Flying Lesson 101: Check gas before taking off

May 29, 2009 at 6:10 pm

(Source: The Gazette via AP)

Image Courtesy: KRDO.com

A retired Air Force colonel with decades of experience as a flight instructor gave one of his students a hands-on lesson in a key principle of flying: Don’t run out of gas. Al Uhalt of Colorado Springs made a bumpy but safe landing in a field Thursday when the single-engine Aviat Husky he and a student were flying ran out of fuel near the end of a 45-minute lesson.

Neither Uhalt nor the student, 16-year-old Kyle Sundman, was injured and the plane was undamaged.

Uhalt says he’s embarrassed. Kyle’s grandfather, Jim Young, who owns the plane, was flying behind them. He says he didn’t worry because he knew Uhalt was experienced and the plane was rugged.

Daimler’s car2go, carsharing in the smart fortwo, comes to Austin, Texas this fall

March 26, 2009 at 7:49 pm

(Source: Autobloggreen)

 
You know what state needs more smart fortwos? Texas. That must have been Daimler’s thinking before approving an expansion of the car2go carsharing service there. Daimler started car2go in Ulm, Germany last October and it will be coming to Austin, Texas – that little blueberry in the big red cherry pie of a state – this fall. There are now more than 200 fortwo cdi models that anyone in Ulm, visitor or resident, can rent by the minute, hour or day, 24/7. Costs range from 19 euro cents a minute to 9.90 euros an hour to 49 euros a day. Unlike other car-sharing services, registering for the car2go service is free. Daimler didn’t release any information on possible pricing for the U.S. service.
 
The Daimler press release available on Autobloggreen has some additional info. on this, including this nugget:
The capital of Texas with its 750,000 residents is appreciably bigger than Ulm and is distinguished by its open-mindedness and its very involved citizens. “We very much look forward to becoming the first international partner of car2go,” says mayor Will Wynn. “Our city is known for its strong sense of environmental responsibility. car2go fits this wonderfully because we can then offer the residents of Austin an intelligent mobility concept with a high positive environmental factor. The project has our full support.” 

As in the first phase of the German pilot project, car2go will begin in Austin with a defined group of users, for example city employees. It is then planned to make car2go accessible to the public in Austin in a second step.  Other factors predestining Austin to be the first international car2go city are the city’s size and its up-to-date economic structure. Among other things it is the location of the fourth largest university in the USA. Beginning in autumn 2009 a fleet expected to number 200 smart fortwo mhd vehicles with automatic start/stop function will be put into operation there.

Click here to read more and to view an awesome picture gallery showing more Smarts in Austin.

In-flight Entertainment Re-defined – Russian Style: Getting “high” in the sky

March 11, 2009 at 7:12 pm

(Source: LiveLeek via  Gizmodo)

Pilot And Stewardess Smoke Hashish During Flight and record their feat.

 Gotta love our funny friend Jesus Diaz@ Gizmodo for this lovely Note he added to his post on Gizmodo:

 

Note to self:  Never ever book an Aeroflot flight. And with that I really mean “become a pilot and join Aeroflot.” 

No cats were harmed in the making of this video. (This link will take you to another video that shocked a lot of us Gizmodo fans when it became public).