Model Airplanes

As a colleague aptly said: “It’s a $70,000 Porsche and I don’t love it.” Bingo.

Any vehicle wearing a Porsche badge and $72,000-plus sticker price should make you weak in the knees, short of breath, eager beyond description.

Macan doesn’t. Good machine, but not a heartthrob.

We suspect the famed German automaker could have done better starting from scratch, not modifying an Audi Q5 so heavily that about 70% of the components are different from the Audi’s.

Our failure to swoon is a surprise. We drove a friend’s Macan briefly in Florida and found it impressive. But getting a similar model from the automaker and spending daily duty time in it — not so bowled over.

Last time Porsche did a remake, it overhauled the Volkswagen Touareg into the Porsche Cayenne SUV, which is the best-selling Porsche in the U.S. by a fair margin, according to tallies by Autodata.

The sales totals show Macan is No. 2 among Porsches, so we suspect the brand has all the validation it needs for the work it did — sales and profits.

Purists who still think Porsche ought not be selling SUVs should keep this in mind: That’s where the money comes from for research and development of the maker’s sports cars. Without the successful SUVs, it would take Porsche a lot longer to come up with new sports

Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/04/24/porsche-macan-suv-test-drive/26206853/

Local News

Village Books and Paper Dreams expanding to Lynden

Article source: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/04/22/4254933/georgia-editorial-roundup.html

Local News

Village Books and Paper Dreams expanding to Lynden

Article source: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/04/22/4254818/clemson-receives-legislators-initial.html

When Dassault and Garrett AiResearch teamed to create the Falcon 20-5 in the mid 1980s, they succeeded in converting 126 aircraft that flew higher, faster and farther on one-third less fuel. Removing the 1960s era GE CF700 engines and replacing them with TFE731-5 turbofans made these classic Mystère Falcon 20 aircraft competitive with the contemporary midsize models offered by Cessna, Hawker, IAI and Learjet. 

With a maximum range of 2,400 nm, a 700 cubic foot cabin volume and seating for 9 passengers, it became the jet against which all other midsize competitors were measured.

This is a tough aircraft, with a 20,000 cycle/30,000-hr. initial service life and no hard life limits. Vmo ranges from 350 to 390 KIAS and Mmo is 0.88 IMN, higher than any other competitive aircraft of that era other than Citation X. It has fully powered flight controls and a speed-proportionate artificial control feel system. Falcon 20-F5 model has 270 lb. more fuel capacity than earlier models and full-span slats that reduce V speeds. It has non-stop U.S. West Coast to East Coast range, but the return leg usually requires a fuel stop.

Other features include a 5-parallel buss DC electrical system with manual load shedding, a rather anemic air cycle machine that isn’t up to cooling the cabin on the ramp in summer and an older generation pressurization controller.

Article source: http://aviationweek.com/bca/falcon-20-f5-costs-lot-maintain-retains-mystique

Chris Roberts’ bio

Yes, airplanes can be hacked, just as power plants can be hacked. No, it’s not a widespread problem right now.  Yes, we should talk about it  before it becomes a widespread (and quite deadly) problem. No, we shouldn’t be harassing and detaining people who research these problems for a living.  But we are.  And that makes us all less safe.  A lot less safe.

I was selected for extra screen on my last flight…and was told almost immediately that the reason was a mis-calibrated explosives trace detection machine. The kind, apologetic screener knew this. So did her colleagues who stood around watching. So did the man who ran the back of his hand all around my private parts, once they track him down. By the time we were done, four employees were involved and we all wasted 10-15 minutes. It was no trouble for me; I had arrived nice and early.  It is trouble for you.  It made you less safe.  We all often forget that security professionals only have so many minutes in the day to look for bad guys.  Time they spend wasting on known good guys is time they can’t get back.  It makes us all less safe.

I tell this story because no doubt, you have a similar story.   And you’ve thought these same things. And that’s why you will understand the importance of Chris Roberts’ faux arrest last week.  Only mere hours

Article source: https://bobsullivan.net/cybercrime/feds-warn-planes-can-be-hacked-then-detain-leading-hack-researcher-then-united-bans-him-brilliant/

Brett Eldredge came up with video concept for his new single, “Lose My Mind,” while he was sitting on yet another airplane – thinking about girls.

“I’m a very high-strung guy, and I feel like I’m probably going crazy a lot of the time,” the single Eldredge, 29, told PEOPLE at the ACM Awards in Dallas on Sunday. “I just wanted to make a fun video, portraying the way a girl kinda makes you lose your mind and completely wraps all of your thoughts around her.”

The result? A high-spirited brush with utter craziness, with the singer confined to a straitjacket during parts of the clip, costarring Victoria’s Secret model Rachel Hilbert. And seeing as how the song features lyrics such as, “You make all my screws come loose,” there was plenty to work with visually.

“Sitting on a plane, I literally started typing up how I thought it would be to do it, and here I am,” Eldredge said of the storyline. “You make it up and dream it and imagine it, and then you try to make it come true somehow.”

Eldredge, who presented at the 50th annual ACMs, took a moment to absorb the magnitude of the evening while speaking with PEOPLE.

“There are like 75,000 people here tonight. That’s about 10 times more than my hometown,” he said, recalling his days growing up in Paris, Illinois. “I always put that in perspective. When I’m playing a crowd of like 1,000, I think, ‘Oh, this is

Article source: http://www.people.com/article/brett-eldredge-lose-my-mind-video