31 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

A little like High Speed trains replacing short haul flights between major cities

Exactly.  Every 10 years the gov spends 10-20 million doing a study that, every time, shows it would cost ridiculous amounts of money, serve very few people and save 20 minutes assuming everything works perfectly.

I put the supersonic passenger aircraft in the same category as the new version of the flying car we se every 5 years - technically possible but "not economically viable".

On 1/13/2024 at 5:36 PM, Specs said:

But it's a dry cold....

If it was a dry cold there'd be no need to deice.    

I had a family member who started the interview/hiring process to join the spray crew for the deicing provider in YYC and it was most definitely a seasonal job with layoff in the summer, there at least.

Doesn't sound too bad actually - relatively high paid semi-skilled work all winter and in the summer work landscaping or just go golfing and boating.  Nice mix.

14 hours ago, conehead said:

C'mon, I thought the Sim one was pretty funny..

I'm quite aware that the comments I am about to make will make me sound dry, boring and without humour.  A joke explained is a joke ruined.

I tend to find a lot of these memes to be weak efforts at humour.  They are a sort of "first-order" humour.  I'll try to explain.  Take the duct tape 737 picture - funny for the giant roll of duct tape and tape wrapped around the fuselage.  That's it.  The joke is on one level.  For a joke/meme to be worth the effort it must work on at least 2 levels and even better if you can achieve 3.  

A far better meme would be the duct tape aircraft picture with the caption;

"Boeing's announces new co-branded 737 in partnership with 3M to replace Disney-themed version".

or

"Boeing's new co-branded 737 in partnership with 3M which is in no way associated with recent events - merely a co-incidence says CEO."

Now, these are not great either but they illustrate my point (hopefully).  The picture is the first level joke, the reference to a company trying to hide their problems or distract from them is the second level.

The one that comes the closest is the INOP sticker picture.  Funny for the over-sized sticker over the door opening and on the second level for the reference to the several occurrences of pressurization snags in the days preceding the event.

The simulator meme could be improved with the caption; "Boeing's latest 737 simulator sets new high standard for realistic crew training."  Or;  "FAA sets new simulator training protocols for Boeing crews".

 Some talented person photo-shopped the open door onto the side of the simulator but missed 75% of the joke - that's my point.  They didn't have it to begin with.  

To be clear I don't normally sit around dissecting memes.

If only those so talented in creating funny memes would devote their time to some higher purpose.....

2 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

Seems not just the pressure relief section,

 

Two flight attendants (front of aircraft) interviewed today and two (back) tomorrow. Flight attendant says the cockpit door blew open in the decompression. It hit and damaged the lavatory door, jamming it closed. No one was inside.

I'm still not convinced that it wasn't just the pressure relief section.  Maybe it was the whole door - based on Boeing's performance lately it's possible.  Also possible that it was just the pressure relief section and the FAs misunderstood what they were seeing - a big section of the door blows out (as designed) and an untrained observer might easily describe it as "the door blew open".   Will wait for the report.

45 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

surprised re your comment.   Re possible loss of the recording having nothing to do with the pilots actions, I guess we will never know.  Extending the CVR time is def. a good idea.

I don't know why you are surprised.  There is no action the pilots could take or error they could make which would cause the window/door to blow out.  There might be some interesting details about how they ran the checklist or communicated with the passengers and FAs but that's all quite insignificant to the actual event.

36 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

Alaska 737 cockpit voice recorder data erasure renews safety debate

By Valerie Insinna, David Shepardson and Lisa Barrington

January 8, 20242:53 AM MSTUpdated an hour ago

A worker walks past Boeing's new 737 MAX-9 under construction at their production facility in Renton, Washington, U.S., February 13, 2017. Picture taken February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Redmond/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The cockpit voice recorder data on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet which lost a panel mid-flight on Friday was overwritten, U.S. authorities said, renewing attention on an industry call for longer in-flight recordings.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy said on Sunday no data was available on the cockpit voice recorder because it was not retrieved within two hours - when recording restarts, erasing previous data.

 

Seeing as how this particular event has nothing to do with the pilot's actions this is simply a click-baiting headline/article.  Increasing the recording time of the CVR might be a good idea but there is likely nothing lost to the investigation because of the loss of the recording here.

25 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

 

The force from the loss of the panel was strong enough to blow open the cockpit door during flight, said Homendy, adding that it must have been a "terrifying event" to experience.

 

 

This likely refers to the pressure relief section of the cockpit door which is intentionally designed to do that.  This is intended to relieve the pressure differential between cockpit and cabin and prevent the door from jamming closed from a twisted frame in such an event as this.

On 1/6/2024 at 4:42 PM, Specs said:

" We are an emergency...."?
 

Shouldn't there be a Mayday or a PAN PAN
 

One thing I've noticed after 40+ years in the industry reading reports and listening to audio is that American pilots are extremely reluctant to declare "Mayday" or "Pan Pan".  It's almost like they feel they are admitting the situation is beyond their control and that that is a failing or weakness on their part.  The engine explodes, they're on fire,  leaking fuel and the gear is jammed but they'll say, "I'm still flying so it's not really an emergency!"

Canadian pilots are trained that any fire, structural damage, flight control problem or issue that requires priority handling warrants a Mayday or Pan Pan declaration.  In many parts of the world, unless you state Mayday or Pan Pan, you will not get any assistance or priority handling.  In North America if the controller even gets a whiff of a situation developing they will preemptively provide priority handling and have the emergency vehicles waiting beside the runway.  I believe it's an effort to limit liability.  The ironic effect of this is that pilots know they'll get priority and the trucks will be waiting even if they don't declare a Mayday so they don't make the declaration.

I never respond to anything.  Just go to your account and sign in  - if there's a problem you will be notified as you sign in.

59 minutes ago, deicer said:

Almost prophetic, wasn't it?  

Sure was.  

I wonder how much can be attributed to having bases in YYZ and YUL?  That's certainly part of the problem they have.

You may be presented with a "confirm you are human" page. 

It's not any change I made.  I got presented with this myself when signing in and thought it my be due to using a VPN (which I do when using hotel wifi) but others have PMed me to say they get it too.   I'm on the road now but will try to figure out why this is happening when I get a chance.

Yeah, I'm not convinced.  The video and articles you've posted sound an awful lot like the sell job we've been getting to buy EVs in the first place.

OK, maybe ICE vehicles have a higher incidence of fires but no details provided on the intensity or ultimate final state of the vehicles after the fire.  I know for a fact that a small or even larger gasoline fire can be readily extinguished with a hand fire extinguisher and certainly by the fire dept with a big splash of water.  I also don't like the fact that an EV is at it's most dangerous when unattended, charging at night while an ICE is at it's safest when shutoff and parked.

I have a lawn mower, wood chipper, wood splitter, two outboards, a string trimmer, a chainsaw, a power washer, a motorcycle and a generator - all with gasoline engines.  I have no problem leaving them for weeks or months and never give a moments thought to them spontaneously bursting into flames but I make sure all my lithium battery devices are off the charger before walking to the mailbox.  That's a slight exaggeration for dramatic effect but would certainly never leave them plugged in when leaving the house for the day.

The following a good video on the subject and I think it's quite fair - he discusses the fact the EV fires are low probability and that they are "safe" but also gives some discussion of the severity of these fires when they do happen.

2 hours ago, deicer said:

https://www.motortrend.com/features/you-are-wrong-about-ev-fires?slide=4

You’re Wrong About EV Fires

Gas- and diesel-powered vehicles catch fire way more often than EVs, but you wouldn’t know that from the headlines.

 

As I understand it (don't have enough interest to research it)  is that the problem is not how prevalent EV fires are but how incredibly hard they are to extinguish when they do happen.  And, of course, while trying to extinguish them the fire is far more likely to spread and cause damage around it.

Also, gasoline vehicles rarely catch on fire when unattended and not in operation such as when parked in your attached garage overnight while sitting in the garage recharging in the middle of the night the EV is in it's high-threat window  (again, as I understand it).

On 12/14/2023 at 8:18 AM, deicer said:

If you're looking for that extra special gift....

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/nasas-quiet-short-takeoff-and-landing-test-jet-is-up-for-sale

NASA’s Quiet Short Takeoff And Landing Test Jet Is Up Fr S

I saw that aircraft fly in 1986 at the Abbotsford airshow.  I didn't know what it was and when it approached showline centre I thought it was going to stall/crash because it was flying so slow, then it cranked around in a 360 degree turn at 200' and never left the triangle between the 3 runways!

7 hours ago, UpperDeck said:

One thing for certain. Not all being of one mind permits of some interesting exchanges of opinion worth reading.

My fault for not being more clear with my meaning.  I was not trying to say that swastikas and rainbow-painted crosswalks are equivalent.  I was drawing an analogy;  just a bit of coloured paint, just a bit of coloured fabric.  Obviously the meaning behind the paint and cloth is what's important and what people are reacting to.

1 hour ago, J.O. said:

 And honestly, how does a multi-coloured crosswalk negatively affect "the majority's" day in any tangible way? Personally, I have way bigger things to be concerned about.

That's like asking why a swastika flag or a Che Guevera t-shirt is offensive - it's just a bit of coloured fabric, so what's the problem?

I wonder if the other passengers know they are subsidizing this?

TANSTAAFL.

17 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

we are told this will happen, mostly by those with garages or parking pads but:

How do you charge an EV without a garage or driveway? | Watch (msn.com)

You have to be some sort of immense moron if you buy an EV without a garage or driveway.  Actually, even if you have a garage or driveway.

Are we watching the same video?  That looks incredibly fake to me.  All sorts of pops, flickers, jumps in the jawline.  The head bobs around like a puppet while the shoulders are completely fixed.  No doubt it will get better but not nearly good enough yet.

How to protect yourself from a scam?  Easy.  Just ask a personal question that only you and they would know the answer to - where did you go on vacation last year?  what colour is your car?  what is our dog's name?

I've been somewhat reluctant to start this thread - might cause trouble, but, here goes.

Referrals.  Everybody knows how they work.  Refer someone to a product or service and get a little kickback bonus.

I've had a few and used a few.  

The latest one that I've been presented is from Simplii Financial.  This started as PC Financial and is the low-cost internet arm of CIBC.  Their latest referral bonus is $50 to the new client when they open an account and $125 to the person who referred them!  The new client must deposit $100 and leave it there for 30 days.  The beauty of this is when you daisy-chain it through the family.  I was a Simplii customer and I referred my wife - she got $50 and I got $125.  My wife then referred our daughter who got $50 and then my wife got $125.  Every referral pays out $175.  IDK but seems worth the effort.  Aside from that Simplii is a good banking option and I have begun to use it (I guess that's their plan and it works).

Here's the link:  https://blue.mbsy.co/6tLvfm

Eligible accounts are chequing, savings, line-of credit and credit card.