Pilots and driving

"Roger Long" wrote in message . ..

limit. Every time I passed a speed sign, my brain would register it
unconsciously and I would set the speedometer exactly to the number. It was
spooky.

And to think people consider it unsafe to be driving, tuning the
radio, folding a map, and talking on your cellphone all at the same
time. And in most of the country you don't even have holds to worry
about (up here in Boston we call them "rotaries").

-cwk.

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message

You guessed it. I ran into that car.

Look on the bright side! You avoided a mid-air collision. :
Glad you're safe.
-=c

Andrew Sarangan wrote in message .158...
I remember a discussion recently whether pilots are safer drivers. I
believed that to be true until recently. As a pilot, I tend to look up at
the sky while driving, particularly if an airplane is flying. The other day
I was looking up at the clouds to figure out which direction the wind was
blowing. The car in front of me made a sudden stop. You guessed it. I ran
into that car. This would not have happened had I not been a pilot
distracted by the sky. This is my first auto-incident ever, in twenty years
of driving. I guess that still makes me a safe driver, but not as safe as I
thought I was.

My sister claims she'd much rather fly than drive with me.....
--
Gene Seibel
Hangar 131 - http://pad39a.com/gene/plane.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

Andrew Sarangan wrote:
I remember a discussion recently whether pilots are safer drivers. I
believed that to be true until recently. As a pilot, I tend to look up at
the sky while driving, particularly if an airplane is flying. The other day
I was looking up at the clouds to figure out which direction the wind was
blowing. The car in front of me made a sudden stop. You guessed it. I ran
into that car. This would not have happened had I not been a pilot
distracted by the sky. This is my first auto-incident ever, in twenty years
of driving. I guess that still makes me a safe driver, but not as safe as I
thought I was.


In San Diego two major freeways merge not far from the end of the main
runways at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station (former Miramar Naval Air
Station - home of Top Gun). There is a lot of lane changing with fast
and slow traffic crossing in front of each other, numerous entrance and
exit ramps, and there are commuter lanes in the center divider that
change direction with the commute. Traffic is always heavy and driving
through this mess requires intense concentration and quick reactions.

Just a few hundred feet above this chaos F/A 18s are making the turn to
final.

I find it extremely difficult to not be distracted by these low-flying
warplanes while avoiding cars all around me. It gets worse in the days
before the annual air show when a large variety of interesting planes
are flying in. A BUFF or C5B on short final really gets your attention!

I've managed to avoid any accidents so far, but it's not easy.


Are there any other places that have high potential for pilot
distraction while driving?



Jeff

Yeah, stay away from Chino airport unless you're actually going to the
airport. And even then, be careful. It's all farm land out there, for now,
and the main road goes right across the departure end of the runways. At any
point (especially the first Saturday of every month), you could be overflown
by B-25s, P-51s, P-38s, or any of a number of other planes. The first
Satruday of the month, the museum there features a certain airplane or
person or era and flies something relating to it. I got to their annual
airshow a little late this year, arriving just as they were doing their
naval airpower demo. Hellcats, Wildcats, Bearcats, Tigercats, an Avenger,
and Skyraiders were part of this, among others.

Man, now I want to go. Oooh, next weekend is "Royal Air Force In Action"
according to their website. I might have to take a trip out there.......

-Tony
Student Pilot
31.3 Hours


"Jeff Glenn" wrote...

In San Diego two major freeways merge not far from the end of the main
runways at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station (former Miramar Naval Air
Station - home of Top Gun). There is a lot of lane changing with fast
and slow traffic crossing in front of each other, numerous entrance and
exit ramps, and there are commuter lanes in the center divider that
change direction with the commute. Traffic is always heavy and driving
through this mess requires intense concentration and quick reactions.

Just a few hundred feet above this chaos F/A 18s are making the turn to
final.

I find it extremely difficult to not be distracted by these low-flying
warplanes while avoiding cars all around me. It gets worse in the days
before the annual air show when a large variety of interesting planes
are flying in. A BUFF or C5B on short final really gets your attention!

I've managed to avoid any accidents so far, but it's not easy.


Are there any other places that have high potential for pilot
distraction while driving?



Jeff

What is it about Chino, anyway? Some years ago I took a ride on a DC-3 that
was part of an air show at Cable airport in Upland, Calif. When I climbed
aboard I noticed a definite aroma of cow manure. I thought maybe the
airplane had been used as a fertilizer hauler, but it had all its passenger
seats. Back on the ground I asked a bystander if he had any idea why the
plane was redolent of cattle poop. "Oh, it's from Chino," he said, as if
that explained it all, and he offered no details.

wrote in message
...
Yeah, stay away from Chino airport unless you're actually going to the
airport.

Chino is, for the time being, surrounded by farmland. The aroma is part of
the experience and makes it Chino. I tried to tell my friends this as we
passed fields of cows and sheep. They didn't buy it. I guess you have to
really love the airplanes.


-Tony
Student Pilot
31.3 Hours



"Henry Kisor" wrote...
What is it about Chino, anyway? Some years ago I took a ride on a DC-3
that
was part of an air show at Cable airport in Upland, Calif. When I climbed
aboard I noticed a definite aroma of cow manure. I thought maybe the
airplane had been used as a fertilizer hauler, but it had all its
passenger
seats. Back on the ground I asked a bystander if he had any idea why the
plane was redolent of cattle poop. "Oh, it's from Chino," he said, as if
that explained it all, and he offered no details.

wrote in message
...
Yeah, stay away from Chino airport unless you're actually going to the
airport.

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 15:47:17 -0500, "Henry Kisor"
wrote:

plane was redolent of cattle poop. "Oh, it's from Chino," he said, as if
that explained it all, and he offered no details.

Well, there are stockyards all along the road to Chino, but that
shouldn't linger in the aircraft.

When I did stalls/aerobatic training at Chandler AZ, in hot March
weather, I drove past a stockyard on my way back to the motel, at noon
and again at four o'clock. Each day the smell made me just a bit more
queasy. I don't think I could have done a sixth day of aerobatics.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Expedition sailboat charters www.expeditionsail.com

Cub Driver warbird wrote:
When I did stalls/aerobatic training at Chandler
AZ, in hot March weather, I drove past a stockyard
on my way back to the motel, at noon and again at
four o'clock. Each day the smell made me just a bit
more queasy. I don't think I could have done a sixth
day of aerobatics.

If you're driving past them, sure. The air in the early a.m. at Chandler smells
like the stockyard, and if you're in an open cockpit, there's probably no
avoiding it at last near the airport, but our other *airplanes* don't smell
like cows inside! (that's pretty strange!)

Cub Driver wrote:

Well, there are stockyards all along the road to Chino, but that
shouldn't linger in the aircraft.

Well, a DC-3 is likely to stay on the ground most of the time. After sitting in that
atmosphere for a long time, I think it would take lots of airing out to remove the
smell.

George Patterson
If you want to know God's opinion of money, just look at the people
he gives it to.