Cranky old man thread

[bluee]

My wife, the nurse, calls 'em "Donor-cycles"... as in "Organ Donors".

A few years ago I was driving down the interstate (divided highway), and everyone slowed down. I noticed on the opposite side that a motorcycle was on its side, and the driver on the road with a group of people standing over him. I don't know what happened, but it didn't look good.

 

[wanttaja]

Guys. I think its a bit of a leap to dismiss one's ability to fly an airplane safely based on an encounter with a homeless person, and I'll bet just about anyone here has had a verbal run in with someone who screamed at them at one point or another.

I dunno. I used to know a pretty good pilot who had an anger management problem. He died after apparently getting distracted by a minor problem on takeoff. It's certainly possible that his anger broke through and overcame his of situational awareness.

To paraphrase a song from "Billy Bishop Goes to War":

So when you fly, stay as calm as the ocean
and watch what's going on behind your shoulder
The sky's not the place for deep emotion
and maybe...you'll get.... a little older.

Ron Wanttaja

 

[fgcason]

A few years ago I was driving down the interstate (divided highway), and everyone slowed down. I noticed on the opposite side that a motorcycle was on its side, and the driver on the road with a group of people standing over him. I don't know what happened, but it didn't look good.

Yea. So what? I've seen about 20 car wrecks in the last year (boonies nowhere driving) and all involved ambulances and about half involved serious mangled metal. One went off the road and rammed a tree hard enough that the tree was at the windshield. Every single time I got near a city, it was like a frigging demolition derby. A few of the city crashes had blue plastic sheets over the car while the paramedics were just standing around slowly packing up to leave.

There are so many car crashes every day that they can't be reported simply due to the fact that there isn't enough time in a 24 hour time period to report them. But cars are supposedly safe and motorcycles are dangerous.

Wear all the crash gear, stay proficient and sensible and your chances of survival go way way up even when things go bad.

 

[bluee]

Sure, I agree with you. There are always people who shouldn't be driving anything.

 

[Dale Young]

That's neat. I like that!

Hey Dale, is the barbecue still good in Hopkinsville?

Yes Sir!! It still is!!!

 

[Dale Young]

Query:

Who else thinks Shania Twain is hot?

My personal favorite of all time!! I've met her in person twice,and she's as nice as she is great looking.

 

[Dale Young]

Few would mistake a Kowalski Concours for a sport bike.

In defense of Sac, I find the bike does rather change my behavior. Anyone who knows me knows that I am as meek as all get out (though very loud). Bikers are supposed to be bad-assed, and I tend to find myself upholding the stereotype when astride my bike as a service to my brother bikers. A bad-assed reputation can be a handy thing, and it is difficult enough being a biker.

That said, I doubt I could have suppressed my natural tendency toward humor. Last time anyone told me I should ride a Harley (it was somebody non-skeezy) I agreed, telling them that I needed to slow down, and a Harley was the perfect bike to do so as they don't go fast.

Can't leave without a Harley joke:

Did you hear that 95% of all Harleys ever made are still on the road?







yeah, the other 5% actually made it home.

Safe riding everyone.

Q: What's the difference between a Hoover and a Harley?

A: The location of the dirt bag.

 

[Dale Young]

Not me.

REALLY???

 

[Bob Noel]

REALLY???

Yes, really.

Perhaps we have different definitions of "hot."

 

[Dale Young]

Yes, really.

Perhaps we have different definitions of "hot."

OHHHH!!...duh!..gotcha.

 

[Anthony]

OHHHH!!...duh!..gotcha.

I really don't think THAT's what he meant.

 

[wabower]

Put four wheels, crash cage, seat-belts and airbags on it and they go up a lot more.

Wear all the crash gear, stay proficient and sensible and your chances of survival go way way up even when things go bad.

 

[N801BH]

Yes, really.

Perhaps we have different definitions of "hot."

Perception is everything........

Back when I was a bit younger I favored Maryanne on Gilligans Island, not Ginger, who most people drooled over..... Same with WKRP,,, Give me Bailey any day over Jennifer.... Just a personal preference ya know.

 

[Sac Arrow]

Perception is everything........

Back when I was a bit younger I favored Maryanne on Gilligans Island, not Ginger, who most people drooled over..... Same with WKRP,,, Give me Bailey any day over Jennifer.... Just a personal preference ya know.

Me too - I viewed Maryanne as having a lot less hours on the airframe, plus the environment would have been a lot less competitive. But then again I was a preadolescent male back then.

 

[Ddayle]

Put four wheels, crash cage, seat-belts and airbags on it and they go up a lot more.

Quote:
Originally Posted by fgcason
Wear all the crash gear, stay proficient and sensible and your chances of survival go way way up even when things go bad. I switched from bikes to planes. Both statistically have similar death rates. The difference as I see it is that on the bike some Idiot in a car kills me. In the plane , I look at the idiot in the mirror every morning. The plan is to keep from being an idiot each time I fly. I can't do much about idiots in cars. As for why I do it, The thrill, the Zen, for me is much the same. Better & safer is because I can putt about in a Cessna at 100 Knts & 1500AGL and be just as satisfied as if I have been carving corners on the mountain Hwy at speeds in excess of the limit. Dave

 

[fgcason]

Perception is everything........

Back when I was a bit younger I favored Maryanne on Gilligans Island, not Ginger, who most people drooled over.....

I was talking to a costume designer that did research on mannequins at some point. Apparently the shape of the generic storefront mannequin is based on the ideal features of the ideal person all loaded on the same face and body without all the real person imperfections. When you put all those ideal pieces on one person, it becomes quite terrifying.

Ginger and a lot of the people coming out of hollywood are more along the lines of a mannequin than a normal real person you would meet anywhere. They're thin, hellbent on perfection, unrealistic, artificial looking. Real people more along the lines of Maryanne don't look like that.

 

[Bob Noel]

Perception is everything........

Back when I was a bit younger I favored Maryanne on Gilligans Island, not Ginger, who most people drooled over..... Same with WKRP,,, Give me Bailey any day over Jennifer.... Just a personal preference ya know.

Concur.

 

[Rndmtrvlr]

Concur.

Same here. But I still think Shania is HAAAWTTT!!

 

[steingar]

Ginger and a lot of the people coming out of hollywood are more along the lines of a mannequin than a normal real person you would meet anywhere. They're thin, hellbent on perfection, unrealistic, artificial looking. Real people more along the lines of Maryanne don't look like that.

Visiting my little old mother yesterday (3 hours on the tach doing so! ) The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was playing. I swear they looked like aliens.

 

[Ghery]

My wife, the nurse, calls 'em "Donor-cycles"... as in "Organ Donors".

And the orthopedic surgeon who put us back together after a car ran a stop sign and hit our motorcycle broadside called them "Murder cycles". He wasn't a fan, either.

 

[steingar]

I switched from bikes to planes. Both statistically have similar death rates. The difference as I see it is that on the bike some Idiot in a car kills me. In the plane , I look at the idiot in the mirror every morning. The plan is to keep from being an idiot each time I fly. I can't do much about idiots in cars. As for why I do it, The thrill, the Zen, for me is much the same. Better & safer is because I can putt about in a Cessna at 100 Knts & 1500AGL and be just as satisfied as if I have been carving corners on the mountain Hwy at speeds in excess of the limit. Dave

There is another huge difference. If you're riding a reasonably fast bike, you can exert control over your surroundings. You can outrun, out-accelerate and outmaneuver any car.

In the airplane, you can get killed by stuff that you can't control at all.

 

[jesse]

In the airplane, you can get killed by stuff that you can't control at all.

But the statistics indicate the vast majority of the things that kill you in airplanes are things you could in fact easily have controlled.

 

[steingar]

But the statistics indicate the vast majority of the things that kill you in airplanes are things you could in fact easily have controlled.

Not so certain about that. VMC into IMC is certainly a slippery slope (i.e. your conditions deteriorate with a sufficient lack of rapidity that you might not know you're in IMC. It happened to yours truly, and I really do pride myself on being a proficient and conscientious pilot (at least I try). For those who run out of gas I really can't disagree. But for many other things, stuff happens to us distractible imperfect human beings. I know that superhuman aviation imperviousness comes to those who earn the CFI, but the rest of us just have to muddle through.

 

[Anthony]

But the statistics indicate the vast majority of the things that kill you in airplanes are things you could in fact easily have controlled.

Yep. Unlike many other pursuits.

 

[p1l0t]

Not so certain about that. VMC into IMC is certainly a slippery slope (i.e. your conditions deteriorate with a sufficient lack of rapidity that you might not know you're in IMC. It happened to yours truly, and I really do pride myself on being a proficient and conscientious pilot (at least I try). For those who run out of gas I really can't disagree. But for many other things, stuff happens to us distractible imperfect human beings. I know that superhuman aviation imperviousness comes to those who earn the CFI, but the rest of us just have to muddle through.

Yeah I was flying once on an MVFR day, on an instrument flight plan to BID, and proficient. Flying out over the water... wow. After I awhile I realized this is basically IMC except that I can see clouds above me and below me reflecting of the Long Island Sound. Poor JFK Jr, he never had a chance. Except before he left, or maybe if he would have landed at MTP or did the dreaded standard-rate 180-degree turn back to safety. Maybe it snuck up on him very slowly though. I think he was like between BID and MVY before he got into the graveyard spiral.

<---<^>--->

 

[steingar]

Yeah I was flying once on an MVFR day, on an instrument flight plan to BID, and proficient. Flying out over the water... wow. After I awhile I realized this is basically IMC except that I can see clouds above me and below me reflecting of the Long Island Sound. Poor JFK Jr, he never had a chance. Except before he left, or maybe if he would have landed at MTP or did the dreaded standard-rate 180-degree turn back to safety. Maybe it snuck up on him very slowly though. I think he was like between BID and MVY before he got into the graveyard spiral.

I honestly don't think JFR Jr. had clue what hit him. Remember, it was night too. No way would I fly over water on a cloudy night.