mastodon 4.3.12IFR-rated private pilot, photographer, happy Oregonian. Airplanes are life. Former career freelance feature and news writer for Flying Magazine and most other aviation magazines. Retired President/Creative Director of my own ad agency. #aviation #airplanes #avgeek #writing #journalism #photography #Oregon #PNW #NotMAGA I am also completely hooked on watching winged 410 sprint car racing.
“Sometimes Serious, Sometimes Humorous, Always Unpredictable.”
They way Spirit Airlines went under seems to be indicative of their overall management strategy (or lack thereof).
They could have set a date for closing a couple of weeks ago, stopped with the "Trump will bail us out" gaslighting, and not left all their current pax scrambling for flights on other carriers.
But no...they just up and closed the airline overnight. 17K of workers on the street, and countless pax screwed over.
Corporate America will be proud of them.
Made it back to the #Eugene #Oregon #PNW Annual Book Sale, and scored three aviation titles plus two on the backstory of national TV journalists.
Aviation books are one on Chuck Yaeger, a "biography" of the Spitfire, and one on the making of USN fighter pilots.
The two "behind the scenes" titles on TV news people are by Walter Cronkite and Bob Schieffer.
All for $10 total.
Like I've always said, look to the freight, shipping and trucking markets to see what is really going on with our economy.
And a stroll thru freightwaves.com indicates that yes, it is as FUBAR as you might expect right now.
The UPS "buyout" of SEVENTY-FIVE HUNDRED drivers should be a bright yellow Canary screaming bloody murder in a cold, dark coal mine.
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ups-to-cap-driver-buyouts-at-7500-after-teamster-pushback
Balloon Pilot of the Year:
The pilot of a large Hot Air Balloon carrying 13 pax threaded the needle between trees and set down precisely in someone's back yard in Temecula, CA.
See, here's the thing about balloons. You do not really "steer" them, you go where the wind takes you. You have some control over ascents and descents, so to drop this one into a residential back yard between trees is unreal.
The pax stopped at Wally World on the way home to buy new underwear.
Headed back to the states in my #Xplane #flightsim #Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet.
Tonight's flight (actually early Weds morning real-time) is Cork Int'l Airport in Ireland (EICK) to Keflavík Int'l Airport (KEF) in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Level at FL260 over a stormy North Atlantic below (ambient temp -40C at altitude) single-engine (turbine). Making 407 kts of ground speed, sucking up the fuel at 137 GPH, so I'll have to tap my virtual ferry tank to meet NBAA reserves when I land.
The awesome election results out of Hungary reminded me of my visit to Budapest in 2017. Quite an interesting place. The metro area is caught between western civilization and Soviet Bloc insanity.
To understand Budapest, think "Paris meets Moscow." Chic shops everywhere, but you need to take worn out third-world streetcars to get to them. Meals consist of meat, another meat, with two sides of meat.
Do not even attempt to speak or read their language. To western eyes, these are not even words.
Someday I am going to talk to someone who does the actual price changes at a gas station. In a typical retail world, they buy a load of gasoline at a specific price, add in their markup, and see a profit.
But with the massive price gouging that is happening right now, that gas in their tank that was bought has not gone up in price, but the pump price jumps on every tidbit of headline news.
It is criminal, but of course we have nobody in this guvmint that will do anything about it.
Oil futures price vs. physical delivery of crude to a refinery:
The "futures" price you see for Brent crude (the world benchmark) is for a contract that ends in June 2026, with trading ending end of April.
The physical price - for barrels delivered to a refinery today - can be much higher.
Generally, futes price has been hovering around $100/bbl, but physical price is in the $120 to $140 range per barrel. Based on today's headlines, I predict a quick jump in both prices later today.
@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org That same part of the country has been hit like six days in a row.
Makes me think of the 1977 Commodores hit “Brick House” and that's where I'd live if I had to live in tornado alley.**
"'Cause she's a BRICK (dah da DUH da) HOUSE...She's mighty mighty, a-just letting it all hang out..."
**With a solid storm shelter just off the kitchen.