Sunday, January 8, 2012

Flight logistics and mechanical nightmares

Finally arrived home after a four hour layover; my first thoughts on reaching the airport and waiting for my transfer was imagining the flow of air traffic throughout the day.  Thankfully, here is a video which shows just that:



(note that at 2:05, there is a single plane coming from the east which loops due to inclement weather before suddenly vanishing)

In any case, it really shows just how far we have come in revolutionizing the transportation industry.  As if being strapped to a chair inside a giant box and flying hundreds of miles per hour thousands of feet above weren't amazing enough, just considering the complex coordination between air traffic controllers and pilots to ensure that each plane lands in a manner that is controlled, efficient, and safe is mind boggling.  In short: I used to hate flying (still dislike it, actually -- TSA is part of the reason), but now I have a better appreciation for it.


In more "oh, c'mon, it's barely the second week of the new year" news, I came home to a car that evidently leaks gasoline now.  Fantastic.  Initial observations lead me to the air filter, and upon closer inspection a fine mist of gasoline sprays from one of the vacuum lines every time the engine turns.  A bit of research tells me that the most likely culprit may be a clogged float valve, so tomorrow I'll have the honor of disassembling the carburetor and hoping that the float valve is accessible and easy to clean (I didn't even bother trying to pick it apart today.  I just came home, vegged out on greasy Mexican food and relaxed since I woke up at 5am to catch my first flight).  Ah well, a fight is a fight I suppose.  Have at you, 2012 (tomorrow, that is)!  

27 comments:

  1. That's a good catch at 2:05 there, that's odd!

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  2. Good luck fixing your car. How ironic, coming back to USA and you eat Mexican food, haha.

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  3. That's interesting. Great post!

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  4. Wow, that's an awesome visualization.

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  5. Sad to hear about the car. Good luck.

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  6. Really didn't realize that there were so many planes in the air at same time, amazing video, and I hope the people who make everything work gets great pay. :P

    And good luck with the car!

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  7. We need something that uses electricity,not fosil fuels. Then we accomplished our goals. Nice post mate. +follow

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  8. i think about that all the time. Louis CK put it best about people complaining about X amount of hours in a flight yet back in the day it took years to travel! ><<

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  9. cool video, was about to mention the Louis CK routine but Q already has, glad I wasn't the only one

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  10. I hope you get it up and running this week :)

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  11. WOw that was really neat never knew pilots would go out of their way for storms.

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  12. This is awesome man! Like it!

    FOLLOWED

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  13. Interesting video.
    Sorry to hear about your car.

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  14. I still don't understand just how air traffic controllers manage to complete their job, day after day with out having a nervous break down!

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  15. Floe seems as if there are too many planes up there.

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  16. Very interesting! Never knewn before that so much planes are up there :D.

    FOLLOWING! ;-)

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