VonoTemp

Driverless Car from http://www.willappsug.com/2014/01/bmw-introduces-its-autonomous-driverless-car/ With the rise of robotic cars, there is a risk that the following may be a very dated example within only 20 years.  But consider this. When you are manually driving your automobile, you press on the accelerator pedal to get more speed. And because of friction and drag, releasing the pressure on the pedal will decrease speed. Perhaps you are new to driving, so you are getting all your speed information from the dial on your dashboard.  Most cars nowadays have a little robot that does this for you which is called a “speed control”. Whether you do it or the robot does, there is a feedback loop that decides the movement of the accelerator to increase or decrease speed. If the feedback loop is you, when you see the speedometer rise above the speed you want to go, you release the pressure on the accelerometer. If you are going too slow, you push a bit more. Your feedback can be mild ...

image from http://www.legendaryauctions.com/lot-31363.aspx Funny how the very littlest things can push a kid in the right direction. As it turns out, it doesn’t even need to be on purpose. Who knows? Maybe it doesn’t even have to be born of good intentions. Oh, you say you don’t believe in Providence? Read on. This is a true story. I was born and raised in a small farm town north of Bakersfield, California. It is still there. It’s called “Wasco”. I was born the third kid behind two sisters. My father died 20 October 1956. I was 4 1/2 years old. My mother was 27 years old with 3 small kids to raise and not much in the way of income. She made it happen. Learned to drive a car, got a job, and made it happen. No choice really. Growing up in Wasco, California, I would often hear stories of the cool stuff happening at the Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. After all, Wasco and Edwards are both in Kern County. This was the fifties and sixties, the post WWII optimism flood of new je...

First of all, there is some small truth to the little-known US Air Force saying: “It’s a lot more fun being a pilot than it is flying.” It seemed on some days that a degree in law might be better preparation than a degree in engineering, which is what I had, engineering. That is, rules, rules rules. And you had better know them! There are specific rules about what a pilot can and cannot do with their aircraft.   Some rules are meant to keep everyone safe, such as which altitude to fly at when going east-to-west versus west-to-east. Or how to approach or depart an airfield. Or how to let people know your radio is not working. There are rules that restrict altitude above populated areas and rules about noise at certain hours. All those rules are very, very good ideas. I have no problem with them. OK, most of the time.  There have been a few transgressions over the years. But, hey, I was still in my twenties. But learning and living by all the rules can be daunting and sometimes ...

Photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_T-38_Talon#mediaviewer/File:T-38As_Vance_AFB_1997.jpeg This is a continuation from an earlier post about the issue I had with clearing my ears from changes in air pressure during pilot training. To better understand this post, you should know about how winds affect takeoffs and landings and how pilots name landing strips. A very important piece of information about a landing strip or runway has to do with the wind. Will the wind be ideal, that is, coming at you as a headwind? Or will it be a tail wind, causing you to take up more runway to take off or land? Perhaps it is a cross wind that wants to blow you off the runway to one side? Runways are usually designed to run along the prevailing winds. But winds can change from day to day or minute to minute.  Another important item is what will it look like to you as you approach it? If I am coming from the south, for instance, is it straight on to me or am I approaching it from one...