Verification.

When even the boneheads in San Francisco see the crisis looming,
I know I'm not bein' paranoid.

Thanks to Instapundit.

A Tough Business

He sought me out. Why?
Because I was the most experienced pilot there? Because I looked approachable? I never asked him. Now I'll never know why.

Every two years I find myself in Torrance California at the Robinson Helicopter Company's "Safety Course". It's a chance for me to kill several birds with one stone-
-I renew my Flight Instructor Certificate.
-I get to take the factory tour and see how they are building the helicopter and if anything has changed.
-I meet with old friends at the factory.
-I make new friends at the course and learn what's going on in the industry.
It's always interesting, educational, and fun.

It was my second time to attend the course... 1985.
He walked up during the first coffee break and introduced himself, then stuck pretty close to me at every break for the rest of the class. He had just added his commercial pilot rating to the Airframe and Powerplant license already in his pocket. When he finished the course he was going to Peru to join a crew on a "Tuna Boat" where he would fly an R22 helicopter searching for the fish, then twist wrenches on it when the day's flying was done...
Hard work. Long hours. Extended periods away from home. But if he and the crew were successful he would reap great rewards... he'd be paid a percentage of the proceeds, and the proceeds would be substantial.

He picked my brain all through the course and when we parted he promised to stay in touch.
And he did. He'd be out on the boat three months or so, then he'd take a 30 day break. When he got home he'd call and tell me stories about the outings. He was making great money and when he had enough savings, intended to start his own business. Let's understate matters by saying he was "highly motivated".

On "The Boats" he graduated to a bigger helicopter... an MD 500, the same "Scout" helicopter I followed around in Viet Nam when we were doing reconnaissance missions.

In 1993 he called-
"I've bought a 500 I'm gonna rebuild and I'm passing through your area. Will you be home?"
I met him at our little airport and took him and his friend to our local motel to get a room, then Sara Jean and I took them out to eat. The next morning I took them back to the airport and saw them off. It seemed to me his dreams were all coming true.

Still, he called with updates now and then. He had started a business darting animals with tranquilizers, then transporting them to alternate locations with nets slung beneath the helicopter. He gave me the website address for the business where I saw he now owned at least two MD 500's. I was impressed.

A while later I was poking around on a helicopter forum and saw "Fatal helicopter crash in Utah... an MD 500".
My heart sank. I investigated. It was him.

The Olympics were to be held in Salt Lake City in 2002. There was a problem West of the city on a stretch of Interstate 80...
Moose were crossing the highway and cars were colliding with them. He was hired to move the moose to a safer location.

You can review the concluding accident report here.
(Note the date of the accident... sad.)
They had just finished lunch. He landed and disembarked his son to coordinate from the ground. Ceilings and visibility were low. With his "darter" and a representative from Wildlife Resources aboard he took off and ran into powerlines 108 feet above a frozen lake. The helicopter broke through the ice, then bobbed to the surface. The son ran to the crash site and tried in vain to rescue the occupants, then watched as the helicopter sank below the surface.

We all lose friends as time passes. I lose more than my fair share and it's painful as Hell sometimes. I'm sure he got comfortable flying in the area and just forgot the powerlines were there.
There's an old saying that's SO true...
"Aviation, like the sea, is unforgiving of mistakes."
I try ALWAYS to remember that.

My Blessing To You On This Day:

Rejoice!

The Wisdom of Youth

Breathtaking huh?
This video illustrates what is wrong with the country in SO many ways.
Isolate many of the young people in the video; give them a Civics exam, and you'll find many of them are ignoramuses. (I once had one of them, an Obama supporter of course, leave a comment that Jimmy Carter had established the Federal Reserve Bank!)

To me, one of the most ironic things illuminated here is the wrong-thinking being done by this administration and its supplicants. Bozama campaigned that the country had been terribly damaged by George Bush's "Cowboy" diplomacy...
What we needed most was to work toward being more like Europe... their societies and culture are old and wise. Europe was shunning us because Bush was such an idiot. When elected, President(?) Obama would immediately start to heal all the wounds George Bush had left behind.

So how's that working out now?
-Sarkozy thinks Bozama is a naive buffoon.
-Great Britain (and most older Americans) was/were amazed when the bust of Winston Churchill was returned. Then the Tabloids buzzed with stories of the inappropriate gifts Prime Minister Brown and Queen Elizabeth received from our "Cool!" Chief Executive.
-Copenhagen? HA! (X2).
-Missile Defense in Poland? What we've done there to one of our staunchest allies is a total embarrassment.
We are now a joke in Europe.
Why?
My guess is that we certainly COULD HAVE worked to be more like Europe in some ways...
The people of Europe respect wisdom. Wisdom comes with age. Elders in Europe are sought for counsel... revered and respected.
Here in the U.S.?
"Talk with your parents! Tell them a vote for McCain will ruin the country!"

Idiocy.
And of course the further irony that all us "older" folks realize?
The joke is on our young people. They will be forced to support the backbreaking economic collapse this "cool, youthful" administration is about to set into motion.

I love a joke that comes as a complete surprise, don't you?

UPDATE:
Good grief. I wrote and published this post,
then read Krauthammer's piece a few hours later. It's obvious why he's a professional writer and I'm a helicopter pilot!

Those That Have, And Those That Will?

I Think You're A Jerk.

Computers and the Innertubes have changed our lives dramatically.
I pay most of my bills online. I buy most of our big-ticket items after finding the best price online. I stay in touch with my family either via email, Msn Instant Messenger, or Skype. If someone set an E.M.P. device off tomorrow and took these capabilities away we'd all be scrambling around like "Keystone Kops" for a while, wouldn't we?

But there's an ugly side of this system too.
Over in my blogroll you'll notice "Bloviating Zeppelin" listed there. As indicated, I do try to check most of the blogs on that list daily. BZ is a kindred spirit... I seldom disagree with him on matters of import.
If you go back and read some of his older posts and you'll see he had a couple liberals contributing comments there. One was mostly rational... although I disagreed with him most of the time on things political, he was at least trying to add to the dialogue and maybe illuminate why liberals think the way they do.
The other commenter was just a "hit and run" idiot...
His comments added nothing to the discussion and ended with childish name-calling. BZ must be a Saint... he was always more tolerant of both these guys than I would have been.
But then the unexpected happened. The guy that normally had something intelligent to add to the discussion stepped over the line... DRAMATICALLY, and "Saint" BZ became "BZ, bringer of Blogowner's wrath".

Much of what is written on Blogs is done anonymously. I have met a few of the commenters that come here in person. I have had email communications with a few more. A few are even listed as "Friends" on my Facebook page, so I obviously know MUCH more about them personally. But the folks that come by and say really nasty things would probably, for obvious reasons, want to remain anonymous. If BZ were a little unstable, (which he's not, thank Goodness!), I can see where saying the evil things his normally rational commenter said might make him go hunting for the guy that said those evil things if he knew how/where to find him. But the reason the guy felt comfortable saying them in the first place was because he knew there was little-to-no chance for repercussions.

So that's where we now find ourselves-
We have this wonderful system where we can easily communicate almost instantly with one another. We can freely express and argue about our opinions. And we can say nasty, vile things about one another with almost no worry of paying a price for being uncivil.
But we're getting angrier and angrier with one another.
We've now had the window of a Republican Congressman shot out. Liberal talk-show hosts are openly suggesting the world would be a better place if Conservatives were killed. Anti-Semitism is once again rearing its ugly head. Our "Uniter" President(?) is fueling the fire.

I'm afraid. Most folks I chat with are afraid. The fear builds and builds. In some, the fear begins to convert to anger. That anger causes more uncivil behavior. It seems to be a vicious cycle.

Our country is bankrupt. We have terrible unemployment and that situation is getting worse by the day. Our leaders are doing nothing to put people back to work... on the contrary, they are legislating and regulating in such a way that businesses are closing or outsourcing their work to countries with more "business friendly" attitudes. Folks who have money also have the ability to move that money elsewhere to protect it.

But the overall atmosphere...
It's one thing to have "anonymous" commenters adding stupid comments on a blog.
It's another thing entirely now to have discussions with relatives and acquaintances and have them suggest that rewarding negative behavior will resolve a problem. (A few members of my extended family are no longer welcome in my home because of comments they have made about "Socialism being a good thing".)
I could never have foreseen feeling this angry with loved ones.

We've seen a guy fly an airplane into an IRS office.
We've seen militants in Michigan trying to fan the flames of revolution.
We see folks on the left trying to further restrict our freedoms of speech, religion, and our right to protect ourselves.
How long can this go on before something really terrible happens?

Thugs Throw Bricks Through Windows of Republican Headquarters

We got the "Change".
Where is the "Hope"?

Tinderbox. What's the chance of a conflagration?
Be prepared.

What You Can, And Cannot Do:

What you can do: Claim to be a "Moderate Republican".

What you cannot do: Claim to be a Conservative, if you voted for the bailout during Bush's administration.

Flying The Friendly Skies

Do you like to fly?
When I started thinking about it I realized that question is more complex than it initially appears. Some, the "White Knucklers", will immediately answer with a resounding NO!
But my question today really refers more to "traveling by air" than the physical act of flying.
The whole process of flying somewhere with the airlines, for me, is rapidly approaching the point where I'll have a decision to make-
Is this time savings worth the trouble?
And that question will ultimately be determined by the number of hours spent devoted to the entire process... planning, packing, and the total movement to go somewhere. I fear as travel becomes more and more complex, folks like me will just determine it's not worth the trouble at all.

Consider:
Going somewhere requires you to think ahead about what you'll need when you get there.
Heavy clothing? Shorts and polo shirt? Both? Skiing? Golf?
Medications?
And for Sara Jean... Special Shampoos/hair stuff, face cleaning stuff, face painting stuff, eye enhancing stuff, moisturizers, tanning stuff... I could go on and on but you get the picture. We MUST have it all. And what about packing it? Will it explode do to changes in pressure? How to prevent that?

The flight departs at 1730 hours. We have to back-plan from that point. We need to arrive at the airport at least an hour before departure. I like to fudge that a little when, like last evening, we're leaving on Friday or Sunday night, because there are always more people trying to get outta Dodge. Yesterday I allowed 90 minutes.
The drive to the airport at BigTown takes two hours. What if we have tire trouble? What if there's an accident along the way that traps us in a jam? I allotted 150 minutes for the drive. That makes our "getting there on time for departure" time 240 minutes... 4 hours. To depart at 1730, we have to be out the door at 1330 hours.
But we have two dogs to think of now. Dropping them off at their respective caregiver's homes adds another 30 minutes to the plan... out the door at 1300 hours.
At some point you begin to wonder, "Is it worth this?" And I think the answer to that question more and more will be "No".

A comfortable drive to Los Angeles would take 3 days and would put close to 2100 miles on our car. Coming home would double those figures. Driving here was not an option. But what about shorter trips?
In the four hours it takes to drive to the airport, make our way through the security check and board the airplane, we could be 240 miles down the road to our destination in our car, and in many cases the dogs could come along. If you then add the flight time to the destination and the time getting from the destination airport to the place you really want to spend your time, you have a matrix for the "travel by air?" decision.
For me, the breaking point is now somewhere around 1,000 miles + -.
Trips less than 1,000 miles will be driven. Trips over 1,000 miles MAY be driven if the destination airport is not close to where we need to be.

Airlines are in a dilemma and have to be pulling their hair out-
They have to insure folks arrive safely, but the checking-in and security process is already cumbersome and looks like it will get worse. Add to their woes the increasing costs of fuel and insurance, and you have some understanding why you're now packed into an airplane like a sardine in a can.

Thinking about what I've written above I realize the question is not really "fly or drive?". It's really "fly or don't go at all?".
More and more, I think the answer may be "Let's just stay home."
This is the change. Where's the hope?

Dateline- Orange County CA, 26 March

We're safely here. We had a stopover in Denver. Got off one airplane and directly on the one that brought us here. It's clear and 57 degrees in Orange County... feels cool but nice.

I met a delightful gentleman on the leg from Denver to SNA. Now hailing from Corona, CA, he's an architect and has family back in Indiana. He was tentative about feeling us out politically, but we found him to be pretty much in complete agreement with us about what is going on in the world. It's good to know there are others in addition to CameraPilot that are not Looney Tunes out here!

It's late here... creepy late for our body clocks. More tomorrow.

Be well... ALL.
GB

John Wayne, Orange County

I'll finish writing this post, push "publish", and pack the computer away for our trip to see Big Bubba in Orange County. I haven't seen him since I helped him move in December. Sara Jean hasn't seen him since Thanksgiving. We're all thirsty for one another.

If the situation permits I'll blog along the way.

A Gift From God

Yeah, that's Yogi.
Given to us because he had diarrhea and terrible gas and the previous owner couldn't handle the stress that came with overcoming those problems, we're now two weeks into his ownership of us. The diarrhea is gone. The gas? Well, he takes after his old man. It's much improved, but he still shocks us with an odor, then lifts his head from a nap as if to say, "Alright! Who cut the cheese?!!"
Ya can't help but guffaw.

Lucy was a street find.
Yogi was given to us in desperation.
I have never had any doubt all things happen for a reason.
Yogi just reinforces that belief.

A Fatal In Tennessee

ThirdWaveDave emailed with the terrible news of another fatal EMS helicopter crash, an AStar in Tennessee.
I flew a "D" model AStar three years for a construction company...
(It was the aircraft I wrote about having the unreliable Lycoming engine. This one was a "B" model with the Turbomeca engine.)
The aircraft is roomy and quiet, and visibility out of it is wonderful... which is the reason you see so many of them used in giving aerial tours.
But I sometimes woke with night sweats after nightmares dreaming what it would be like to fly the thing in "IMC"...
Instrument Meteorological Conditions.
In Europe its nickname is "Escureil"...
"Squirrel"... for good reason. I think it's the most dynamically unstable aircraft I've ever flown. Trying to fly it under instrument conditions, and worse... at night, would verify that nightmare.
Let's watch as this investigation unfolds.
Three people trying to help others, now dead.
May they rest in peace.

Pleasing The Eye And Ear

National Pride?

Stolen from The Old Man.

The Day After, A Question-

What sort of person will now be attracted to medicine?

Repeal It !

Go here now and express your dissatisfaction.
And fair warning:
Someone somewhere may go off the deep end. When they do, constituent anger, like the guy flying the airplane into the IRS building, could get out of control quickly. If/When it does, you'll need to be prepared, and be prepared to take sides.

So be prepared.

It Begins.... Sunday?

I've hoped it wouldn't come to this.
I continue to pray it can be avoided.
But some already think it's time to get started.
(You MUST read the comments there.)

"Give me liberty or give me death."
How bad do things have to get before you'll resist this tyranny?
(And it IS tyranny!)

Hope for the best.
Prepare for the worst.

The Perils of Yogi

Housebreaking progress continues. It's now been over a week since we've experienced house poopage. We're still stepping barefoot on damp spots now and then, but I think we'll have even that under control in short order. We're now taking Yogi outside as often as possible... every 3 hours or so, and praising him when he performs correctly.

Our lot is 2-1/2 acres. The house is situated more on the roadside of the property so our back yard is large, and it abuts a five acre pond and 80 acres of timber. That's a lot of space for a 5-pound pup to run and get the inner machinery moving. Sara Jean took Yogi back there for his last constitutional prior to bedding down for the night. There was a sliver moon and the night was clear and reasonably warm. Yogi was zipping here, then there, stopping to smell whatever it is dogs are so fascinated with when you want them to finish their business and get back in the house. He was about 50 feet away when she began to be concerned he was getting too far away from her. From the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of movement and turned to focus on it. It was moving pretty quickly, making a bee-line toward Yogi...
Coyote.
Sara Jean did EXACTLY the right thing and I'm proud of her, because as a Chicago-raised gal it was counter-intuitive...
She shouted YOGI ! and started running for the pup. This was enough to startle the Coyote and stop him/her in its tracks. Then when the Coyote saw SJ intended to defend Yogi it turned-tail and ran back into the brush. Sara Jean was so frightened she called me and breathlessly related the tale.

Hearing them yipping and calling to one another back there I know there are probably 20 or so Coyotes in the woods behind our house, and I suspect this time of year many of them are Mothers trying to eat enough to keep up their strength while they suckle their newly-born litter.
Yogi could easily have been dinner.

Needless to say, from now on he'll be on the leash when we take him to the back yard at night.

Note Of Thanks To Twenty-Somethings:

Overall health care costs will be coming down.
This is due largely to young people being forced to buy insurance they don't need (and don't want).
Isn't this kinda the way Social Security works... younger people carrying the load for older folk?
And how has that worked out... hmmm?
You young folks are wonderful. Thank you!