO HAWKS!
Update II: KU WINS THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!
April 2nd, 2008
First Class has nothing on these “seats”.
Picture courtesy of Airliners.net.
March 9th, 2008
A blog named ProTraveller has an interesting article up about some of the most dangerous aircraft landings in the world - complete with a few videos. It includes the infamous approach to Princess Juliana Airport on the island of St. Maarten. Oh how I yearn to visit there one day.
March 8th, 2008
So, since it’s been all over the news lately, I guess I should opine on the recent decision by the Air Force to award the contract for building the next generation of tanker aircraft to Airbus instead of Boeing. I see it two ways. On one hand, above all, I want the Air Force to have the best possible aircraft to do the job, and I want them to get those aircraft as soon as possible. On the other hand, I am an unapologetic Boeing fan and believe that any aircraft they brought to the table would have been the superior one hands down. Now that Congress is investigating the matter it’s coming to light that the judging criteria may have been stacked against Boeing. If this turns out to be true, I hope that they challenge the results and have a chance to bid again, because in a fair bid, I believe they would easily win. But whatever happens, I hope that the Air Force gets their new tankers as expeditiously as possible.
Update: Boeing has decided to protest the decision. Good luck!
March 7th, 2008
After a certain point in my flight training, almost daily my instructor would pull “engine out” drills and I would have to go through the motions of making an emergency landing. This guy had to do it for real.
A single-engine airplane surprised motorists on I-70 just east of the Greenfield exit Sunday afternoon after the pilot lost power and had to make an emergency landing on the highway, according to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department.
Thankfully the pilot was able to land safely, and after an roadside inspection, was able to take off again from the highway to return to the airport. There’s something you don’t see everyday.
February 25th, 2008
Update (2/20): Overcast. Bleh.
If you’re under cloudless skies this coming week be sure to take a look outside between 8 and 9 pm (Central Time) on Wednesday, February 20th. There is expected to be a beautiful total lunar eclipse which will be visible over all of the Americas. If you miss this one, you won’t have another chance until 2010.
The eclipse will begin when the moon enters the faint outer portion, or penumbra of the Earth’s shadow. The penumbra, however, is all but invisible to the eye until the moon becomes deeply immersed in it. Sharp-eyed viewers may get their first glimpse of the penumbra as a delicate shading on the left part of the moon’s disk about 20 minutes before the start of the partial eclipse (when the round edge of the central shadow or umbra, first touches the moon’s left edge). During the partial eclipse, the penumbra should be readily visible as a dusky border to the dark umbral shadow.
The moon will enter Earth’s much darker umbral shadow at 1:43 on Feb. 21 by Greenwich or Universal time, which is 8:43 p.m. on Feb. 20 in the Eastern time zone, 7:43 p.m. Central time, 6:43 p.m. Mountain time and 5:43 p.m. Pacific time.
Seventy-eight minutes later the moon is entirely within the shadow, and sails on within it for 51 minutes (about average for a total lunar eclipse), until it begins to find its way out at the lower left (southeastern) edge.
The moon be completely free of the umbra by 9:09 p.m. Pacific time or 12:09 a.m. (Feb. 21) Eastern time.
The vaguer shading of the inner penumbra can continue to be readily detected for perhaps another 20 minutes or so after the end of umbral eclipse. Thus, the whole experience ends toward 12:30 a.m. for the East (with the re-brightened moon now sloping down along the high arc it describes across the sky), or during the mid-evening hours for the West.
I was able to see the partial eclipse that occurred in March, and I hope that the weather will cooperate and I will be fortunate enough to see this one. The universe truly is a wonderful and beautiful thing.
Related: Lunar Eclipse
February 17th, 2008
Last year, I posed on this blog the question of the “Treadmill Problem”. That is, if a runway was turned into a giant treadmill that could exactly match the rotational speed of the wheels of an aircraft trying to takeoff, would the aircraft ever takeoff? Well, earlier this week the infamous MythBusters took on that very problem.
They first performed a small-scale test with a model airplane and a real treadmill. The result? The model airplane took off. They then performed a much larger scale test with a real ultralight aircraft on an actual runway. They used a huge roll of tarp material pulled in the opposite direction of the aircraft by a pickup truck. The result? The airplane took off with little effort. They explained the science behind it. In a car, forward motion is generated by friction between the tires and the road surface, so on a treadmill a car would remain still. However, in an aircraft, the actual forward thrust is provided by the propeller or jet engines, the wheels just allow the aircraft to easily roll. So, no matter how fast the treadmill moves under the wheels, the aircraft easily takes off. It makes sense.
Related: The Treadmill Problem | The Treadmill Problem Revisited
February 2nd, 2008
Michael Anderson - David Brown - Kalpana Chawla - Laurel Clark - Rick Husband - William McCool - Ilan Ramon
In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”
The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.
- President George W. Bush, February 1, 2003
We will never forget you or your sacrifice.
February 1st, 2008
Gregory Jarvis - Christa McAuliffe - Ronald McNair - Ellison Onizuka - Judith Resnik - Dick Scobee - Michael J. Smith
The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.”
- President Ronald Reagan, January 28, 1986
We will never forget you or your sacrifice.
January 28th, 2008
While 2007 brought devastating news with the loss of Steve Fossett, there were no major airline accidents or passenger fatalities in the United States. According to an article in USA Today, this is the first time since 1998 that that has happened. I think this is a wonderful testament to the training and professionalism of our flight and cabin crews. There may be events outside of your control that cause flights to be late or canceled, but the flying public can remain at ease knowing that they will arrive safely at their destination.
January 21st, 2008
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