Road Trip

There are many reasons for the lull in blogging. While I plan to post about the upcoming changes to the regulations that govern pilots, for now here's a post about my recent travels, taking a small vacation. Here’s are two photos taken near where we stayed for a few days. Can you guess where?





It’s been a number of years since I visited this city and the city itself has changed, but I’ve changed, too. The weather during our stay was remarkably good: Warm, but not excessively hot, balmy without being terribly humid. If you’re still guessing, here’s another photo.



This city has a large amount of green, open space with parks and sculpture scattered throughout virtually every neighborhood. Here’s another photographic clue.



Still guessing?





Several US presidents have lived in the state where these photos were taken. My wife says this is the quintessential American city, that it is more representative of America than say, New York. This city has some amazing architecture, too.



Known to some simply as “The city that works” and to others as the “Second City," by now of course you should recognize it as Chicago. Home of two baseball teams (one of which may, or may not be cursed), one of the country's finest museums, and what I believe to be some of the best pizza on earth.



In addition to enjoying the sights and sounds of Chicago, I visited some of my old haunts and saw some old, old friends – some of whom I had not seen in over 30 years. I visited the airport where I first soloed, which now has two runways, one of which is 7000 feet long! And I don't believe there is any other place in the US where two state highways intersect in the middle of a city and are bisected by two railroad tracks.



I wouldn’t be the first to observe that you can’t go back. I could still find my way around town in a rambling, dreamlike sort of way. Houses, stores, hospitals, schools, and hotels now stand where corn and soybeans used to grow. The Sip-n-Dip drive-in is no more and I'm not sure if it's been replaced by a car wash or a vacant lot.

I tried to refrain from making what must have seemed like pointless observations: “There used to be railroad tracks right there and I rode my dirt bike on a trail right next to them.” “This used to be a gravel road and I ran here many times while preparing for my first marathon …” “My high school sweetheart lived in that house …” “When I was an undergraduate, I worked as a night watchman in this building, which used to be a factory …”





The specifics hold little meaning for other people because it's difficult to convey the feeling, mood, and experience behind the words. Friends that I hadn’t seen in decades seemed to understand, though we remembered different events and details. One of us would tell a story that would trigger memories that hadn’t been examined for years.





Hair turns grey, hairlines recede, joints and backs become stiffer, waistlines grow, but friendships remain.

Study in Contrasts

One benefit of taking a vacation, especially going to a foreign country, is that it gives you a new perspective on where you live. I've been pretty busy since my return, but wanted to share a few observations resulting from my trip. I thought I'd get over these thoughts, but they persist. Perhaps the problem was that I shouldn't have waited nearly 10 years since our last, full-fledged vacation. Well the die is cast ...

Americans drive huge cars. I know: This just in. One explanation is that Americans pay relatively little for fuel, but there's something else at work here. I see individual drivers getting into and out of 5000 pound SUVs. I see them on the freeway - one person in a vehicle that might get 20 MPG (11 liters/100 KM) on the highway. As if this actually needs to be said, let me point out that one person commuting to work in a vehicle with 300+ horsepower, capable of towing a 6000 pound load, with four-wheel drive is just plain kooky. I wish I knew how this could be corrected, but I don't. If you haven't seen it yet, rent Who Killed the Electric Car to get a perspective on how PR, marketing and corporate influence can affect this sort of debate.

I saw many well-designed, fuel efficient vehicles in Europe and I only saw a handful of SUVs. There were so few SUV it was always a shock when I did see one. My conclusion is the reason more fuel-efficient vehicles are not available here is that U.S automakers do not know how to market them and, more importantly, they think U.S. consumers do not want to buy them. Every time I go out for a walk or drive to the airport and encounter these beasts on the road, I feel like I'm living in a strange dream. I just cannot accept that as a people we are that clueless and selfish.

The widespread availability of mass transit in most U.S. cities doesn't compare to what's available in Europe. One reason is that the U.S. is a big place except in some parts of the Eastern Seaboard, we don't have the overall population density that Europe does. Still, the long distance trains I took in France were quiet, fast, comfortable, and affordable. There is a proposal to create a TGV-style express train between San Francisco and L.A., but I wonder, do we have the political will to make it happen?

Deciding to walk my talk and lower the carbon load associated with moving my own carcass between home and the airport, I've been commuting to work two or three times a week using my Brompton folding bike and the Bay Area Rapit Transit, or BART. The difference between say, the Paris Metro and BART has mainly to due with the patrons. On my BART trips I am saddened to see so many riders acting aggressively, creating noise and squalor, making other patrons nervous. To be honest, many of these people seem to need help with psychological or drug problems.

Another big problem with BART is that the train itself is incredibly noisy, especially during some of the underground routes. I've read several on-line articles about why this is so, but the screeching sounds the train makes while taking turns, especially in underground tunnels and the Trans-Bay tube is unbearable. I've begun wearing ear plugs when I ride BART. I intend to continue my bicycle commutes at least two or three times a week, more if my schedule permits, but the fact remains that riding BART is decidedly unpleasant.

Something you just don't see much of on U.S. roads is the roundabout - a traffic control feature at intersections. There are two roundabouts in my neighborhood, but the entrance from each road has a stop sign: That kind of negates the whole point of letting the stream of traffic flow through the intersection. And speaking of flow, I've theorized that roundabouts have an interesting side effect - they train drivers to go with the flow, think ahead, and (most importantly) pay attention. A stop sign or stop light effectively breaks the flow, interrupts the driver's rhythm, and provides an opportunity for drivers to do dumb things like put on makeup, read the paper, send a text message, look for something in the bottom of their flight bag, or the countless other ways we become distracted and space out.

Coming back through U.S. Customs was a rude awakening, and I'm a U.S. citizen! I can only imagine what non-citizens must think. No one could argue that any country needs security at its borders, but being out of the U.S. and returning really clarified to me just how militarized the American people have let our society become. Of course we need security, but the TSA has decided we're all guilty until proven innocent. I saw toddlers break into tears after TSA employees wrenched their stuffed animals from them so they could be x-rayed. I see senior citizens being frisked. I myself was singled out for additional security and the TSA employee actually started yelling at me when I set off a metal detector and it too me more than three seconds to find the offending coin that was still in my pocket. We shouldn't be sacrificing the very freedoms upon which our country was based. What we often have at our airports is paranoia masquerading as security. If we let terrorists alter our commitment to basic freedoms and respect for human dignity, they will have won the battle.

While in France, I saw very little general aviation. In fact, I saw exactly six light aircraft flying in the air. Two were banner tow aircraft near a Mediterranean beach, one was a Robinson helicopter, one was a Diamond Katana or Eclipse, and the last looked to be a Piper Warrior. Americans are blessed with a tremendous GA community and we have much more opportunity to fly small aircraft. Think about that the next time you're complaining about the cost of maintenance or 100 low lead after a flight.

My Word

Spending time with friends who hail from England invariably leads to comparisons between how we use language, between American and English. We had great fun mimicking each others' accents, being baffled by how we can use the same words so differently, and generally having a good time.

British: I'll knock you up in the morning.
American: I'll come by your room tomorrow.

In England, a pencil eraser is a "rubber" and in the U.S., that's slang for a condom. In the U.S., "fanny" mean your backside as in "fanny pack," which the British call a "bum bag." Why? In England, "bum" is slang for your butt while "fanny" refers to ... well, a woman's privates.

One night, a friend wrote out the following phrases, taken from a book on how to talk like a Brit. I gather there's a similar book on how to talk like an Australian. She asked us to read it out loud, phonetically, through slightly clenched teeth:

Extrodd-nereh!
Dring Spotty.
Ear-frigger.
Wonker noodly sair noffa bot this trooleh mofflis spook!"

So I stumped them with this conversation between two Southern gentlemen:

MS Duks.
MR Not.
MR 2.
CM Wangs?
LIL B,
M R Duks!

A shiny Euro to the first person to translate both of these correctly.

I think the late John Ciardi got it right in the introduction to one of his wonderful browser's dictionaries when he described the root meaning of homo sapiens, homo coming from the Greek humus or clay from which humans were said to have been fashioned by God and sapiens meaning to think. So humans are the clay that thinks. Ciardi went on to point out that humans are not the only animals that appear to have thought processes. Some primates have even shown the ability to make tools, so Ciardi's conclusion was that we should really be called homo locquatious; the clay that speaks. If there is anything that distinguishes us from other animals it must be our ability to constantly invent, use, extend, and adapt language.

Fire and Smoke

One of the goals on this trip was to meet up with a French pilot who I met several years ago in Oakland. At the time, David was visiting San Francisco to study English and somehow got hooked up with me for some instruction in the Bay Area airspace and procedures. He was getting a U.S. certificate issued on the basis of his French certificate, but needed to fly with an instructor until that process was complete. We exchanged email sporadically over the years and David often suggested that I come to France for a visit.

I emailed him three weeks before our departure to see if we might be able to rendezvous. David now flies fire-fighting aircraft for Sécurité Civile and it turned out that we'd be in the south of France near where he is based. With a little planning, I provided the necessary security information so he could arrange a tour of their facility at Marseille-Marignane Airport.

The drive to Marseilles from where we were staying was a bit longer than expected, mainly due to our difficulty in finding our way through the back roads to the A9 highway. We also encountered some traffic slow-downs due to an accident or two, but the trip was otherwise uneventful considering this is the high tourist season. Once on the main highways, we found the road signs were easy to follow. This is seldom the case when traveling on the back roads, but that's another story in itself.

We parked our rental car, met David, and the first stop was at the national police office where we exchanged our passports for airport security badges. Next we passed through airport security screening before being allowed onto the airport ramp area.



We knew that our tour could be interrupted at any time as the base was on one hour alert status, meaning the flight crews had to be ready to respond to a fire call and be airborne within one hour. This base provides aerial fire fighting support for all of southern France and Corsica. The have even worked as far East as Greece. The previous day had been a busy one for fires, but the day of our visit turned out to be quiet. There are four different aircraft at this base - King Air 200s, Grumman S-2F3AT Trackers, Canadair 415 amphibious aircraft, and two modified Bombardier Q400s.



After introducing us to several of his fellow pilots, we made our way to the plane that David flies - the Dash 8. The Q400 that has been modified to carry 2600 gallons of fire retardant or water. The interior seats are removed during the fire season and re-installed during the winter months when the planes are used as a government transport.



The flight deck has a simple, clean layout and includes some additional equipment for monitoring and releasing the fire-fighting payload. David mentioned that during the deployment of the water or fire retardant, the center of gravity changes dramatically in just a few seconds. This requires careful control and throttle inputs to keep the plane level and within the desired airspeed range as the plane's weight quickly drops.



The plane has a heads-up display and when I looked through it I couldn't help immediately gushing "Cool!" Try as I might, I couldn't get a photo that really captures the view through the display, but if you're used to glass cockpit style airspeed, altitude, and attitude readouts, you'd be right at home using a heads up display.



Next stop was the Canadair 415, a versatile amphibious aircraft that can essentially do a touch-and-go on a lake and pickup over 1500 gallons of water in about 12 seconds. Then it can fly off to drop that water on a fire. As the pilot who gave us the tour explained, the Canadair is first and foremost a boat. Powered by two P&W turbo-prop engines, the overall construction is very heavy with countless rows of rivets. The cockpits of these aircraft have been modernized with EFIS displays as well as an electronic system that control the release of the water or flame retardant.










We didn't get a tour of the Tracker or the King Air 200, but I did leave with two gifts: a Q400 cap and a book describing the Sécurité Civile operation. A big thanks to David for his kindness and generosity in providing a glimpse into the dangerous and rewarding work of aerial fire fighting.

A few days later, driving back from a beach trip, we saw smoke from a large fire burning near the town where we are staying. Circling above were four Sécurité Civile fire-fighting aircraft. By sunset, the smoke was gone.

Trains and Autos

We spent a few days in Paris to recover from too many hours of being cramped up in two different aircraft. After some good food and espresso (necessary to keep us awake until the local bedtime), we found ourselves pretty much adjusted to the local time by the next day.


The last stage of the Tour was scheduled for the afternoon of our departure from Paris for points south, which made getting to the George V metro a bit of a challenge. We took the metro to Gare De Lyon station where we boarded a TGV train. These trains are smooth, comfortable, and fast - achieving speeds of 180 miles per hour on open stretches of track. My only complaint was that the air conditioning seemed a bit weak with the temperature inside the railcars hovering around 25 degrees C.



One of the many things to like about Europe is the wide array of cool, exotic, and just plain intelligent cars; Smart Car, Mini, a wide variety of VW, Audi, Mercedes, Citroens, Opel, and Pugeot. And there are many cool varieties of motorbikes to be seen, too. You just don't see hardly any big cars or SUVs in Paris. And for a diesel head like me, Europe is heaven because around 70% of the autos are diesel-powered. And it's not just European automakers who produce diesel cars for this market; Ford and GM have joined the club, too.



I'm not sure what the emission standards are in Europe, but the U.S. EPA has diesel standards (a.k.a. tier 3) that will be met by VW, Audi, and Mercedes next year and should allow new diesel vehicles to be sold in all 50 states. The introduction of low-sulfur diesel last year certainly helped reduce emissions, especially from older, non-turbo injected engines. My solution is to burn 99% biodiesel in my 2001 Jetta TDI, which reduces emissions by 80 to 90%.

Emissions standards, along with other U.S.--specific safety standards and Americans' prejudice against diesel engines have conspired o create a limited market for diesel autos. One of the neatest vehicles I've seen here is the VW Eurovan with a TDI engine - a vehicle that isn't available in the U.S. Another car that caught my eye was this Mercedes sub-compact A200 equipped with a common-rail, turbo-charged diesel. I'd imagine this puppy sees fuel mileage in the 45 to 55 MPG range.

Imagine my pleasant surprise when we picked up our rental car at the train station and the attendant (whose English was much better than my French) asked "Is a diesel auto okay?" But of course! We got the keys to a compact Opal (manufactured by GM) with a TDI engine and a six-speed manual transmission. Now most Americans think diesels are slow, noisy, and stinky. Not so! This little baby is fast, clean, and relatively quiet. You do hear a bit of diesel engine sounds during brisk acceleration, but this is not a problem for diesel afficciandos. In fact, we roll down the window to better appreciate it! Not only is this Opal a fast, sporty little car, it gets very great fuel mileage - 40 plus miles per gallon on the freeway at 80 miles per hour (even better at slower speeds).




Now we're ensconsed in our room and this view is only a 3 minute walk away.

Where in the World?

Perparing for takeoff from Oakland ...


Clouds over Mono Lake.


Numerous tower cumulous clouds required a lot of weaving, back and forth. We were at FL350 when this was taken. Kudos to the flight crew for providing a pretty smooth ride, considering the circumstances.


After a boarding a connecting flight, we entered some high level clouds and tightened our seatbelts. A shiny coin to the first person to name the aircraft, based solely on this photo of the wing.


More tower CUs on the second leg, and more bumps, too.


Here are some visual clues as to our location.




This is one of the more unusual scooters I saw ...


The last time I was here, nearly twenty years ago, I don't recall the police carrying firearms. They do now.


And if you haven't figured out yet where I am, this photo should be a dead giveaway ...

On the Road

I won't be blogging much for the next two weeks. It's been a long, long time since my wife and I had a real vacation, one with no family or work obligations, no job interviews. And while I'm not a big fan of the trite suspense technique, I'll keep you guessing as to where we are. For now, I'll just say that we did a connecting flight through a Texas airport and after 14 hours, we arrived yesterday. Or did we arrive today? I think I reset my watch correctly, but ...

And for those of you who know here I am right now, don't spoil the suspense!