RkFast
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Posts posted by RkFast
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11 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:
This is a Boeing issue, not an Alaska Air issue.
Boeing is screwed. I think United found loose bolts on the same type of panels on 9 planes when they re-inspected after this.
Boeing used to be an innovative company lead by Engineers. Then it merged with McDonell Douglas and the bean counters took over, and it became all about cutting costs and the bottom line, which always makes for garbage products.
Not good.
As I note above, there are some nasty rumors floating around with regard to this airline. Specificially that Alaska acknowledged the warning lights but kept it flying, just without its over water (ETOPS) certification. One REALLY nasty rumor is that they purposely didnt book the seats in the row this door plug is located on purpose becuase they knew the door plug was faulty. If so....WOW. Its one thing to not book a seat becuase maybe the seat belt or tray table is broken. Those parts fail all the way and literally nothing happens. But this WAY beyond that. And if true, IMHO the airline should have its certification pulled, which of course I realize would never happen. Becuase $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
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If its Boeing, I aint going.
That company is in complete freefall.
Quick Summary Here:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/08/business/boeing-safety-quality-problems/index.html
Also...if some of the rumors of how Alaska Air handled this issue are true, its clear they learned absolutely NOTHING from their Flight 261 disaster (https://planecrash.fandom.com/wiki/Alaska_Airlines_Flight_261) and I wouldnt fly on that airline if it was the only flight available to my mother's funeral.
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So I dont have to listen to that blasted commercial for plaque psoriasis 2,000x a day anymore? Thank Dog.
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1 hour ago, Ned Flanders said:
Get off my lawn!
Walt Kowalski is my spirit animal. Sorry, not sorry.
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14 minutes ago, Ned Flanders said:
I'm a senior citizen. Don't worry about me, I'll be watching.
Youre one person. As I mentioned above, there are a lot of people in the older demographic that are not exactly tech saavy. And you have to be pretty tech saavy to get these services up and running in your home.
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Cost is not the issue as much as just access is. They can throw all the apps and QR codes at you on-screen they want. Unless youre mobile-tech saavy, forget it. Even for those of us who are...admit it...its often a giant PITA to get these apps to load up, set up an account, deal with the idiot two factor authentication, make sure youre wi-fi is on point, make sure your streaming device (i.e. Firestick) is up to date (and all the work to make THAT happen) if you dont have a SmartTV, deal with the username and PWs (which are often required to be more intricate than the launch codes), etc. Its a lot and the proverbial "little old lady" has virtually zero shot to make it all work right in time for kickoff. But then again, that little old lady doesnt spend a ton on "The Shield" so the league so it doesnt give a ***** about her anymore. Its gross.
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2 hours ago, Augie said:
One of the first lessons I learned after college was one of the most important. I lived in a resort community with a lot of conspicuous consumption. I looked up to all the beautiful people who “had it made” in life. One guy in particular was a partner in the big law firm in town, lived in a house that I admired every time I passed by with Mercedes and Jags in the driveway and married one of the most beautiful ladies I’ve ever seen in my life. My view of the world changed when the wife comes to the bank where I’m working to beg that we hold off on foreclosure. She is sobbing and offering the jewelry she is wearing if we can just wait another 30 days.
I started paying closer attention, and started to see a pattern. So many of the people who I thought were killing it were in over their heads with maxed out credit cards and past due BMW payments. Not everybody, but far more than you would think.
What I took out of all this is it’s a mistake to compare yourself to how anyone else is doing for several reasons. The first and most obvious reason is that you really have no idea how they are actually doing. You don’t know what keeps them awake at night, but we’ve all got something, be it big or small. Don’t trust the FaceBook version of their life, there is more beneath the surface, and it’s not always pretty.
I have a similar story to this that I was going to add before but will so now.
I was at a backyard party recently and over the firepit an old friend I havent seen and I started talking. He was telling me about his 35' boat he goes fishing with off Montauk and his 56 chopped custom Lincoln and all kinds of other stuff. Not bragging but just telling me about his life and toys. Then, we changed to discussing "hows the family" and he told me he hasnt seen his daughters from his first marriage for two years through no fault of his own. Wasnt a bad dad or a deadbeat. If anything, all that stuff hes got he worked his butt off for. But the marriage went bad the divorce was worse and his ex moved far away and blocked him from seeing his kids. And he told me its absolutely killing him.
Everyone has their battles and pain. As Simon says above, you just do your best.
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"One day I feel I'm on top of the world, and the next it's falling in on me" - Neil Peart
"Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying" - Andy Dufresne
"Stop Whining!!!!!" - Detective John Kimble
Sure, some "start life on third base" and all that. Some have better genes, some have better luck. But literally zero people have it great in life all the time.
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1 hour ago, sherpa said:
Same minimums, just more cameras.
Europe has more days of low visibility and the UK gets a bit breezy, but the US has more really violent weather than cannot be flown through. US thunderstorm activity is far more frequent because we have cold Canadian air colliding with warm, moist Gulf air.
Just a technical correction. Automated systems do fly the airplane. An autoland is such an example.
Very rare, and very few airports are certified, but the autopilot(s) actually land the thing.
There are very strict crosswind limitations, but if the airport, airplane and crew are certified, you can autoland.
It is useful in very low visibility situations with light winds. Very rare.
The training to do it takes about one hour of sim time for an already qualified captain/first officer.
At 1500' above the ground, three autopilots separate, and three electrical systems separate.
Each compares it's data to the other two, and if there is any discrepancy, it is annunciated and you go around.
All talk is scripted, and no unnecessary things are said.
The captain keeps one thumb on the autopilot disconnect button, and the other on the thrust levers which have a "go around" option.
Very quite, very tense, but works great.
Scripted event, so only a few things are said, but they must be said.
After touchdown, you simply make sure the thrust levers are at idle, the spoilers are deployed and you manually engage the thrust reversers, as always.
Thanks for the information. I knew you would clarify. Not sure I ever shared this one....THIS is an approach! Evidenlty, the pilot has quite a history as a mercinary.
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On 1/1/2024 at 5:41 AM, sherpa said:
Scraping a wing tip is a very big deal.
One of the dangers in a screwed up landing, no matter runway length, is what happens if the airplane is not directionally aligned properly. If there is even a relatively minor angle between the fuselage and the runway, the tires will be misaligned and could separate from the gear. There are tremendous forces on the gear at touchdown. That's why crosswind landings are an art, and have wind limitations.
Regarding autolandings, landings done by the autopilot, the airplane has to have three separate and isolated autopilots and electrical systems, The internal operation of the autopilot and electrical systems separate at 1500' and go through a self test that enunciates when complete. Very few are so equipped.
The airport has to have very specific equipment which must be maintained and tested far more frequently, and even the taxi hold positions near the runway have to be expanded to prevent signal interference.
It is a very big and expensive deal, and if an airport has has the capability it will usually be on one runway only.
The aircrew training to keep certification used to take us almost two hours of simulator time alone, and we only were scheduled for eight hours in there at every recurrent cycle.
That is why very few airlines have their airplanes equipped and their crews certified to do it.
US and international majors do it, like American, United and Delta, but most don't. Certainly not those that don't operate internationally, as it simply isn't worth it to them.
Is it me, or do all these videos of really rough approaches and landings come out of Europe? It seems most come from either Britain or Germany, Frankfurt airport specificially. Do they have different minimums in Europe than they do in the states? Or is the weather just worse?
I would add to your other comments that what people dont understand is that that automated systems dont "fly" the plane. All they do is "hold" certain conditions the pilot tells it to. Hold an altitude or speed, or fly a certain heading, or follow a certain nav aide. And for driving, it will be the same. Its going to be an "autopilot" system that will operate the same way, but require the human to manage the system and take over controls in and around local driving and parking. Its also gonna need a dead-man's switch like a train that must be acknowledged every 30 seconds or so. Personally, I dont think it will catch on. The very first drive someone is "late" for something and their stupid automated car holds them to the speed limit and operates like an 80 year old nana is driving, they are gonna flick off that system and never use it again.
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Hey....cant blame him for being a little crazy on those shows. It must be stressful to be the QB, HC, GM and Head of Public Relations for a professional NFL team.
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41 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:
My opinion has changed ZERO. Nothing that has occurred since the firing of Dorsey has changed McDermott in any way.
Back when we were losing, MANY posters here said "At this point, we have to win the AFC Championship game for me to reconsider my position with McDermott" or similar.I really hope McDermott remains on the hot seat regardless of how this season plays out.
The goal here is not to heroically make the playoffs...the goal should be winning MULTIPLE SUPER BOWLS while Josh Allen can still play football.
McDermott remains an "0 for" in that regard, and this season is likely to be the same.
There have been FOUR head coaches in the modern NFL free agency era who have won more than one SB. Belichick, Reid, Shanahan and Coughlin. Im not counting Jimmy Johnson, as his two Cowboys teams were built prior to the introduction of NFL free agency. So youre setting the highest of high benchmarks for McD, which really is unfair.
Beyond that, there seems to be this pervasive thought in WNY that some sort of "perfect" coach is out there. Young, dynamic, and free of faults. We are looking for a unicorn here.
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16 minutes ago, Gugny said:
Receivers should take a page from his book.
Flop away, baby!
Gimme them 15 yards!
I was just gonna say...receivers DO take a page. Any close contact for a ball, if it falls incomplete the WR is up and waving his arms looking for a flag. Every team. Every game.
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Phillips injured? Look...my shocked face.
Ive pretty much had enough of Phillips. Hes either hurt, setting the team back 15 yards, yelling at other teams fans (not just in the Philly game) or waving his arms up and down like an idiot. No, I would not say any of this to his face.
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10 minutes ago, SUNY_amherst said:
Allen also has a tendency to start a fight and then hide behind his linemen.
he wasn't always this way
Thats a complete falsehood. He's jumped into more than one scrum.
On the "flopping", I couldnt not care less what it looks like. Michael Jordan was notorious for playing the refs. Brady was. Lebron is. Before his recent crying sessions, did anyone give Mahomes hell for looking for a flag every single time he threw an incomplete pass? No. Josh would be a fool not to take what the refs are willing to give him.
You know when what Allen does becomes "bad?" When it stops working. Unil then, he can be more dramatic than Liz Taylor as far as Im concerned.
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We have a Josh tree topper (https://www.etsy.com/listing/1093628634/buffalo-quarterback-jumping-over) and a bunch of random Bills ornaments.
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4 hours ago, CSBill said:
Call me crazy, but I'm speculating that Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Justin Jefferson had far more to do with Joe Brady's success at LSU than the Assistant Coach sitting with him in the Press Box. Just guessing???
As Lou Holtz once said, I've had good players and bad players, but I'm a much better coach when I have good players." Funny how that works.
Then why fire McDermott? Just get him better players.
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3 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:
Yeah but the difference is guys like Belichik and Reid have multiple superbowl appearances and rings to back it up.
That's what people still don't get about McDummy...his crowing achievement is reaching one single conference championship game in the weird Covid year and getting curb stomped despite taking an early 10-0 lead in that game.
You DO realize Andy Reid was McDermott before McDermott was McDermott, right? Belichick was fired from Cleveland.
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So McDermott is a "narcissist control freak" you say?
Literally every football coach from little girl's flag teams through high school, college and the NFL is a "narcissist control freak."
The classmate from 1986 that your friends picked to "coach" your annual Thanksgiving morning football game at your old high high school is a "narcissist control freak."
In my experience with youth sports and of course from my school days and what I see out there in our society and culture, EVERY SINGLE COACH IN EVERY SINGLE SPORT ON THE PLANET IS A "NARCISSIST CONTROL FREAK." To one degree or another.
Try again.
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27 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:
The pale, stupefied, knockoff version who trudges to the sideline after an interception vs. Denver with McDermott screaming in his ear.
Unlike his boss, Allen does not come remotely close to assigning blame. Doesn’t embarrass receivers on national TV. Doesn’t snipe into earholes on the sidelines.
Oh one time when Allen threw another horrid INT his coach yelled a little bit? HORRORS!!!!!
The only HC Im familiar with who does this sort of thing regularly is the man most people here have a man-crush on and would like to see replace McDermott....Brian Daboll. That guy waves his arms and rolls his eyes more than a bobblehead doll.
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This is really starting to go into a dark territory with the 9/11 stuff. Not due to what McD said with his dopey story but with the fact that its now being picked up in the national press and misconstrued. Say what you will about McD's game management and whether or not hes a lousy head coach. There has been nothing to indicate that hes a bad man. And thats how hes being portrayed in the national media now and for what? He told a weird, awkward story to try and motivate his football team? Its just so wrong.
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Lets be honest....a three part series about how the head coach is a socially awkward maniac can be written for every single NFL team.
We know Belichick is one. Payton definitely is one. And have you seen Mike McDaniel's pants? Its basically a pre-requisite for the job.
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Some good content here but no "Why did he do this when he should be busy rehabbing and prepping to get back on the field" posts??!!!?? Man, y'all slipping.
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1 hour ago, BuffaloBillyG said:
If I have to take the time to explain why a rookie punter is expendable in that case I really doubt you would have the mental capacity to understand it.
You're wrong.
Dude you literally just proved my point.
And really no reason for the insults.
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Alaska Airlines door blowout
in Off the Wall
Posted · Edited by RkFast
Im no pro, just an enthusiast but IMHO they need to stop with the 737. When they put the high efficiency wing on it it was a slam dunk and greatly expanded the airframe's capabilities and what airlines can do with it. But now, its been stretched and toyed with and altered so much that its a frankenplane that is not even aerodynamically stable on its own anymore and needs computer assistance (MCAS) to be so. The whole MAX concept was just a quick band aid to compete with the Airbus A320 NEO and it has failed.
Of course, Im happy for you to tell me Im an idiot like DCTom would with regard to my opinion here.
On edit… check out the responses to this post. Once the public loses trust, then the orders for new planes from that manufacturer stop coming in because airlines ain’t gonna take that risk. Boeing is in deep deep trouble.