Sep 27
Complaining that Sarah Palin came off as stupid while being interviewed by Katie Couric, the talking kewpie doll of network tv, is like complaining that George W. Bush is stupid because he pronounces nuclear like “nukular.”
Here’s a picture of the cockpit of the plane Bush learned to fly. Kinda more complicated than my Toyota Tercel, but I’m on the intardnet every day, bet I could learn to get that thing off the ground in, oh, never.
(Click for larger. Geniuses.)
And just to close this out — how many of us keyboard wizards know how to kill and dress a moose? (Hint: that doesn’t mean dress the corpse up in your grandma’s wedding dress.) But hell, it won’t play on CNN, so let’s all cry Doom! Doooooom!
7 Responses to “Dummies”
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September 27th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Actually, the cockpit is much too modern to be that of an F-102, which was produced in the 1960s. The big display is a dead giveaway. Here are links to actual pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cv_dusty/2875214881/
and
http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/imgs_cockpits/lockheed-f102a.jpg
Note that the pilot had to put his face into the hood (at the top of the instrument panel to use the radar. The controls for the radar are on that very weird looking control stick. BTW, minimum speed on final approach was 165 knots, about 190 miles per hour.
Here’s the operator’s manual:
http://books.google.com/books?id=v9NJ33r29LUC&pg=PT259&lpg=PT259&dq=what+was+the+landing+speed+for+the+f-102&source=web&ots=RfAJeLBbTp&sig=GSQTvZjvYhjbIVr-NiuPgqEqItg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPT132,M1
September 27th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Those look even easier to drive! Fly. Whatever. Anyway, an internet genius shouldn’t have any trouble. And would ace a Katie Couric interview. After skinning and eating an entire moose.
September 28th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Andrea,
Actually modern jets are not just much easier to fly, for a number of reasons, most of them having to do with much better computers and electronics, but safer. IIRC, final approach speed for an F/A-18 Hornet is around 130 knots. Slower landing speeds are as a rule, safer. Autopilots and programming make a lot of the decisions for the pilot that used to require constant pilot input.
Using the radar on an old plane like the “Deuce” (F-102) required a lot of work by the pilot, whereas modern jet fighters have much more user-friendly controls and operation. Automatic gain control, for example means the pilot doesn’t need to constantly tweak his display to filter out the false targets and background noise.
Also, a lot of the mental calculations involving fuel management and navigation which used to require a substantial amount of work by the pilot are now handled by the computer. The Deuce had no navigation computer – it was limited to radio navigational aids like TACAN, which tells the pilot what direction and distance he is from the emitting station. He/she then has to do the geometry (plot course) and calculations (determine speed) in his/her head. These involve translating outside air temperature, indicated airspeed and pressure altitude into true airspeed and altitude so you can determine the wind speed/direction. This allows you to correct for said wind and improve your navigation solution – all the while moving seven or eight miles per minute through the air.
Today’s jets do all of this for you. Punch the destination into your nav system and it provides you with info readouts on your nav display, as well as the heads-up display. The latter will feature a mark showing where you want to go so you can see it while looking forward out of the cockpit. All you have to do is steer towards it. It also provides readouts for the heading, your ground speed, the calculated wind, and your ETA.
September 28th, 2008 at 9:28 am
So even Sarah Palin can fly one!
September 28th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Hehehe! Probably!
September 28th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I’m wondering if Katie the Kewpie could fly one…
September 29th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Who spells cowpie with a “Ke”…?