My family and I planned a trip to Austin and Wimberly to visit a vacation property at the White Wings (3TS1) properties. I studied the Google Maps of the airport for a week, visualized a short field landing from both directions, and briefed myself on the Seminole’s performance charts before the trip. The day of the flight to Wimberly, I left the tanks half-full from the LBB-AUS leg to keep the plane lighter, and off we went on a heading of 210 degrees from AUS. Watching for a 2000-ft tower in our path, which we found with ease, we headed for the GPS coordinates I had programmed in the Garmin 430 on the trip down. As a backup, I had entered a triangulated VOR location off two nearby VOR’s. My greatest nervousness lay in seeing the 3000-ft airstrip, which turned out to be a non-issue. The GPS coordinates were accurate and we approached the field perpendicularly, waggling our wings at our friends on the ground waiting for us.

I turned left, 1000 ft AGL, for an upwind leg, rather than a right turn to a tight downwind leg, so that I’d have plenty of time to configure the airplane for what I still planned to be a short-field landing. I began configuring for landing on the crosswind leg by putting the gear down, followed by one notch of flaps on the downwind (keeping sight of the field), a second notch on the base leg, and 90 kts, turning gently into the SW breeze and adding the final notch of flaps with an 80 kt airspeed on final. The strip is on a ridge with no trees to drop over, so the only danger lies in dropping below glideslope due to the low terrain before the threshold; I focused only on the threshold and had no trouble. I pulled the power out a bit, probably reserving a bit too much due to nerves, crossing the threshold at 75 kts instead of the short-field speed in the POH of 70 kts. A bit of float and a very soft landing, but no need to jam on the brakes, as I stopped and controlled the aircraft easily by the 1700-ft mark. I spun around and back-taxied to where my friends waved me off the strip into a gravel parking spot.

Next day, before flying back to AUS, I took two separate groups of friends out for quick joyrides, taking off on runway 20 into a nice firm SW breeze. I did not make an effort to perform a full short-field takeoff (with 30 degrees of flaps in the POH), but I did apply full throttle while holding the brakes to make sure the engines were proper before releasing. Easy takeoff to the SW, and easy circle over the city of Wimberly before setting up for the landings.

All in all, I made three landings at 3TS1, and was above 70 kts each time. I think I need to do a few short-field landings here in LBB right at 70 kts in the event that White Wings has no wind or a bit of precipitation, as the “extra” length of the strip I didn’t use could certainly vanish under those conditions, and every percent of performance could be critical.

Active Mapquest link: http://www.mapquest.com/mq/8-AtOK
AirNav page: http://www.airnav.com/airport/3ts1
Or static picture of the airfield:

White Wings Airfield

I don’t travel all that often, but I do enjoy traveling and I always get ridiculously excited for plane rides. Well, I used to get ridiculously excited about plane rides. The past couple rides have been less than exciting.

The first time I flew for work, I flew from Toronto to Comox, BC (which is on Vancouver Island) for a conference. I was pretty excited. I’d never been out west before and I was excited to see the Rockies and tour the area (as was part of the conference) and I was traveling for work! Someone else was paying! Holy-crap-I’m-a-big-girl full of excitement.

That was a year and a half ago and before that, the last time I had flown anywhere was home from India via Paris and I smelled like curry and was hurting real bad for some Tim Hortons hot chocoalte and a chocolate dip donut.

So in my head, this flight out to BC was a hop, skip and a jump away because come-ooon, it wasn’t Paris or India or anything, it’s in the same country for heaven’s sake.

But I was wrong (not about the country part, Vancouver Island is indeed in Canada). I cannot explain my thought processes on this trip because I have taken Canadian geography before and I am fully aware of how large Canada is, I know we are the second largest country in the world. Despite this, I was still SHOCKED to still be in a plane, sitting in the same seat, beside the same person, with the same magazine 5 hours after departing Toronto. Holy crap the length of that flight nearly did me in.

And when I arrived, all I could think was “holy hell, I could have just flown to France.” And that flight probably would have cost less.

All notions of me being a “good traveler” totally flew out the window after that trip.

I was a little more prepared a few months back when I flew to Edmonton, but that trip, because I wasn’t distracted by the long-ass flight, the time change kind of screwed with me.

Well tomorrow is going to be different. Tomorrow I am flying to Vancouver for a conference at a posh hotel and I am ready. I am fully informed about the length of the flight and I am prepared for the time change. Tomorrow, I will travel backwards in time and I am ready.

Wish me luck.

i am talking out of habit
like tying your shoe laces
or brushing your hair
though my life is full of shortcuts
and i don’t really need to do laces
because i don’t undo them in the first
and i don’t need to brush my hair
because when it’s wet
i dry it with a towel
and shake it loose
like a lion though i’m not really a lion
i’m more an eagle
because i dream of flying a lot
and they say well i read it
at least if you dream of flying
over strange cities you’re really an alien
from another life and hey
that’s cool but i don’t really think
i’m an alien i just think
my life’s full of shortcuts

Hello guys! Such a long time since i last posted on here huh?

Well cazmo told us what is coming this week! Pet…Flying…Alien…Reindeer! How cool right!

They also wanted to know if you would like to see games like this http://www.playpink.com/girls-games/385/Justin-Bieber-Dress-Up.html added to cazmo? To contact them use this email info@planetcazmo.com

Spread the world!

Mikeafc

Keep an eye out for the following articles to be posted in the coming week!

• Dave Matthews Band “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” album review
• How to begin writing a novel
• An interview with Charlie Kaminski, Flight Director for NASA’s SOFIA project
• What can we expect in Lucid Lynx?
• 5 Neat PPA’s that you should use
• Linux Video Editor Showdown
• 5 Cool Linux applications you may not know about
• HowTo: Light Painting
• My 5 favourite Ubuntu websites
• HowTo: Install Chrome OS
• Little known tips and tricks to customize your Ubuntu desktop

These and much, much more in store here on Interesting! Subscribe to be emailed when these articles are posted!

Oh and here’s a cool wallpaper, just because I feel like giving you something for your time:

I have been in the Aviation Business for 42 years. In the early days of my career it was a pleasure to fly. One was treated like a customer and the airlines provided a very good service. The service provided was a major selling point as the prices were much the same.
Since the introduction of low cost carriers ( airlines) the standard of service has declined to a point of being next to nothing. Not only with the low cost carriers but also with the well established airlines.
You has to check yourself in on a machine or on online( their are no check in machines with some airlines.) Your bag is measured and weighed and if over weight you can,t board until you have paid your £30. You are herded onto the aircraft and you have to fight for your seat. There is no in-flight service as such. You must pay for everything including £1.80 for a bottle of water. The cabin staff are scruffy and have received very little training in customer service. If you talk during the safety briefing your are threatened with a return to the gate. As a passenger you are treated as an interruption to the cabin staff’s day.
The glamour has all gone.
How pleasantly surprised and fortunate I was to fly to Athens from London Gatwick on Olympic Air, the new Greek airline the Phoenix of Olympic Airways. Check in and I mean a real check in, was with a real person and you are given a seat number, for which I was asked for my preference.( I like an aisle seat as I can get stuff from my bag without disturbing anyone else). The Check was 3 hours before the flight, so no stress and you could shed your suitcase and relax. When I boarded the aircraft by seat number, incidentally the same as it used to be, I was surprised to see what I used to be known as an Air hostess. The air Hostess was wearing in a designer uniform, a dress with a jacket and made up to look glamourous and believe me the girls were very glamorous. I felt good even before I sat down. The Hostesses were well trained and gave an air of confidence.
The Aircraft was a brand new Airbus A320 with all the leg room I needed. No need to book and pay for extra legroom on this airline. The in-flight service was a service and consisted of 3 drinks rounds and a full meal service with wine if you wanted it. All included in the fare. What a change! One was even offered a sweet before take off. When was the last time you saw that?
The flight departed on time and during the flight you can use your phone in flight mode after takeoff. This is the only airline I have flown with this year to allow this.
I have only one issue to raise with this wonderful airline. There were no paper towels in the toilets only tissues.
The standard of service was second to none and both flights were of equal standard.
Well done Olympic Air, just like the old days. A pleasure to fly.
By the way I have made over 25 return journeys by air this year and these 2 flights were the best.

Since the beginning of time, we humans have dreamed of joining the birds and leaving our earth bound existence. For most of our history, this privilege has been denied to us. It is a dream that crosses cultural, religious, and ethnic divides – both the Bible and the Koran refer to flying as a form of freedom – and references to the desire to fly are found in almost all of the works we consider to be classic. Flight, as a dream, has been a magnificent topic in the thousands of poems and songs that have been composed.

Genius and artist Leonardo da Vinci created a sketch of a machine, which he believed would enable humans to fly, way back in the 16th century. Leonardo’s spirit was flying free more than three hundred years before his vision of powered flight was turned into reality by the Orville and Wilbur Wright; themselves working from the stepping stones put into existence through other flight machine inventors, in 1903.

Breaking Free Via Flight

While it may be hard to believe, humans have really only been flying in planes for just over a century. Amazing advances have been made in flight in such a short amount of time! Airplanes now exist in a variety of shapes and sizes, as well as capacities. Flight lessons, that will give you the chance to move out of the ordinary, are truly affordable for most people.

For those of us who have discovered the joy of flying, there simply is no better way to break free from our every day work world than by taking to the skies. There is no traffic, no traffic lights, and no stress caused by having to share space with thousands of other drivers. When you are soaring through the sky, there is only you, and your flight tools.

Bring New Perspective to Your Life

Being able to soar through the air in total solitude is just one of the many benefits of flight. You will also get to see beautiful landscapes, and fly over large spans of undeveloped country enjoying views that are nearly or completely impossible to access by land; you will surely see the world from a new perspective. The earthbound will never see such sights!

Many consider personal flight to be an inaccessible thing, either due to its price or due to the skills required. However, the truth remains that acquiring access to flight is quite an easy thing. You can easily find lessons at very good rates. Even though you may never be able to afford your own private aircraft, there are still many affordable rentals available countrywide.

If you’ve ever considered the freedom offered through flight, what’s stopping you? Discover the incredible sense of freedom that comes from flying a plane, and take advantage of the progress humans have made in the area of flight!

Zambia are off to a flying start in this year’s Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, defeating hosts Kenya 2-0 in the opening game on Saturday…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: soccer tickets. The blog is also related to: soccer goals.

I met Drax and we went over to a sandbox, Alphonso Pidgeon had kindly given Drax one of his Slea-z-boy chairs and we were looking forward to trying it out.  Drax looked relaxed in the chair as he put it through its paces. 

He suddenly thought it might be a good idea to fly the tarn again, the Gorean bird that he hasn’t practiced with for some time.  It’s a giant vicious looking black bird with nasty talons and a sharp beak.  As we intended flying over a Gorean city I put my new Freewoman Dress on (it’s lovely, pale blue and very floaty, plus you get the headdress with it too).  Off we sped and soon arrived over the rooftops of Thentis.

Drax soon got the hang of the tarn, turning and twisting above the city, it was a smooth ride, the tarn screeched and you could hear it’s wings flapping as it gained height.  Eventually Drax brought it down safely within the city walls and he jumped off.  I followed but landed near the vicious beak of the tarn who tried to bite  and scratch me with his huge talons, what a bad-tempered bird!

(You may notice I have blocked part of the pictures out with a blue square.  I took loads of pictures over the day and had forgotten to untick the bit on the camera that shows the interface of chat boxes and text, so it was a bit of a disaster.  There’s a real lesson to be learned for me to make sure I put the camera controls back the way they were at the end of using the camera to shoot the interface (I use it to photograph some pictures taken in-world).  I had a whole day of nearly wasted pictures.)

After Drax put the tarn back in its cage we decided to go to Avilion, which was great, as I already had my long dress on.  The Avilion ballroom is so pretty and we had a couple of dances until we had to return to real life.

Alright, here is the second part of the blog about signs. This will finish them up for this time at least until I find more that I can share with everyone. Have fun!

Please comment I would love the feedback

If it is not in use, then why is it there?

if there is a sign, is there not already a problem?

invisible what? People?

hahaha wow

where are we not supposed to swim?

where am I supposed to park my flying car?

what to say about this one...?

100...mph?

to..ease congestion?

keep left...when there is a huge hole there?

have fun with this one

hahaha wow

evil construction workers..

even though this is not a sign, it is still amazing

how do I get in?

better hope it is not to serious

I am glad they made it plain

watch out for those dangerous gravestones

All customer complaints should be taken care of this way

I hope they have a cell phone

Thanks to whoever made this bilboard

poor cockroaches...:(

what is this gate guarding?!

does this guy still have his job?

bummer, I wanted to cross when cars were moving

does the local trafic have flying cars?

only in America

but...I don't speak dog!

but I already gave my arm and leg last time I got gas!

can buggies go 55?

fine failure

Every time I fly I think to myself… this time this great girl will sit next to me, we’ll hit it off, exchange numbers, meet some other time and boom… we’ll start going out!

Sure, sounds easy enough except it never happens… and when you do sit next to someone your age (or close), that’s funny and nice she’s usually travelling to meet her boyfriend or lives nowhere close to where you live!

Does this ever happen? Is this even less likely than playing the lottery? Or am I so lame that I think this is really an easy and zero effort opportunity so that’s really what I’m looking for?

I don’t know… it still hasn’t happened to me but I’m still at my family’s so I have a flight home soon… wish me luck!

At this time of year when people will be eating way more than is good for them, and those surviving Turkeys give a sigh of relief that they might have survived another year.

In England except for those Americans living in the UK, we do not celebrate Thanks Giving, Turkey tends to be the main food eaten at Christmas.

When you remeber that in just over three weeks time it will be Christmas, perhaps my statement about the relief of Turkeys is not quite so true. The English Christmas dinner of perhaps Prawn Cocktail or melon to start, followed by roast Turkey, roast potatoes, parsnips, Brussel sprouts, stuffing and maybe a piece of Yorkshire pudding. And of course Christmas pudding as a desert, along of course with the must have Christmas crackers (you pull them and the go bang) complete with silly jokes and the “must ware” paper hats.

So on this day I thought I’d share with you something less savory and perhaps a warning to those who are flying somewhere this holiday.

Toilet mystery on Cathay Pacific flights to Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific says its fleet of Airbus planes has been hit by a spate of mysterious toilet blockages.

The problem has been so serious that one flight from Riyadh had to land in Mumbai when the crew discovered none of the plane’s 10 toilets were working.

In other cases, the number of passengers boarding flights had to be restricted because of toilet problems. Any blockage usually affects all the toilets on one side of an aircraft.

Airbus engineers are now fitting new toilet pipes to the airline’s fleet and carrying out deep cleaning.

Cathay spokeswoman said “Although the exact cause of the blockages was unclear, passengers themselves may be partly to blame.”

“You would be amazed what we find in the pipes when we clean the system – not just face towels but medicine bottles, socks, items of clothing and even children’s stuffed toys,” she said.

The toilets use high-speed vacuum pipes to take waste at up to 68mph into a holding tank, which is then emptied between flights.

Barry

When I am very sick, lying on my bed, I feel like I am leaving my body. I do not feel my legs and my arms. I feel my chest and my head, however. They seem to be the anchors that keep me from levitating, flying, vanishing out of this body. Sometimes I close my eyes and I feel like I see things underneath, in between and beyond the darkness.

When this happens, I appear to travel at very fast speeds in worlds I cannot comprehend or describe. Everything changes its own shape extremely quickly. At some point, aggressive, repeating images keep coming back and I have to open my eyes and rid my mind of this madness.

When I am very sick, lying on my bed, I often feel like I am very skinny or very fat. When I dream, I experience violent and disturbing events. They become so disturbing that they wake me up.

Sometimes, when I think of these moments, I feel like something is desperately trying to use this feeble state of mine in order to do something to me. I have the feeling that some sort of entity, a being, is attempting to do me harm. I cannot explain it even to my own self, but it seems obvious in some way or another. There is something evil that is fueled with envy and hatred towards us.

Jack stood before the open doors of the abandoned warehouse and peered outside, scanning the barren meadow. Light appeared at the horizon. It was growing around him, veiled in a glazed mist. A wall of light, with a beauty that is spent solely on those who are open to it and of course awake early enough to whiteness it. Before him an vast and even plain. The air was clear and thick, perfect for reaching high into the heavens.

It was cold. With his breath he was blowing clouds of smoke and condensation. It was just above zero, the ice was already beginning to thaw. He threw is smoldering cigarette on the floor and put it out with his bare foot. Jack felt nothing.

The heavy screeching that was coming from the warehouse pierced the silence that had so carefully engulfed the field of ice. Christopher and Eagle were busy dragging the aircraft outside.

Christopher was panting heavily as he stood behind the contraption, which in the morning light, looked even more perilous than usual. Jack stared at him for a moment. Brushing the hair out of his face, Jack jumped on to the seat of the pilot, which to great injustice had been dubbed the ‘cockpit’. With his arms he instructed that Christopher and Eagle had to step away from the vehicle. Just before he started the engine he looked and saw her. There she stood, alone. Jack smiled.

With much hesitation the engine came to life. Slowly the craft was set in motion, heading for the ice covered field. Christopher and ‘The’ Eagle were running after the device as it sped away from them.

Reaching the end of the runway Jack carefully positioned the aircraft, facing the wind, in the direction of the sleeping town. Jacks head was sticking out above the main body of the contraption. Between his legs he held the control column, while staring at the instruments. The throttle, hand-brake, fuel-, pressure- and temperature-gages; everything appeared to be working.

Lilly had joined Christopher and Eagle, who were nervously watching the aircraft from the opposite end of the runway. They were far away, difficult to separate form ano another.

Jack took a deep breath. This would be his last chance before the ice would be gone. Slowly Jack pushed the throttle open. He kept opening I further until eventually it was fully open, giving the engine all it could. The propeller was spinning faster than ever before and the engine was roaring louder with the increasing revolutions. It was an overwhelming sound of pure power.

The aircraft began to pick up speed, continuously going faster across the ice. Waves of ice cold wind were licking their way across Jack’s face. He could feel how all the warmth in his body was being extracted from him. His lips started to hurt. His goggles and wool hat, with a colourful flower pattern across the middle, did not help much against natures’ ruthlessness upon his body’s bare skin. The cold was ripping through his body. Jack could feel his body stiffen and his face beginning to burn.

The craft had reached its top speed and bolted across the ice in the direction of the town. In the distance, at the end of the runway, a number of old willows were sticking out of the ice. They were dark and lifeless.

Jack was going faster than he had ever done before. The ice rushed below him as his aircraft buckled heavily. Jack grasped the control column tightly with his stiff arms in an attempt to keep the heaving device under control. In his hand Jack could feel nothing; it was either the cold or the excitement that was numbing him, Jack could not be certain of either at this moment.

Never before had jack flown; not even as a passenger. He new merely what he had seen on television. A while ago he had seen a James Bond movie in which Bond effortlessly got a burning plane into the air. So it could not be so difficult.

If an overpaid actor can pretend to do it, then I anyone can. None the less, someone had to do it .Jack though to him-self. Eagle would not want to do it and Christo was simply too scared.

Together they had built this thing with their own hands. It had taken them since summer to construct their dream. During the last attempt Jack had bailed, as the engine was having trouble. All it had needed was some ‘fine tuning’.

Slowly Jack tugged at the control column. It was not moving. He began pulling harder and wilder now. It was stuck.

The willows that moments ago had been stood far in the distance were coming at Jack with an incredible speed. Jack was instantly aware of the fact that he could never bring the shaking plane to a stop in time; the wheels would have insufficient traction on the ice. Switching off the engine and doing everything to slow down would only reduce the force of the impact. I could possibly save his life.

As if in a dream, will could feel the column give way, just as he was about to kill the engine. But as if trapped in a nightmare the column did not move far enough. The plane inched its way of the ice, but rapidly fell back down. The wheels struck down hard causing the whole aircraft to bounce up and down wildly, with large shocks.

“What the hell is he doing?!”

“This is not good!”

Eagle and Christopher stood frozen to the spot, the seemed to wan to shout but they could not produce any sound. The small aircraft darted past them with a heavy roar. They could see the inevitable quickly approaching. Lilly could do nothing but watch as Jack barely lifted and moments later violently touched down again.

With an unbelievable speed Jack hurdled towards the trees. Jack shut his eyes for the unavoidable, giving the column one last heavy tug. That exact moment Jack’s eyes shot open. He wanted to see for himself how he was going to die. He wanted to face death completely fearless and full pride.

As if this was not granted this last moment of dignity, the winged craft ascended. With incredible force it tilted backwards, shooting Jack into the air. The aircraft grazed the tops of the trees. The sound of cracking and screeching branches against the wings resonated loudly as they were struck.

He was not dead. The Ice that had just been rushing past him had made way for a number of meters of air. The violent shaking had stopped. The wind was rushing pas his face. Even though it was cold, Jack did not mind at all. Inside he felt warm. Adrenaline was coursing through his body. He had never been this happy to be alive.

As he successfully turned the aircraft, a feeling of euphoria washed over him, while the rising sun blinded him with the purest rays he had ever seen. Light was all around him. It was quiet. Jack could feel it, he was flying. He felt alive.

He headed back towards the icy field. Jack peered over the side of the aircraft, as he tried to spot his friends not far below him. He could see  Christopher and Eagle. They were running towards him. Towards the trees.

Where is lilly?

Jack’s eyes searched for her. Ne saw nothing. All he could see was the two figures running across the ice. Jack did not understand why there bothered, he was going to fly right towards them.

His eye was caught by a small cloud of smoke. Quickly it was growing larger. It was only now that will was right above the willows that he was it. Scatter around the trees was pieces of metal. Twisted, ripped apart, and now also burning. Moments went, nothing happened.

It was only now that Jack noticed how truly silent it actually was.

Just click on them to see the larger version.

young woman jumping in the air

young woman jumping in the air

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bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh.

i HATE today sooo much. its shit. can’t wait for it to end. can’t beleive I’m ILL! like, propper, sick up ill. and im soooo bored.

and as if it couldn’t get any worster, my laptops speakers have gone weirdo on me. its not fair. if i say it enough times maybe things will sort themselves out.

I had two nightmares last night, I think thats what I’m gonna blame all this shit on. the first was, i was mega huge ass saggy man boobs fat. it was horrible, i didnt even have a chin. bleh. nad the second was I was being chased through a field by a flying sheet that kept sing ”baa baa fat kid, I will eats you  now!”

So I didnt exactly sleep very well. :’(

cant wait to get my new ipod tomorrow! ahhhh im actually gonna be devestated if it doesnt come!!! please come please come please come!

wow, just got a notification that I have an email from homebase notifying me that they are currently have a sale. BLEH to that maties, I’m sick.

I plan on having a three post day today, so watch this space. or dont, im sure you actually have a life! Xx