We flew to Ames, IA (home of "That Other State College in Iowa") today to
schmooze and have lunch. Conditions when we got out of the hotel at noon
were breezy/gusty, 12 to 20, but pretty close to right down the runway, and
the sun was shining. At the end of another sell-out crazy weekend, we
NEEDED to fly.

Ames is home to an active glider operation (Mary and I took some soaring
instruction there a few years back), and today was no different, despite the
wind. Ames' Runway 19 was less than optimal, with a gusty cross wind, but I
managed to squeak 'er in without too much turmoil. We were all glad to be
back on terra firma, however, after a very bumpy descent.

As I was standing on the wing stretching, enjoying the spring sunshine, I
observed the Super Cub tow plane starting down Rwy 19, trundling along with
the trainer in tow. In the blink of an eye, the cross wind lifted the
glider's port wing, causing the starboard wing to dip. The glider caught
the wingtip (I was too far away, but it *looked* like in the grass), causing
the glider to momentarily get sideways.

It's an obit, but also a very nice read.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1927116/Diana-Barnato-Walker.html

John

Based on PERSONAL experience ONLY list your top five
favorite airlines

Me

1. KLM(FREE Booze and hot towels in coach)
2. Air Tran (For the money the best deal)
3. Delta(Good airline but their stuff is always broke)
4. American
5. US Air

Being a little hot, buoyant and having 10%% less gravity is actually a
darn good thing if you were a Venusian airship, even if limited as to
an oven-wrap or KetaSpire PEEK polyetheretherketone and fiber
reinforced balloon. Such fiber reinforced composites do exist,
although an outer skin of something in basic titanium shouldn’t be
excluded for this rigid airship configuration.

For this topic I have an unusual airship to R&D, as intended for a
rather toasty dry and calm environment. Think of this application as
a floating city if you like, or consider this one as merely a small or
as large as need be robotic probe that can remain efficiently aloft
for nearly unlimited time without much energy demand while drifting or
even when cruising along at perhaps an average air-speed of less than
10 m/s, as such wouldn’t demand but a few kw for managing a good sized
airship.

New airline fees since January 1, 2008:

* Air Canada: $25 each way for a second checked bag starting May 15.
* AirTran: $10 each way for a second checked bag starting May 15.
* Alaska Airlines and Horizon: $15 to book flights through...