january

Who's on first ! january

From the BBC website- June 8 "A fund-raising drive has been launched by relatives of some passengers on the missing Malaysian plane to seek information on flight MH370. The campaign, spearheaded by an Australian businessman, aims to raise at least $5m (£2.9m) "to encourage a whistleblower to come forward". january

Most world banks have to report any cash withdrawal over $10,000. Assuming your favorite used airplane salesman has agreed to sell a flyable T7 for say 100 million $US, (new T7s are $200,000,000 and up), he probably will request cash !!!! Wikipedia says that amount in US $100 bills will fill about 40 average size briefcases! Cash creates its own logistical problems, let alone enquiries from Interpol. january

Ans. - Pretending to be something other than what you are. --------- If you are planning to rob a bank, you don't buy a used car and register it with the authorities for the occasion - much safer to steal one. january

1. The folks who are monitoring cell phone traffic are undoubtedly watching sales of used airliners. 2. Impersonation. january

A remarkable record! ------------- Worthy of mention when reminiscing about airplanes of yesterday - is the very recent find of an Avro Anson which disappeared 72 years ago. It was on a training flight from the Patricia Bay air station on southern Vancouver Island and crashed on the side of a mountain. The remains of the four crew- RCAF & RAF, have been returned to relatives. (from CBC news May 30) january

One would expect that the sellers & buyers of new OR used airplanes, worldwide, are of much interest to certain folks, who are equally curious as to who is calling whom on their cellphones - worldwide! january

You might "alert the world" if you wanted the world to look elsewhere! The best bank robbery is when the bank isn't aware it's been robbed !!! january

These kids would be mightily impressed with crystal radio receivers- A galena crystal w cat's whisker for tuning, headphones, a coil of magnet wire wrapped around a toilet paper roll and a 100 ft copper wire antenna ! No batteries or external power needed to listen to AM radio! Energy to power the headphone magnets came out of the air!!! I remember listening, head under the bed covers, to the Friday evening boxing matches from St. Nicholas Arena in New York! Jiggling the cat's whisker on the crystal, I could pick up the ancient A or N Morse code for one of the airways into Malton Airport (now Pearson International - YYZ) All this about 1940- long before the name Pearl Harbor had been heard. Later I read in Popular Mechanics, of GIs in Italy making similar receivers substituting a razor blade for the crystal! january

New reports indicating the original Indian Ocean pings were NOT from a "black box" - combined with the remarkable fact of still NO trace of wreckage - suggest that MH370 may not have "crashed"- at least at sea. (despite the Inmarsat mathematics- one branch of which suggested 370 could have flown northward toward Myanmar.) That leaves the possibility of a land crash- but after nearly 3 months, one would expect that some trace would have been found by now, in such a populated area as SE Asia. (Even in jungle.) A remaining possibility is that of hijack. Given that the disappearance transpired about 2-3 AM on a Saturday morning, one wonders whether Radar surveillance would really be effective or operational, in those countries thru' which 370 might transit in a hijacking. An intact, repainted, flyable T7 raises scary possibilities. january

Speaking of ancient "computing" arts- In the days of exploration and sailing vessels, the British Admiralty log tables, although recognized as being the best of all the world's navies, still was plagued with errors. (All these computations had been done by hand by obscure mathematicians presumably sitting on high stools and using quill pens.) As might be expected, Admiralty Log Tables had many errors - with the Admiralty offering a reward to persons detecting such errors. --------- The story goes that the admiral of a British Naval Squadron, presented a volume of the Admiralty Tables to the master of an Italian naval vessel on the occasion of a friendly rendezvous somewhere in the Med. (Presumably the wine may have had something to do with such surprising largesse,) The tale further recounts that the Italian ship was subsequently reported as missing at sea- never to be heard from again. All of which goes to suggest that this naval loss might have been prevented if Apple had only brought their product & its computational ability to market a couple of centuries earlier !!!! january

Hi Fr. Bill- Wonder if those kids will ever discover the art of the 'slipstick' or Slide Rule? I still have mine from University days ! And wouldn't be surprised if I could also find some 'log' tables if I rooted around a bit. Anybody remember hand cranked, rotary mechanical calculators ? Thanks for the video- those youngsters look to be winners! january

Here is the definitive word as to whether FS & XP are games or simulators- (from no less an authority than Alice in Wonderland)- "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." That seems to me, to be quite clear. january

Chrysler experimentation with automotive turbine power dates back to the early 1950's. I recall at that time, being quite impressed with the technology and wondering if there was any possibility of getting my hands on one of the fifty turbine cars Chrysler was loaning out to the public for promotion and evaluation! Never happened! january

Fr Bill- The attached article from the Atlantic, illustrates neatly, the perils of technology in looking both UP or DOWN - when searching for a missing airplane! january http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/why-the-official-explanation-of-mh370s-demise-doesnt-hold-up/361826/

Ah yes- memories of the Vickers Viscount and Vanguard! The latter with much of the interior fittings in brain deadening harmonic rattling / vibration as the four props went in & out of synch! The Viscount however, was a fine airplane from passenger viewpoint. Spent many hours aboard these airplanes- and happy to switch to DC8s when they arrived on the scene. january

Fr Bill- be assured that you have many friends- including this old octogenarian! However, I do sometimes wonder whether "eternal damnation" refers to cell phones or modern airline seating. january.

All theories as to the fate of MH370 must now be put on hold. The Malaysian Prime Minister has today stated "he is not prepared to declare 370 to be lost" so that insurance claims can be processed. When pressed as to when it would be declared lost, he declined to answer. ----- it would seem that all speculation as to what happened to 370 is premature, so I withdraw my thoughts on that matter for the present!! january

Your odds of getting all six numbers correct for the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot are about 1 in 259 million, according to the lottery company. You have more than 1,000 times better chance of an asteroid or comet killing you -- and that's using the long odds, according to Tulane University. january

Paul- reread my post #1150 in this thread. ---------- There is an old engineering saying that " If something CAN go wrong, sooner or later it WILL." A rephrase might have that as- "If a meteoroid strike is possible, sooner or later it will". Only a question of odds and probability! I don't buy lottery tickets for that reason but I can fly happily in an airplane- apart from the crappy seating nowadays! january

Paul & king - We need the benefit of your expertise in developing ideas as to what may have happened to MH370. -------------- For a photo of a car hit by a meteorite, Google "Meteorite car". And that rock had slowed to terminal velocity! At airliner altitude, it would have been much larger in size and travelling perhaps 1000 times faster. I'm surprised at the disbelief that a meteoroid might, once in a few decades, do the same to an airplane. january

And being hit by a meteoroid would be even purer dumber blink blink luck.! PS- Wings are not pressurized - recall the jet of fire seen by the worker on the oil platform. A fuel tank being pierced by a white hot pebble travelling 100 times faster than a cannon shell? january

Ever seen photos of badly damaged B17s that made it back to base in Britain during WW2? Or the 737 that made it back to Honolulu with most of the upper fuselage missing & looking like a convertible with the top down! Boeing builds tough birds! january

G550flyer- see my post #1150 in this thread. Who really knows what would happen- there has never been a reported meteoroid hit on an airplane. (a few have hit cars!) The odds certainly are slim but not zero. Remember that 90% of earth's protective atmosphere is below 39,000 ft. Above that alt., meteoroids are travelling at speeds of 25,000 to 160,000 miles per hour. The 19,000 rocks that enter our atmosphere daily are moving pretty fast up there! And hey- I'm not an astrophysicist - just an amateur who likes to do a bit of research on puzzling events that affect us on this gorgeous chunk of real estate we call earth! january

Agreed that this topic has been beaten sufficiently to administer last rites to the horse! ------- Worth commenting however, that when Discover magazine published a similar meteorite hit postulation (re the Air France crash), the subsequent "letters" commentary was also vitriolic from many readers of that article. Perhaps the concept of a catastrophic meteoroid strike, conjures images that are quite alien to one's philosophical or religious beliefs. january