Depending on where you were, oily films were common on
buildings and cars. I remember walking on the city streets
in both my hometown of Springfield and in Chicago and seeing
a black oily scum on the buildings. They had crews
sandblasting the limestone and sandstone buildings.
When I lived in Tulsa back in the early 70s, if the wind was
from the northwest, our car would have a oil film overnight
from the refineries in West Tulsa.
Flying near these places, before scrubbers became common
would leave a nice coat.

I also remember the change in the water color just of the
Chicago shoreline, from gray to blue-green.



"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
| Kyle Boatright wrote:
|
| I was having lunch with a buddy of mine the other day
who has been a pilot
| for almost 50 years. We discussed the bad visibility we
have in the South
| and up the Eastern seaboard in the summer. Haze to
10,000', lateral
| visibility frequently under 5 miles, etc.
|
| He said that it is much better now than in the late
60's/early 70's. He
| said the airborne pollution in those days was so bad
that if you went on a
| long X/C you often came back with an oily film covering
the leading edges of
| the wings. He also added that when he started flying,
in the 50's,
| visibility was usually far better than it is today.
|
| Any comments?
|
| I don't believe the oily film part and I don't believe
things were
| better in the 50s than in the 60s or 70s. I do believe
things are
| better now than anytime during the 50s-70s.
|
|
| Matt