Thursday, April 27, 2006
"The Customer Is Always Right!"
An old business mantra. I've heard it a thousand times. There's just one problem with it. The customer ISN'T always right. There are times when your customers are bone headed idiots who keep changing their minds and don't know what the hell they want. There are times when they want things that are simply impossible to provide, or they're completely unreasonable about their expectations. No matter what you do, they're still unsatisfied. There are times when an employer should stick up for his/her employees. Espeicially the good ones you value and that you want to keep.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Monday, April 24, 2006
Watching Paint Dry:
What a great Sunday we had weather wise here in sunny Minnesowtah!! 73 degrees, low humidity, a light breeze (Wind 33 @ 6 for you aero-nuts.) and stunningly clear blue skies. First, my child bride and I went for a walk in a state park by the Mississippi River. Then, we sat at the airport for a while and watched planes land. (She doesn't mind because she can bring her knitting along and get some of that done without being interrupted.) There's something about watching an aircraft land or takeoff that is just fascinating for me. I know some people would rather watch paint dry. So be it. I love it. There's nothing like watching a 747 floating along toward a landing. These things are so damn big they look like they're just creeping along, but they're clipping along at 140/170 knots depending on the situation. That's moving. To watch a good pilot bring one of these things in, and put it down on all the rear bogies with just wisps of smoke and then then let the nose gear gently touch down before hitting the reverse thrusters and bringing to a gentle turn off at taxiway "Mike" well, unless you've got the aviation bug, you simply don't get it.
It helps if you can have a radio on hand to listen to the tower frequencies. That way you have an idea of what's going on, and you gain an appreciation for just how complex running a major international airport really is. They've added a new North/South runway here, No 17/35. It's 8,000' X 150' and came into use about a month and half ago. That makes for a total of 4 active runways, the main one being 12R/30L. It's 10,000 X 200, and thus handles many of the heavies that fly into the airport. Now you'd think that another runway would make it harder to keep track of things, but it makes life easier for the controllers playing their traffic control chess game as it gives them more options than they previously had. They don't have to stack planes up in holding pattern waiting for the next open slot like they used to.
The easiest place to watch is a parking area on Post Road near 12R/30L that they created for the purpose. The problem is a noise abatement fence they put up that blocks your view of the southern portion of the runway. The whole area is getting built up, and it's about the only place left to watch that you won't get chased out of after a while. Post 9/11 security doesn't help either.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Friday, April 21, 2006
Put that thing down and pay attention!!!!
What do I hate? I hate people who tailgate me in the morning while they're yakking away on their damn cell phone!! Don't get me wrong, I don't hate cell phones. Why, some of my best friends have them. Got one myself. But I don't use it when driving. In fact, if I'm driving, I make for a pretty poor conversationalist because I tend to focus on whatever I'm doing. Like driving. Besides, what on this earth is so all fired important that you've got to chatter away while guiding a near two ton machine down the road crowded with other living souls????? What did you do before cell phone became common???
HANG UP AND DRIVE!!!!!!
There. I feel much better now.
Back to your regularly scheduled blog.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Change?!? Change?!? I don't need no stinkin' change!!
Right after WW2, Airliners such as the DC-6 and the Constellation used 5 crewmembers in the cockpit. Pilot, Co-pilot, Flight Engineer, Navigator and Radio Operator. Over the years, one by one, they've all disappeared, save the pilot and co-pilot. And believe me when I say the airlines are seriously working on ridding themselves of the co-pilot. I do not think I exaggerate when I say that if the FAA didn't require one, they'd probably go away over night. The reason all those people were in the planes back then is because there was very little automation. If you look at an instrument panel from the late '40's, early 50's, the average GA pilot today wouldn't seen anything they didn't recognize as far as instruments go. The primary six instruments were the artificial horizon, airspeed, altitude, turn and bank, rate of climb, and gyro-compass. All the rest of the gauges and switches and dials were related to mechanical systems of the aircraft, and were the responsibility of the other 4 crewmembers. The pilot and co-pilot just worried their pretty little heads over the six primaries.
But with improved equipment comes automation, and the machines that used to require humans to spin dials and flip switches started doing a lot of that themselves, leaving people who would sit there and watch them do it. Large companies are loath to pay people good money to sit there and watch machines run themselves. The radio man was the first to go as radios became smarter and easier to operate. Then radios started incorporating navigation functions along with the communications as the FAA began installing VOR radio stations across the country. These are radio stations that onboard "navcom" radios could use to determine the position of the receiver set through triangulation. (Modern GPS systems have carried this about 20,000 steps further.) Bye bye navigator. Then the "flight director" showed up. This instrument combined the function of most of the primaries into one all-encompassing instrument that also included the auto-pilot, itself more automated than ever before. The flight deck was quite a bit less crowded by now, with just three people up front. In a ten year span starting in around 1980, smaller computers started showing up and became much more reliable and capable, and aircraft companies started using them to run the mechanical systems with a degree of precision and reliability no human could hope to achieve. Guess what? The flight engineer started twiddling his thumbs.
Today, almost 100% of commercial airplanes only have two people left in a cockpit that is increasingly becoming almost totally automated. Today's latest aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A380 are capable of literally flying themselves from "brakes released" to "turnoff at the next taxiway" without so much as one touch from a human. I've heard avionics engineers say in interviews the only thing keeping a human in the cockpit is the passenger's reluctance to ride in a machine with no humans at the controls. One put it this way: "In the future, I foresee only two souls in the cockpit. The pilot and a dog. The pilot's job will be to monitor the computer, and the dog's job will be to bite the pilot's hand if he tries to touch anything."
Now, a lot of old line pilots are having trouble adjusting to the new "glass cockpits" featured in today's generation of aircraft. They feel they're being taken "out of the loop" when it comes to flying the aircraft. And you know what? THEY ARE!! What can they do about it? Not much really. Look at what happened to the fireman in trains. When the diesel trains showed up, the old school of engineers and fireman fought them like crazy. It was a battle they were destined to lose.
It all comes down to what kind of change are you able to be comfortable with? Can you adjust?? Can you learn?? I'm hearing a lot of people griping about having to go back to school to learn another trade, or learn a new generation of equipment.
Folks!! That's the way things always have been, and always will be!!
Look, when I first started out in the mechanical design trade in 1973, a drawing board and vellum were the order of the day. One day, while making the umpteenth change on a drawing and griping mightily about it, this grey haired, grizzled old veteran designer came over and told me "Kwitcherbichin son!! The world is full of change. always will be. Besides, if nothing ever changed, you and me'd be out of a job! Oh, and one more thing, never, never, ever shit on your own time. You'll save a bundle on toilet paper!" I thought about what that old guy told me for a long time, and decided I'd better learn to pick up new skills if I wanted to keep the money coming in.
Now I haven't seen a drawing board since I started using Computer Aided Design almost 20 years ago. I set my mind that this was the way things are going to be, and went with the flow. I knew lots of designers and engineers who hated CAD and everything it stood for. Not me. I loved it. It let me design with a degree of precision and creativity that I never was able to with a drawing board. Yet, I met one in designer in a CAD class who was absolutely terrified of it, and was afraid to so much as push a button. Most of those engineers and designers are either gone now, or are close to retirement. An "old school" drawing board designer would have a tough time finding work in today's market. I'm also convinced there will be another generation of computer aided design that may well take ME out of the loop. What will I do?? I'll figure out something. I did before, and I will again. That's the one advantage, besides opposed thumbs, that human beings have over primates. We adapt.
When we want to.
And we'd better.
Except my chili recipe. As a "certain" individual knows, it's damn near perfect the way it is.............
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Thursday, April 20, 2006
My first post!
Since I'm something of an agonizer, this first one was a long time coming. I think I tossed away about 6 or 8 rough drafts before I finally settled on this one.
Some quick notes about myself:
Born in Northern Minnesota. My Mom moved to K.C. Mo when I was about a year old. I didn't want to go there, but I didn't have a lot to say in the matter. I grew up there, and while I value my memories, well, at least some of them, from those times, I couldn't wait to get the hell out of there and move back to my home state of Minnesota in May of 1973. I am a mechanical designer and have been at this profession since 1973. Somehow, it's easier to write that than it is to write "I've been at this for 33 years." (Ouch.) My hobbies include anything related to aviation (You'll probably read a lot about that here if you chose to return.) WW2 history, American muscle cars, airplanes, crossword puzzles, aircraft modeling, (Although it's been a couple of years since I've worked on one.) small scale gardening, and aviation. Oh, did I forget to mention aviation??? I will admit to left of center politics, having always been a huge admirer of Harry S. Truman. (I've been to his library in Independence many times. If you're in that neck of the woods, go there. It's an excellent place to be if you're a fan of presidential history, or history in general for that matter.) Although those are my politics, I'm not a political junky or anything like that. I tend to avoid political arguments because after all the yelling, arm waving, finger pointing, and hot air, minds are rarely changed, so it seems like a waste of energy to me. Don't get me wrong I'm always willing to listen to other viewpoints. I'll meditate on them for a bit, then decide you're as full of shit as I am.
A very good friend of mine from Nawth Carolinah has been bugging me for some time now to get on the blogger bandwagon, and I must say that I resisted because I rarely read blogs. I mean, who has time to read all that crap anyway? Certainly not me. But he's convinced me to give it a try. Says it's a wonderful way to dump things out and relieve at least a little stress, so I figure "Eh, what the hell!"
Bad news this morning. Scott Crossfield's Cessna 210 has been reported missing somewhere in Georgia. This guy's an aviation pioneer. He made the first X-15 flight, and was the first to travel twice the speed of sound. It's not certain if he was on the plane, but reports say family members have not heard from him since the aircraft went missing. The plane was last tracked flying toward a line of strong thunderstorms. I find myself asking why a pilot of Crossfield's experience and reputation would do something like that. Cessna 210's and strong thunderstorms make for poor bedfellows, but who knows? It's not been confirmed Scott was at the controls, or even in the aircraft. Let's just hope for the best.
I'll probably not be making daily posts at first, but I'll make additions as the urge or inspiration strikes me. This is, as many are wont to say, a work in progress. I'm never able to leave things alone, so if you come back occasionally, it may look different as I tinker with things.
In an effort to keep things civil, I've enabled review of comments before they're published. I'll publish most any conflicting viewpoints but posts containing abusive language, or personal insults toward me, or another poster will be promptly sent to the virtual dumpster. An occasional damn or hell is OK, but post containing excessive vulgarity will suffer the same fate. Those are the rules. If you don't like 'em, well, get your own damn blog.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
