# The Great Ongoing Aviation Thread (general and other) (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499 "2011-10-23T02:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 55
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1081 "2017-11-17T21:16:36Z")
This was a [dick](http://www.krem.com/news/local/okanogan-county/graphic-obscene-skydrawings-spotted-in-okanogan-co/492496113) maneuver. :eek: > [@KREM2-TV](#): > > Officials with the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island said one of their aircraft was involved in the obscene skywritings spotted in Okanogan County. > > Photos sent to KREM 2 by multiple sources show skydrawings of what some people are saying is male genitalia. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1082 "2017-11-17T21:46:12Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > This was a [dick](http://www.krem.com/news/local/okanogan-county/graphic-obscene-skydrawings-spotted-in-okanogan-co/492496113) maneuver. :eek: [Thread here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=842067) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1083 "2017-11-21T19:51:44Z")
French physician Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier and François Laurent, the marquis d’ Arlandes, make the first untethered hot-air balloon flight, flying 5.5 miles over Paris in about 25 minutes. Their cloth balloon was crafted by French papermaking brothers Jacques-Étienne and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, inventors of the world’s first successful hot-air balloons. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1084 "2017-11-21T20:12:22Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > French physician Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier and François Laurent, the marquis d’ Arlandes, make the first untethered hot-air balloon flight, flying 5.5 miles over Paris in about 25 minutes. Their cloth balloon was crafted by French papermaking brothers Jacques-Étienne and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, inventors of the world’s first successful hot-air balloons. [It’s not a balloon you stupid, pigheaded Saxon git!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrJsvR5-4JM) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1085 "2017-11-21T20:20:38Z")
Albatross! ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1086 "2017-11-21T23:35:39Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I want one. Yeah, you and me both. At least this is not as bad as the time I decided I wanted a printing press. I won’t need six friends to move this thing should I ever find one. ---
**Author:** ![Lickety\_Split\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/67e7ee/32.png) [@Lickety\_Split\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lickety_Split_1)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1087 "2017-11-21T23:40:40Z")
I am into Warbirds. Especially of the WWII era. I am thinking of buying an RC Warbird. Maybe a P51 Mustang or a German Stuka, or a Navy Corsair, since those planes are among my favorite warbirds. But here’ the thing, and is my question here to you good folks and fellow aviation nerds: I have heard that the to-scale Warbird RC planes are more difficult to fly for a beginner than are regular, trainer RC planes, since they are…well, to scale and thus don’t have the over-sized wings. Has anybody found this to be the case? And if so, is the degree of difficulty really that much larger to where you would discourage an RC beginning pilot from starting with a Warbird? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1088 "2017-11-22T00:26:12Z")
You will crash the first few you own. Start with something disposable, not a work of art. There’s fewer tears that way. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1089 "2017-11-22T01:29:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > **You will crash the first few you own.** Start with something disposable, not a work of art. There’s fewer tears that way. Somehow, pilots who fly the larger models (you know, the ones where the pilot sits _inside_ the aircraft) aren’t allowed that luxury. How in the world do they manage it? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1090 "2017-11-22T02:14:31Z")
If you’re actually flying it and not staring it at it on a shelf then what it looks like high above you is not going to matter. Fly something that performs well and is easy to land. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1091 "2017-11-22T03:25:49Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Somehow, pilots who fly the larger models (you know, the ones where the pilot sits _inside_ the aircraft) aren’t allowed that luxury. How in the world do they manage it? They have instructors. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1092 "2017-11-22T06:29:51Z")
And then there were guys like a friend of mine who passed many years ago. We used to practice formation flying in our Swifts. He kept writing to his wife that with all the planes he was finding in the woods that he was going to fly one back the American side of the line. So one day he found a [F 190](https://www.google.com/search?q=German+f-190&oq=German+f-190&aqs=chrome..69i57.6278j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) and a [Fieseler Storch](http://c8.alamy.com/comp/E1W3EM/fieseler-storch-stork-famed-german-ww2-light-military-aircraft-E1W3EM.jpg)hidden in trees near a large clearing. He got the F-190 running and light on the gear when he chickened out. So he tried the Storch. Got it in the air and made a decent landing near his company encampment. His very first aircraft ride in any airplane and he was driving… His wife and his pictures backed up his story. He was an amazing guy, I still have pictures and b/w film negatives he processed in his helmet during the war. His wife gave that stuff to me after he died. He did many amazing things during his life and was a great friend. I also know of an farmer in Oklahoma who bought a Piper cub and read a book and taught himself to fly it. This was in the early 60’s. He had a big place, never left his property and never went over 300 feet AGL. Drove the local FAA nuts. Somebody must have clued him in on how to stay free. Saw him once flying while I was on patrol. Anywho, that was the story that the locals told. I never actually talked to him but some had. I have done some silly stuff but I was never that silly. Just goes to show you that there is usually an exception that others try to copy and die trying. Not how most get to be old pilots. I like being an old pilot. I was just lucky to survive all my bad judgement so I could have lots of good judgement and I paid attention to the old pelicans when hanger flying. ( E G reference from “Fate is the Hunter.” ) 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1093 "2017-11-22T08:38:52Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Somehow, pilots who fly the larger models (you know, the ones where the pilot sits _inside_ the aircraft) aren’t allowed that luxury. How in the world do they manage it? It’s quite disorienting trying to fly a model when it is coming towards you. Definitely something to be said for sitting inside the machine. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1094 "2017-11-22T13:38:44Z")
As others have said. Flying, whether model or real, isn’t all that difficult. But it is \*very \*real-time. If you get crossed up, there’s only a couple to a few seconds to fix it before it’s a disaster. The whole point of instructors, in addition to the teaching, is to pull your bacon out of that real-time fire when it inevitably happens. There are books and books of “common student pilot errors” for a reason. Most everybody makes most of them at least once or twice. There \*are \*dual-control rigs for RC models. And you (any you) may be able to find a patient modeler willing to teach you. IMO most would-be RC pilots are trying to have a fun and casual hobby; scheduling dual sessions with somebody else sounds too much like work. When I buy a new $30 toy I can be pretty injudicious with it. When I buy a new $3,000 toy I’m a \*lot \*more careful. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1095 "2017-11-22T14:40:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > there’s only a couple to a few seconds to fix it before it’s a disaster. A few seconds’? Luxury! In a helicopter with a low-inertia rotor system (like a Robinson or Schweizer), you need to lower the collective now in case of a power failure. I hate to divert a thread on GA to mention r/c, but there’s a video going around of a large-scale B-52 model. The guy spent years, and 60 kilobucks building it. Another video shows it crashing. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1096 "2017-11-22T20:06:39Z")
Who needs a model of a jet when you can have the real thing?: [You can buy a Boeing 747 online in China](http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/22/news/companies/alibaba-boeing-747-auction/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1097 "2017-11-23T02:59:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Who needs a model of a jet when you can have the real thing?: [You can buy a Boeing 747 online in China](http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/22/news/companies/alibaba-boeing-747-auction/index.html) Can e-Bay and Amazon be far behind with similar offerings? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1098 "2017-11-23T03:16:21Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Who needs a model of a jet when you can have the real thing?: [You can buy a Boeing 747 online in China](http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/22/news/companies/alibaba-boeing-747-auction/index.html) Commercial-size jetliners are _just the thing_ to convert into a comfy private residence! I’m sure everyone on this board knows about this one already: Bruce Campbell bought a retired Boeing 727, parked it in a forest (somehow) and made his home there. So Alibaba may well have a robust market for these things. [Article with lots of photos.](http://www.earthporm.com/man-lives-boeing-middle-of-woods/) Although: There’s something strange about the “forest” surrounding this plane. An article in _The Blaze_ includes an apparent [aerial photo](http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/1.jpg) that I haven’t seen elsewhere. The surrounding trees are so regularly arranged, it appears to be more like an orchard than a wild forest. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1099 "2017-11-28T06:12:41Z")
In a current nearby thread, [“So what happened to tablets (electronic devices)?”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=843135) in IMHO, **aeschines** asks if tablets (the mobile app devices) are going out of fashion. In [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20628255#post20628255) I comment on the use of tablets in General Aviation, with links to photo of a tablet in a cockpit and and article with descriptions and screen shots of various mobile aviation apps. In a [follow up post here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20628300#post20628300), I give an addition example of using a GPS tracking app for glider flights, which can then be uploaded to an international compendium site for gliders flights for all the world to see, with statistical analyses of the flights as well. I link to one such cross-country flight, a 200-mile flight by Ramy Yanetz on November 10, 2017, and also to a nearby shorter flight of 17 miles by me (with instructor) on the same day. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/1100 "2017-11-28T13:05:51Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Commercial-size jetliners are _just the thing_ to convert into a comfy private residence! If you’re in Costa Rica, [you can spend the night in a 727](https://www.costaverde.com/727.htm) at the Hotel Costa Verde. If your tastes run larger, to 747’s, there’s the[JumboStay Hotel](http://www.jumbostay.com/) at the Stockholm airport. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499.md?page=54) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499.md?page=56)