Desert Tortoise comments

Posted in: Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion See in context

No, the opposite, if the left loved America, they would seal the border…for starters.

Laughable. My wife is an immigrant. My family are immigrants. Immigrants are America's great strength, not the whiny WASPs who ran my grandparents heritage down, claimed they were intellectually and morally inferior, claimed their religion made them unpatriotic. I'd rather have a struggling immigrant with poor English skills than some arrogant born in the USA bigot for a neighbor. The immigrants appreciate this nation more, work harder, save more money and start more businesses than many who are born here.

12 ( +22 / -10 )

Posted in: Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion See in context

DJT resembles Alex Jones more with each speech he makes.

3 ( +12 / -9 )

Posted in: Supreme Court chief justice denies ex-Trump aide Peter Navarro's bid to stave off prison sentence See in context

One wonders if Mr. Navarro regrets leaving his professorship at UCSD for the big time political world? Until MAGA came along he was just this kooky professor with some oddball ideas most of his fellow economists scoffed at. He could have remained Professor Navarro. Now he will be convict Navarro.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Posted in: Boeing urges airlines to check switches after LATAM plane plunge See in context

Most of my flight time is in Boeing-Vertol helicopters and I still revere them. I used to always say "Scarebus, if it ain't Boeing we ain't going" but any more I think it might be safer to hop on an old Tupelov flow by Air Koryu.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Boeing urges airlines to check switches after LATAM plane plunge See in context

No, it’s not crap and that’s not the problem, Boeing planes are still one of the best and the workhorse of the airline industry overall, the problem is, politics have now entered aviation with DEI and wokeness is the main cause for this growing problem and that is extremely worrying.

DEI has absolutely nothing to do with Boeing's problems. Not even close. Boeing used to be an engineering driven company run by engineers, not accountants or MBAs. Boeing's problems began in 1997 when they bought McDonnell Douglas. After the buyout there was a wholesale turnover of top Boeing management with most of the old Boeing executives being replaced by executives from McDonnell Douglas. It was as if McDonnell Douglas bought Boeing (with Boeing's money !) not the other way around. Boeing hasn't had an engineer as their President in years. Their current president didn't even have any aviation experience before being hired!

The new management was all about cost cutting and outsourcing. Each new airliner had progressively more components manufactured by subcontractors and by the time the 787 and 737 Max arrived on the scene about all Boeing did was final assembly of pieces made by other manufactures. Their former plant in Wichita where all those B-29s were built was sold to the company that makes these defective 737 Max fuselages. Boeing moved production to South Carolina trying to break the unions in their Renton plant, but the stuff coming out of South Carolina is too often not built to spec.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Boeing urges airlines to check switches after LATAM plane plunge See in context

Something odd about the story: how long was the pilot being pressed into the controls to disengage the autopilot.

The autopilot will disengage itself if there is enough control pressure on the yoke. But up until it disengages it will try to counteract the inputs from the pilot. When it does disengage there will be a huge control excursion.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Boeing urges airlines to check switches after LATAM plane plunge See in context

I'm not an expert, but putting switches on flight deck seats doesn't sound very safe to me. Especially ones that have a "motorized feature to thrust the pilot into the controls".

It is the only practical way for the crew to get in their seats. The center stack is so long and dense with throttles and other switches there is essentially no way for the crew to get seated with the seats in a position where they can reach the flight controls. They would have to step on the center stack and to climb into their seats without that feature. If you think about a car with a center console it would be like trying to get into the front seats from the back seat. The seat themselves are pretty heavy.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Boeing urges airlines to check switches after LATAM plane plunge See in context

us regulators and faa should be more firm with boeing, safety before $

If the allegation in the WSJ is true then this is a case of a foreign airline not adhering to an old service bulletin from Boeing to secure that switch. If true the fault lies with the airline, not Boeing.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Posted in: Steven Mnuchin: banker, Hollywood exec, Trump loyalist... TikTok bidder? See in context

Tik Tok and Steve Mnuchin deserve each other.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: North Korean leader Kim 'drives' new tank during mock battle See in context

If something happen, he will be the first to....to run to America. Dont forget he never trust commies china

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote in his new memoir that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told him in 2018 that he needed US forces in South Korea to protect himself from China. Kim "said that he needed the Americans in South Korea to protect him from the CCP, and that the CCP needs the Americans out so they can treat the peninsula like Tibet and Xinjiang,"

That was probably true before the infamous US-DPRK summit in Vietnam. Ever since the time of his grandfather Kim Il Sung, DPRK leadership has desired normalized relations with the US as a hedge against both the PRC and USSR/Russia. The Kims viewed both as unreliable, and especially Russia after they abandoned Vietnam during the Chinese invasion despite the two nations having a mutual defense pact. But that summit in Vietnam appears to have caused Kim the Fat to rethink his relations with both PRC and Russia, throwing his nation's lot in with them and abandoning any notions of ever having amicable relations with the west.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: North Korean leader Kim 'drives' new tank during mock battle See in context

That tank looks old and blocky

It looks more like a modern western tank than the Russian stuff DPRK fields. Look at images of the most recent Leopard 2A6/2A7, M-1A2, British Challenger, French Leclerc, the South Korean K-2 or the Japanese Type 10. Most if not all of these have replaceable composite armor panels. The Russians to this day haven't figured out composite armor, relying instead on reactive armor, so it would be interesting to know what the turrets of this new DPRK tank are made of. Seeing reactive armor panels on the turret makes me think it isn't using the kinds of advanced composites found on the best western tanks.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Boeing promises changes after getting poor grades in government audit of manufacturing quality See in context

This is an industry that has made no secret of its bend-over-backwards DEI efforts.

Boeing's problems have absolutely nothing to do with DEI and everything to do with their 1997 purchase of McDonnell Douglas. Boeing's engineer president was replaced with someone from McDonnell Douglas and much of the former Boeing C-Suite was likewise replaced by M-D executives. Along with that management turnover came a change in corporate philosophy from emphasizing great engineering to emphasizing cost cutting and profit maximization. Airline deregulation and the rise of Airbus accelerated that trend. The result is that instead of Boeing being led by experienced engineers it is led by bean counters, people with degrees in accounting or MBAs. The joke in aviation circles is that McDonnell Douglas bought Boeing with Boeing's money so many of their executives ended up running, and ruining, Boeing after the merger.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: U.S. resumes Osprey flights in Japan 3 months after deadly crash See in context

If the defect is fixed perfectly, it seems okay, but I doubt a little bit. Just wait and see.

The problem is that the Marines cannot do their mission without the V-22. It is essential to how they plan to fight and there are no substitutes available anywhere at any price. The V-280 Valor has many years of testing before it will be cleared for production. Likewise the Navy needs the V-22 for the Carrier Onboard Delivery mission. It's predecessor the old C-2 Greyhound cannot carry an F-35 engine. It is too big and too heavy. The V-22 can. Pretty sure all the old Greyhounds are retired and in the bone yard, their aircrews and squadrons transitioned to the V-22. Without the COD the fleet would have some insurmountable problems with logistics support in the event of a way.

So the military will place some sort of performance restriction(s) on the V-22 to reduce the forces acting on the part they have identified as failed and fly them until the eventual remedy is developed and installed.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: U.S. resumes Osprey flights in Japan 3 months after deadly crash See in context

"There is no problem in the design and structure of Ospreys" and the accident was caused by a defect in specific parts of the aircraft, the ministry said."

And the specific parts shall remain unamed?

That is the lawyers talking. The mishap investigation has apparently identified a specific part that failed but the way if failed is something they apparently have never seen before. Because they haven't nailed down the specifics of the failure mode they are not going to name names, fearing liability if they find more or the part that failed broke because of some other part that had a problem,

But you can know enough to gingerly go back to flying them with some sort of performance restrict(s) to lower the loads on the part that failed. I flew the CH-46 for a couple of years with an airspeed restriction due to a problem identified in the quill shaft.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: U.S., Japanese forces to resume Osprey flights in Japan following fatal crash See in context

I personally think the plane should be permanently grounded because of the safety reasons at least a few years until they make sure they have a fix to never have the same issue again.

Not possible. The Marines literally cannot do their mission without them and there is no substitute made anywhere. Likewise they are all the Navy has for the Carrier Onboard Delivery mission as the old C-2 Greyhounds were retired after decades of service. They will be flown with some sort of performance restriction(s) just as my old helicopter the CH-46 was flown for years with a flight restriction until a new quill shaft was produced.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: U.S., Japanese forces to resume Osprey flights in Japan following fatal crash See in context

It's not an issue with the pilots it is a design flaw, 

It is a material failure nobody has seen before.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: U.S., Japanese forces to resume Osprey flights in Japan following fatal crash See in context

Fearful comments here are really unwarranted due to media lack of context. As an aerospace insider, can tell you Osprey accident rate is only midrange compared to other military aircraft and on par with other aircraft such as F/A-18 and AV-8B, particularly in USMC operation.

The Osprey has one of the lowest mishap rates of any aircraft, especially those that fly off ships, in the Navy/Marine Corps inventory.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: U.S., Japanese forces to resume Osprey flights in Japan following fatal crash See in context

Without knowing the real cause of the crash, they are to resume Osprey flights?

The mishap investigators and the military know the part that failed. They do not yet fully understand how the part failed.

If Osprey pilots may need upgrading their flight skills, people living under their flight routes must

always feel scared of another fatal accident.

There will be some sort of performance restriction(s) placed on the aircraft until the part that failed is replaced with an improved part. In the mean time the aircrew will be trained to fly the missions within the new performance restrictions. I flew the Osprey's predecessor and we had an airspeed restriction for years because there was a weakness identified in the quill shaft from the mix box to the aft main rotor gearbox. Once the new quill shaft was installed the airspeed restriction was lifted. In the mean time the airspeed restriction ended problems with the quill shaft and we flew safely, albeit more slowly.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Poland's president calls on NATO allies to raise spending on defense to 3% of GDP See in context

I would also encourage our allies to have develop turnkey nuclear weapons programs. Nuclear powers don’t get invaded.

Many NATO members (UK, Germany, Netherlands, Italy) are equipped and trained to use nuclear weapons that would be issued to them from US stocks in Europe. The US has floated the idea that Japan likewise equip and train to use them in the event of a nuclear war with either North Korea or China. Equipped means the delivery systems, aircraft, ships, artillery and the like, have the necessary communications gear to receive the release codes to allow the weapons to be employed along with the necessary security.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Poland's president calls on NATO allies to raise spending on defense to 3% of GDP See in context

If the rule is changed from 2% to 3%, more countries will be in default, and Trump will have greater justification to pull the US out of NATO.

This comment about "default" is laughable. Default means an entity fails to pay a debt when it is due. NATO doesn't impose a tax on its members. Each nation's elected representatives make choices about how much to tax their people and what to spend their tax receipts on. Some chose to spend more on defense in proportion to their GDP than others.

Considering that most western military's exist to protect the commercial interests of their major corporations and global trade in general, I would argue the US and other member nations should impose a 1% tax on the gross receipts of all corporations. Such a tax in the case of the US would substantially fund the US DoD. Not 100% but pretty close. Corporations should pay the cost of the military organizations that protect their property and their ability to do business internationally. That to me seems reasonable and fair.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Conditions inside Fukushima's melted nuclear reactors still unclear 13 years after disaster struck See in context

There's an improvement, tainted water being spread around Pacific, that effect fishermen livelihood.

Tritium is naturally occurring in all the worlds oceans, rivers and lakes. It is formed in the upper atmosphere in a reaction with cosmic rays, is part of the air we all breathe and is absorbed into surface water from the air. Current ocean tritium levels are about half of what they were in the 1950s and 1960s when nations were conducting atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. The amounts of tritium disposed of in oceans and rivers is a vanishingly small percentage of the naturally occurring tritium in the worlds lakes, rivers and oceans. People are getting all worked up over a non problem.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Posted in: More Chinese women choosing to stay single as economy stutters See in context

This doesn't seem to be a problem confined to China. Women with an education preferring their autonomy to marriage with a neanderthal is a common thread in the developed world. Women marrying later in life and having no or fewer kids is also common enough around the developed world. High costs of living, crowded conditions, lack of affordable child care and bosses who want you to work 12 hours a day affect the willingness of both men and women to start families even when a woman finds a man willing to share the housework.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan's GSDF fails to determine cause of helicopter crash in 2023 See in context

Maybe it is cheaper or less traumatic to have a mystery rather than admitting to pilot error or deliberate action?

Based on accounts in open sources the flight data recorder has a record of the pilots struggling to deal with both engines losing power at the same time.

In addition the JGSDF would not investigate this mishap alone. At a minimum Sikorsky and Mitsubishi, the two airframe manufacturers along with the engine manufacturers, IHI and General Electric, would be involved in the investigation. I would be surprised if members of the US military were not also involved since it is a US design and widely used in the US military. The US would have a great interest in identifying a problem that might affect US owned models of this series.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: False GPS signal surge makes life hard for pilots See in context

Btw, this is not such a new problem. During the Cold War the Soviets used to spoof our TACANs, our UHF navigation aid, trying to lure us into traps. They would send a small "fishing trawler", really one of their intelligence collection trawlers, out some distance from our aircraft carrier and broadcast a signal identical to the carrier's TACAN, hoping to lure our aircraft out somewhere far from the carrier so they would run out of fuel and ditch. We called this "Meaconing". It was eventually addressed in the INCSEA, INCidents at SEA, treaty the US signed with the Soviets governing the conduct of each navies forces at sea.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: False GPS signal surge makes life hard for pilots See in context

People are flying planes before GPS exist

True. My flying career predated GPS. But we had some limits as a result. The air route system has changed since then to rely heavily on GPS for routing. Before GPS aircraft on instrument flight plans had to stick to specific airways that ran between fixed VHF navigation aides called VORs for VHF Omnidirectional Range. Aircraft had to be spaced out carefully horizontally and vertically (altitude) along these routes to avoid collisions. Airports had to have equipment on each runway to allow aircraft to make an instrument approach at night or in bad weather. Since military aircraft back then typically only had military specific UHF navigation equipment there were many civil airfields that had only a VOR that we could not shoot an instrument approach into. That became a big problem for me one day when I had an in flight emergency in the goo and needed to land right away, but the nearest airports only had a VOR. I ended up doing what is called a "contact approach", basically flying low down a freeway to an airport I knew about when I was a kid that had an Air National Guard unit. I was lucky. If I had that problem anywhere else I might have been on the evening news, and not in a good way.

Today many airports that never had a traditional instrument approach because the cost of the equipment and its maintenance was too great for the local airport authority to afford now have a GPS approach procedure. No equipment at the airport is required. Likewise those airports that only have a VOR can now also host a GPS approach that military aircraft can use.

Aircraft are no longer tied to the old air route system but can file a flight plan to fly from point to point using GPS coordinates, effectively creating their own air route for that one flight. But when you get close to some conflict where GPS is being jammed you have a problem.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: U.S. eyes extensive repair of warships at Japan shipyards: sources See in context

Isn't that the purpose of the ship yards in Yokosuka and Sasebo? Or perhaps they're not able to handle enough.

It is a matter of capacity. Yokosuka and Sasebo, along with Kure and a shipyard in Maizuru also maintain JMSDF ship also maintain Japan's sizable fleet of combat and support ships. US shipyards are back logged and struggle to find competent workers who will stay with the job.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Crocs, cyclones and 'magnificent melaleucas': Aussie beach named world's best See in context

I don't get it either. I lived there, a kilometer or two from that beach. During the summer you didn't dare swim there because of the stinging jellyfish. Everyone went inland to the lakes in the Atherton Tablelands to do any kind of water sports, ride jet skis or swim.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Pentagon study finds no sign of alien life in reported UFO sightings going back decades See in context

https://www.twz.com/28729/docs-show-navy-got-ufo-patent-granted-by-warning-of-similar-chinese-tech-advances

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Pentagon study finds no sign of alien life in reported UFO sightings going back decades See in context

The propulsion described in this patent looks an awful lot like sightings of the TR-3B, for example what my team lead saw in the desert.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US10144532B2/en

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Pentagon study finds no sign of alien life in reported UFO sightings going back decades See in context

There's no known physics that makes travel between stars possible without generational ships.c it's the law. Moving matter faster than c is unlikely for the next 1000+ years, perhaps never.

The physics of warp drive exist and doesn't violate General Relativity. Achieving the necessary material science and engineering solutions appear to be distant but it would not surprise me if some secret entity within the US defense establishment is already there.

https://interestingengineering.com/science/warp-drive-not-science-fiction-faster-than-light-travel

https://thedebrief.org/is-warp-speed-possible/

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Recent Comments

Popular

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites


©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.