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
