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What I’m doing this weekend.

February 24th 2006 Posted in Flight Simulation

For thems that is interested, the Northwest Aviation Conference and Trade Show will be in Puyallup this weekend. It will be a bustling hub of pilots and pilot type folks all coming together and looking at avionics they can’t afford and gadgets that they won’t use. I speak in jest of course, just because I can’t afford or will not use them doesn’t mean that others that actually own an aircraft won’t or can’t. A little known tidbit of interest to some of you, is that members of the flight simulator team are going to be there with FS2004 and a big cockpit type thingamajig. The FS has been at the show for a few years now, and this is your opportunity to shake hands with such noted personalities as Hal and the rest of the folks. But particularly Hal, as he likes the attention.

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New Flight Simulator Blogger

February 22nd 2006 Posted in Flight Simulation

I’ve added Paul Lang to the FS bloggers list. Paul’s a good guy and a true FS enthusiast (and general airplane nut) who was fun to work with when I was working with him. Although he calls himself a game designer, it’s a bit of a misnomer for his roll with flight sim. I’ll let him explain.

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Happy anniversary…

February 22nd 2006 Posted in Life

…to me.Myself and The Lovely Wife took a long weekend to Victoria BC this past week end to celebrate our one year of marriage. We had some terrific food and did a bunch of relaxing and some general bumming around. I have to say (only because it’s true) that marriage has been good to me, very good in fact. I truly have a person who not only understands my moods, but knows when to give me the proverbial slap-up-side-the-head as well. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate and love my wife.

Dearest, if you happen to stumble upon this little missive, Thank you. Thank you so very much.

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People are talking…

February 15th 2006 Posted in News and politics
News of the UW Student Senate’s decision not to have a tribute to Colonel Boyington is racing across the conservative blog roll. I don’t normaly confine my self to just one side of an argument, but here you go:   

Michelle Malkin
GM’s Corner
Sister Toldja
The Jawa Report

I have no Idea what the liberal blog roll is saying about it, since the ones I have checked haven’t mentioned it at all. That isn’t too surprising as it seems that most political blogs specialize in preaching to the choir.

The UW has a forum for the debate of the student senate resolutions here. One of the responses in defence of the defete of the resolution is :

With all due respect sir, I’d suggest this issue is a bit more complicated that you give it credit for. You see, I agree that these gentlemen performed admirably in service of their country and were we simply discussing a resolution to express our gratitude, this would be quite simple for me. But we’re talking about the creation of a physical memorial. The problem lies in the fact that we have many professors and alumni who have done outstanding work for the public good in many fields. As discussed here, two have received the Medal of Honor. Seven have received a Nobel prize. Hundreds of UW community members served and died in WWII. One served as the first African-American on the Federal Reserve Boad of Governors. One was a Nigeran statesman who worked tirelessly on behalf of peace. Another was a director of the Center for Disease Control and conributed to the global eradication of smallpox. Hirabayashi, of course, stood on principle against the unjust internment of those of Japanese descent. Another was named a “Hero of Medicine” by Time Magazine for her work for her work in war-torn Sudan. And this says nothing of the countless noble alumni who devote their lives as teachers, police officers, and firefighters. (You can find a list of the top 100 alumni of the 20th century here.) So how do we decide who deserves a physical memorial on campus? We simply haven’t space to create one for every alum that is deserving, so rather than attempt some sort of hierarchy that will doubtlessly prove imperfect, perhaps the best response is to avoid advocating for memorials, but rather to find other ways of honoring our esteemed alumni.    

 

This argument is, of course, a logical fallacy in that is assumes the honoring one individual is a failure to honor others.

A second poster said the following:

Secondly, the individual senators who spoke against the resolution have EVERY RIGHT to say what they think. It is inappropriate to attack them on the grounds of what they said that night because the entire purpose and existence of the Senate is for the voicing of opinions.

I am in total agreement with the first half of this statement, but the second half is bullpucky.

Freedom of speech swings both ways. If Ms. Edwards had said “black man” instead of “Marine” I think every body would be calling for her head. The same litmus test can be applied to Ms. Miller’s comments as well.

From the Jawa Report, Mr Lee Dunbar, the ASUW President has this to say:

The blog news and the draft minutes that were posted are inaccurate. First, Ashley Miller’s statements were highlighting, as a point of information, that the majority of our statues are white males, which was an issue previously addressed last year, this is not in any way meant to go against Colonel Boyington. It was noted by the sponsor, Andrew Everett, about Boyington’s heritage later. Jill Edwards made here statements as an individual, and it should not be assumed she speaks for all students. Karl Smith wanted to honor his service as a whole (he risked his life, endured 20 months in a POW Camp) in an effort to bring more support from a number of students who do not morally agree with war. These statements are in public discourse that has been and will always be at the University of Washington to educate on the questions and issues of our society.

I would also like to remind you that as ASUW President I cosponsored this bill to create a memorial, it failed by one vote, and a good majority of those who voted against it wanted more inclusion of other alumni who were combat veterans who earned the Medal of Honor. This week a new resolution to that effect is being drafted and introduced. In the meantime the ASUW supports veterans in other ways, currently we are supporting state legislation that will hopefully pass and guarantee veterans tuition waivers. In the end, the buck stops here, I would appreciate further comments to be made to me. Please do not participate or condone the hate-filled comments and phone calls made toward individuals in our student government. It has been appalling to see what is being said to people. I too am nauseated.

Thank you for your statements.

Sincerely,

Lee Dunbar

What I find interesting is that, according to the minutes of the session, Mr. Dunbar did not attend, and therefore cannot offer any substantive characterizations of the comments made by Ms. Everett or Ms. Edwards. From the Minutes:

 From the Minutes:” VII. ASUW Presidential Privilege Jon Lee said Lee Dunbar apologized for not being available but was in a meeting with Will Rasmussen, Student  Regent.“ 

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The Ill-Informed Idealism of Youth.

February 14th 2006 Posted in News and politics
WorldNet Daily points out a recent decision by the University of Washington Student Senate voting down a resolution that would have created a tribute to Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. For those of you who may not know, Colonel Boyington was the highest scoring Ace of the US Marine Corps during WWII downing enemy 26 aircraft. He is the recipient of the Navy Cross and the Medal of Honor. Although Boyington was a flawed man, he is a shining example of dedication and service, it is too bad that Jill Edwards thinks “a member of the Marine Corps was (not) an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce.” Because, let’s be frank, service to one’s country at great personal cost, just isn’t fashionable any more, and a MARINE? They just smell bad. Especially after spending 20 months as a Japanese POW. Let’s take a moment to reflect on Jill’s words here. She is saying that should a graduate of the UW choose to serve in the US Marine Corps, the UW should consider that student a failure. That seams a rather sweeping opinion of the Corps if not military service in general. Sadly, it also seems all too familiar to people who honor the sacrifices made by those who have served. The attitude that military service is somehow low or base seems to permeate many of the idealistic young. I realize that this idealism is necessary, even desirable, but I still lament that it all too often fails to balance itself with the unpleasant realities of  the world.

It is also unfortunate that there is no cure for abject stupidity. Witness Ashley Miller who commented, “many monuments at UW already commemorate rich white men.” Naturally failing to notice, or inform herself, that Colonel Boyington was not by any means rich, and was also part Sioux.

Since I am neither a student or and alumni of the University Of Washington, I really have no say in who they do or do not choose to honor, but it saddens me to see them choosing not to honor a person for the wrong reasons.

If you like, You can E-mail Jill or Ashley and talk to them about it.

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A break in the weather.

February 07th 2006 Posted in Flying

After an unbearable amount of cloud cover and rain, the weather in Seattle decided to cooperate a bit and the sun made an appearance. Not one to squander what could likely be a short lived reprieve from the gloom that is late winter in the Pacific Northwest, I decided to cut work early and do a little flying, this time remembering my crappy digital camera. (Remember Kiddies, Uncle Roy wants a Canon 20D for his birthday) Taking off from KPAEI flew north to KBLI, making it a cross country flight (just over 50 miles.) I did a touch and go at KBLI and then flew down to KAWO for two more touch-and-gos before heading back to KPAE. It seamed that the entire Washington Pilots Association decided to show up at KBLI at the same time I did. There were two in the pattern when I called in, then three more called in just after me. The tower controller was a pro, and he got us all lined up with out a problem. He did ask me to keep my speed up, and I complied with a straight in approach carrying 80 knots on final, sans flaps. Fortunately Bellingham has a fairly long runway, so I floated it down and barely heard a tire squeak before I was power on and climbing out. A quick turn to a downwind departure to the south and I was on my way.

It turned out that the weather had a bunch of folks in a tizzy, because Arlington turned out to be just a busy and Bellingham, with a bunch of helicopters coming in to land, and a couple of aircraft in the pattern as well. A Glastar was in front of me when I hit the down wind, but other than him and the helicopters, every one else was just radio traffic. I get a bit uncomfortable when I can’t see the folks sharing my airspace, but they said they saw me, so I just made sure I wasn’t going to running into anyone in front of me, and trusted them to do the same. Since Arlington does not have a control tower, and can get very busy, the one thing I worry about most is the guy coming in with out a radio. Every one is calling their position and looking for every one else, but that guy in the cub with out a radio might toss a wrench into the mix. Ultimately, I just keep my head outside the cockpit and trust the MkI eyeball to do its job, but I still hear a lot of stories about “unintentional formation flight.”

After leaving Arlington, I went straight back to Paine Field and turned the airplane in. On the way in I caught the ATIS, and had a good chuckle. Along with the normal information, (Wind 340 at 5, scattered clouds at 12,000, temp 7 dew point 2, altimeter 30.24) the guys in the tower added; “Confirm you have received and enjoyed Juliet.”

I called in: “9858Q north Everett with a very enjoyable Juliet, inbound for full stop.”

The tower said they were glad I enjoyed the ATIS, and gave me my pattern instructions. The whole thing made my 1.5 hours a bit more fun than it would have been. I landed my only really good landing of the day, and put the plane up with a smile.

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