Thursday, December 18, 2014

And then the Government got involved...

 
My previous blog involved my running theory about Santa and the Wright Brothers--backed up of course by a sketch, and other evidence to further substantiate my claims, that perhaps Santa taught Orville and Wilbur how to fly.  It was a wonderful moment in it's simplicity and purity as the Wright's allowed Santa to take the Flyer for a spin.

 
 
 
 

 

I received this, and it's painfully clear that the FAA has been looking into the unlicensed jolly old man from the North Pole--and this is what happened.  Sorry Santa.  
 


Sunday, December 14, 2014

Who taught Orville Wright to fly?


 
It's the age old question, which came first, the airplane or the pilot?

According to history, the airplane came first, because Wilbur and Orville Wright studied the science and built one--and promptly kept crashing the thing.  Was their machine flawed?  Or was it the lack of flying lessons?

I can promise that if anyone today was allowed to take the Wright Flyer out for a spin around the patch--they'd crash.  No doubt in my mind whatsoever that time after time, without an expertly trained pilot, the Flyer would wind up in an unrecognizable ball of tubing and canvas.  It's not an easy machine to fly.

My personal theory, is there was someone, a benevolent instructor.  The only high-time aviator in the world came forward, and taught the Wrights to fly.  This generous endeavor only worked because Kitty Hawk, back in 1903, was out in the middle of nowhere. This instructor typically remained unseen while working, and he wanted no share of the glory he knew was about to come--it was an early Christmas gift to Orville and Wilbur.

On December 17th, 1903, the instructor watched Orville make that fateful solo flight. His only request was that he wanted to demo the Flyer just once before he departed.  The Wright's happily obliged, and although there are no photographs of that particular event, there was one sketch artist who later chronicled the event.










Thanks to that instructor, in todays world, we fly airplanes using two lists.  We call them normal checklists, and abnormal checklists, aviation terms for good and bad.  The instructor had taught Orville and Wilbur all about the importance of lists.

When we see another airplane in flight, we call out: "Tally Ho!"  This evolved from the original Ho Ho Ho!

And finally, in todays world, we always put at least one shiny red light on our airplanes.  We all know why.

---Thanks Santa



Friday, December 5, 2014

Deadly Echoes--USA book award finalist!

PRWEB.COM Newswire



Longboat Key, Florida (PRWEB) December 03, 2014

Oceanview Publishing proudly congratulates authors Philip Donlay, David Putnam, and Jennifer Mortimer as finalists in the 2014 USA Best Book Awards.


DEADLY ECHOES by Philip Donlay (ISBN 978-1-60809-109-6) the fourth Donovan Nash thriller, was released on April 1, 2014, and takes on ecological disasters and terrorism. Donlay follows up DEADLY ECHOES with AFTERSHOCK (ISBN 978-1-60809-139-3), scheduled for release March 3, 2015





A brief synopsis of Deadly Echoes follows...
Donovan Nash is a man under siege, and this time it's personal. Eco-Watch, the premier scientific research organization he founded, is being blamed for a series of violent ecological atrocities that ignite protests around the world.
Behind the attacks is Garrick Pearce, a man from Donovan's past, who is bent on a ruthless vendetta. Garrick has promised that after he annihilates Eco-Watch, he'll murder everyone close to Nash. Recoiling from the damage, Donovan enlists the help of Erica, a woman who claims she has information Donovan needs, but her knowledge makes her a marked woman.
Running from trained killers, the FBI and even his own organization, Donovan races from southern California to British Columbia, then finally to Alaska where he joins Eco-Watch personnel and desperately tries to stop what promises to be the worst eco-atrocity in history. With his world in tatters and everything he built seemingly destroyed, Donovan is forced to take one last desperate gamble to stop Garrick and silence the man forever--a roll of the dice that may very well cost Nash his life.