Conservative Musings

Greener Flying

Pratt & Whitney has developed "greener" aircraft engine technology.

Pratt & Whitney has spent the better part of two decades developing the geared turbofan engine that burns 12 to 15 percent less fuel than other jet engines and cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 1,500 tons per plane per year.

Cool.

The whole technology is not based on developing new alternative fuels, but on doing old designs better.  The turbofan design in today's engines have the fans that draw air into the combustion chamber and the turbines that generate the thrust spinning at the same speed.  Pratt's new geared turbofan allows the fan to spin independently of the turbine, so that each may spin at their own optimal speeds.  Thus, the fuel savings.

So much has been said about putting all our marbles in futuristic, undeveloped technologies.  We should be doing a lot more of what Pratt has done.....improving the technologies we have today WHILE the new technologies are being developed.

-Colonel Steve

Saving on Fuel Costs

Everyone's looking for ways today to save on fuel costs.  Whether you're a big airline, or just the average Joe traveling to work, $4+ for a gallon is straining pocketbooks.

I think Senator Mitch McConnell is making the right pitch here in that the liberals in the Senate are NOT doing anything to help this economic issue.  Actually, they are doing everything they can to HURT our pocketbooks.

-Colonel Steve

Landing Practice?

It's been said that, in flying aircraft, a good landing is one you are able to walk away from.  A landing at Roanoke airport outside of Dallas fits this description.  A student pilot landing his aircraft managed to land right on top of one preparing to take off.

This would be humiliating enough, except that the pilot of the aircraft on the ground was also the student pilot's next door neighbor.  Ouch.

(HT: Blue Crab Boulevard)

-Colonel Steve

More Industry Blogging

A long time ago, I mentioned the company blog that Southwest Airlines has up and running.  The folks at Nuts About Southwest have been opening up the company to their customers by their posting.  This presents a fantastic opportunity for them to attract positive attention to themselves.  A great form of advertising.

Now Insight's CEO is doing the same thing, via his Michael's Insight blog.  Way to go!

It may sound strange, but the dialog Michael is opening up is already allowing me to disagree.  Strange in the sense that disagreeing is actually a good thing (counter-intuitive to most liberals).  Disagreement is what dialog is all about.

Michael's latest post at the time of this post's writing is about "Cable A-La-Carte - A Great Idea, or Is It?"  You've seen Lady Colonel here post on the same opinion I have.  Let the economy decide, not businesses.  The economy decides thru what customers decide.

Let channels live or die thru a Darwinian "survival of the fittest"-like theory.  With this, we could and probably will end up with less channels then now.  So what.  We don't need to be subsidizing channels with few watchers/listeners.

Let them stand or sink on their own.  Yes, startups might need some cash to get going.  But let's not let the cable customer be an unwilling venture capitalist, thru the bundling of channels.  If a cable customer wants to help finance a new channel, there are other ways to invest for them.

Anyway, as far as the Insight blog goes.....way to go Michael!  I think this is a great idea for Insight, as well as any other company.

-Colonel Steve

Delta Boosting Flights for Derby 133

Business First states that Delta is adding 5,900 seats through Louisville from Thursday through Sunday around Derby Day.  I'm wondering how Louisville flights will look in Flight Explorer around the same time frame.  The Knox News blog showed what the Super Bowl leaving flights looked like the day after.

-Colonel Steve

40th Anniversary

Below the Beltway and Captain's Quarters both note that today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire.  It took the lives of three astronauts: Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.

My first real memories of the space program came later with Apollo 7 and successive launches.  As a 7 -1/2 year old by then, I sat in awe as I watched Apollo's 7 through 11 culminate with a landing on the moon.  Without the bravery and sacrifice of it's predecessors, Apollo 11 would have never have seen it's mission fulfilled.

Captain Ed puts it best: "There were many reasons the Apollo I accident should not have happened, but Grissom, White, and Chaffee knew that the job was dangerous and did it anyway. They should rightly be remembered as American heroes."

-Colonel Steve

WWII veterans remembered

I had seen recently this Washington Post article on the Tuskegee Airmen.  A very fitting tribute to a generation that is quickly leaving us.  Thank you, Courier-Journal, for getting it right, here.

Last summer of last year, I had the privledge of visiting the World War II memorial in DC.  It had been a goal of mine to get there ASAP after it's opening, due to my high respect for one man honored through the memorial. 

My father-in-law was a veteran of World War II.  His infantry division fought in the Pacific Theater, mostly in the Phillipines.  My wife had made sure he was included in the names listed at the memorial.  Our only wish had been that he could had seen it himself, passing away in late 2000 while it was still in the development and construction stage.

I am still in awe of this generation, for as Tom Brokaw titled his book, I still believe this group to be the Greatest Generation.

--Colonel Steve

Rarely seen John Wayne flicks

Saw the commercials today on AMC for one of the rarely seen John Wayne flicks, "Island in the Sky".  Real remeniscent of last years "Flight of the Phoenix" (itself a remake of a 1965 version with Jimmy Stewart).

I'm currently in the middle of watching it, and it's interesting to see Wayne in a character that he rarely plays; a cowboy or soldier.  It's nice to see that John's acting was bigger than the stereotype we've all placed him in.  'Course, having planes in the movie is a definate plus for me!!!

Nice to see that James Joyner at Outside The Beltway has some of the same thoughts at "Rare John Wayne Films on AMC This Weekend".

--Colonel Steve