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May 30, 2004
The first Airbus A380-800 rolls out
What a massive plane !
Original Airbus A380-800 picture in context
More Airbus 380 pictures from Airliners.net
Thanks to Airliners.net for the picture.
Posted by Elie at 11:51 AM
May 28, 2004
Your brain is a mess
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
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Posted by Elie at 10:41 AM
Are you a Geek?
A one-question geek test. If you get the joke, you're a geek:
Seen on a California license plate on a VW Beetle:
FEATURE
Leave me a comment if you get it. Thanks to the Vin'z for this joke.
If you really want to see how geeky you are, take
the Geek Test
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Posted by Elie at 10:22 AM
May 24, 2004
The CBS plane - in charge of reporting traffic - lands on the highway!
In San Francisco, every morning, the main highways are overflown by planes from the local radio station KCBS to report traffic jams.
This morning, the plane went out of fuel and had to land on the highway, causing traffic congestion. On the bright side, no one was hurt.
Thanks to CBS-5, KCBS and SFGate.com for the pictures.
See the full news story here
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Posted by Elie at 05:16 PM
May 19, 2004
Crissy Field - Aviation airfield in San Francisco
Crissy Field is just below the Presidio Park, next to the Golden Gate Bridge. I was told it used to be an aviation airfield and I just found some pictures of it on this great site: Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: San Francisco area.
Today, Crissy Field is a nice park, with grass, access to the water and a gorgeous view on the Golden Gate Bridge.
The above site shows Crissy Fields on the 1929 "Rand McNally Standard Map of CA With Air Trails" (courtesy of Chris Kennedy). It described Crissy Field as measuring 3,050' x 400'.
It used to look like that
This picture shows a Ford 5-AT-B taking off from Crissy Field
That's what Crissy Field looked like before they removed the paved runway
And finally, this is what it looks like today
I found most of the information above on the following sites:
Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields
Northern California Chapter of the American Aviation Historical Society
Crissy Airfield History - Presidio of San Francisco
Give them credit for their great work and visit their site.
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Posted by Elie at 01:16 AM
May 18, 2004
Today's aviation proverb
Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous.
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Posted by Elie at 06:37 PM
May 15, 2004
Today's aviation joke
Two moose hunters from Texas are flown into a remote lake in Alaska. They have a good hunt and both manage to bag a large moose. When the plane returns to pick them up, the pilot looks at the animals and says, "This little plane won't lift all of us, the equipment, and both of those animals. You'll have to leave one. We'd never make it over the trees on the take off."
"That's baloney!" says one of the hunters. "Yeah," the other agrees, "you're just chicken. We came out here last year and got two moose and that pilot had some guts! He wasn't afraid to take off!"
"Yeah", said the first hunter, "and his plane wasn't any bigger than yours!"
The pilot got angry, and said, "Hell, if he did it, then I can do it! I can fly as well as anybody!"
They loaded up, taxied, then at full throttle took off. The plane almost made it but didn't have the lift to clear the trees at the end of the lake. It clipped the tops, then flipped, then broke up, scattering the baggage, animal carcasses, and passengers all through the brush.
Still alive, but hurt and dazed, the pilot sat up, shook his head to clear it, and said, "Where are we?"
One of the hunters rolled out from behind a bush, looked around and said, "I'd say... About a hundred yards further than last year."
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Posted by Elie at 08:31 PM
May 13, 2004
San Francisco Bay tour
The great thing about living and flying around San Francisco is the scenery. The simplest flight is an impressive scenic experience.
So, we went on a Bay tour, starting from San Carlos (KSQL), my home airport. San Carlos tower delivered us a squawk code and after take-off, we contacted SFO tower for clearance into the class B airspace.
After clearance into the class B, we followed highway 101 up to the airport. We were then requested to proceed directly over the field !
We then flew over the city of San Francisco
Over the Golden Gate Bridge
Over the Marina and the Palace of Fine Arts
To return to San Carlos, we were requested to fly along highway 101, right next to SFO.
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Posted by Elie at 11:06 PM