The Mis-Quotation of Wilbur Wright (and for what it’s worth, Bill Gates too)
Wilbur Wright Knew The Difference.
The Wright Brothers were not short-sighted, and their honor must be defended. In particular, Wilbur Wright. He was no dummy.
While doing research on the infamous brothers, I came across a quote that’s very common on the internet. The quote is this:
“No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris … [because] no known motor can run at the requisite speed for four days without stopping.”
Bruce Campbell’s 727 House in Oregon Is Not News (Anymore). Although Still Cool.
Great Find HuffPo. and CNN, for 1998!
The Latest from 1998
Bruce Campbell (not the actor from Burn Notice) is the owner of a Boeing 727 home, and he has been posting pics on his unique house since 2002. Before that, the article you see here (in monochromatic splendor) is from the Maine Sun Journal, December 12, 1998.
Recently, (this week), the HuffPo via WTSP (through CNN) picked up the story and are running it like it’s new. Yes, it’s cool. But new, no. Not anymore. They were scooped by 14 years in a paper news thingy.
Now, I guess they might claim that CNN was allowed to do a new video tour (maybe that’s news?), but really these should all be follow-up stories with titles like: “How Has Bruce Campbell Dealt With The Publicity Of His 727 House?”. Or: “Campbell’s 14 Years Living In A Can.” (Have some pun.)
Well, if these media outlets are not above such old news, I guess neither are we. It’s still clickworthy. Here’s an embedded re-post, of an embedded video (sorry it’s Flash):
Also not aviation news…
…but just as cool, if not cooler is a 727 hotel in Costa Rica (click to visit the article):
Bravo Hotel
Visit Campbells website here: http://www.airplanehome.com/ (Where the top pictures came from.)
Visit the Costa Rica 727 fuselage hotel here: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/the-727-fuselage-home-82299
Remember Mathias Rust? German pilot proud of Red Square flight 25 years on.
German pilot proud of Red Square flight 25 years on (via AFP)
A German aviator who stunned the Kremlin in May 1987 by landing near Red Square said he helped bring about change in the Soviet Union, in an interview published Monday on the 25th anniversary of his flight. Mathias Rust, 43, told Russian mass-circulation newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda he flew to Moscow…
Growing Up With The Space Shuttle: My Memories As A Local
Discovery's Last Takeoff, April 2012
I was born and grew up in Central Florida, on the eastern coast, 10 miles from Cape Canaveral, and about 15 miles from Kennedy Space Center (KSC). For obvious reasons, this part of Florida is also known as the ‘Space Coast’. Here, I saw pretty much every significant Space Shuttle launch in person, beginning with the first one STS-1, until the mid-2000′s when I moved out of Florida. Watching the recent footage of Discovery making its final trip for exhibition at the National Air & Space Museum, has finally made me want to pause and reflect a bit. The shuttle program is nearly as old as I am, and I have some fond memories (and less fond memories) of that time. Here’s a quick retrospective of my shuttle watching career for the main ones I remember, by mission ID. (And for fellow space buffs, don’t worry about not knowing the mission ID’s, I had to look them up too. They got complicated.) Continue reading
Apollo 11 Engines Found: Neat-o or Ego?
Look At The Size of Those Things (Photo Credit NASA, via ARS Technica)
As reported this week by quite a few sources (Newsday article here), Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, accompanied by his vast wealth, has discovered what are believed to be (as CNN puts it): “… the F-1 engines that powered the Saturn V rocket carrying Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 mission to the moon…”. The two primary newsworthy events here are: a) they’re possibly intact? Wow! and b) they were found in 14,000 feet of water (c? rich peoples deep pockets = deep sea). Of course, the cynical side of me wonders if Bezos chose this week to make the announcement so as not to be overshadowed by James Cameron’s Abyss descent. Which then leads me to question whether Bezos might simply have more money than he knows what to do with and whether this is the best use of his money. Continue reading
