The End of the World: in 79 CE

In 79 CE, the world did come to an end for the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and other towns in the umbra of Mt. Vesuvius. Pliny the Younger (nephew of the great Roman admiral and naturalist who died on the beach at the Bay of Naples after inhaling noxious gases from the eruption) recounted the cataclysm in a letter to Tacitus. Nearly two millennia after the event, Pliny’s words (here translated by William Melmoth) remain the most compelling first-person account of a natural disaster I’ve ever read. One passage is especially evocative:

The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no great quantity. I looked back; a dense dark mist seemed to be following us, spreading itself over the country like a cloud. “Let us turn out of the high-road,” I said, “while we can still see, for fear that, should we fall in the road, we should be pressed to death in the dark, by the crowds that are following us.” We had scarcely sat down when night came upon us, not such as we have when the sky is cloudy, or when there is no moon, but that of a room when it is shut up, and all the lights put out. You might hear the shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the shouts of men; some calling for their children, others for their parents, others for their husbands, and seeking to recognise each other by the voices that replied; one lamenting his own fate, another that of his family; some wishing to die, from the very fear of dying; some lifting their hands to the gods; but the greater part convinced that there were now no gods at all, and that the final endless night of which we have heard had come upon the world.

You can read a translation of the complete letter here.

New Videos at BruceAirFlying’s YouTube Channel

I have posted several new videos on my YouTube channel. Most of the videos, like the sample below, are short clips that demonstrate basic aerobatic maneuvers. I captured the maneuvers during aerobatic rides and training flights in the Extra 300L.

FAA Updates IFR Procedures Website

FAA AeroNav Products, the division that produces and publishes aviation charts, instrument approach and departure procedures, and related information, has overhauled its website.

The new web pages make it easy to search for information about specific airports, including procedures that have been updated and new or revised procedures that are in development.

For an overview of current procedures, visit the Instrument Flight Procedures Inventory page.

Video of a Practice Formation Flight

Here’s another YouTube video of a formation practice flight last week near KBVU. I captured the video with a ContourHD camera attached to my headset. I cleaned up the audio on this video and added narration to describe what’s going on at key points.

This was a two-ship flight with my primary formation-flying mentor. He flew F-4s, F-5s, and F-16s in the Air Force after serving as a T-38 instructor. He has lots of experience teaching formation flying and leading formation flights.

Lead was in his RV-6A. Another Extra, this one a 330LX (the newest model and successor to the 300L that I fly), joined us. That red airplane was flown by another Air Force fighter pilot. He flies F-15s in a test squadron at Nellis AFB. We coordinated the rendezvous before the flight, and lead cleared him in after we established contact in the air. He stayed just a little while before he headed off for the rest of his planned flight.

New Cessna-branded yokes and accessories from Saitek

Saitek has announced a new set of Cessna-branded controls for Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane, and other PC-based simulations. Saitek offers a bundle for $449.99 that includes:

PRO Flight Cessna® Yoke System  (Ships 7/22)
PRO Flight Cessna® Rudder Pedals
PRO Flight Cessna® Trim Wheel
PRO Flight Switch Panel (Free with purchase)

Passing of Horace F. Judson, author of “The Eighth Day of Creation”

Horace F. Judson, author of The Eighth Day of Creation, one finest and most engrossing books about science in my collection, died May 6, 2011. You can read the NY Times obituary here.

The Eighth Day of Creation is nominally about molecular biology—the discovery of the structure of DNA and other breakthroughs—but it’s a brilliantly researched, compelling drama, almost a mystery novel, replete with fascinating characters, including the too-often overlooked Rosalind Franklin. It shares those qualities with a contemporaneous masterpiece, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes.

Judson wrote other important books about science, including The Great Betrayal: Fraud in Science.

If you’re interested in how science works at the highest levels, about real scientific controversies and how they’re resolved, and most importantly, about the deepest mysteries in nature and the fascinating characters who try to understand them, read Judson and Rhodes.

Four-Ship Formation Practice over Lake Mead

Here’s another YouTube video from my last visit to the Las Vegas area. Three of my RV-flying friends and I did a practice four-ship formation flight over Lake Mead. The RV owners include experienced former fighter pilots (lead on this flight was the aggressor squadron commander at Nellis AFB before he retired); I’m still learning.

We practice regularly, always with a detailed preflight briefing and a post-flight critique. It’s a fun skill to learn with proper instruction.

Review of CH Products Eclipse Yoke

CH Products has updated its line of flight yokes with the Eclipse, an all-in-one yoke that includes an innovative solution to the "rudder problem" and several new features that put scores of customizable controls at your fingertips.

 

My review of the Eclipse is in the Product Reviews section of www.BruceAir.com.

More Proposed Changes to FAA Regulations

The FAA has published another Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (PDF here) that would make several significant changes to training for the commercial certificate and the private certificate and instrument rating, the definition of "complex aircraft," training in Beech aircraft with single, throwover control yokes, and other areas of Parts 61 and 141.

The document is worth reviewing, especially if you’re a flight instructor. If the changes follow the usual process, the new rules won’t take effect for at least a year. Comments are due November 30, 2009.

The FAA is proposing several changes to our pilot, flight instructor, and pilot school certification rules. The proposals include requiring pilot-in-command (PIC) proficiency checks for pilots who act as PIC of single piloted, turbojet-powered airplanes; allowing pilot applicants to apply for a private pilot certificate and an instrument rating concurrently; and making allowance in the rule to provide for the issuance of standard U.S. pilot certificates on the basis of an international licensing agreement between the FAA and a foreign civil aviation authority. The FAA has recently entered into such an agreement with the civil aviation authority of Canada. The FAA is also proposing to allow pilot schools to use Internet-based training programs without requiring schools to have a physical ground training facility. The FAA is proposing to allow pilot schools and provisional pilot schools to apply for a combined private pilot certification and instrument rating course. The FAA is also proposing to revise the definition of ‘‘complex airplane.’’ Because of changing technology in aviation, the results of successful research, and an international agreement, the FAA has determined these proposed changes to
the pilot, flight instructor, and pilot school certification rules are necessary to ensure pilots are adequately trained and qualified to operate safely in the National Airspace System. The FAA has determined these proposals are needed to respond to changes in the aviation industry and to further reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens.

Hummingbirds as Aerobatic Flyers

Interesting feature at Science News about hummingbirds.

It seems "they pull more g’s than any known vertebrate stunt flier outside a cockpit."

And, "The stunt flier’s great swoop forms one of the centerpieces of his courtship display to win female attention. The bird orients his display dive in relation to the sun so that his female audience will get the brightest view."

"Clark took advantage of the males’ predictable dive orientation, setting out a caged female, or even a stuffed female on a stick, to inspire birds to dive right in front of his video cameras. Males flew up and plunged over the female typically 10 or 15 times in a row, but one enthusiastic stunt flier completed 75 consecutive dives with a break of only a few minutes."

Not much of a difference between the birds and most airplane pilots there, however.