Civil Aviation Ministry of Information thread

Do you need Dash8 pilots? I’ll work for SW trinkets…

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YES we need Dash-8 pilots! But not to fly Dash-8s. We just need pilots who bring that skill-set with them here.

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Snark. I run in Chicago whenever I am there and the weather allows for it. I have never been to the park nor am I entirely certain how to get there. I make the run around Shedd aquarium and the planetarium dozens of times a year. But the old Meigs field has always been closed for me (coming from the north lakeshore). That’s not to say that it isn’t open to the public as I am sure it has been. But I know of no one who’s been there. It has been mostly a walled garden since 2003. Maybe its a park now. Maybe its a nice one. Chicagoans have no shortage of waterfront to play with. I doubt they were begging for more. Here’s some more of the ignominy surrounding its closure. Daley illegally destroyed the runway overnight. Later, when a plane bound for Oshkosh made an emergency landing in the grass adjacent to the runway. Mayor Daley wanted to have the pilot arrested and claimed that the landing was only a stunt to embarrass him. But that’s all bridge under the water (intended). From the poster above it looks like in another 5 years it will be a beautiful spot. But the history of its creation will forever be a stain on that city.

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Oh absolutely, that mayor literally broke a whole bunch of laws including aviation. Why/how he was not strung up on the highest tree by the FAA baffles me!

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:us:

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point taken… alas.

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First question on the application: What is DME hold and when might you use it? LOL…I know for sure that @Troll and his pilot group know what it is…I’m not so sure about some of the younger generation here. :rofl:

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Not to mention that close access to airplanes inspires a lot of kids, teens, and sometimes even adults. Meigs was a showcase of aviation right on the doorstep of millions of people. And I guarantee it was an economic boon to the area. I’m a pretty dyed-in-the-wool tree-hugger, but what they did to Meigs was a tragedy. A perimeter park with bike trails, access points to watch airplanes, and public marina and stuff would have probably been a win/win.

Sadly, I never got to fly in there.

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And who thought it would be a great idea to build a lake that covers a significant area on a man made ‘island’ that is on the edge of a huge lake… maybe they were trying to sink it? :crazy_face:

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Future seaplane base!

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WOWZA!

Airbus Beluga XL enters service at long last

:slight_smile: So cute!

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Wow, it has almost double the cargo hold volume of the Antonov 225! :astonished:

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“Drag is just about the same.”

(Meaning between the base A330 and the Beluga)

Say what!? That’s the miracle of engineering and good design.

Very neat.

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I want that for my car :slight_smile:

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The price of it would certainly add a hell of a lot to your total car price. :slight_smile:

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Got one for my car. It’s nice.

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I dont see the utility of a pitch ladder, flight path marker and VVI on a car, but to each their own :wink:

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Guess it depends on your driving style…
I have rolled a Nissan Note, once. :wink:

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Yep. My brothers have done that landing in real life. I’ve only done it on a sim. :grinning: There is a pilot who flies a Twotter for Winair that routinely lands then hits the second taxiway. He makes it look easy. I’ve never met him but one of my brothers told me he is a local. Winair pilots perform some amazing landings on Saba too.

Just an interesting share, there was a local pilot who used to fly a Cessna 337 Skymaster out of St. Kitts. He would do some takeoffs and landings that often pushed the envelope. As kids my brothers and I would go to the airport just to watch him… Really cool guy and hell of a pilot, who could talk aviation for hours. Unfortunately, one day he pushed the envelope too far on takeoff, stalled his left wing, then impacted the ground. He did not survive the crash. :cry:

Flying in the Caribbean is a lot of fun. My favorite trips are going in and out of St. Martin. Most people are amazed about the landings but taking off from Princess Juliana is just as exciting because the air currents coming off the hills create a roller coaster experience.

King airport, on St. Thomas (my birthplace) used to have two huge hills on the end of rwy 28 (the end of rwy 10 is water). I remember my first jet flight on a 757, the pilot gave us a little tidbit about the takeoff challenge and joked we would be doing a max performance takeoff. That day I thought I had flown in a Tomcat. :grin: LIAT Airline used to operate the old Avro 748s and always took off from rwy 28 (avoiding the hills). I always loved the sound of those Rolls-Royce turboprops.

Tragically back in 1976, American Airlines Flight 625 (a 727) crashed into the hills upon landing. It was the island’s most tragic crash ever. The investigation cited pilot error. In the end, the crash was the catalyst for an airport expansion project. Rwy 10 was expanded further out to sea and they mowed down the hills at the end of 28. American moved main flights to sister island, St. Croix, and would shuttle passengers to St. Thomas via prop.

Here’s an article about the crash:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/03/06/pilot-faulted-in-fatal-crash-at-st-thomas/9f79bc2e-cffb-44c8-9fcf-f3bc2df86258/

Oh man, I originally intended a simply reply about St. Barths and ended up ranting. Well, I hope I shared something worth reading.

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