My, what a long contrail you have…
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Posts Tagged ‘pilot’
Fly It Like You Stole It – Sailing High Over the Western A
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012The Best Blue-Collar Job in the World – San Francisco Bar Pilot – A Half Million Dollars per Year, Part-Time
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012Coit Tower, Pier 9:
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National Transportation Safety Board Holds Tesla Automotive Employee Responsible for Fatal Air Crash in Palo Alto
Monday, November 28th, 2011(As always, If You Assume That Any Given Plane Crash is Due to Pilot Error, You’ll Probably Be Right.)
Here’s an article about the new NTSB report.
Does it make sense to commute to Los Angeles for work, assuming you had a pilot’s license and an airplane? I don’t know.
Does it make sense to listen to the advice of your air traffic controller concerning the advisability of taking off into heavy fog, even if you don’t have to? Yes it does.
Is there a reason why pilots are told to turn over the Bay after takeoff? Yes there is.
Oh well.
Here’s what people down Palo Alto Way are saying.
And here‘s the “chilling recording” from a SpotShotter tower. (It’s about what you’d expect, with crashing noises and the yelling of the day care center kids who saw the crash.)
The former N5225J, a Cessna 310R with relatively new, perfectly-fine-at-the-time engines:
(I’ll tell you, I don’t know why our federal government subsidizes Tesla Automotive (and for that matter, General Monkeybusiness in Detroit). Was Tesla paying for the avgas that this Cessna was burning? Does Tesla reimburse CEO Elon Musk for the jet fuel that he burns as he joyrides around the world, as is his wont? I think Tesla used to, but I don’t know about these days. You know, for an electric car company what’s produced not a whole bunch of electric cars, Tesla seems to burn up a lot of petroleum…)
Anyway, here’s the summary – the whole thing you’ll find after the jump.
“NTSB Identification: WPR10FA136
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, February 17, 2010 in Palo Alto, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 11/22/2011
Aircraft: CESSNA 310R, registration: N5225J
Injuries: 3 Fatal.
The pilot departed the airport in near-zero visibility instrument meteorological conditions, and shortly after takeoff, struck a power pole and power lines before impacting terrain. Review of recorded air traffic control tower (ATCT) transmissions revealed that the pilot was initially given his instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance to turn right to a heading of 060 degrees and climb to 3,000 feet. Shortly after verifying his IFR clearance, the pilot received his IFR release from the ATCT controller and was informed that the runway was not visible to the controller. The controller further informed the pilot that takeoff was at his own risk. Shortly after, the controller notified the pilot that he had two minutes for his IFR release, before it expired. The pilot stated that he did not hear a “cleared for takeoff” instruction from the controller. The controller responded that he could not clear the pilot for takeoff, due to not having the runway environment in sight and that “the release is all yours and it’s at your own risk sir.” The pilot acknowledged the transmission and proceeded to take off. One witness, who was adjacent to the accident site, reported that she observed an airplane “suddenly appear from the fog” left of her position. The witness stated that she continued to watch the airplane fly in a level or slightly nose up attitude until it impacted power lines.
Accident site evidence was indicative of a level impact with a power pole about 50 feet above ground level (agl) and at a high airspeed. All major structural components of the airplane were located within the wreckage debris path. Examination of the airframe, engines and propellers disclosed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical anomaly. Weather conditions reported five minutes prior to the accident were wind variable at 5 knots, visibility 1/8th mile, fog, and vertical visibility of 100 feet agl. Weather conditions recorded by the ATCT 11 minutes after the time of the accident were visibility 1/16th mile, fog, and a vertical visibility of 100 feet agl.
Local law enforcement provided recordings from a sound recording system, which captured the accident sequence. The recordings were coupled with airport surveillance radar to interpolate a flightpath for the airplane. The interpolated flightpath indicated an approximate 45-degree left turn shortly after departure to the area of initial impact with the power pole and power lines. A sound spectrum study determined both engines were operating near full power.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot’s failure follow the standard instrument departure as instructed, and his failure to attain a sufficient altitude to maintain clearance from power lines during takeoff in instrument meteorological conditions.”
Know Your Jerk Helicopter Pilots of San Francisco: Flying Under the Golden Gate Bridge for Fun
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011I don’t know, the FAA doesn’t seem to mind this kind of hot dogging so who am I to complain:
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Here’s what it looks like from inside.
Sometimes these birds land in the water due to engine trouble and then the Coast Guard tows them to shore.
It’s a living, I s’pose…
Meet Your San Francisco Bike Sharing Program – 500 Bicycles and 50 Stations Coming Next Year to FiDi, SoMA, Civic Center
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011I guess they have the money now and they’re working on figuring out who’s going to run the thing.
Appears as if the SFMTA has given up on a giant Parisian Velib-style program with 5000 bikes strewn all over town – they’re starting small. Regardless, some of this free advice still applies.
The deets:
“…the pilot service area will be centered in San Francisco’s employment- and transit-rich Downtown/SOMA corridor between the Financial District, Market Street and the Transbay and Caltrain terminals. This area is notably flat, has the densest bikeway network coverage in San Francisco and enjoys the highest levels of cycling, yet those who commute by transit from cities to the east and south encounter difficulties bringing a bicycle with them on BART or Caltrain.”
El Mapa:
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So the stations might end up looking a little half-assed, owing to CEQA:
“Heath Maddox, senior planner for the Livable Streets Subdivision of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), says the defining characteristics of the service they’ve outlined in an RFP draft is that the bike system be solar-powered with no need for external AC power and no requirement for excavation that would turn the installation process into a construction project.”
Remember, sharing is caring.
All the deets:
“The map of the pilot service area presents northeast San Francisco. The highlighted area in the map is the bicycle sharing pilot service area bound by South Van Ness Avenue and the Ferry Terminal along Market Street. To the north, the service area boundary includes the Federal Building at Turk Street, Union Square at Post Street, the Broadway and Columbus Avenue intersection, and The Embarcadero at Sansome Street. To the south, the highlighted service area includes the Embarcadero to Mission Bay, Townsend Street and Concourse Exhibition Center.”
Bike sharing is coming to San Francisco! A regional pilot program led by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) in partnership with the SFMTA will bring approximately 50 bike share stations and 500 bikes to San Francisco’s downtown core beginning in spring 2012. The SFMTA is working with a regional team to implement this pilot along the Caltrain corridor in San Francisco, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Redwood City and San Jose and shown in this Regional Bike Sharing System map. The project is funded through a combination of local, regional and federal grants with major funding coming from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Innovative Bay Area Climate Initiatives Grant Program (BACI).
What is bike sharing?
Similar to car sharing, bicycle sharing is a term used to describe a membership-based system of short-term bicycle rental. Members can check a bicycle out from a network of automated bicycle stations, ride to their destination, and return the bicycle to a different station. Bicycle sharing is enjoying a global explosion in growth with the development of purpose-built bicycles and stations that employ high tech features like smartcards, solar power, and wireless internet and GPS technologies.
Who is involved with launching the San Francisco bike sharing system?
The BAAQMD is the overall regional project lead, coordinating the planning and implementation efforts of the local partners: the City and County of San Francisco, the Cities of San Jose, Mountain View and Palo Alto in Santa Clara County and the City of Redwood City in San Mateo County. The SFMTA is leading the project in San Francisco, and we are working in cooperation with our City and County partners, including the Planning Department, Department of Public Works, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and the Port of San Francisco. The regional partners will be selecting a contractor in fall 2011 to install, operate, and manage the system.
Where will bike sharing be located in San Francisco?
As the San Francisco Bicycle Sharing Pilot Service Area map (PDF) presents, in San Francisco, the pilot service area will be centered in San Francisco’s employment- and transit-rich Downtown/SOMA corridor between the Financial District, Market Street and the Transbay and Caltrain terminals. This area is notably flat, has the densest bikeway network coverage in San Francisco and enjoys the highest levels of cycling, yet those who commute by transit from cities to the east and south encounter difficulties bringing a bicycle with them on BART or Caltrain. Much of San Francisco’s densely urbanized northeastern quadrant is similarly well-suited to bicycle sharing.
When will bike sharing launch in San Francisco?
The regional partners will be selecting a vendor to install, operate, and manage the bike sharing system in 2011 with the goal of a system launch in Spring/Summer 2012!
Further Information
If you have any questions, comments or feedback about bike sharing, contact the SFMTA at sustainable.streets@sfmta.com.
Attention Bay Area Chefs: Your Chance to Become Famous on Bravo-TV Comes July 21st In SF From 10AM to 2PM – Audition!
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011This is it, this is your chance to become cable-TV famous or something. Why don’t you try out for the pilot of the Chef Competition Show? (Let’s call that a working title.)
A lot of the deets are right here – check that out first.
If that’s cool, then head on over to poorly-rated DUCCA at 50 3rd Street on July 21st, 2011 at 10AM.
I don’t know that Padma will be there, but OTOH, I don’t know that she won’t be there:
Bon Courage!
BRAVO CHEF COMPETITION, PILOT
Magical Elves (Top Chef) is casting a reality TV series pilot for Bravo, which will involve professional chefs competing against each other.
Project description: “We are seeking professional chefs of all levels, who have a lifelong love affair with food, a passion for creating visually impressive dishes, and a desire for adventure. If this sounds like something you have been dreaming of, then we want to hear from you immediately.” Casting across the U.S.
Seeking—Professional Chefs: males & females, 18+, all levels, passionate, sense of adventure.
“Bring a completed application to the auditions, available atwww.tinyurl.com/bravo-chef. Those unable to attend open calls can email their application to chefcompetitioncasting@gmail.com. Include name, phone number, location, job title, recent photo, and name of the restaurant you currently work at. No pay.”
Thursday, July 21st, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Olivia
2043 S. Lamar
Austin, TX 78704
DUCCA
50 3rd St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
August 3rd, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
The Foundary on Melrose
7465 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Thursday, August 11th, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Vertigo Sky Lounge
2 West Erie
Chicago, IL 60654
SHANG
187 Orchard Street
NY, NY 10002
Alternate entrance: Thompson LES 1
90 Allen St
NY NY 10002
Audi Avenue: Powell Street Promenade is a Big Fat Joke – A Series of Eight Parklets to Market Audi’s Cars
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011[During all of this Powell Street Promenade stuff, please remember:
"...the benches draw their inspiration from the aluminum chassis of the all-new A7, the Audi ASF® frame."
There will be a test later.]
[Chronicle Urban Design Critic John King just weighed in. Uh, John, the original plan was supposed to relieve "pedestrian congestion," as this recent design concept from Audi shows, but the current design won't do that. And "parklet" is a pejorative in this case. And those "abstract oars" you see are "inspired by" a 2012 Audi. Thusly:
The hockey stick behind the rear wheel - see it? That's where your oars came from.]
Get up to speed on the new Audi Avenue / Powell Street Promenade Project right here.
Let me tell you, the Powell Street Promenade in Union Square will look nothing like this:
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Instead, it will look like this, with aluminum grating and paddles and twisted things. See?
Are these tables? I think they’re tables:
We were promised no advertising, but you make the call:
“…like much of the promenade, the benches draw their inspiration from the aluminum chassis of the all-new A7, the Audi ASF® frame. While the twisting and sculpting of the metal is intended to reflect the dynamic styling of the luxury sedan…”
Is this why Audi owners make such bad drivers, generally, the boldness? (I’d call it hubris, frankly.) Anyway, let’s let Audi make the case:
“We believe that a boldly designed car, like the new Audi A7, deserves a boldly designed world. So today we’re breaking ground on an urban design initiative to re-imagine Powell Street in San Francisco.”
I’ll tell you, the last thing Audi drivers need is anything to do with boldness.
Oh, and Foursquare too: Audi Powell Street Promenade
This is the primary surface. Number one will pass right through, number two not so much:
Now, the original idea was to have a widened sidewalk but that would have caused issues with area hotels (like them suing the City and County for starters). So we’re going to get cutouts on both sides of both blocks. Thusly:
Here’s parklet eight of eight, near the Cable Car turnaround:
Now let’s thank Gaia that the aluminum hasn’t been arranged in interlocking rings to further advertise Audi and its million-dollar Audi Avenue. But there will be Audi’s name onsite and that’s too much, IMO. Oh well.
And I can’t think of any other carmaker that’s as closely associated with aluminum as Audi, so there’s that.
Was this marketing deal put out to bid, like maybe some other car companies might want to market their vehicles using the streets of San Francisco as well, right? Anyway, I don’t know.
Feel free to share your thoughts with SFGov – oh, whoops, comments be closed, just like the way they have it at BeyondChron, which is also financed with your taxpayer dollars.
All right, which particular Audi did the Powell Street Promenade draw its inspiration from? All together now, the A7! Get one today – starting price is merely $60K.
Hurray!
Lively SocketSite has some deets along with reaction from the commonweal.
[Earworm of the day: We're going rock down to-oo/ Audi Avenue.]
[UPDATE: And a commenter from FineInternets.com frets over the metal theft issue. I wonder how much this aluminum would be worth melted down. See comments.]
Introducing Audi Avenue! (Nee Powell Street) Or, Should We Call It Powell Street, by Audi USA?
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011Will Reisman has the deets about how Audi USA is spending seven figures to buy Powell Street, or something.
So now, Audi, adding to its reputation of selling its wares to the most extreme jackass drivers on the planet*, will also be known for having its own street in the 415.
Wouldn’t it be cool if they took down all the Powell street signs and replaced them with just the four rings of Audi’s logo? There’d be no text at all but everybody, tourists and citizens alike, would know exactly how to say the name of the street. Hurray!
It’ll look a little like this unfinished model – seems as if they forgot to add in the bodies of dead German tourists shot down on the street, but anyway:
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Now of course “Audi of America”** is claiming credit for the entire idea, but actually, we had this thing going 1.5 years ago.
Check it:
It wasn’t a success.
Anyway, here’s Audi’s spiel. Apparently, this whole thing was their thang all along, even before they knew about it, somehow:
“The Audi Design Project: Progress on Powell Street was launched with the purpose of improving the pedestrian experience on Powell Street in a way that transforms it into a vibrant destination and alleviates the congestion. So, working with the city of San Francisco, we’re doing something that might normally be considered unfathomable for an automaker — removing cars from the road. That’s right, we’re eliminating the parking lanes on both sides of the street and, in their place, creating a new public space that sits on top of the pavement.”
Read along after the jump to see how extra wide sidewalks on two blocks of Union Square Are Going To Change Everything.
*Yes, even worse than BMW drivers. The problem is that Audi drivers think that they’re extra special, that’s the problem…
**Is that your new name, Audi? Guess you have bad memories of the old one, Audi USA? Remember that whole unintended acceleration (sudden acceleration) thing back in the 1980′s and 1990′s? On behalf of America’s idiot drivers, I’d like to apologize for that whole deal. You were right, we were putting our feet on the wrong pedals. Our bad 
Horrible Filmed-in-San Francisco TV Show “Love Bites” Debuts on NBC – It’s Worse than “Trauma”
Monday, June 6th, 2011For some reason, the NBC just loves shooting bad television shows, ones with with horrible ratings, in the 415.
Comes now, Love Bites, which just had its national debut on June 2. It’s terrible.
But it’s been filmed (or taped or whatever) in town, so you might want to check it out for that reason alone. (Well, the first ep. had three vignettes, of which only the second is set in S.F.) Every scene from that segment practically screams “we made this on location!”
So you’ll see plenty of shots of the T/A Building and Belvedere Alley in Cole Valley:
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Here’s the reaction:
“The long-delayed premiere of NBC’s anthology romantic comedy, “Love Bites,” failed to meet even the lowest expectations Thursday night.”
Ouch.
Check it out yourself here starting at 1:50. Yish.
Maybe it could be best described as a television romcom, like Friends except sexier and not funny.
So, does it make sense to shoot TV shows on location in San Francisco these days?
No, it does not.
