The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 18,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 4 Film Festivals
Filed under Uncategorized
Last Sunday I had the pleasure of recording a podcast with some amazing aerospace buffs at www.airplanegeeks.com. One of their viewers was interested in learning more about http://www.aeroscholar.com, the University of Michigan Aerospace Engineering department, and AIAA. I was extremely happy to oblige them 
I highly recommend the show to those of you interested in aviation, especially if you have a long commute to work where you’ll have plenty of time to listen.
Highlights of the show:
The hosts were great, consisting of:
A full bio for each of these airplane geeks can be found on the Airplanegeeks.com About page.
Filed under Aerospace Careers, AIAA, Industry Tours
Half of my family is from Madeira, Portugal, a small island off the coast of northwestern Africa. The island offers amazing beaches, beautiful year-around weather, and majestic mountains. I’m a little different than most tourists though, since I love their airport the best! Ranked by Discovery Channel as one of the top 10 most dangerous airports in the world, you could literally just watch the planes come in and have yourself a great day (and get a great sun tan while doing it).
Its been a few years since I’ve been to Madeira (though I hope to be back within the next year now that I’m about finished with school), but there really isn’t anything like landing there. To put things in perspective, to be able fly from Madeira at all, the pilot in command must have a minimum of 200 hours as captain on the aircraft type in use, and a minimum of one take-off and landing at Madeira in the last six months, or one supervised flight accompanied by a pilot qualified to land there.
Approach info for flying into Funchal's airport.
I grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, somewhere that probably does not ring a bell to most people. However, if you’re at all familiar with the steel industry, you might recognize the name Bethlehem Steel, once the second-largest steelmaker in the United States. Founded in 1857, Bethlehem was a titan that had large influences on the steel industry, like shipbuilding during World War II and the mass production of the ubiquitous I-Beam (which placed the company as the leading supplier to the construction industry and led to the skyscraper era).
Filed under Airlines
This weekend I got the chance to do something that I’ve always dreamed of. I piloted my first aircraft! Like most aerospace fanatics, ever since I was a child all I wanted to do was be a pilot. Having family all over Europe, I was constantly traveling and I loved it. I got to fly on planes all the time.
When the time came to choose my career path I tried to make the best decision between becoming a pilot or being an aerospace engineer. Eventually the decision was made to follow engineering and I’m extremely happy that I did! Being able to help design and build beautiful flying machines gives a level of satisfaction that I wouldn’t give up for anything. I did however make myself a promise that I would one day become a pilot, even if only as a hobby. This post outlines the beginning of a dream that will hopefully consume endless beautiful weekends for the rest of my life.
The Michigan Flyers did a phenomenal job of hosting the AIAA event for us this year! Thanks again!!
Discovery flights for the AIAA University of Michigan. I'm flying in the Cessna 172, but we also had a 162 and 152 at our disposal.
Shortly after takeoff you can see the Ann Arbor Airport
Flying over the Big House and Crisler Arena
Whitmore Lake from the sky
Flaps deployed for landing at Ann Arbor Municipal Airport
With a little help from the flight instructor we made it safely back on the ground
Filed under Flying
Twitter is going crazy today with everyone saying, “Happy First Contact Day.” Both William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) and Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) have also been in on the action.
So what is this mysterious First Contact Day that everyone keeps mentioning? A little definition below:
The term First Contact, in Human context, is also used to specifically refer to the first official publicly and globally known contact between Humans and extraterrestrials. The First Contact took place on the evening of April 5, 2063, when a Vulcan survey ship, the T’Plana-Hath, having detected the warp signature of the Phoenix, touched down in Bozeman, central Montana, where they met with the Phoenix‘s designer and pilot, Zefram Cochrane. This event is generally referred to as the defining moment in Human history, eventually paving the way for a unified world government and, later, the United Federation of Planets. The event also became an annual holiday called First Contact Day. (Star Trek: First Contact; ENT: “Broken Bow”, “Desert Crossing”, “E²”, “These Are the Voyages…”; TNG: “The Outcast”, “Attached”; VOY: “Homestead”)
An unofficial first contact between Humans and a Vulcan occurred during theDepression era in New York City. In 1930, Kirk and Spock, a Vulcan from the23rd century, traveled through time and walked on the streets of New York being witnessed by many. When the two were caught stealing clothes by thepolice, Kirk attempted to explain to the officer that Spock was Chinese and his ears the result of a childhood accident. After they escaped from being taken into custody, Spock disguised his Vulcan appearance. (TOS: “The City on the Edge of Forever”)
We finally may have made some progress on quieter supersonic flight, I hope 51 more years is enough to get our Warp Drive technology up to speed!
Filed under Random
