Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
Wed, 29 Nov 2006
Airplane building thoughts, a couple months on
So, the last time I said anything about the idea of building an airplane, it was pretty negative. I had a comprehensive awakening to the horrible situation we're in, as a society, regarding energy usage. It sounded pretty negative, and it pretty much was negative.
I had a thought, a month or two ago, which amounted to, "if I ever want to do it, now is the best time." The logic goes like this: building an airplane isn't very resource-intensive, but flying it is. Since the goal of building an airplane, at least in part, is to fly it, building an airplane is therefore an exercise in using gasoline. If I'm going to do something which uses gasoline, it's going to cost more the later I do it (assuming that oil is going to get more scarce and therefore expensive, which seems reasonable).
If it's going to cost more the longer I push it back, then it makes the most sense to do it as soon as possible. That assumes I really want to do it, but it's an acceptable assumption.
Only now, a month or two after I had that series of thoughts, I'm no longer so certain I want to build an airplane. It still sounds interesting, but the idea no longer maintains that obsessive hold on me that it did a few months ago. Now, with the benefit of some space, it seems a bit crazy. Not crazy like I couldn't do it, but crazy like, "why would I want to?"
So now, I'm not sure. Flying has gone back to its holding position of being something I'm intellectually interested in, but something which doesn't really call to me in any sort of visceral way. I passed a few months without even thinking about airplanes or flying. Then I thought to myself, "Hey, I haven't been flying lately, maybe I should fix that," but it didn't really sound all that appealing.
I think I've again reached that place where flying doesn't matter any more. I'm glad I know how to fly, I'm glad I could go back to it, but I can't really get excited about it. It's expensive, and it's a lot of work. I can't use it to travel because it's so very dependent upon weather. I don't find myself craving it for fun.
I guess, until something changes, I'm done with flying.
Posted at 18:12 permanent link category: /aviation
I figured some of my handful of readers would be interested in seeing the snow conditions chez Ian:
That's snow that fell two days ago, and hasn't shifted since. Amazing! It's very rare for snow in Seattle to last for more than 24 hours. Of course, even now, the temperature is all the way up to 27° F, from a low of 17° last night. It's practically balmy!
That shot of the road, by the way, is why I've been spending a lot of time working from home rather than clambering aboard the sidecar rig and going for a little slip-n-slide. It's inch-thick ice, not the slush it kind of appears to be. The roads are much more passable further south, but getting there would entail far too large an exposure to morons in SUVs who think four wheel drive exempts them from the laws of physics.
Tonight's forecast:
TONIGHT...SNOW CHANGING TO RAIN BY MIDNIGHT. BREEZY. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 1 TO 2 INCHES BEFORE THE CHANGE TO RAIN. LOWS IN THE UPPER 20S TO MID 30S. SOUTH WIND 15 TO 25 MPH.
Sounds like a fine night to stay in watching silly videos.
Posted at 12:00 permanent link category: /misc
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater