caretaker

He's a bit of a cowboy isn't he?, willing to go places without permission in order to set records as well. Says here he's flown around the world 3 times, and over both poles.
https://www.southpolestation.com/news/rv4/rv4.html
Johanson has previously flown this aircraft around the world 3 times including a trip over the North Pole (here's the Van's Aircraft specs page on the base RV-4, and another page about some of Jon's previous exploits).

ddsrph

It takes a bold person to fly a single engine plane over water and terrain like he has done. Just wondering if you are going to run out of fuel is scary enough.

caretaker

Run out of fuel or luck. He seems to know when to turn back because of fuel, even if by a small margin.
Edit: I think that is true because he has survived. The chances he has taken by not having his own caches of fuel (regardless of permission) and using low octane gas are concerning, but it's hard to argue with success.

ddsrph

Most people think of small aircraft being high tech when the opposite is true. The engine in my plane is out of a late forties Piper with a fuel requirement of 80 octane. They quit making 80 octane about 20 years ago. Some of the newer Lycoming engines have higher compression and were designed for the new aviation gas which is 100 octane but has a lot of lead. The older engines run great on auto fuel without alcohol. Aircraft starters and generators are the old clunky super heavy type but the FAA has certified newer types in past few years. My alternator is a Japanese auto item. Being experimental I can use whatever I want on my plane. The FAA is slowly moving into the 21st century fueled in part by the experimental aircraft movement. Modern aircraft piston engines are little changed from the 1940’s in basic design but have improved metallurgy.

Pulaski

A neighbor offered to take Little Miss P and me up with her husband in their light aircraft - her husband had the pilot's license, but she was learning. I politely declined for reasons of risk/ safety despite her protestations.

A few months later, while landing during one of her lessons she rolled the 1970 Cessna she was flying, turning into a ball of scrap metal. To see it, it was remarkable enough that she survived, even more so that she walked away! .... But she still ended up in hospital for surgery on a fractured eye socket. There was a "good reason" why the accident happened, but it didn't alter the fact that it did happen, and could easily have caused her and her instructor even more serious injuries, or worse.

Obviously I didn't say "I told you so", but it reaffirmed my vow to never fly in anything other than a scheduled airline aircraft.

caretaker

I didn't realise they could digest the low octane fuel. Back in 1972 I cooked a 25hp outboard by stealing using av-gas to go visit the teachers and get off the island for a few hours; made a 22' steel boat stand right up.

Steerpike

Call me the most boring person on earth, but taking big risks that aren't necessary doesn't seem like a logical way to live. I know people say 'the idea is not to arrive at death's door in perfect shape, but rather battered and bruised from a lifetime of experiences ...' etc but for me, there are enough real risks in everyday life that taking on unnecessary risks on top of that is questionable. Sure, I'm absolutely positive that jumping out of a plane and skydiving / free-falling is exhilarating, but I can also enjoy a good steak or a good drink. Watching people climb sheer rock-faces without ropes is pretty impressive, but I don't feel inspired to do likewise - I'll happily watch them on a documentary on TV! I did once get to fly in a private small plane up in Alaska, and even got to take the controls for a minute; I'm glad I had the experience, but ... 'never again' !

scrubbedexpat091

Died before his COVID test came back, but seems flight attendants are becoming more concerned.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/us/fl...oPVhw4Ot0hCpVs

audio

They have good reason to be, the whole cabin including the galley is normally pressurized using partly recycled air. If it is contaminated with Covid19, I cannot say if the filtering system would remove it.

Cape Blue

Virgin's email says they have HEPA filters for recycled air - apparently HEPA does well with corona

https://thewirecutter.com/blog/can-h...e-coronavirus/

scrubbedexpat091

Here is Alaska Airlines short video on their HEPA filters. As far as I know HEPA filters are standard on commercial jets.

scrubbedexpat091

One upside to this virus is airlines are showing things they normally would not like videos on air filters...lol

Delta has one too.

scrubbedexpat091

The US airlines don't seem to think they will fully recover, so far both United and Delta have stated they expect to be a smaller carrier when this is all said and done, wonder if they use this to clean house and become a more lean but smaller companies?

scrubbedexpat142

The future of air travel -

scrubbedexpat091

Vancouver airport is expecting 2020 passenger traffic to be about what they saw way back in 1995, after a decade of record growth. They have suspended construction on the expansion that was currently underway, the new terminal expansion was due to open in June, but due to lack of flights the airport doesn't currently need any additional gates or terminal space, they have not yet decided if/when construction will continue. They are currently in cash saving mode and looking to access lines of credit, also asking the federal government to reduce or waive the $60 million annual lease payment. YVR like other major airports in Canada, lease the land from the federal government and receive no tax funding and have to be self supporting via fees and other revenue streams.

They expect US departures to drop to nearly nothing in the next few weeks and most international, and with China restricting Chinese airlines to one route, once per week, that will further reduce revenue.

About 15,000 people who work at the airport have lost their jobs.