The beautiful photo above was taken by Steve Earley of SPARTINA’s spars. He refers to it as ‘garage window light’. I believe that even by his high standards it is exceptional. The spars remind me of a musical instrument. They are. I thank him for permission to share it with you.
You may have read recently that something called DARPA, which stands for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has flown a Black Hawk helicopter without a pilot for the first time.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/darpa-flies-a-black-hawk-helicopter-without-a-pilot-for-30-minutes/
Kent, who builds, maintains and is self-designated moveable ballast on Audrey’s Armada is also in his spare time a pilot for Delta and was a Marine helicopter pilot. I emailed him a warning that he might be replaced, at least as a pilot. His Armada services are irreplaceable. He wrote back an interesting and amusing reply. I thank him for permission to share it with you.
I flew the UH-1N. Only the Army can afford Blackhawks.
The robots do a fantastic job flying...until something goes wrong...which it always does. The humans will remain part of the human-machine interface when live cargo is involved, because we protect the system against vagaries of the machine. .
But if I'm wrong, I won't mind being a remote pilot for a machine, keeping an eye on it with my ipad, while sitting in a recliner. With grog nearby.
Harry Reasoner once wrote the following about helicopter pilots: "The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by its nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by an incompetent pilot, it will fly. A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the helicopter stops flying; immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter. This is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts and helicopter pilots are brooding introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened it is about to."
I always said that helicopters are constantly trying to return to their natural state, minerals drawn from the earth.
Michael, Layne and Rusty are now at Barra de Nexpa, a beautiful surfing beach far down the west coast of mainland Mexico. I emailed him commiserations that he would miss the Super Bowl. This was in jest because I know Michael, born in Italy of an Italian mother and a British father, has no interest in American football. What is inexplicable is that coming from those two great soccer nations, he also has no interest in soccer. He replied with this photo.
The Super Bowl is everywhere.
I expect that Michael will not attend, except possibly for the food. I will dutifully inform him of the result.
Of the Super Bowl, I may well be the only person on the planet who has zero interest in the pre-game hype, the ads, and doesn’t watch the halftime follies. I am actually only interested in the game itself, which often seems a minor interruption of the side shows.
I read of people spending absurd amounts to be at the game. Tickets ranging from $6,800 to $81,800. Parking spots for $5,000. Tables at private parties for $120,000. And the beat goes on.
I do not like crowds. Not only would I not pay those prices, I would not attend the game if I were paid to do so. I will sit at home and watch on TV with Carol and have a better seat than any in the stadium.
In addition to spending time with Carol, I have several routine medical/dental appointments scheduled this month. I have yet to find satisfactory medical and dental professionals in Hilton Head. I expect they are there, but I may not find them until Carol retires which will open up a greater range of possibilities.
However I have come to realize that my time in wintery Lake Forest is an unplanned fortuitous entr’acte. Being sequential has its advantages, but also disadvantages, and during the past few months in Hilton Head I was stalled by the holidays, weather preventing painting and adhesives from setting, and a virus. When I return to Hilton Head, probably next month, I will be able to focus entirely on GANNET and preparing her for this summer’s voyage.
From the PENGUIN BOOK OF JAPANESE VERSE a short poem by Ito Sachio.
I obey the dictates of my mother:” Just because you CAN watch the super bowl doesn’t mean you should.”
ReplyDeleteKent probably remembers the way Reasoner ended that report (during the Viet Nam war):
ReplyDeleteThe pilots are beginning to feel like Mark Twain's man who was tarred and feathered.
If it weren't for the honor of the thing they would just as soon have missed it.