World's biggest aircraft

Hughes H-4 Hercules
Airbus A380
Boeing 747-8
Antonov An-225

Land ho!

On the Great Circle route of the North Atlantic - the preferred course of air and sea travel between the East coast of North America and Europe - sits a narrow sandbar 26 miles long. Sable Island is located 150 miles off the Nova Scotia coast at the edge of the Continental Shelf and breaks sea level in the shallows of the northern Atlantic brought to surface by the confluence of the warm Gulstream current and the cold Labrador current and some funky underwater geology.



With the exception of a weather station, some lighthouses, a select few scientists, a herd of wild horses and a continent's worth of shipwrecks, there's not much else on Sable. I've always been fascinated by this spit of sand, so it was a special moment when I flew over it at sunset Thursday night. The crappy iPhone photos don't do the remote beauty of the place any justice, but it's a cool site to behold if you have occasion to pass by or over it.





PS - American Airlines sucks

Humorous Headline Of The Day

I came across this headline while in the office kitchen this afternoon. Glad nobody came in while I was lining up this picture - that would have been a difficult one to explain.

*Headline found in today's USA Today Money section.

New Airline Seat Design Promises to Make Flying Even Less Comfortable

Where to begin with this one. Flying sucks. There have been several well-documented rants on this blog to that point and if you don't think so you either have an unholy love for taking off your shoes or are paid enough to fly first class. This guy does not meet either of those criteria.

Anyway, an Italian company is doing their best to make it worse. "SkyRider" as they've been dubbed, are seats that give the sitter a much more upright approach to comfort (NOT in my wheelhouse). The space between seats is very slim and you basically get to study the hair follicles of the person in front of you the entire ride. Let me save you the work...sitting behind me will lead to great disappointment. Anyway...here's a shot below, focus on the second row. SUCK.



Special thanks to Steve "Big Katt" Geller for sending this over

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Like everyone else, I am feeling the Irish slide Flight Attendant Slater-son busted out on the Jet Blue flight last week. I also like the NY Post. And the interwebz. This week, world's collided and I read an article on Slater in the Post's online edition. One thing in particular I like about the online version of the Post is the comment section. Amazing people with an amazing amount of time on their hands write amazing things. But reading comments from those claiming to be current or former flight attendants put me over the edge.

I am sure the job is tough. So is mine. Customers can be rude. Sometimes mine are, too. I am sure flight attendants get fed up. I do, too. But the online-commenting-airline-personnel types who have chosen this as their moment to lash out at airline passengers the world over are failing to realize how much flying these days sucks....really, really, really sucks...for the passengers, too.

And while I do respect Slater for really sticking it to the man and grabbing 1/3 of a sixer for the road, I am sure the chain of events that led him to the Pittsburgh - JFK flight did not include getting ripped off on the price of a ticket, a ridiculous line at the ticket counter/electronic check-in machine/bag check where the dude with the wand makes you hope that bag wasn't the one you packed when you went to Bonarroo two years ago, another line at security where you get the twice-over on your drivers license and person, shoe removal, laptop removal, a full body scan that some creepy judge has on file forever, a solid wanding, and for good measure bad/no food.

Why are airline passengers generally in a foul mood? Because the airline industry is hell bent on putting them there. Could passengers be a little nicer? Yes. Could the airlines make travelers lives a little better? Definitely.