When will we get serious about the growth of the federal government?

The FY2011 budget shows neither political party is serious about reducing the federal deficit. Admittedly, it would have been political suicide to allow parts of the federal government to have shut down last week. That said, the conversation from both sides of the aisle in Washington, DC remains simply rhetoric.



Reference:
"Obama/Boehner's Phony Spending Cuts." Catoinstitutevideo. YouTube, 14 Apr. 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsQlkU3eN-c.

Details and Credibility

At yesterday's briefing on the fuselage rupture of a Southwest Airlines 737, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) used an airplane model as a visual aid. On their model, the horizontal stabilizer points down (anhedral). The horizontal stabilizer of 737s actually point up (dihedral). It would increase my confidence in the NTSB if they had put the model together correctly.




References:
Wong, Alex. Close-up Look at 737 Fuselage Damage. 2011. Photograph. Getty Images, Washington, DC. Picture This. The Seattle Times, 05 Apr. 2011. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/picturethis/2014693019_pt_sw737.html.

"737-300 with Winglets." CAD 3-View Drawings for Airport Planning Purposes. The Boeing Company. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. http://www.boeing.com/commercial/airports/dwgs/7373w.zip.

Southwest 737 emergency

The Southwest 737 (N632SW) that suffered an in-flight fuselage rupture and resulting rapid decompression yesterday was a 737-3H4 Classic. The model series (-300/400/500) was last produced in the year 2000. Boeing built almost 2000 737-Classics. The Classic-series was replaced by the 737 Next Generation (-600/700/800/900), which remains in production.

I have not yet read what caused the fuselage rupture. Regardless of the cause, I commend the flight crew for successfully handling the emergency.

The 737 is designed with controlled area breakaway zones. This design feature may have limited the structural failure, much as it did with the 1988 Aloha Airlines incident on a 737-200. I have read Southwest Airlines has eighty-one 737-Classics subject to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airworthiness Directive (AD) related to skin fatigue. According to a Southwest Airlines news release today, all eighty-one aircraft are grounded pending completion of "aggressive inspection."

Despite this unfortunate incident, I have no concern about flying in a well-maintained 737. Southwest has a reputation for maintaining their aircraft well. More 737s have been produced than any other jet airliner series and they are the backbone for many of the world's airlines. While I believe the 737 is, and will continue to be, a good and safe airliner, I look forward to Boeing committing to build a successor, the 797.

Cubs fan ritual

During baseball season there is a routine for Northside Chicagoans. At the beginning of each month we check to see if the Cubs are mathematically eliminated from winning for the pennant. I am pleased to say, despite the embarrassment of losing to the lowly Pittsburg Pirates 3-6 on opening day, my Chicago Cubs are still in contention.

Aviation "incident"

Yesterday, on his second day as an intern at Chicago Executive Airport, my son, Josh, witnessed an incident - a euphemism for an accident. Confidentiality prevented him from sharing specifics, but this is what I understand happened. An airplane had just taken off from runway 31, when it veered left, losing altitude, heading toward the Atlantic Aviation hanger. The pilot gained enough control to avoid crashing into the hanger or parked airplanes and land on taxiway L. Seemingly the aileron cable broke. No one was injured and the fire department was turned back before it arrived.



From Josh's description, I gather the airplane was a single-engine Cessna, probably designed by his grandfather. As I recall a story from my dad, his only "incident" as a pilot was at the same airport. Dad was making a delivery flight, was low on fuel, and he had to fly around and below jurisdictions for Midway and O'Hare. He had to fly in formation to the airport with another airplane as one of them did not have a radio. Yes, general aviation was more basic in the 1960s. On approach Dad lost power and I think he had a forced landing short of the runway. While Dad's short-term memory was failing him in the last few years of his life, given enough time, he could still pull up long-term memories. I miss being able to talk with him and I know he would be greatly interested in what Josh is learning in his studies to be an air traffic controller.

Dealing with Chicagoland's "Snowpocalypse"

Yesterday and this morning were officially a blizzard in Chicagoland. For more than the required three hours: a) visibility was less than ¼ mile; b) winds blew greater than 35 m.p.h.; and c) snow drifted. I got up initially at 4:00 a.m. this morning. It was still snowing steadily, so I went back to bed. When I got up shortly after 7:00 a.m. I immediately started shoveling a path so the dogs could go outside to defecate. We had closed the doggy door Tuesday night because the wind was blowing it open and leaving snow on the floor. Snow had drifted several feet just outside the doggy door, so an alternate path for the dogs needed to be created. I chuckled last night when I learned my son was building a snow fort for his dogs. Hindsight shows he was clever. The taller of my Black Labradors can hold her head up above the snow, but the shorter one and the Pekingese had to wait for me to shovel the path. My son's Chihuahuas needed the snow fort!

The official snowfall total at O'Hare International Airport for yesterday and today was 20.2 inches. Driving, our house is seventeen miles from the airport. As the crow flies, it is probably fewer than fifteen miles to the weather station. Weather patterns for the airport and our house are usually similar, so we probably got twenty inches of snow. Given the drifting, though, one cannot go out and put in a yard stick for an accurate measurement. Doing so would simple give the extremes of a few inches to nearly five feet.

Several years ago when we bought the Orange Beast, our Ariens snow blower, my wife thought we should get the size smaller. Given the sale price on the larger one, she concurred with my recommendation. In hindsight for today we should have gotten an even larger one. The Orange Beast worked well, but when the snow is deeper than the top of the ejector spout there just is a limit to how much it could do. The task of removing the snow from the driveway and sidewalks usually takes no more than thirty minutes. Today, with Donna helping, it took us until 11:30.

We live in a good neighborhood. Everyone was out clearing snow by 9:00. With a neighbor we figured out a technique that with three people you could efficiently clear a path. The first person lunges through the snow shoveling off the top to a level the snow blower can tackle. The next person uses the snow blower. The third person shovels up what the snow blower spills behind.

With the exception of the house across the street that a bank has taken has taken possession of, everyone in our immediate block has cleared, or is in the process of clearing, their drive and sidewalk. Our offer to help one of our neighbors was refused even though he had been shoveling from almost as early as I had been. His logic was he wanted the personal satisfaction of clearing a path by himself.

The snow plows have been down the street a couple of times, but our street is essentially a one lane roadway because so much snow is piled along the street.

Five of the Metra commuter rail lines are not operating today (Heritage Corridor, North Central Service, Metra Electric Blue Island Branch, Southwest Service, Union Pacific McHenry Sub). The remaining eight lines are on a reduced service Sunday schedule (Union Pacific North Line, Union Pacific West Line, Union Pacific Northwest Line, BNSF Railway, Milwaukee District West Line, Milwaukee District North Line, Rock Island District, Metra Electric District - University Park and South Chicago Only). Early yesterday afternoon extra trains were added and ran on a load and leave schedule. By evening though the fine, blowing snow played havoc with the switches and trains were taking up to two hours longer than usual to finish a route. I understand Metra has at least one jet turbine on a rail car that they use to blow away the snow and to heat switches. I have not seen any pictures of it, but it would have come in handy in the last twenty-four hours.

Shortly after taking office, President Obama remarked how surprised he was that a snowstorm shut down the government in Washington, DC and caused the schools to be closed. He compared the situation to Chicago where we would have the streets cleared and we would bundle the children up knowing school would be open. Today, for the first time since 1999, the Chicago public schools are closed due to weather. The City with Broad Shoulders is coping, although it is taking longer than hoped. An example of the resourcefulness is the fire department getting fifty snowmobiles to extract people if wheeled vehicles cannot get through.

I fully intended to work from home today, but I did not anticipate it would take half a day to clear the driveway and sidewalks. My body aches and I am exhausted. Thankfully we have power and are warm. The temperature will drop to below zero tonight, but fortunately the wind has stopped blowing. Life should return to normal for chilly Chicago tomorrow.

Midwest Earthquake

Some residents of the Chicago area reportedly felt the 4.2 magnitude earthquake this morning near Kokomo, Indiana. The earthquake occurred at 6:55 CST. Kokomo is roughly two-thirds of the way to Indianapolis south from South Bend. Our animals did not tell us anything was unusual. Like in February when there was a 3.8 magnitude earthquake near Pingree Grove, Illinois, I did not feel it.