Specs

John Roberts posted the question of the uninsured to Donald today at his press briefing. Donald passed the buck to Pence who then for 6 minutes twaddled on avoiding a direct answer. In the end it all came down to no insurance = pay up front for care.

Good news for the airline and the city Financial Post article - Mar 27 - Porter Airlines to get $135 million in funding from federal government after coronavirus grounds flights "...The regional carrier, which operates from an island in Toronto Harbour, owns all of its aircraft and only has debt on three, according to an emailed statement...."

Every photo reminded of a different ex girlfriend.

I was wondering if AC wouldn't let things fall apart right now. With the fallout from COVID 19 they could probably pick up a bunch of new Airbii on decent terms on the open market. On the other hand the Transat Airbii come with fully trained crew and tour contracts in place.

That may be related to the A321 Neos coming from Transat.

I can't stand to see a dead 747 there like that so maybe if I had the sound on for the full 20 minutes I'd know why the planes that won't ever be flying again end up there? Do the airlines sell the hulk to to the owner for scrap or does the owner of the field take the hulk in exchange for salvage rights?

We're obviously past the point where this could have been contained. It's too widespread now so what is the point of maintaining the charade. Why not just live with the fact that an easily communicable and more virulent flu is now out there.

Curious comment on CBS Air traffic controllers ordered the plane to quickly return to the airport and fire trucks and emergency crews were rolled out onto Runway 28R https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/03/01/air-canada-flight-forced-to-make-emergency-landing-at-san-francisco-international/

Obviously out of date data but FWIW, my last routine renewal was submitted Aug 24 2018. New card was received Nov 19 so processing took nearly 90 days.

Airline Stocks are taking a nasty hit this morning At 10.38 AM AC.TO down $3.28 @ $38.95 LUV down $2.54 @ $53.98 DAL down $4.20 @ $53.68 UAL down $3.11 @ $74.93 AAL down $2.40 @ $25.39 The whole market is getting a beating

In the 4th picture - What's going on with the prop blade at 12:00 o'clock position on the beaver? The 2 other blades look undamaged. That's weird.

When an Employee flying standby on a C2 can actually get a seat on YUL-YYZ rapidair at the tail end of 25 cm snowstorm instead of having to wait for several days for a seat, you know something unusual is occurring in terms of capacity uplift.

By RICHARD READ SEATTLE BUREAU CHIEF FEB. 19, 2020 4 AM RENTON, Wash. — The recent travails of Boeing are well known: the grounding of its best-selling 737 Max following two crashes that killed 346 people, the firing of its chief executive, the billions of dollars in losses. Less known is the company’s struggle against the birds. For at least three years, a pair of peregrine falcons — the fastest creatures on the planet — have been nesting in the rafters of the 737 factory outside Seattle. Of all the possible perches in the picturesque Northwest, why would they choose the Boeing plant? Because they obviously know good real estate when they see it. The building, which occupies an area the size of 19 football fields, offers heat in winter, air conditioning in summer, and an ample supply of food consisting of pigeons, starlings and other menu options that happen to flutter in. Workers say the falcons perk up every time a bell rings announcing the massive doors are about to open. And therein lies a problem. The falcons are messy eaters. After they dive-bomb their prey, severed heads, wings and feet plop onto the factory floor and a lunch area, soon followed by stray feathers. An independent contractor cleans up the remains as well as bird droppings, which Boeing regards as health hazards. The falcons — a male and a female — also take a talons-off approach to parenting. Last June, three of their fledglings fell several stories while learning to fly and had to be rushed to a wildlife rehab center, where they were fed, pampered and eventually adopted by falconers. Boeing managers decided it was time to do something. They called in Ed Deal, president of Seattle’s Urban Raptor Conservancy, who in 27 years of working with peregrines had never encountered any nesting indoors. He made his first visit to the factory in October to observe the birds. “I saw one chasing a crow through the rafters,” he recalled. At the time, the worldwide ban on commercial flights of the 737 Max had been in place for half a year, but Boeing was still cranking out 47 new planes a month and parking them in outlying areas. Deal recommended blocking off the falcons’ quarters and placing two nesting boxes — which his organization could build for $300 each — on the building’s roof. His hope was that when the birds left to stretch their wings outside, they might encounter the rooftop penthouses and decide to relocate. “If we could get the peregrines to nest outside the building,” he said, “that would eliminate their kids getting into trouble.” Deal laid out his plans in a Nov. 19 conference call with company officials and another falcon expert. The invitees on Boeing’s calendar notification also included “raptors,” though their attendance was listed as optional. He said there was a decent chance that after the pair’s annual courtship rituals, the female would lay her eggs in one of the boxes this spring, thereby locking in the move. But when Deal delivered the boxes in mid-December, he was surprised to learn that Boeing had also called in trappers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He left the boxes without installing them. On Jan. 10, just after Boeing finally stopped 737 production, Deal returned to the plant, where he saw a USDA employee placing a trap. Patti Loesche, who is vice president of the raptor conservancy and accompanied Deal, wrote in her notes that a Boeing employee showed her a “site of massive cleanup of prey detritus.” Deal saw the factory shutdown as a golden opportunity to close the doors behind the peregrines. But the company was not on board with that plan. C.J. Nothum, a Boeing spokeswoman, said that although the doors tended to be closed more often in winter, they could not be kept shut because workers needed access for limited factory operation. Other than to say Boeing isn’t giving up, she declined to reveal much more about the falcon situation, or to authorize release of a falcon photograph taken by an employee. Boeing has manufactured 737s since the 1960s at the Renton, Wash., plant, still touted as the world’s most efficient airplane factory. The Max is the plane’s latest iteration, certified in 2017. It has larger, more fuel-efficient engines mounted farther forward than on earlier models, pushing its nose upward during flight. Flight-stabilization software intended to curb that tendency is blamed for the crashes. The peregrine falcon, in contrast, is a flying machine perfected by evolution over millenniums, with a diving speed clocked at 242 mph. “The peregrine is adapted to the pursuit and killing of birds in flight,” wrote J.A. Baker in “The Peregrine,” a classic book on the bird. “No flesh-eating creature is more efficient.” Executives at Boeing, whose engineers are working to fix the flight-control software, hope the 737 Max will be allowed to return to the skies this summer. Production would then resume, meaning that the plant doors could not be kept closed. If the falcons can evade capture until then, they may be in the factory to stay.

You think an 80 yr old would know better. Guess he'll have to lose a finger or an arm before it sinks in?

To validate that - I can attest that when the front wheel of your pickup truck detaches from the wheel hub, you will be able to see the wheel accelerate past you on it's path into the brush.