Ken Q

Best wishes for a happy birthday, many happy returns. Ke

I have to assume,Gumby, that you're referring to watching on the TV. Amusing occupation, but I can't see paying for it. Which brings up another topic, only loosely related.. TV! I've long had Verizon "triple play", phone, Internet, and TV. I've grumbled to myself about the cost, because TV is not a "thing" for us. We are probably in the .0001% of the world who NEVER watch TV. Last time I turned on broadcast TV was 9/11. Before that was the Challenger disaster. Just not something we do, though in the winter we enjoy watching a selected DVD on our nice home theater system. So, coincidental, A Verizon person came to call, and I got to revamp our service, eliminated the cable TV we never use, and saved $100 A month. Ken

I'm not a fan of football or futbal, however one might spell it or play it. My freshman year in college Phys Ed was required, and I had a professor (if you can call him that) who was a soccer nut. This was in the late '60s when the game was largely unknown in the US. He made us play it. I hated every minute! So in response to the question, my happiest soccer moment was the last P.E. class ever! Ken

Hello Frank! Very best wishes for a happy birthday, and MANY happy returns! Ken

As I mentioned above, I use an Amazon Fire 7 tablet which sells for $50 US. I don't know of its availability or price in other countries, but it's cheaper than an iPad and quite adequate. Ken

For years I have been downloading and printing plates, plans and charts from SkyVector. I have books of them, all neatly punched and arranged in their several binders. As time has passed, and the technology has improved, to say nothing about about my growing ability to used this technology, I've gone to using my (cheap) tablet for all of this. Navigraph makes access of these plates so easy. I'm probably saving more than the €8.30 on printer toner and paper. Besides, it's the "modern" way to fly. All in all, much more realistic. I'll note though, that I have a full blown "sim-pit" with the capacity for multiple displays. Ken

A,C,D,E,F,G - IMHO, nothing beats the Mooney M20M Bravo. One caveat for A, I don't land on unpaved runways. For B I have to vote for RMS Queen Mary (1-the old one). Unfortunately she's a deteriorating hotel/museum in Long Beach CA. How are the mighty fallen! Another choice for B, if flying is the only option, would be an airship like the Hindenburg, but with helium and modern carbon fiber technology. Or an SST like the Concord, if even remotely affordable. Or one of the luxurious classics from the days when long flights were made comfortable by good service and good food, like the Connie or the DC7- 7 Seas. My favorite Mooney can't do it, and even if it could, I couldn't endure it. Based on my limited transatlantic experience, all other options are forbidden by the Constitution as "cruel and unusual punishment.". If getting there isn't at least half the fun, I'm not going. Ken

Depends on what flying you do,John. I do almost all of my flying on PilotEdge. PilotEdge uses real world nav data. When still using FSX and its badly outdated GPS data base I stumbled into the Phoenix Class Bravo and got soundly reprimanded by ATC. After that Navigraph became worth every penny of the US$8.30, just to have the data updated every month. All the other features are a great plus. Ken

BTW, one great feature of NC is the moving map when taxiing around the airport, especially when said airport is large and/or unfamiliar. With earlier versions of Charts this was easily done with the Airport ?Diagram plate. That still works very well, but I understand that there are other ways to accomplish this in the new version. Ken

Hi Paul,, The laptop will just fine for this purpose. Navigraph doe have a bit of a learning curve, but most of it is clear and intuitive. Once you get the hang of it it is very useful. You can run it on several devices at once. You just have to have the main program running in the backgroun on the FS computer. Ken

Experimenting with I find I can edit a flight plan on my tablet. Seems I do anything as long as it doesn't involve keyboard entries. Ken

I have used Navigraph on my cheap ($50) Amazon Fire tablet all along. With the new Navigraph Charts update I find I cannot create a flight plan on the tablet. Probably the version of Android is out of date. When I go to enter data the keyboard flashes in and out. However I can easily create a flight plan on another computer, even though it is running Windows 7. Then I can access the moving map, and all of the plates and charts on my tablet. I can read the flight plan just fine. I can also select and switch between flight plans that I've created and saved. It's just a minor inconvenience that I can't create it. I have a mount attached to my yoke to hold the tablet. The new version of Navigraph Charts seems to be great, with many new features. And more new features are promised in the future. When these come along it seems NC will have much of the functionality of ForeFlight but be cheaper and not require an expensive Apple device. By the way Navigraph is raising their price by a modest .75 Euro, but for now you can get an annual membership for the old price until December 7. I just did. Ken

Great video, John. Certainly a trip down memory lane. Days when telephones were wired to the wall, televisions were furniture. Remember Eight Tracks? And when CDs were the newest thing. But then we old Coot's were born in a century that began with transportation, with the exception of the rail road, not so different than that of Caesar's day, and ended with supersonic airliners. But old technology and the knowledge to use does have its place. Ken

I fondly remember the Micro prose F117 game. Calling it a simulator, even in the days of FS 5.2, is a stretch. But boy, it was fun! Ken

Nice little article. Thanks for posting it, John. Several years ago I was attending FlightSimCon at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT. They have a display of the interior of a747 cockpit. A visitor to the museum was entranced by it, and then asked the docent about navigation, especially over the ocean. (Before GPS, of course). After talking about VORs, which of course don't work beyond about 200 miles off shore, the docent was at a loss, so I got involved, explaining celestial nav and LORAN. I forgot all about Inertial Nav Systems. Was an interesting discussion. The first Sat Nav system predates GPS by a few years. We had one installed on the old USS Wasp in 1971. It consisted of a radio receiver the size of a bread box, A computer the size of a small refrigerator, and a teletype. When one of few nav satellites was overhead this contraption spewed out pages and pages of numbers. At the very bottom was the latitude and longitude. I still went to the 07 level to shoot stars every morning and evening. We also used LORAN C and Omega. Years later as a reservist I was assigned to the USS Paterson, A frigate. In the early 1980s the ship did not rate an issued USN GPS, so the Quartermasters and Operation Specialists pitched in about $10 each, and went to West Marine and bought one, and the ETs installed it in CIC Ken

There are, of course, many different "slide rules" for special applications, but the basic math/engineering slide rule is a wonder to behold! After the war my father-in-law brought a beautiful mahogany and ivory one home from Germany. My mother-in-law taught a special course on the slide rule at St. Cloud State University (Minnesota). I, alas, have only the barest understanding of its use, but it's still a marvel. Our "modern" electronics and other appliances are indeed marvelous, but still there are ways to accomplish many of these tasks without them. As my wife points out when cooking on an open hearth, or baking in a brick oven, food does not care what the source of the heat is, as long as it is properly managed. Just different skills. Ken

How easily we get spoiled! GPS, Navigraph Charts, or Firefight if you have it do all the work for us. My E6B computer sits unused in a compartment of my lap board. (It's a "student" version, made out of cardboard, but perfectly adequate for flight simming). Ken

Really great video, Frank. Really found it very interesting. Thanks. Ken

You're welcome, Rob. I do think it's a must read for those interested in the fur business. Now that it is fall, we are starting to get school groups at the museum. Many are 4th grade, and part of the curriculum for this grade is the early beaver fur trade. What they do not learn is the primary reason for this trade was for hats. Even the teachers are surprised to learn this. While we're on about KVUO Pearson, let's not forget about the Kaiser shipyard just to the West of the field during WW2. They built Liberty and Victory Ships, LSTs, and Escort Carriers at Vancouver. Busy place with lots of interesting history. Ken

Of course this qualifies, John. What your wife endured during WW2 is an inspiration to us all. History is about people, what they do and experience, and we must remember! Ken

Placerville, once known as"Dry Diggings" and later as "Hangtown" has a fascinating history all part of the rough and tumble of the early days of the American immigration to California, beginning even before the region became US territory. Neat Stuff! Ken

Great! Thanks Rodge. Orbx Pearson Field is one of my favorites. As a hatter I have a great in in the fur trade, and Fort Vancouver is a wonderful reconstruction, and they have a great website. Pearson is also the oldest airfield in continuous use, and Arcadia Press offers a great photo archive book on its history. Ken

I'll agree with Rodger's example of Jimmy Doolittle. Now his squadron of B25s flying off the deck of the first USS Hornet (CV8) to bomb Japan was an amazing feat. But I most appreciate him for the first instrument flight on September 24, 1929, where he took off, flew the pattern with his view blocked, and landed safely, entirely by instruments. While the Doolittle Raid was a brilliant achievement, and had a negative effect on Japanese morale, and a positive on on American. However, his first instrument flight paved the way to aviation as we have it today. Incidentally, I am a frequent visitor to the site of that memorable occasion. It took place at the Mitchel Field AAB in Garden City, Long Island. Long closed, Mitchel Field still has a military presence in the Navy Exchange and DOD Commissary which we frequent. Also most of the WW2 flight line still exists, and is the home of the Cradle of Aviation Museum where my former boss and good friend now works. Ken

Very interesting, Frank. Nice tour and introduction to a interesting region. Especially liked your little description of the Burke and Wills Expedition.

1. Neither. Only airliner I've flown (successfully) is another classic, the Lockheed L188 Electra. Not interested now; there's a reason there's a mandatory retirement age. 2. I'll go with the Piper PA 28, though the Cessna 180 line is great too. I used the 182RG for years. I've come to prefer the low wing. 3. Neither. If I'm going to fly a twin turboprop it will be one of the older King Airs. 4. Don't know either, really. I did fly the Lockheed jet star a bit, so that would be my choice for GA jet. 5. Not enthusiastic about either. 6. I'll go with the Cub, thought the Husky is tempting too. 7. Hmmm? I think I'll pass. Choice A would likely get me a divorce on cruelty to my spouse charges, and B, if we're talking about ownership, I have more humble, though no more affordable preferences (A REAL Mooney). Ken