jonstark

LBurna's a legend in his own mind and an incident waiting to happen -if- he ever really does jump out of or off of anything. (but I bet he has mad skateboarding skills) jon

If you're running a big bore Continental with compressions of 7:1 it will like it a lot. You may find your fuel consumption goes up slightly though. A good/legal fuel handling trailer will be a cost to consider. I figure it'd take about 4000 gallons for us to break even but the advantage is not having to taxi across the field to tank up then have to fly heavy. I'd be able to add a few gallons and fly lighter and skip the trip to the FBO pumps. Very tempting. BTW it is stinky! You don't even need to have a seep, sweat or leak in the fuel system to smell Mogas all over. 100LL doesn't do this nearly as bad. jon

The petition's originator is uninformed and inflammatory. That one type of corporate jet has the capability to jettison fuel doesn't mean it ever happens. The system is for rare emergencies only. When a jet that is not certified to land at the weight it took off at must land immediately after take-off it may have to jettison fuel. This would only be done away from populated areas. Never on take-off or landing. The Gulfstream G150 has this system. None of the other Gulfstreams do. They were certified with a waiver to that requirement because they can be inspected for an overweight landing after the fact. If an a/c takes on too much fuel and needs to get rid of some this is done at the FBO by defueling with the same truck that pumped in the first place, never by jettison.

That whining attitude certainly does effect the airport authority. Especially if there isn't a very strong advocacy for general aviation there. Very often these "authorities" are more influenced by local government and business to the detriment of general aviation. They get swayed into believing that the airport will be far more valuable if they fence it in, make it hermetically secure and kick out the little guys so that the airlines will come. But the airlines never do come. Light aircraft operators and businesses lose and the noise NIMBYs have their way by default. Longmont is a political fight. It's no longer about "airport" noise. It's about an unreasonable expectation of total quiet in a suburban setting and a trumped up fear that a skydiver might land in someone's back yard. The whiners are attempting to gain the upper hand by taking it out of our normal airport access/noise pervue into their local political arena.

The problem is that she lives 4 and 6 miles from the airports!!!!! Her complaints are about aircraft well out of the airport flight pattern and climbing in a designated area over sparsely populated land. Damn difficult for me to take her noise complaints seriously and certainly nothing the FAA could or would consider. The landing area access issue is about a zoning board deciding that the use of a rural parcel of land for parachute landing is not an "appropriate" land use in their view. I don't imagine there is any municipal statute, bylaw or regulation prohibiting skydiving. They just don't want parachutists to land there because of the possibility that they might land out from time to time. The zoning board is taking the side of their loudest and largest constituency by denying a special permit. We/they have a classic case of NIMBYs moving into a community that has a long standing activity only to complain that they don't want it. "Waaah! We didn't know it was going to be like this when we moved here. Waaah... Make them go away!." jon

This is denial of a request for special permission to use land in a particular way. It can be brought back up to their zoning board of appeals as I suspect we will hear shortly. Landing "out" is an known aspect of skydiving. The FAA has the rule of law saying that skydiving is an appropriate use of the federal airways system and that landing out is to be expected and is legal if accidental. No municipality can prohibit an activity that is allowed by Federal law. That's like saying no airplanes may fly over our town because one may crash. They may, however, regulate it. The FAA knows full well that residential use of land adjacent to airports can become a problem and has provided guidance in the form of recommendations to municipalities not to allow residential development of land that way. This DZO is being harassed and should go for punitive damages.

I kept the asshat on the phone for a half hour with stupid questions, asking him to repeat himself because I couldn't understand his accent, explanations of what he wanted, etc. I let him take me thru their scam but when I told him he hadn't proven it was safe for me to let a stranger into my computer. -click- jon

So do many datacenters... Its for putting out fires. All jets CARRY halon for fires. It is VERY seldom used and then only in an emergency. There are NO jets of the class that can use Sedona that have fuel jettison systems. The intentional attempt to inflame issues by misinformation makes their efforts even more distasteful to the knowledgeable but plays well with the wuffos. Assholes! jon

Well done!

My point exactly -but- the airlines will rattle the cages up and down the chains of command of both maintenance and flight crews. Both will have to write reports, develop methods or "systems" to prevent this or similar. People will squirm and writhe uncomfortably to come up with something new and in the end... it'll happen again.

+1 Certainly a career limiting move. The airline will be compelled to come up with "safeguards" to prevent it from happening again. jon

Go see if my storage locker is still full of cash.

"Beneath the Visiting Moon" Images of combat in Southern Africa. by our very own Jim Hooper

The FAA has provided "guidance" to communities with airports looking to develop adjacent land. This guidance has no legal basis and is only the opinion of the FAA. It is not binding and is only advisory. This "guidance" states that it is "an inappropriate land use" to situate housing adjacent to an airport as community planners try to figure out how to to accommodate increasing populations. The FAA contention is that the adjacent home owners will complain and impose curfews and restrictions based on noise issues. Communities with airports are now using that guidance to prohibit "through the fence" residential aviation or fly-in communities from being established. Thankfully this has been recently revisited with fly-in communities in mind. The guidance now states that it is OK for fly-in communities to set up adjacent to an airport but that the FAA still believes that to allow the general public to develop housing there is not appropriate. Just another example of people using their own interpretations of suggestions or guidance as rule of law to restrict the privileges of a minority. jon

Ammon is one of Yosemite's foremost big wall climbers and highly respected in the sport. He has approached BASE with respect, vigor, and drive. He's accomplished more in his short tenure than most ever will. When the shit hits the fan I want him in my corner. jon

Right on Twardo.

Didja go? How's your shoulder? jon

Isn't there a CRW event planned? jon

It isn't a problem if I take the time to properly stow my stuff while putting on my rig. Sure it takes some tucking and juggling to get it where it's safe. I have to lift a leg and tighten one strap then repeat with the other all the while adjusting carefully. Once done it's done till I land. Gross you out? Tough! jon

Wicked Wingsuits is operating out of Z-hills. There is an effort going to get much more wing suiting happening there. Come make it happen! jon

I took out Scotty Carbone in a Ghouledge 9 way. (Racing in the back.) jon

I used to live in Savannah and jumped regularly in Deland 1976-1981. I enjoyed it so much I moved to Orlando to become a lokel 81-86. Driving home after a weekend of jumping is the biggest challenge especially if you join folks for dinner in town on Sunday evening. I still miss Deland. jon

The day after 9-11 a couple agricultural spray planes were stolen from a strip in southern California. THAT got my attention! Thinking back just a few weeks before 9-11 I recalled a couple guys who had gotten onto the ramp at Whiteman Airport near Burbank, CA. They stopped by my hangar to ask a few questions about hangar rent and setting up a paint shop. They appeared Middle Eastern and the only one who spoke english had a heavy accent. "Paint", spray planes, hangar right near downtown LA... jon

If you wake up and there's a sock on your hand you should learn not to pass out. I don't remember what it means but I heard it at a Mardi Gras Boogie years ago and didn't DARE drink too much. jon

You must not have been around when the "deneuralizer" flash went off. "...Go about your day as if you never saw the "apparatus" being trailered by... Go buy a lottery ticket then when you get home hug the wife and kids and tell them nothing happened in your day." X