Musings of a Technonerd

A long and distinguished military career has come to an end. After 32 years, the F-14 Tomcat made it's last official service flight for the US Navy on October 4, 2006, and the last retirement flight on September 25, 2006.

Most people think of the movie "Top Gun" when you mention the plane, and rightly so. It was a hit movie that vaulted Tom Cruise, and the Tomcat to stardom. When most people think of Navel aviation, they think of the Tomcat.

Thirty two years of service for a shipboard fighter is nothing to sneeze at. The only plane that comes close to that kind of record is the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom. It lasted for 26 years.

In 2004, I had the rare chance to spend some time aboard an operational aircraft carrier. Two, to be exact. They were in San Diego, and the carriers were the CVN-76 USS Ronald Reagan, and the CVN-72 USS Abraham Lincoln. Both were in port, and we never sailed as was originally planned, but few still get to do that sort of thing. I had a chance to talk with the deck officer. This is the person in charge of both the flight deck, and the hanger deck. Nothing moves without his approval. During operations, if he's not on the bridge, even the captain of the ship has to listen to this man and go where he's told. He told me that he loved the F-14s dearly. Nothing, he said, epitomizes the word "fighter" like the F-14. But yet, he wasn't sorry to see them go. 32 years of seagoing operations and thousands of cycles had taken their toll, and they had become maintenance headaches. "You can always tell where an F-14 has been spotted on the deck." he told me. "There's a pool of hydraulic fluid and kerosene. left behind."

While we may laud the aircraft and it's history, however, we must not forget what these aircraft were designed to do. They were designed to knock down other aircraft from the sky, and, if possible, kill the pilots in them so they wouldn't come back later to try and kill you. Later iterations incorporated bomb delivery systems so they could destroy targets on the ground.

I've always been fascinated with aviation, and these aircraft were an important part of aviation history. But I'm always mindful of these aircraft's purpose. It's a sobering thought.

"There never was a good war or a bad peace."
Benjamin Franklin

I want to thank everyone who posted a response to my previous post from the bottom of my heart. The outpouring of concern and well wishes was heart warming, and I do really appreciate it.

My son is doing OK right now. He's dealing with some discomfort that's been there since the first incident a week ago Monday, including headaches and backpain. We spent more time at the hospital yesterday for more tests (He's starting to feel like the proverbial pin cushion.) and also some treament for his discomfort, which actually did some good. He felt a good deal better afterwards, even though it took all evening to get it done. We're scheduled to meet with the surgeon later this week to get things going.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and wishes, and please forgive if I don't keep updating on a regular basis.


"Sumbitch! Damn that hurts!"
My Son

As we move through the motions of living our daily lives, it's not uncommon to go into what I like to call "auto pilot" in that we could be halfway to work and all of a sudden think to ourselves, "Did I lock the door when I left???" Of course we did, but it's become such an ingrained part of our daily routine, we can't really remember for sure if we did, or didn't. We'll also get into a mode where we're irritated by things that, when you get down to basics, are really non-events. Until I had a life changing event happen to me a little over seven years ago, I used to be a classic type A white knuckle commuter. I'd get incensed at things that I've since learned are truly meaningless. People cutting in front of me, flipping me the bird, tailgating me. Man, that sort of stuff would just make me go ballistic. By the time I arrived at work, I'd be a wreck, and would need to take time to settle down and concentrate on my job. I eventually learned that all of this stuff is meaningless and unimportant in the big scheme of things. Get caught in traffic? So what? Turn on some music I like, settle back, and go with the flow. After all, (And this is an important point folks, don't just blow by it.) THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT ANYWAY! Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Got that? Good. I know it's much easier said than done, of course. It took me the better part of 45 years to get to that point. And it takes maintenance to stay at that point. There are still times during the commute where I find myself getting annoyed at the pinhead in front of me, start cursing at him/her, and think about blowing the horn and when they look in the rear view mirror, flip 'em the time honored Bronx salute. I have to remind myself to calm down and take things easy.

This last Monday, I was sort of at that type A spot again. Left the house later than usual, was annoyed at my bride for what were really, unimportant things, got caught up in traffic, arrived at work late, a bit annoyed, and started to put out a few fires. Then, I got a sudden reminder that, in the grand scheme of things, all of that is really small stuff. My beloved oldest son called. Told me he was sitting at the hospital. (Oh crap!! NOW what???) He had been bicycling to school that morning and while pedaling up a hill, suffered a black out and seizure. It was in an area full of pedestrians, and help arrived in short order. Well, I got to the hospital in record time. Found him in the ER, still pretty woozy, a little confused, and embarrassed at having caused "all this ruckus." The doctors were concerned about the sequence of events and ordered a CT scan. He returned from that, and the doctor showed up later, talking about "a mass in the right front lobe of his brain" and I don't really remember much after that, except they were now going to do an MRI scan. I felt as though I'd been punched in the gut, knocked upside the head, whacked in the ass, all at once.

I can tell you with no uncertainty that the phrase "a mass in the right front lobe" really gets your attention. You immediately assume the worst. What made this even more terrifying to me was a co-worker died of brain cancer about a year ago. A fit active, vital man, who was a scratch golfer, ran, rode bikes, all that stuff was absolutely leveled by his disease. I saw him about 2 weeks before he passed away and was stunned at what he had endured. It was NOT pretty. All of these memories came flooding back to me while they rolled my boy (He's 24 years old, but he's still "My Boy.") out for the MRI. That was the most miserable hour I've spent in my entire life. There are other events that come close, but this one takes the cake. I was scared, nervous, anxious, my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach, which was all knotted up. During this hour, my wife arrived from her job, and after I told her what I knew, she wasn't any better. They rolled our boy back into the ER room, and we all sat there, scared shitless.

Not long after that, the doctor who conducted the MRI scan came in and told us that the mass was vascular in nature. (Relating to the circulatory system.) Man. Whew. Boy. For the first time in an hour, I was breathing again. For a few minutes at least, a ton of weight was taken off of our shoulders. But, back to reality. What it appeared to be, the doctor said, was Arterio Venous Malformation. I'll let you look that up. Just Google it. There's good sites out there that explain it well. The short story is our boy has a big Gordian's knot of blood vessels in his head. An angiogram done the next day confirmed it. The prognosis is positive, but the doctor said that while they often don't disturb them, this one is so big (The biggest one this doctor had ever seen, and he's been around for a while.) that it has to come out, or we risk a leakage, or outright blowout. With results that would be disastrous, and probably fatal. Can't have that. This entire process took 2-1/2 days. I spent almost all of it at the hospital with him, coming home to sleep fitfully for a few hours at night before heading back. Finally Wednesday at noon, my wife kicked my ass out and sent me back to work. (For various reasons, I don't do hospitals well, and was getting pretty punchy.)

He was discharged and is home now, and while still a bit out of it, is sort of back to his old self. But that time bomb is still there ticking away in his head. While they adjust his anti-seizure medicine dosage, we're left to mull our options. We're getting a second opinion of course. But I've seen all the scans and pictures they took. I've got a hunch the second opinion will probably agree with the first. But with something this major and important, you still have to do it. If the second opinion agrees with the first, and I'm assuming it will, the next step is surgery to remove it. The prognosis so far is good, and once it's out, it's gone for good, and will not reform or return. None of this "in remission" shit. It means a 4 day hospital stay, and about 4 weeks of recuperation. There's still a good amount of risk and danger of course. I certainly don't relish the idea of someone digging around in my kid's head. But we've no choice. To quote an old commercial, "Pay me now, or pay me later!"

I've been doing a lot of introspective thinking since this all happened. I've been re-thinking a lot of stuff that I THOUGHT was important, but, upon reflection, doesn't seem so damn important anymore. What IS important is my family, their well being, and health and safety, and making sure they know that I love them. That's what's important. Everything else is just "stuff." One of the things I'm truly grateful for is that he was on his bike, in the middle of some people with cell phones when it happened. He landed on soft turf, and was unhurt from the bicycle wipeout. It could very well have happened while he was cruising along on the freeway at 70 mph. Thank goodness neither him, nor anyone else was hurt. Also, it was discovered while he's still young, vital, and healthy, and will probably not have any long term complications because of that.

Please do not misunderstand me, I'm not feeling sorry for myself or anything like that. I'm glad he's alive, and we've got an excellent chance of beating this. I'm taking this one day at a time, because there's nothing else I can do. You have to look at the bright side of things, or else you'll go nuts. This is pretty long winded, and if you're still with me, thanks for hanging in there. Please keep my son in your thoughts and prayers.

I went back and re-read something I wrote early this summer. Still holds true. Sometimes the hardest advice to follow is one's own, but I'll do my best.

"Back in the good ole days" car lines used to be quite well defined, even within the same parent company. Take General Motors for instance. Most all entry level people started with Chevrolets. Then, if you felt you needed a bit more car with more "ooomph" you moved up to Pontiac. After that, what you bought depended on your driving style and income. The people who wanted extra quality and a cushy ride bought Buicks, and they became known for their "old fart" cars. I've talked with my Father in Law before on this subject. He grew up driving cars that had suspensions darn near directly from buckboard wagons. He didn't want to "feel" the road. He didn't want to "feel" the steering. He didn't want to "hear" the motor. He told me "When I drive my car on the highway, I want to feel like I'm sitting in my easy chair in my front room." To him, that was a "good ride." Those people bought Buicks. (He was a Ford man through and through, though. He liked his Mercurys.) If you wanted performance, innovation, and styling, you bought an Oldsmobile. "Ride a Rocket!!" was their motto. I read a contemporary Motor Trend report on the '57 Olds 98 Holiday Coupe. They were emphatic that, and I paraphrase here: "this is not a car for you to run errands with. It's made for the open road and is happiest there." I've driven '57 Oldsmobiles, and they were right. Even with the power steering, driving around town is not its cup of tea. But get it on the highway, and it's a treat to drive. At 70mph, the 371 V8 is merely loafing. Tap the throttle, and you get an immediate response. Top of the line, of course, was the luxurious Cadillac brand. No need to explain that, I think.

Trucks were made by Chevy and GMC, with the Jimmys having a reputation for being tougher and more rugged than Chevys. (And the GMC did have an engine different from the Chevy. Their straight six was popular with hot rodders from that era because it was tough, and had a lot of low end torque.) And all these divisions were distinctly different from each other, engine wise, until the early '70's, with different engines in all the marques.

The beginning of the end for differences between the various brands came about, strangely enough, because of the popularity of the mid-seventies Olds Cutlasses. They sold a lot of '76 Cutlass Supremes. I owned one myself, and really liked that car. Put over 200,000 on it before I sold it. And it had a true 350 Rocket. Good engine in a good car. The last year for the "full sized" Cutlasses was '77. It was known that the '78 was going to be downsized, and they were selling a lot of the last "full sized" ones. So many, the engine plant couldn't keep up. Rather than shut the assembly plant down, and lose sales, they decided to install the standard Chevy 350 V8 instead. They "got caught" and after settling with the Olds owners who bought Chevmobiles, they started putting a notice on all cars and sales agreements that GM reserved the ability to install another engine from one of their other divisions, and by signing the sale agreement and taking delivery, you acknowledged and accepted that.

I think one of the reasons that pickups have become so popular was the mid-eighties demise of the standard full framed rear wheel drive sedans, save for the Chevy Impala, and Ford LTD/Mercury Marquis. Many people saw the truck as an, at first, inexpensive way to get a full sized vehicle with a V8, rear drive and a full frame. That's about the time that the carmakers started putting softer suspensions and more options into their truck offerings. Up until 10 years ago, the big three had the full sized truck market to themselves, as the Japanese makers only offered the mini-trucks. And the big three made a lot of money from those full sized trucks, because they were taking a mature, proven (And paid for!) design and adding things like power windows and seats, stereos, and a healthy profit margin to the whole package, and smiling all the way to the bank.

Those days are, of course, long gone. The Japanese makers started handing Detroit their asses years ago, and the arrogant SOB's who were in charge of Detroit refused to believe their dominance of the industry could be ended. Chrysler was the first to almost go under, teetering on the brink of disaster until Lee Iacocca came along and rescued them with the K-Cars and the minivans. (A big government bailout didn't hurt either.) One of the most disastrous decisions made was when GM forced Olds to become their "import fighter" about 4 years before it was snuffed out. They discontinued the good, reliable full sized sedans like the 88 and the 98, in favor of those wimpy little Aleros and Intrigues. For a while they even made a conscious effort to remove any reference to the name Olds on the outside of the car. What idiots. Oldsmobile's death was unnecessary, in my opinion. They were forced to abandon the market they knew well and made to try and cater to young twenty-somethings. A market they knew absolutely nothing about. And a demographic group that would no sooner walk into an Olds dealership as they would go in for hip replacement surgery.

In my opinion, Detroit has no one to blame for their current woes but themselves. Let's face it, they made some truly gawd-awful crap starting in the late seventies and right through to the late nineties, before they FINALLY realized that people were no longer buying American cars simply because they were American cars. They made the (to them) startling realization that people wanted quality cars that didn't break down every few thousand miles. I own a 2001 Buick Regal, and it's a fine car. The fit and finish is good, and it's been rock solid reliable since the day I bought it. It's even on Consumer Reports "Best Buy" recommendations for used cars. But it may be too late. We're down to the Big Two now, Chrysler having been bought out by the Germans. Ford and GM's market share is smaller than ever, and the new 1000 pound gorilla on the block is Toyota. GM just broke off talks with Nissan/Renault on combining operations, but that doesn't mean the deal making is over. Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed, China automakers are looking at the American market like a newlywed hubby is looking at his blushing bride on their wedding night. It isn't going to be much longer before they're flooding the American market with cars priced so low, there'll be no way GM and Ford will be able to match them. Don't be too surprised if, ten years hence, there are no more American auto companies making cars here in the U.S.

It'll be a sad day indeed.



"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

If you like anything to do with space exploration and space travel, and you haven't visited NASA's website, you're missing out on a good thing. There's a cornucopia of goodies there to see and explore. NASA has a huge collection of pictures and videos on their site. It's all there for the looking, copying, etc, and it's all free for the taking. And why not? After all, we paid for it. There are even links to pictures and videos from older programs such as the Apollo, Gemini and Mercury programs.


For instance, here's a neat video about the Apollo 8 mission that's narrated by Burgess Meredith.


Here's another page with photos from the Mercury missions.


Here's the search page where you can reach videos and pictures from a variety of past NASA projects and programs. It's quite extensive. You can even go back quite a ways. Some of the earliest I've been able to find of the shuttle, for example, goes back to 1994.


Here's a couple of videos that really caught my fancy. After the shuttle Columbia was lost on re-entry in 2003, the fleet was grounded while they devised ways to better assure that the remaining craft were undamaged and fit to make the return back to Earth after launch. Amongst other things, they started mounting cameras on places they never had before. One of those places is the solid rocket boosters. (SRBs) They're those tall skinny thingies on either side of the brown main fuel tank. The main idea is to see if any of the foam from the main tank comes off during the launch and hits the shuttle. These two videos come from cameras mounted on the SRBs and start out looking at the main tank while the SRBs are still attached to the stack. So you have to be patient while that happens. But after the booster detach, you get to go for a wild ride while the boosters do their tumbling re-entry and fall back to earth. The cool thing about all this is that while all the other cameras are video only, these cameras have microphones attached, and you get to listen to the sounds of space flight. Forgive this old techno nerd, but I think this is great stuff!!

The first video is from the left booster during STS-114's launch on July 26, 2006. Be patient. It's not much of a view at first. What you first see is a view of the re-enforcing ribs on the side of the external tank during initial climb out. But after the booster separation, you get an incredible view of the other booster, as both do the "tumble" back to earth. Then, you get an incredible view of the earth itself, as the booster spirals down to the ocean. Finally, you get a neat view of the drogue chutes as they do their "staged" deployment. First, they're rather small as the boosters are still falling pretty quickly. Then, as the boosters are slowed, the retaining straps are released and the chutes, in stages, get bigger and bigger. In this video, the sound is somewhat muffled, but as the boosters come back down to earth and re-enter the atmosphere, you can hear the sound the air makes as it whistles past the nozzle openings. It's kind of a "moan" that increases, then decreases as the angle of attack changes. Sort of like blowing across the mouth of a pop bottle when we were kids. This is a damn big pop bottle, so it's sort of a bass note. Really cool.

This is a video of the same camera position on the right side of the stack. There's a much better view of the other booster as they both tumble down. Pay close attention to the back ground. You can see it for quite a
ways. The sound is much better also. You can hear "moaning and singing" as it descends.


I've seen the ones from STS-115, and they're even better. First, the sound quality is better, and in one of them, you can see the other booster much longer than in these. And after the camera carrying booster splashes into the water and settles out, you can see the OTHER booster splashing down in the distance. Way cool, and I'll keep looking for them. In the meantime, enjoy these.


"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

There's a new breed of aircraft coming to a runway near you. They're called VLJs, or "Very Light Jets." They're small, twin engined planes that usually seat around 6-8 people, have a cruise speed of around 370 knots, and an maximum altitude of around 40,000 ft. Cessna is introducing the "Mustang" light business jet. Eclipse Aviation is introducing the model 500 VLJ, and Adam Aviation is introducing the remarkable looking A700, which features jet engines mounted close to the centerline, and a swoopy looking empennage assembly that incorporates a one piece horizontal stabilizer/elevator system that looks pretty cool to me. These jets have proven to be hugely popular. Cessna has orders for 250 Mustangs, Adam Aviation has orders for 350 of those neat looking A700s, and Eclipse claims 2,500 orders for the Model 500. Right out of the gate, those are big numbers for a new class of aircraft. Traditionally, buyers usually wait for others to buy, and see how things work out.

A lot of this popularity is a result of commercial aviation's continuing woes. Bad service performed by airline employees whose pay and benefits have been slashed to record low levels, and a security system that is onerous at best, being run by the TSA, a somewhat inept organization that's pretty much out of control cost and oversight wise has made what was once considered a unique and fun experience an ordeal to be endured. Many business travelers, and the companies that employ them, are looking with great interest at these inexpensive, versatile jets, having grown weary of bad airline service, long security lines, and apathetic employees at both the airlines and TSA.

This, of course, is not good news for the traditional airline industry. They're looking at these jets with fear and trepidation, and are concerned (For damn good reasons.) that they'll lose business to these jets. They probably will. Airlines have always looked at flying of any sort that doesn't happen in their aircraft as "the competition." and have been campaigning for some time now for a system of expensive user fees for "private aviation" types of aircraft. Their ultimate aim is to make general aviation so expensive, as to be prohibitive to all but the most wealthy. They figure that will get people out of small aircraft, and put butts back into airline seats.

The airline's latest tactic is to try and scare the general public that these new breed of aircraft will slow the air traffic control system down, resulting in delays, and compromises on safety. But it's too late. The cows are out of the barn, as Eclipse and Cessna already have type certifications in hand. These planes are here to stay. And the pre-production order numbers indicate that many organizations are willing to take a chance on them. The FAA has stated that they can handle the new aircraft in the Air Traffic Control system. Maybe, maybe not. The ATC system in under increasing stress, with record levels of retirements across the nation, and not enough students in the pipeline to replace them. While these planes CAN fly as high at 40,000, I tend to believe that controllers will keep them down at the 30,000 level, along with the turbo-props that usually hang out in that region.

Of course, that means that the private pilots, people like me, who fly for pleasure, are going to get caught up in the middle of all of this. If costs are added to an already expensive hobby, it could spell trouble for America's general aviation system. The airlines don't care about any of that. If fact, I think they'd just as soon see general aviation go away.


"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

To all the republicans (I refuse to use upper case to name you.) I don't want to hear ONE MORE WORD, NOT ONE, do you hear me???? NOT ONE!!!!!!! Yep. NOT ONE!!!!

What? you ask???

The Clinton blow job.

Drop it, and focus on REAL issues.

Yeah.

Right.

I'll believe it when I see that.

And yes. I am enjoying this.

I am enjoying this page realated scandal as much as the republicans enjoyed the cigar blow jobs.

How does it feel????

It was entertaining as hell to watch the local GOP look like deer in the headlights tonight.