Posted By RichC on February 13, 2006
Update Feb 14: Paul Hackett has changed his plans to run for Senate with some arm twisting from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and New York Senator Charles Schumer. Hackett indicated his frustration saying “For me, this is a second betrayal,” Hackett said. “First, my government misused and mismanaged the military in Iraq, and now my own party is afraid to support candidates like me.”
Rumors are swirling that Paul Hackett (see Cincinnati Enquirer blog) might change his mind about running for a Senate seat and will return to fight with Rep. Jean Schmidt (R) for the Ohio 2nd district seat instead. It would be a wise decision if the Democrats in Ohio are to unite in the coming year. Paul Hackett probably has a good chance of defeating Jean Schmidt considering how close the race was last time when Schmidt had the coattails of President Bush.
We’re a few days away from a necessary decision by Hackett that will determine where the Dems will position themselves in the next election. Most Democrat would like to avoid a costly primary considering Hackett’s Senate bid has struggled since Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat with a $2.4 million dollar war chest. (Hackett has $230,000 in which to run his campaign) Democratic primary is set for May 2 and most Democrats do not want a party battle, preferring the campaign be reserved in hopes to defeat Republicans.
Interestingly the Mayor of Cincinnati, Democrat Mark Mallory, issued a statement early today and then retracted (modified) it a few hours later. It reads:
“I applaud Paul Hackett for making the difficult decision to step out of the race for the US Senate and to step in to the race for the 2nd Congressional District. Paul’s passion and dedication will make him an excellent Congressman for Ohio. It is time for Democrats to come together and focus on providing a clear vision for the future of Ohio and the country.”
The later statement then reads:
Please note the corrected statement.
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory issues the following statement about Paul Hackett’s decision to enter the race for the 2nd Congressional District.
“I encourage Paul Hackett to make the difficult decision to step out of the race for the US Senate and step in to the race for the 2nd Congressional District. Paul’s passion and dedication will make him an excellent Congressman for Ohio. It is time for Democrats to come together and focus on providing a clear vision for the future of Ohio and the country.”
The next few days should be interesting for those following Ohio politics.
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Posted By RichC on February 13, 2006
EAA284 had a good turnout this past Sunday afternoon at Red Stewart Field. February 12th at 2PM was our regularly scheduled meeting and thanks to Les Garber’s presentation it was both interesting and educational. Les, the author of “The Wright Brothers and the Birth of Aviation,” gave an outstanding presentation on the amazing engineering aspect Orville and Wibur Wright demostrated in achieving powered flight. He lectured with a Powerpoint presentation as well as several mockup models demostrating the many hurdles faced by the Wright Brothers.
I’ll included the Huffman Prarrie flight narrated by Tim Gaffney of the Dayton Daily News below.
1905 Wright Flyer Video
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Posted By RichC on February 12, 2006
Last week at the National Biodiesel conference in San Diego, Singer/ Songwriter and Activist Willie Nelson filled his tour bus and announced a new BioWillie location … San Diego, California. According to the National Biodiesel Board, the conference was an outstanding success. Perhaps Willie Nelson said it best, “It is the future. (refering to biodiesel) Nelson continued to say, “Through biodiesel, we can reduce dependency on foreign oil and adopt an energy source that’s clean renewable and helps family farmers find new uses for their products.”
As of this past Wednesday, southern California diesel owners can now fill their cars and trucks with BioWillie branded biodiesel. The 72 year old Nelson has been actively promoting biodiesel as well as running it in his personal vehicles and tour bus. This renewable alternative to petroleum is environmentally friendly, domestically produced, and made primarily from soybeans in the US. (although many other vegetable based oils can be used) According to the U.S. Department of Energy, biodiesel is America’s fastest growing alternative fuel and sales has tripled in this past year to 75 million gallons. It still only accounts for less than one percent of the diesel fuel sold nationwide, but is receiving support from environmentalist to midwestern farmers … from the politicians on the left to those on the conservative right. Even President Bush endorses biodiesel and on many occasions mentions it in speeches. Most recently he has used the national stage in addressing our “nation’s addiction to oil” and has effectively laid the groundwork for development of biofuels.
The BioWillie brand, known as B20, is a blend of 80 percent petroleum diesel and 20 percent biodiesel and is made from soybean oil and is currently available in Texas, South Carolina, Georgia and now California.
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Posted By RichC on February 11, 2006
Although Google news tells me there are over 2000 news stories about the record breaking flight of Virgin Atlantics Global Flyer piloted by Steve Fossett, I felt it necessary to close my mutiple posts with a follow up comment. (I’m sure for details there are plenty of news stories) Nevertheless, the experimental Scaled Composite plane did break the distance recorded held by the planes designer Dick Rutan and copilot Jean Yeager in 1986 by completing 26,389 miles nonstop on a single tank of fuel.
Fosset took off from the Kennedy Space Center, circled the globe once and continued across the Atlantic this morning to England. His trip wasn’t without stressful moment that included the loss of 750 lbs of fuel on takeoff, turbulance over India that threated to tear the plane apart and the loss of electical power while beginning decent from an altitude of over 50,000 feet.
Steve Fossett decided not to land at his scheduled airport (Kent, England) but made a Mayday call and an emergency landing at Bournemouth, England. His unscheduled landing with an ice coated canopy on only reserved battery powered electronic was a stressful end to a long and tiring flight. The GlobalFlyer touched down at 5:07 p.m (12:07 p.m. Eastern time), blew two tires and left spectators waiting at the Kent International Airport.
Although I’m not sure that the Guinness Book of World Records award is what stimulates Steve Fossett to make such flights he was presented with the record upon arriving to a news conference at Kent Airport less then a year after receiving an award for setting the world record for the first solo, non-stop, non-refuelled trip around the world.
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Posted By RichC on February 11, 2006
Heres a short video clip testing some of the Google Video capabilities (or lack there of) in broadcasting clips on the internet.
Aerobatics Pilot flies under jumping motorcycle
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Posted By RichC on February 10, 2006
Once upon a time I intended to be a photojournalist. I even spent the summer between my junior and senior year of high school on an enrichment scholarship to begin my college education in photojournalism. I’m not sure what happened to dissuade me? Nevertheless, I still admire and appreciate those with the talent to capture a still photos and create impactful and moving moments. In the cases of this years “2005 World Press Photo of the Year Awards “there were many that surpassed the proverbial “ a picture is worth a thousand words” axiom.
The above picture of a mother and child at an emergency feeding center in Niger was taken by Canadian photographer Finbarr O’Reilly. His August 2005 photo shows the emaciated fingers of a one-year old child pressed against the lips of his mother. This Reuters published photograph won the coveted 2005 World Press Photo of the Year.
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Posted By RichC on February 10, 2006
UPDATE: 1:45 EST
The Global Flyer is 51,000 feet directly above San Diego heading on a direct path toward Orlando Florida. (draw a line) If you are anywhere in this path be sure to check the sky. (although at 51,000 feet that is the highest Steve has flown so far) I suspect that the coverage will start to become a bit more mainstream as the flight nears completion; I’ll attempt to snatch some video when it becomes available. The webmaster has indicated 22 million hits to their site so far and is holding up just fine. The landing is scheduled to be at Kent International Airport – 18:30UTC on February 11th.
Interesting comments from Steve Fossett during his path over India:
Steve has admitted that during a period of “severe” turbulence he feared a wing might break and had put on his parachute in case he had to abandon the plane mid-air.
The tubulence occurred approximately 14:30UTC Thursday as he flew over Bhophal in India. Although Steve informed Mission Control about the turbulence and said he was “uncomfortable” he did not let the team know the full extent of the trouble.
It was only later in the evening that he revealed he had put his parachute on and that the turbulence had been a frightening experience.
Steve said: “I was afraid it was going to break up. It was a scary time and I had my parachute on and I was prepared to bail out in case a wing broke.”
The aircraft feels turbulence four times more than a commercial aircraft would. Due to the fragile nature of the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer there is a possibility that severe conditions could damage the plane and break a wing. (see link)
Earlier Update:: Should reach the southern west coast of the US at 10 a.m. PST. Look up.
Since I’m following the flight and the GlobalFlyer I thought it would be really cool if someone was able to see the flight. Its probably a long shot for the naked eye viewers, (at 45,000 feet) but if you’re in San Diego or the Baja area and the sky is clear maybe you’ll consider looking up? I’m hoping someone has the ability to photograph this??? (let me know if anyone sees a photo of the GlobalFlyer over the US show up on the web)
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Posted By RichC on February 10, 2006
manual gearbox.
Here is a comparison of the two demostrators being driving in France. Besides being stylish (IMHO) these cars are exceptionally thrifty to drive.
One of the unique features in the Hybrid HDi model is the Stop & Start system. Under normal conditions the vehicle starts with the electric motors starting the TDi engine as needed, but when the high-voltage battery pack is totally flat the vehicle will start on diesel engine only.
Innovative features:
Recovery of kinetic energy during deceleration and braking.
All-electric mode, or Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV), eliminating noise and emissions for urban driving at up to 50 kilometres an hour.
Extended ZEV mode, in which electrical power is used by default, depending on the battery charge level.
For main road and motorway driving, the electric motor can provide a 35% power boost for extra acceleration when needed, thereby enhancing driving comfort.
1.6-litre HDi engine + diesel particulate filter system (DPFS)
Electronically managed gearbox
New-generation Stop & Start system
Electric motor and inverter
High-voltage battery pack
Dedicated control electronics
All-electric mode for speeds under 50 kilometres an hour
Driver selection of extended ZEV mode
PSA Peugeot Citroën may begin to market its Hybride HDi vehicle in 2010.
Multimedia from Jon Fry – see his UK Blog
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Posted By RichC on February 10, 2006
UPDATE: A quote directly from mission control – 1:14UTC Feb 10th (8:14 p.m. EST on Feb 9th) “Halfway point reached: Hurrah!”
Problems: The initial problem was on takeoff according to Mission Control — the GlobalFlyer lost 750lbs of fuel leaving the Kennedy Space Center. According to calculations, the final let to Kent Airport in England will leave little room for error. If the winds over the Pacific continue they will help significantly, but concern is for the weak winds over the Atlantic. If things continue as calculated, Steve Fossett should land with 500 to 1000-lbs of fuel left.
The second problem was with a malfunction of the ventilation cooling system as the tempertures rose to 130F in the cockpit as the engine worked to get the fuel laddened plane to higher altitudes. Now that the plane is lighter and higher altitudes have been reached, the engine no longer has to work as hard and temperatures are a comfortable 60F degrees.
Jon Karkow said: “The winds over the Atlantic will be crucial and the team at Mission Control is working round the clock analysing the movements of the jet streams. Steve will continue to search out the best winds; even the smallest increase in speed will bring the Record closer.”
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Posted By RichC on February 9, 2006
A couple days ago I posted a commercial (Video Clip for Bird Lovers) and figure it only fair to return the politically incorrect post. This one is for cat lovers.
😉
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