by YTP on August 31, 2010
I have been meaning to write for some time about my July trip to the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum in Dulles, Virginia. This was, hands down, the best aircraft “show” or museum of any kind that I’ve ever encountered. From the Space Shuttle to the WWI aircraft, it was beautifully curated. I also think a good museum gift shop is about the best shopping experience you can have (because I am, in point of fact, a big shopper and a nerd), and Udvar Hazy did not disappoint. I fully employed my allotted gift shop budget.
I suspected this would be a great visit; what I did not anticipate was how differently people would respond to the museum. There are some people for whom the WWII planes are just it. I mentioned the museum to a family member, and all they wanted to know about was the WWII collection. I had to admit I had barely glanced at it. I was too busy spending all my visit in the WWI recon collection, as well as with the Vietnam and Cold War jets. Those are my two favorite eras of aviation, and from the Caudron G4 to the SR-71, this place did not disappoint.
The eldest YTP child ran around the entire time in his astronaut suit and stayed in the Space wing of the hanger (the whole thing is one giant aircraft hanger – it is awesome). The YTP spouse was curious about the early Boeings. Everyone had a unique angle on the place, and as I watched other visitors and listened to their conversations, I could see that diversity of response evident in their faces and words too.
Much of the romance surrounding aviation has died off as flight becomes so mundane, so commercial, but visiting this place reminded me how personal and emotional flying can be, and how much planes are a product of imagination as much as they are engineering. It was fun to see how those responses, mixed up with the history that all these different collections represent, came out in of each of us while there and when talking about it later with others.
Do I even need to add that you should go see this place?
Because you do.
Photos copyright ACMJ Productions
by YTP on August 23, 2010
One of the most interesting things to me in the news of late is what hasn’t been there. Where is the basic understanding of the science of oil? I think that BP’s negligence along with the regulatory problems are, indeed, horrible, but that has nothing to do with the chemical structure of the oil and the impact it will have. I read an article on ABC news the other day that claimed the Exxon Valdez spill and the BP spill are one and the same. I understand that the BP spill was just as stupidly caused, but light sweet crude oil and heavy crude oil are essentially two totally different substances chemically and have totally different specific gravities.
Why are people with no understanding of chemistry writing these articles making predictions about the physical and chemical behavior of different varieties of oil? It’s very strange. I think the American people can handle distinguishing between different kinds of oil (we all know that jet fuel and standard gas are different; I think we can handle the notion that oil is a complex and complicated substance). At the very least, people putting their journalistic reputations on the line might consider a simple Google search of the oil type before prognosticating in such dire terms on the eternal record book that is the Internet. If anything is going to stick, it’s the embarrassment of shoddy research and overly dramatic writing, not large pools of black tar on beaches.
The other thing that I found so odd when reading the comparisons between the Gulf Spill and the Valdez was the lack of reporting on the relative volume of the Gulf Spill. To put it in perspective, if the Gulf of Mexico was the volume of the Dallas Cowboy stadium, the total amount of the spill would be equivalent to a 20 oz. can of beer sitting on the field. And yet, for that can of beer, all drilling has been suspended in the Gulf, which means that the companies that had been drilling in the Gulf are seeking new contracts abroad (it costs $300k a day to lease a rig, so basic financial accounting suggests that American oil companies are not going to sit around paying $300k a day to wait on the ban to lift). Hmmm…American jobs vs. can of beer equivalent of oil which essentially dissipates.
Again, I think the BP disaster was utterly stupid and preventable, but the reporting on it has been as well. It’s like the MSM wants it to be more than the disaster that it is….
Hat tip: RJM!
