Smithsonian museum at Dulles

Cub Driver wrote:
On 29 May 2005 05:33:18 -0700, "Robert M. Gary"
wrote:


The $7 bus ride math works differently
for me because I have to multiply everything by 4.


I think kids are half price. Evidently the fare is now $8, so it would
be $24 (I think). And for that you get to visit NASM next day

It's now $12 for tickets 1-3 and rates go down (marginally) from there.
http://www.nasm.si.edu/visit/shuttlebus.cfm for the full details.

While on the nasm webpage check out
http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/eventD...fm?eventID=295

other than the fact some of the listed aircraft are from a really old
list and aren't coming (no T-38, the King Air was replace by a Citation,
no Grumman TR2). The Predator will actually be reassembled in the
museum during the day so that should be fun.

The day will be GREAT (I just need perfect weather)

Margy

I use Priceline everywhere. I paid $65/night for Comfort Inn in
Alexandria. It included breakfast (waffles, donuts, etc). Priceline is
the way to go if you travel often.

-Robert

-Robert, frustrated D.C. tourist

You've convinced me, Robert: Flying in is the way to go...

Isn't it amazing that we (as a people) have so many highly paid "public
servants" who do NOTHING but design road systems -- and yet can get it so
wrong?

Iowa City is full of this kind of stupidity. We've got Muscatine St.,
Muscatine Avenue, Lower Muscatine Dr -- what, like, no one could think of a
unique name for these streets? When we first moved here, we were on the
wrong Muscatine every day.

And this isn't an isolated incident, and it's certainly not unique to Iowa
City. Every city I've lived in has similar examples.

What I like is when the road planners decided to install "traffic calming
devices" (AKA: Chicanes) on a road -- without telling the residents in
advance! Overnight, they started installing these crazy things that
required traffic to literally zig-zag down their street.

Needless to say, the residents were furious, and went straight to City Hall.
Within a month, the work crews were out, bulldozing the new chicanes -- at
incredible expense.

Even funnier is our latest-and-greatest computer-controlled stoplights, now
with little cameras on each pole. Because of this wonderful system, it is
now possible to get EVERY SINGLE RED LIGHT as you drive across town! What
a wonderful innovation!

When traffic is relatively light, they do an okay job of keeping things
moving -- but as soon as things pick up, bang -- you WILL get every red
light, as it is working just a smidge out of sync with the actual traffic
flow.

You'd think they'd get this right, by now. I lived in Racine, WI when they
received a grant for the very first non-experimental, computer-controlled
stop lights in the nation, way back in the early 1970s. These were the
first "loop-in-the-ground" sensors, all connected to a central computer down
at City Hall. I actually wrote an article about this system for my high
school newspaper, and it was a marvel of technology (the computer looked
like something out of Lost in Space) for the time.

And -- it worked. Because all the lights were interconnected, there was an
"over-ride" mode that would enable the system to sense big slugs of traffic
at rush hour. They would then stop individually sensing (and changing) and
become more "sequenced" -- just like the old mechanical stop lights tried to
do.

I don't know why they got away from that -- I suppose cost.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
We've got Muscatine St., Muscatine Avenue, Lower Muscatine Dr -- what,
like, no one could think of a unique name for these streets? When we
first moved here, we were on the wrong Muscatine every day.

Perhaps it's the exaggerated impression of an out-of-towner, but aren't
half the streets, lanes, parkways and boulevards in Atlanta named
"Peachtree?"

....not to mention an airport.

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

Dan Luke asked, "... aren't half the streets, lanes, parkways and boulevards
in Atlanta named Peachtree?"

My wife and I had the same impression.

Dan Luke wrote:

Perhaps it's the exaggerated impression of an out-of-towner, but aren't
half the streets, lanes, parkways and boulevards in Atlanta named
"Peachtree?"

No. There is exactly one Peachtree St. in Atlanta, GA. There are tons of other
streets with "Peachtree" in the name, but the only "Peachtree Street" is the
main drag that runs north from Five Points.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message

Even funnier is our latest-and-greatest computer-controlled stoplights,
now with little cameras on each pole. Because of this wonderful system,
it is now possible to get EVERY SINGLE RED LIGHT as you drive across town!
What a wonderful innovation!

When traffic is relatively light, they do an okay job of keeping things
moving -- but as soon as things pick up, bang -- you WILL get every red
light, as it is working just a smidge out of sync with the actual traffic
flow.


When I lived in Denver in the early 70s, they had lights on main
thoroughfares synchronized to the speed limit. I don't know what the system
was. If you drove right about the speed limit, you could go six miles
across town and hit every green. I did it numerous times. Those who tried
to rush invariably got caught at the next light.

When I lived in Denver in the early 70s, they had lights on main
thoroughfares synchronized to the speed limit. I don't know what the
system was. If you drove right about the speed limit, you could go six
miles across town and hit every green. I did it numerous times. Those who
tried to rush invariably got caught at the next light.

Ah, those were the days -- I remember them well.

Now, with each stop light sensored individually, there is no "right" speed.

:-(
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Just remember, if the lights are set for 30, they are also set for 90.

Jim




Even funnier is our latest-and-greatest computer-controlled stoplights,
now with little cameras on each pole. Because of this wonderful system,
it is now possible to get EVERY SINGLE RED LIGHT as you drive across town!
What a wonderful innovation!

While you are in town, be sure to go to the College Park Air Museum.
It's easy to find. Just follow the Rt 1 Metro signs or take the Metro.
Great museum without the hassles of the Dulles Smithsonian. Nice
restraunt on the field too.

Also, if you think you might be flying yourself into DC again, while you
are at College Park you can pick up the paperwork procedures for being
vetted into the DC3. You'll need to make a trip to National Airport and
one of the local FSDOs, but you'll be able to fly yourself into
College Park and catch the metro from there on future trips.

Helen