Top Letters And Comments, January 18, 2019

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How To Land An Airplane On The Freeway Video

I enjoy your videos. Just watched the one on landing on roads. Have you thought of doing one on fields? Corn, wheat, potatoes, hay, plowed, harvested…fields are tricky.

Henry Gaudreau

I love the humor in these edu-torials. XD

Something that every pilot should always have at the forefront of their mind is what to do in an emergency: Aviate. Navigate. Communicate. As soon as you declare an emergency, the rulebook goes flying out the window along with whatever just broke on your aircraft. Do what must be done to win the now losing battle against gravity and come out alive. Nobody ever died from all the paperwork involved dealing with the FAA, NTSB, and insurance adjusters after an incident or accident. Unless you somehow get a papercut that gets infected with a super aggressive VRSA strain, then you’re boned.

Quick critique: the level mixing between the added sound effects and your voiceover was so out of wack it was hard to hear what you were saying at times.

Calyo Delphi

I’ve been informed and entertained by Paul Bertorelli too many times without comment. After viewing “How to Land An Airplane On The Freeway With Style And Grace (And Survive)” it ends now: Thank you. Please keep it up.

Dave Leedom

Very well done! Informative and funny….that’s why I always read you guys (even if a week or two after you emailed)….I save them all!

Alex Kulpecz

Airline Security

The “enhanced” security procedures adopted in 2011 were completely unnecessary and unreasonable. Consequently, I refuse to fly the commercial airlines until TSA rules become reasonable again. I had not heard of any attempts by domestic travelers that had not been foiled by procedures in effect up to that time. I consider the enhanced procedures to be a politically correct nod to those offended by the most effective method, profiling of those most likely to be terrorists.

Mac Hayes

I don’t fly airlines now, and the security theater is just one reason. If it’s short, I drive; if it’s long I fly GA. If I can’t fly GA I stay home.

Bob Key

I have to agree and disagree with Paul Bertorelli on the subject of TSA. In this crazy world we live in, certainly some measure of screening of passengers must be done. That said, so much of TSA truly is theater. When working for the government, in an aviation related venue, I did a great deal of travel, much of it on common carriers. I watched, almost with embarrassment as a TSA screener patted down a young lady dressed such that she couldn’t have concealed a tattoo, and another where a person’s feet were sandaled, and she was barefoot. Perhaps she had tetrol packed under her painted toenails. The real security method, not employed, is passenger profiling, which can’t be done as it is regularly deemed to be racist or any number of terms people like to pass around. X-ray of shoes, throwing away sealed cans of soda, and confiscating a 4″ crescent wrench as a dangerous tool, is security as theater. Most experts believe that the greatest deterrent to a 9-11 type takeover is not the full body scanner,but the hardened cockpit door and the awareness of the flying public.

Tom Wilson

I read your tongue in cheek article on eliminating the TSA and passenger screenings. Unfortunately searches are here to stay. The technology will hopefully improve to make the process faster, but till then we just have to deal with it.

Your article reminded me of an old episode of “All in the Family” where Archie speaks out on airline hijackings (funny how I can recall that in an instant, but fumble through the FAR’s).

John Brunke

Elon Musk’s Spaceship

in your article about China Rising In Space you mention how much Mr. Musk’s spaceship looks like something from a 1930’s movie. Check out a movie made in 1950 called “Destination Moon”. The rocket model shown at the beginning of the movie (in order to get investors to pony up money to build it) looks nearly identical to Musk’s picture of his spaceship that he put out recently, much closer than the Buck Rogers spaceships! I think this is the one Musk cloned, ha!

James Hamilton

Boeing’s Newest Truss-Braced Wing Design

This article looks more like one from Huffpost than AvWeb. Truss braced wing…call it what it is, a wing strut, shades of Piper Cub. Allowing speeds of Mach 0.8, really? The old B727 could beat that. Sure, that long skinny high aspect ratio wing might produce less drag at high altitudes, which coupled with a higher ratio bypass fan engine could achieve a slightly lower fuel burn per mile, but there is nothing groundbreaking in this article. Let’s save the hype for Vox and stick to real aviation stories.

Tom Wilson

Southwest Airlines

I’ve been spoiled by having my own plane and prefer not to fly commercial. If I have to, Southwest is a good way to go. On a cross country trip some years ago there were two humorous incidents. On the way out, as we were about to land, the attendant made the usual announcement about staying in your seat until the plane stops. As soon as he finished, a man in the front started to get up to get his carry on. The agent turned around and, pointing his finger at the man, said “ah, ah, ah” (rising inflection). The rest of the passengers laughed as the man realized he was the only one standing, and sat back down with an embarrassed look on his face.

On the return trip, we experienced a substantially rougher landing than usual. The attendant cautioned us to remain in our seats while the pilot taxied what was left of the plane to the gate.

John Worsley

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