PropBlast

I recently added a new podcast to my phone (that I use as my MP3 player) to try it out and all I can say is WOW! Airspeed Online (available for podcast subscription for free at http://airspeed.libsyn.com/) blew me away from the first minute I listened to it.

Stephen Force, in addition to being an aviation and technology lawyer (as he often mentions in the show) is someone who's enthusiasm for all things aviation is only matched by the production quality that he brings to the show.

His background in radio and music appears quite obvious in how well his podcast sounds, as well as the mix of natural and studio sound brings together a fantastic job of putting you in the left (or right) seat as he flies or talks to other aviators. But what I find refreshing is just how good his writing is.

Actually, I take that back. His writing is fantastic! All you have to do is listen to his podcasts to marvel at the amount of time I would imagine he spends on putting these together. He is eloquent without being too slick and his self-deprecating sense of humor is perfect. To prove it, here are some of my favorite episodes, each for their own reason.

• Intro Flights - This is a fantastic resource to point potential aviators at to learn more about what to expect and how to get started.
• Understanding Stalls - Ever had someone who just doesn't get it? In particular, media near you that need some education on aviation and how things work? I'd love to see this podcast be a part of the general education at J-Schools...
• GA is No Threat - Another great educational piece that sooo many reporters could benefit from.. Even better, by familiarizing themselves with this information, most pilots could better assist local media in understanding GA.
• Take Your Kids To The Airport - Again, another superbly written piece that every pilot should listen to and take to heart. Every pilot should take their kids, and perhaps their neighbors kids, ramp flying any chance they can get!
• So Long 18 - You can truly feel his pain at the loss of such a trusty steed.
• Upside Down and Hair on Fire... - Well written as always but I found Mr. Force's excitement to be contagious.

The list goes on but there are the ones that when I was listening to them I said to myself "You've GOT to blog about this!". If you want to read the show notes at the address we showed at first or you can read his blog postings at http://www.airspeedonline.blogspot.com/.

According to the Palomar Airport Association:

CALIFORNIA BUDGET BENEFITS AIRCRAFT OWNERS
As part of the California budget that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed August 24, anyone who purchases an aircraft outside the state is exempt from paying California sales and use tax if the aircraft is kept outside the state for 90 days. The 90-day period had been the standard until 2004 when the state experimented with a temporary requirement that changed the exemption time frame to one year. The temporary change is expiring, and the legislature has declined to extend it or make it permanent.

The blog "Think or Thwim" has a posting about "How to Hide An Airplane Factory". I'd heard the stories of Los Angeles area airplane manufacturers, that covered their factories with mesh that made it look like farmland, complete with houses and other buildings but I thought it was McDonald Douglas in Santa Monica, not Lockheed in Burbank. Regardless of who did it, this blog has some great photos.

Before:

After: 

You'll find more pictures on their website as well as an interesting tale (or urban legend) of Jack Warner (of Warner Studios) painting Lockheed with an arrow pointing to the factory on the roof of his studios so that the Japanese wouldn't bomb the studios by mistake. Who knows if that one is true though...

Just stumbled on this Cirrus video on YouTube. This is "sister plane" to 334CM that is on the line for rental at Sunrise Aviation. Kinda fun to watch.

Google Earth has a built-in flight simulator that is hidden away, until you launch it the first time (or at least version 4.2 does). Once you've loaded the flight simulator, you can launch it again in the future using the same Ctrl-Alt-A keystroke combo or you can launch it from "Enter Flight Simulator" from the Tools menu.

If you hit the Ctrl-Alt-A keystroke combination from within the main application, you should be presented with the following window:

If you aren't seeing this pop-up, you may need to go into the Options | General | Language Settings menu and set it to English (or English (United States)) in order for this to work.

Anyway, once you choose your aircraft and a start position you are off and running. Choosing the SR22 might make life easier for you as it is a slower aircraft than the F16 however, regardless of which aircraft you choose, you will be presented with a HUD (Heads Up Display) like you would find in a modern fighter.

The keyboard controls are pretty tricky so if you have a joy stick or flight yoke, you might have a better time of it. Otherwise, you can find a list of keyboard shortcuts using the Help button on the launch screen shown at top (or use this link).

I cratered it in the first few times I flew it but succeeded in doing a loop in the virtual SR22, something that I would NEVER try in our real-life SR22. Give it a shot! If anyone out there has a better time flying it, please let me know using the comments below.

I wonder if this has anything to do with Northwest's lack of pilots to fly their planes? Perhaps they got a cabbie to do their taxiing for them?

I'm not sure when or where this picture was taken, just found it sitting on Pricesless420.com recently.