Student Drop-Out Rates...why?

"W P Dixon" wrote in message
...

A recreational Pilot still has to have the medical.


Ah.....

Thanks.

The big difference between flying, boating, and driving in my view is
what I call the "pull-over factor."

Not a bad way of looking at it.

So what's the pull-over factor like when your tire blows out or your
power brakes or power steering go out in 60 mph traffic (keeping in
mind that the latter two will happen if the engine dies)? How about
when you start skidding on ice or hydroplaning on water? Or when you
just realized you took a curve too fast? There are times when you
drive a car when just hitting the brakes doesn't get you out of that
ugly situation you're in, and can indeed be the worst thing to do.

Of course these days the engines, tires, brakes, steering, and all the
other equipment on cars is very reliable - but that's only because
volumes are large and manufacturers are reasonably free to make
improvements while government stays out of the way. If the FAA
regulated private cars and had done so since before WWII, I assure you
we would still be trying to certify automatic transmissions and digital
engine controls - and per-capita highway deaths would still be at
1960's levels.

So how do we improve the pull-over factor on airplanes? Well, for one
thing the parachute is a real step in the right direction. Sure,
pilots are using it when it's not necessary - but when it deploys,
they're living through the experience. If we're ever going to
mainstream personal flight so the people who have no business driving a
wheelbarrow can fly an airplane, the airframe parachute will have to
become a standard part of the aircraft.

Really, all the pieces are there. Cirrus has the parachute. Ercoupe
had the simplified control system. Mooney had the full-time autopilot.
Garmin has the navigation and weather all assembled into one package.
The airlines already have digital ATC datalinks. TKS has icing
protection that works. Put it all together, roll in some automation
and decision support (meaning let a computer make the decisions for the
pilot), and you can build a plane any idiot can fly - and actually go
places reliably and quickly. You can't do it cheaply, but if the FAA
would get out of the way it could be done for the price of a high end
Mercedes or BMW.

Michael

Larry Dighera wrote:

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 02:03:15 GMT, George Patterson
wrote in DF9Pe.5727$Ck2.3269@trndny04::


Larry Dighera wrote:

Oh yeah. That was the year he was impeached, wasn't it.

Nixon was never impeached.



Right. It's been a while. After his Vice President was caught taking
bribe money, and Nixon with his henchmen burglarizing etc. he resigned
under threat of impeachment, so that he wouldn't further disgrace the
office.

Unlike one of his successors.

wrote:
Move out of New Jersey. Work as a consultant and you can live anywhere
you can get a high-speed internet connection. No commute necessary and
real estate costs a lot less. I hire developers and sales people almost
without regard to location these days. If you're good, you can probably
do more than 60k and no job really offers security anymore unless it's
for the gummint.

Fine. Hire me. MS in computer science. high-speed DSL line. What
type of developer do you need?

The problem is you have top management who are only looking at short
term savings to justify their quarterly/annual bonus. They only plan on
staying around for two or three years, so why do they care about the
long term benefit to the company?

wrote:
The real-world picture is a bit more complicated than this. Working
with offshore resources costs a lot more than just the salary of the
guy in Bangalore. If you're contracting resources in small volume,
reasonably-skilled people can easily cost $2500/month, and in order to
get the job done you will probably need an in-country project manager
who costs another $2500. So a three-man shop costs $10k/mo.
In many cases you could do the same job here in the US with 2 good
coders who can manage themselves, live in your time zone, and
understand American business. You won't find good people for $60k/year
who live in the Manhattan area, but you might find them in Florida,
Texas, or Idaho where everything costs half as much and there's no
income tax.
Companies like GE or Accenture can push rates lower because of scale,
but most companies are not able to support those kinds of operations.
Not to mention that there are still many projects where cultural
knowledge that any American resident has will make things go much, much
easier. There is and always will be a place in the picture for American
IT workers.

wrote:

You won't find good people for $60k/year
who live in the Manhattan area, ...

You can find some great coders for that in the Manhattan area since the Telecom
collapse a few years ago. Of course, you need to offer half again as much if you
want them to actually work *in* Manhattan, but the surrounding area is somewhat
depressed.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

It's insane, but it's the law.

So you wouldn't have any problem with a new refinery coming on-line up
wind of your abode?


I wouldn't mind at all. As a matter of fact I'd welcome it. At this very
moment there is a very old refinery 1.13 miles (as the Skyhawk flies) away
from my house and I can't remember the last time I smelled anything from
it.

Now, when I was growing up the place regularly put out an odor that would
curl your toes but over the last 20 years it has cleaned up nicely.

Unfortunately, it's that "nice odor" (or lack thereof) that cost billions,
and has made it economically impossible for any oil company to build a new
refinery.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

We are dangerously low on refinery capacity, and current EPA regulations
make it essentially impossible to build any more in the U.S.

It's insane, but it's the law.

So you wouldn't have any problem with a new refinery coming on-line up
wind of your abode?

Depends on how far upwind.

One idea: If you've ever driven past Gary, Indiana, you would see mile
after mile of abandoned steel mills (that employed thousands, and used to
stink to holy heaven when I was a boy). That would be a perfect location
for a new refinery or ten.

It would be nice if our supposed "oil president" would issue an executive
order mandating construction of new refineries, pronto -- environmental
restrictions be damned. Of course, it would be tied up in the courts for
the next 15 years, and nothing would get done.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Unfortunately, it's that "nice odor" (or lack thereof) that cost billions,
and has made it economically impossible for any oil company to build a new
refinery.

At some point, petroleum products will cost enough to make it economically
feasible again.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Unfortunately, it's that "nice odor" (or lack thereof) that cost billions,
and has made it economically impossible for any oil company to build a new
refinery.

.... and that's a Good Thing.

Jose
--
Quantum Mechanics is like this: God =does= play dice with the universe,
except there's no God, and there's no dice. And maybe there's no universe.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.