Posts

Showing posts from May 20, 2007

Commercial Items Identified on my Commute

Image
I see a lot of interesting commercialitems on truck on I-75. When you make the commute many times you start to see the same items over and over again. Sometimes it is huge equipment tires, sometimes heavy equipment of different types. I see these huge blocks of aluminum going North. I think about what the mill must look like and where it is going. And how much aluminum foil a block like this will make. Using the Tesla Full Self-Driving (supervised) allows me to look for these things on the highway. The FSD also helps me through the crazy stop and goes. Easily over 70MPH and then sudden traffic at dead stops, frequently. I see accidents every trip. It is amazing there aren't more. A side note- aluminum foil has a shiny side and a dull side. The reason why is that the foil is folded as it goes through massive rollers. The shiny side is the side that faces the steel roller. The dull side faces itself - aluminum.
I had another productive flying lesson tonight. The weather was perfect. No wind, 10 miles + visibility and low winds aloft up to 6000 ft. That means that the pilot is the one creating the turbulence, if any. I had some excellent landings and some excellent takeoffs. I also had to abort one of my landings and I bounced quite a bit on another one (which freaked me out a bit). My instructor said when I turned final on my last landing, "That is a beautiful sight". It really is. When everything is lined up, the green of the runway, the trees, the sun thinking about going down. It really is quite a picture. To know that you are the one that is transitioning the aircraft to become a land vehicle, is satisfying. The camera is not practical at this stage, but hopefully, you get the idea. The plane goes in for its FAA required annual inspection in a couple of weeks. I will be helping with that. It is fun learning at Greene 4N7. The annual is done right there since we have a great me...

Looking back to the Antarctica experience, concentrating on flying lessons

Image
Another week begins. I had another great flying lesson Friday. I have another Tuesday. Landings are becoming a lot less intimidating, but I have a long way to go. There is so much to learn. We have been getting the red (1997 Chevy diesel) truck ready for sale and working on farm work. My tractor tire seems to finally be holding air after years of cursing and attempted repairs. I hope I just didn't jinx it. Bonnie and I went to the scrap yard and the dump Saturday. Then we were off to breakfast with the net proceeds. The barn is in a lot better shape now. Scrap prices sure are up. If I were headed back to Antarctica this year I would be in Wilderness Survial school this summer as well as Microwave Landing System (MLS) school. Both would have been fun. This is a picture of me in the 1956 Beaver seaplane out in Idaho.