YESTERDAY'S NEWS--AGAIN
Link to this week's column at
USAToday.com/travel:Notes:
Those of you who ordered "Flights of Whimsy-
Quips 'N' Quotes" will be happy to know the books
finally arrived on Wednesday, Dec. 14th and were
shipped to you the same day. About time! If you
haven't ordered and want to, see notes at the
bottom for more information.
Also, we placed a new link on our Home Page at
http://www.fromthecockpit.com for listening live to ATC.
Those of you who tune in, I wouldn't mind a
little feedback on what you think of this new
link.
Readers who have been with me a long time may
remember an Update I put out last June called
"Yesterday's News" which dealt in part with the
International Dateline. I've never attempted to
try and explain the Dateline in my "Ask The
Captain" column, but after receiving several
questions about it through usatoday.com I finally
decided to tackle it. The link at the top will
take you to this week's column about it if you're
interested and haven't seen it yet.
The original "Yesterday’s News" dealt with a
funny incident that happened when I was a janitor
(yes, a janitor) in Anchorage one winter when I
was laid off from flying. You can find it on my
Blog at Blog. Click on
June 2005 and note it's the last Update for that
month so you'll need to scroll to the bottom.
After I wrote the original "Yesterday's News"
back in June a reader sent me the following:
"It was an astronomer at the Royal Observatory in
Greenwich who allegedly first had the idea of
dividing the world into the 24 time bands. This
eventually resulted in establishing the
International Date Line. He was a Danish
national named Alex Andersrag.
Apparently, the Queen of England was so
impressed, she not only knighted Alex, but named
one of these time zones after him. Today, there
are many people who have heard of Alex Andersrag
Time Band. (Better if said out loud)."
I wanted to include the joke in my column at
usatoday.com but my editor vetoed the idea. I
thought I should at least share it with my own
readers.
Here's what another reader wrote to me just after
the column came out:
"Well before the year 2000 I wrote a piece that
was published in the local paper. In it I talked
about having my wife have twins and then going to
an island in the Pacific so that one could be the
first born in 2000, transport my wife back across
the IDL (International Dateline) so we were back
in 1999 and the other twin could be the last
child born in 1999. (OK, so my male mind isn't
taking into account the pain and experience of
childbirth, but I wrote it purely as a
speculative piece on something that would be
unique; I think my wife's actual response was
"over my dead body"). What one would have are
twins where the one born in the latter year is
actually the older child."
I thought it was an interesting thought, and
especially enjoyed the "over my dead body"
response from his wife.
On another note, I had lots of questions
regarding the Southwest accident at Midway this
week. As always, I feel it's inappropriate to
comment specifically on such events without
waiting for the official findings. I will say
one thing, however. One of our local TV stations
here in the Denver area reported one of four
thrust reversers suspected of malfunctioning.
The B-737 has two engines—one thrust reverser per
engine. My point-and I do have one-is please
don't trust the media.
An interesting note is that reverse thrust is not
used when aircraft are being tested for their
stopping capabilities. However, on a relatively
short runway like Midway, especially on a snowy
night, if one knew in advance of any malfunctions
regarding the landing gear, brakes, reversers,
etc., one would almost certainly divert
elsewhere. Some malfunctions add a "penalty" to
the landing distance, meaning of course, more
runway is required.
Whatever happened on this flight, I believe we'll
find, as is the case in so the majority of
incidents and accidents, that there was more than
one contributing factor. On a nice day, if one
reverser had been discovered to be inoperative
after landing, the chances are good the plane
would have still stopped in time. Add the
element of winter weather and slick runways and
suddenly the chances aren’t so good.
One question I got pertaining to this was whether
I had ever experienced anything really "scary"
myself involving ice and/or snow. The worst
experience I can recall offhand was not on
takeoff or landing in icy conditions, but taxiing
when it was really slick.
Specifically, years ago at O'Hare, I was taxiing
a B-727 on one of the narrow taxiways
perpendicular to a runway and started to slide as
I came around a corner. I couldn't have been
doing more than 3 or 4 knots—just enough to keep
moving. I was able to add just a little bit of
reverse on one side and that stopped the slide.
Cap'n Al—A.K.A. Al The Web Guy-had a similar
experience when he was taxiing a B-727 in slick
conditions.
Landing in snowy conditions with less-than-good
braking can be a little tense sometimes, but it's
really a matter of being concise with airspeed
and not letting the airplane "float" down the
runway (which happens with excess airspeed).
Being careful to be right on speed ensures a
touchdown sooner rather than later, leaving more
runway to get stopped.
Once again, as a notice to my newest readers and
a reminder to others, my newest book "Flights of
Whimsy - Quips 'N' Quotes" is now out. The
retail price is normally $11.95 plus shipping but
until Christmas you can order it for just $9.95
and I'll throw in shipping for free anywhere in
the world. All orders will be shipped out
immediately but time is growing short if you want
it in time for Christmas.
Click here to order:
Gift Ideas
I've also put autographed copies of my book "The
World At My Feet" on sale until Christmas in the
form of free shipping. Total price is $17.95.
Also ships out immediately.
Click here to order:
Gift Ideas
And with that,
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap'n Meryl
www.fromthecockpit.com
www.flyingfearless.com
www.fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm(keynote speaker)
USAToday.com/travel:Notes:
Those of you who ordered "Flights of Whimsy-
Quips 'N' Quotes" will be happy to know the books
finally arrived on Wednesday, Dec. 14th and were
shipped to you the same day. About time! If you
haven't ordered and want to, see notes at the
bottom for more information.
Also, we placed a new link on our Home Page at
http://www.fromthecockpit.com for listening live to ATC.
Those of you who tune in, I wouldn't mind a
little feedback on what you think of this new
link.
Readers who have been with me a long time may
remember an Update I put out last June called
"Yesterday's News" which dealt in part with the
International Dateline. I've never attempted to
try and explain the Dateline in my "Ask The
Captain" column, but after receiving several
questions about it through usatoday.com I finally
decided to tackle it. The link at the top will
take you to this week's column about it if you're
interested and haven't seen it yet.
The original "Yesterday’s News" dealt with a
funny incident that happened when I was a janitor
(yes, a janitor) in Anchorage one winter when I
was laid off from flying. You can find it on my
Blog at Blog. Click on
June 2005 and note it's the last Update for that
month so you'll need to scroll to the bottom.
After I wrote the original "Yesterday's News"
back in June a reader sent me the following:
"It was an astronomer at the Royal Observatory in
Greenwich who allegedly first had the idea of
dividing the world into the 24 time bands. This
eventually resulted in establishing the
International Date Line. He was a Danish
national named Alex Andersrag.
Apparently, the Queen of England was so
impressed, she not only knighted Alex, but named
one of these time zones after him. Today, there
are many people who have heard of Alex Andersrag
Time Band. (Better if said out loud)."
I wanted to include the joke in my column at
usatoday.com but my editor vetoed the idea. I
thought I should at least share it with my own
readers.
Here's what another reader wrote to me just after
the column came out:
"Well before the year 2000 I wrote a piece that
was published in the local paper. In it I talked
about having my wife have twins and then going to
an island in the Pacific so that one could be the
first born in 2000, transport my wife back across
the IDL (International Dateline) so we were back
in 1999 and the other twin could be the last
child born in 1999. (OK, so my male mind isn't
taking into account the pain and experience of
childbirth, but I wrote it purely as a
speculative piece on something that would be
unique; I think my wife's actual response was
"over my dead body"). What one would have are
twins where the one born in the latter year is
actually the older child."
I thought it was an interesting thought, and
especially enjoyed the "over my dead body"
response from his wife.
On another note, I had lots of questions
regarding the Southwest accident at Midway this
week. As always, I feel it's inappropriate to
comment specifically on such events without
waiting for the official findings. I will say
one thing, however. One of our local TV stations
here in the Denver area reported one of four
thrust reversers suspected of malfunctioning.
The B-737 has two engines—one thrust reverser per
engine. My point-and I do have one-is please
don't trust the media.
An interesting note is that reverse thrust is not
used when aircraft are being tested for their
stopping capabilities. However, on a relatively
short runway like Midway, especially on a snowy
night, if one knew in advance of any malfunctions
regarding the landing gear, brakes, reversers,
etc., one would almost certainly divert
elsewhere. Some malfunctions add a "penalty" to
the landing distance, meaning of course, more
runway is required.
Whatever happened on this flight, I believe we'll
find, as is the case in so the majority of
incidents and accidents, that there was more than
one contributing factor. On a nice day, if one
reverser had been discovered to be inoperative
after landing, the chances are good the plane
would have still stopped in time. Add the
element of winter weather and slick runways and
suddenly the chances aren’t so good.
One question I got pertaining to this was whether
I had ever experienced anything really "scary"
myself involving ice and/or snow. The worst
experience I can recall offhand was not on
takeoff or landing in icy conditions, but taxiing
when it was really slick.
Specifically, years ago at O'Hare, I was taxiing
a B-727 on one of the narrow taxiways
perpendicular to a runway and started to slide as
I came around a corner. I couldn't have been
doing more than 3 or 4 knots—just enough to keep
moving. I was able to add just a little bit of
reverse on one side and that stopped the slide.
Cap'n Al—A.K.A. Al The Web Guy-had a similar
experience when he was taxiing a B-727 in slick
conditions.
Landing in snowy conditions with less-than-good
braking can be a little tense sometimes, but it's
really a matter of being concise with airspeed
and not letting the airplane "float" down the
runway (which happens with excess airspeed).
Being careful to be right on speed ensures a
touchdown sooner rather than later, leaving more
runway to get stopped.
Once again, as a notice to my newest readers and
a reminder to others, my newest book "Flights of
Whimsy - Quips 'N' Quotes" is now out. The
retail price is normally $11.95 plus shipping but
until Christmas you can order it for just $9.95
and I'll throw in shipping for free anywhere in
the world. All orders will be shipped out
immediately but time is growing short if you want
it in time for Christmas.
Click here to order:
Gift Ideas
I've also put autographed copies of my book "The
World At My Feet" on sale until Christmas in the
form of free shipping. Total price is $17.95.
Also ships out immediately.
Click here to order:
Gift Ideas
And with that,
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap'n Meryl
www.fromthecockpit.com
www.flyingfearless.com
www.fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm(keynote speaker)
1 Comments:
Hi Cap'n Meryl. It was just today that I came upon your blog. Being an enthusiast with flying, I enjoyed your blogs very much! I have read through a lot of your entries and they are really captivating and awe-inspiring. You also inspire youngsters in the good things in life. Wish you the very best!
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