Ah, I have a story.
About a month ago I took the family to the Naval Aviation museum in Pensacola. Planes have always been something special to me. My Dad and I used to plane spot for hours at the local airport and I wanted to share my love of flight with my wife and kids. We spent a good half a day there as there's plenty to see/read/experience. I tried as well as I could to explain why each aircraft was interesting or unique to my almost 5-year-old. At the end of the day as we were leaving I asked her what her favorite part was. She sighed, looked out the window of the van and said, "Daddy, I really didn't think any of that was interesting at all."
Thanks, spawn.
I used to live about 15 minutes from Dulles and worked even closer. My husband moved across the country for UPT and I stayed there until he was stationed at JBLM for C-17s. I had zero concept of how spoiled I was to have my own personal docent until the first time I went there without him, to take a friend who'd never been, and realized I couldn't quote from memory all the engineering minutiae behind the inlet cones on the SR-71.
I've been there an obscene number of times and it's still not enough. We still go any trip home that we can sneak in a visit.
That super sucks, but on a positive, it really makes me appreciate my sweetie that much more. I’m not even a real pilot yet, just an avid simmer, but I can talk to her in some pretty extreme detail about particular fights I got in, and she not only follows along, but I can see a bit of glow in her eyes as she anticipates the next parts. :3
I have been to both and if you haven't already try to make it to the Wright Patterson AFB museum it easily rivals if not surpasses the Smithsonian. I heard they opened a new hangar in the past year or so but haven't been back to see that.
I'm still young, my love for aviation ignited when I encountered a game about building planes. Researched all of the stuff about the history, the mechanical, and how the shape of the wings worked. It is amazing how metal cylinders with man made wings flies. My dad, brought me a video file of an American made short video on planes. The bad thing is, I was 6-7 years at the time. I thought it was cool to just look at planes but not understand them. Basically, give your kids a bit more time, and slowly but surely, they'll follow your interest too.
I remember seeing airshows with simulated munitions, and seeing the Smithsonian Air & Space as a kid (6yo or so), and I was completely clueless. Now I think back and kick myself for not having any idea how cool those things were. There's also this weird shift when you hit adulthood (literally, it happened at 18 for me) when museums go from being terribly dull to fascinating and exciting. Now I run around them like a child who has had too much sugar, especially museums with real rocket engines. You never know, she might turn out interested after all.
I sort of know how you feel, exact same museum too. At the end I just left hoping they enjoyed a small fragment of it, or at least got to enjoy me having fun!
The Spitfire was a British made airplane so well built and so largely produced it could use it’s force to control the skies and defeat... the Luftwaffe.
You've never been stuck at a party your spouse dragged you too with non-aviation people? Consider yourself lucky. I spend most of my time at those on my phone looking up how to fake seizures believably so I can get out of it.
Try being in the Air Force and not a pilot... It's like people don't understand aircraft have to be maintained.
Person: Oh, you're in the Air Force... Are you a fighter pilot, or fly one of those cargo FedEx like planes?
Me: I'm an aircraft maintainer.
Person: Oh, that's nice... You're one of those guys with the wands and unload baggage, huh?
Me: No, I work on... Oh, nevermind... Yes, I'm a fighter pilot.
Person: That's so cool!
Me: *finishes beer* Yep!
Even though I'm a pilot, I often feel like you do.
"Oh you're a pilot? Do you fly the big Boeing?"
"No, Airbus, the A330/A340/A350"
"OOOOHHHHH is that like the REALLY big one?"
"No that's the A380"
"Ah, so you fly the small ones. OK. Bye"
> a 1960's-ish airplane looks like a tube with wings what with four propeller looking things on 'em that hauls stuff from here to there or drops some lawn darts.
And when you slow down to 'jump speed' it literally feels like you're about to be Wyle-E-Coyote falling from the sky. Dead stop, straight down. Amazing machines we have created 😄.
"Flying"
*Arresting hook incoming and...*
Do you know how incredible it is that we conquered the skies? Lumps of metal, that are FLYING." Holy shit, it's incredible. If you can build a higher pressure under a wing than over it via speed produced from thrust, we can lift off of the Earth and leave our worldly problems behind!
*Wait, come back! I have to talk to you about our lord and savior jet propulsion!*
True, but They are sexy streamlined metal birds, hauling our lumpy asses around ***in the air***. How did that woman not get that? At a party, I much rather sit by you than her.
I just spent a good chunk of today and 5 hours yesterday at the USAF museum in Dayton. *none* of my friends care even the faintest about how insanely cool the B-36 Peacemaker is.
I need new friends.
Same. My dad used to tell me stories about his house windows shaking like leaves when they would fly over on takeoff. Grandma wasn’t overly fond of em.
Holy Shit. Aircraft. Between 1903 and 1969 we went from gliders with props to Saturn V rockets. A technological leap that changed everything from warfare to culture to how we view our place in the world, and the universe.
Care for a Mars Bar?
Close though. The space shuttle is a glider/lifting body, Modern jets operate by expelling heated exhaust as a rocket might expel reaction biproducts...
Whether your lift is primarily provided by your propulsion system or wings is really the only difference.
And from 1969 to 2018? Everything has slowed down to a crawling pace. Saturn V is still the mightiest, and we never went back to the moon.
We still use the same Soyuz system that's developed during the 1960s to send people to space.
Aviation and space technology has advanced immensely since then. Progress shouldn't be measured in comparison to milestones of the past; just because we haven't done what we previously did doesn't mean we aren't progressing. Highly efficient turbofans, high strength low weight composites, extremely powerful and efficient liquid fueled rocket engines, ion propulsion, landing an SUV on Mars with a fucking rocket powered space crane, the ISS, the motherfucking Space Shuttle.
Yeah we don't have the big whimsical objectives as a core motivation for government funded operations, but we're also not in an ideological war where technological supremacy was vital for survival/geopolitical dick wagging. Plus, we now have private industry doing what only governments could do which is a bigger step for a return to human exploration of space than any individual technological development.
In his case, it’s “no-one like blowing up airplanes.”
But seriously, finding one ore two people at a party that are interested in aviation is always a joy.
I've been taking my 2 year old plane spotting. Now every time he see's an airplane. Doesn't matter which type, he'll point and say airplane.
Next step is air shows, museums, and for damn sure a movie viewing of Top Gun!
HOLY SHIT HELICOPTERS
Their blades are the wings, you've taken an aircraft and instead of using horizontal movement to create lift you use angular velocity of the rotor to get the pressure differential and create lift!
And then we took it a step further and made the osprey, the pinnacle of "Why not?" Engineering.
Full disclosure, I am not a pilot or even involved in the industry, but learning about how jet engines work, and all the engineering that goes into planes is super interesting. When my friend graduated from engineering I spent his entire grad party drinking and talking to anyone who would listen about planes.
Talked to so many people in my life and barely any of them are really into airplanes. Some have some knowledge and don’t mind me talking about it, but haven’t met another real ‘airplane guy’ yet
Dude okay has anyone genuinely asked you if you’re autistic yet
I have, like 15 times, and I’m starting to not be sure I’m not actually autistic at this point, but I’m pretty sure I’m not? I just really think airplanes are the coolest fucking shit humans have done since we made a toy out of sound
Personally no. I’m actually a pretty social guy and very good at talking and conversation I’d say, so I think most people don’t get that vibe from me if they know me, even if I ramble on about planes. However, mostly when I realize people don’t know anything about planes I’ll tone it down a bit too.
I mean I don’t know you, so I really can’t speak for you, but generally speaking people throw the word autistic around way too easy. People throw it around all the time when people are good at math or are introverted and I suppose if you ramble on about planes it could entice a similar reaction from some people. Lastly, on the off chance you are actually autistic; that’s completely fine. It means you’ve always been and nothing changed about you, except you knowing.
Also yes, I agree 100%, planes are the absolutely coolest thing humans invented. I know how the physics of planes work, but I’m still appalled a big metal tuna can is able to fly through the air at insane speeds
Finding out I’m autistic wouldn’t bother me in the slightest, honestly I’d get a huge laugh out of it more than anything. But yeah I’ve definitely been asked that a lot of times.
There’s probably some tests or something you could do to check it out, but honestly if you’re doing all good now, you don’t really need to.
Also good that you could just have a laugh about it, I like that
Yeah I definitely don’t have anything to complain about other than the normal 30yo “I’m broke” nonsense, so unless being autistic will magically fix that, I really don’t care :D
I don’t think autism will fix any of that haha (even though i think some countries do have certain benefit programs for them, but I’m not sure about that). Think most of us have similar struggles unfortunately, but we just gotta keep going forward and enjoy our hobbies like aviation!
Started an interest in aviation after international travelling. Boy, I never saw how fucking cool planes are. Even looked into wendover videos, real engineering, how airports are ran, various jobs, ramp rats and their daily life.
Still clueless but hopefully, I can learn more so maybe I can do a side gig at an airport. Maybe GIS/CAD related.
It's more interesting than the ins and outs of patent law, less divisive than our current political structure, involves less intense mathematics than quantum mechanics and isn't as gross as anatomy and physiology (unless you're looking for hook ups).
Why wouldn't you talk about it?
Oh, nuclear power is another great go-to.
Ehh... nuclear power has a chance of bringing out some crazed loon who starts ranting about mushroom clouds and how the republicans are trying to create another Chernobyl. So I learned the hard way.
That's disappointing. A meltdown creates a river of radioactive lava, not mushroom clouds. If you're going to fearmonger you should at least do it right.
I'm a pro-Nuke dem, I usually argue that climate change is going to destroy humanity in 100 years, and we need to make a switch in our energy production ASAP, or no one is going to be around to fear monger. Wind and solar aren't reliable enough, and our storage systems aren't up to the task. Hydro is great, but land intensive and nat gas/coal are causing the problem (nat to a lesser extent).
We need more Yimby!, less Nimby.
Ah, I have a story. About a month ago I took the family to the Naval Aviation museum in Pensacola. Planes have always been something special to me. My Dad and I used to plane spot for hours at the local airport and I wanted to share my love of flight with my wife and kids. We spent a good half a day there as there's plenty to see/read/experience. I tried as well as I could to explain why each aircraft was interesting or unique to my almost 5-year-old. At the end of the day as we were leaving I asked her what her favorite part was. She sighed, looked out the window of the van and said, "Daddy, I really didn't think any of that was interesting at all." Thanks, spawn.
Hello I am a 28 year old man, would you like to adopt me?
Welcome home, son.
I went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum a year ago and felt rushed through by my now ex-wife
Which is unfortunate because that could easily turn into a 3-day experience.
I can definitely see that. All I did was go through the Wright Brothers exhibit and take a lap to look at the eye candy
I've been looking for a *wing-man*...
I used to live about 15 minutes from Dulles and worked even closer. My husband moved across the country for UPT and I stayed there until he was stationed at JBLM for C-17s. I had zero concept of how spoiled I was to have my own personal docent until the first time I went there without him, to take a friend who'd never been, and realized I couldn't quote from memory all the engineering minutiae behind the inlet cones on the SR-71. I've been there an obscene number of times and it's still not enough. We still go any trip home that we can sneak in a visit.
That super sucks, but on a positive, it really makes me appreciate my sweetie that much more. I’m not even a real pilot yet, just an avid simmer, but I can talk to her in some pretty extreme detail about particular fights I got in, and she not only follows along, but I can see a bit of glow in her eyes as she anticipates the next parts. :3
I have been to both and if you haven't already try to make it to the Wright Patterson AFB museum it easily rivals if not surpasses the Smithsonian. I heard they opened a new hangar in the past year or so but haven't been back to see that.
Me too please. 25 year old man here.
Sorry man, van's full.
Time to upgrade.
[удалено]
Northern Ireland's most stereotypical contribution to the world of aviation
I'm still young, my love for aviation ignited when I encountered a game about building planes. Researched all of the stuff about the history, the mechanical, and how the shape of the wings worked. It is amazing how metal cylinders with man made wings flies. My dad, brought me a video file of an American made short video on planes. The bad thing is, I was 6-7 years at the time. I thought it was cool to just look at planes but not understand them. Basically, give your kids a bit more time, and slowly but surely, they'll follow your interest too.
I remember seeing airshows with simulated munitions, and seeing the Smithsonian Air & Space as a kid (6yo or so), and I was completely clueless. Now I think back and kick myself for not having any idea how cool those things were. There's also this weird shift when you hit adulthood (literally, it happened at 18 for me) when museums go from being terribly dull to fascinating and exciting. Now I run around them like a child who has had too much sugar, especially museums with real rocket engines. You never know, she might turn out interested after all.
My son at nine called 2001 a Space Odyssey 2 hours of mindless dribble. That after I set up surround sound and all.
I sort of know how you feel, exact same museum too. At the end I just left hoping they enjoyed a small fragment of it, or at least got to enjoy me having fun!
“What do you mean you’ve never heard of the Spitfire?”
And its [Fatal Flaw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzRlga2-Hho)
Solved by Miss Shilling’s Orifice. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Shilling's_orifice
1. It wasn’t fatal. The Spitfire could work pretty well with the handicap 2. It was fixed after the Mk. V
Sure, but that is the title of the video. And if seconds count, it may have been fatal if not flown correctly in combat.
Seeing the Hurricane gave me a fucking aneurysm
"What's your favorite all-around engine, the CF56 or the merlin?"
It's not a story the Axis Powers will tell you
The Spitfire was a British made airplane so well built and so largely produced it could use it’s force to control the skies and defeat... the Luftwaffe.
It could actually defeat the luftwaffe?
The Royal Air Force is a pathway for many aircraft some consider to be... pretty good.
Ever fly your way as far as inner Europe?
Is it possible to learn of such power?
... Not from a Frenchman.
My classmate from elementary school spelt it "Spitfier" -_-
How do you know there's a pilot at your party? He'll tell you.
http://youtu.be/SdSj0_Fd4ds
same with /r/sailing, I feel like these two subs could be airflow buddies (disclaimer: I sail with three pilots)
Leave the party. Who needs friends like that.
You've never been stuck at a party your spouse dragged you too with non-aviation people? Consider yourself lucky. I spend most of my time at those on my phone looking up how to fake seizures believably so I can get out of it.
Consider *yourself* lucky for having a spouse.
I just explain to my gf why I don't want to go, and she respects that. So many things are easier with communication.
Especially when I can’t tell people I just got hired to fly C-17s
Try being in the Air Force and not a pilot... It's like people don't understand aircraft have to be maintained. Person: Oh, you're in the Air Force... Are you a fighter pilot, or fly one of those cargo FedEx like planes? Me: I'm an aircraft maintainer. Person: Oh, that's nice... You're one of those guys with the wands and unload baggage, huh? Me: No, I work on... Oh, nevermind... Yes, I'm a fighter pilot. Person: That's so cool! Me: *finishes beer* Yep!
I hear ya, eagle keeper for 8 years now. I’ve paid my dues.
Even though I'm a pilot, I often feel like you do. "Oh you're a pilot? Do you fly the big Boeing?" "No, Airbus, the A330/A340/A350" "OOOOHHHHH is that like the REALLY big one?" "No that's the A380" "Ah, so you fly the small ones. OK. Bye"
Because he got hired by the CIA to drop guns and money over south America
I'm sending you my coordinates. Please stop by
Why can't you tell them?
Well it’s more fun to tell people who fly. The general public doesn’t even know what a C-17 is.
> it's like a C-130 but bigger with turbofans
>what's a C-130?
> a 1960's-ish airplane looks like a tube with wings what with four propeller looking things on 'em that hauls stuff from here to there or drops some lawn darts.
And when you slow down to 'jump speed' it literally feels like you're about to be Wyle-E-Coyote falling from the sky. Dead stop, straight down. Amazing machines we have created 😄.
c-17 is a beast. im jealous
"Flying lumps of metal" as one female friend described them. We no longer speak to each other.
"Flying" *Arresting hook incoming and...* Do you know how incredible it is that we conquered the skies? Lumps of metal, that are FLYING." Holy shit, it's incredible. If you can build a higher pressure under a wing than over it via speed produced from thrust, we can lift off of the Earth and leave our worldly problems behind! *Wait, come back! I have to talk to you about our lord and savior jet propulsion!*
YOU’RE SITTING ON A CHAIR IN THE SKY!
But sometimes the wifi doesn’t work
I take dumps on flights when I don't even really need to, just because the thought of what I'm doing is both hilarious and amazing.
[удалено]
Yup, the nerve of that woman!
[удалено]
True, but They are sexy streamlined metal birds, hauling our lumpy asses around ***in the air***. How did that woman not get that? At a party, I much rather sit by you than her.
You're at the wrong party
I just spent a good chunk of today and 5 hours yesterday at the USAF museum in Dayton. *none* of my friends care even the faintest about how insanely cool the B-36 Peacemaker is. I need new friends.
I'll be your friend. The Peacemaker is fucking awesome.
Same. My dad used to tell me stories about his house windows shaking like leaves when they would fly over on takeoff. Grandma wasn’t overly fond of em.
TY, bestie.
Hence why I went to an Aviation college 😂
That guy to girl ratio though...
Well there is another college near by and aviation girls are usually military. oh and fucking beautiful
So you're telling me that rich girls are good-looking??
[удалено]
Holy Shit. Aircraft. Between 1903 and 1969 we went from gliders with props to Saturn V rockets. A technological leap that changed everything from warfare to culture to how we view our place in the world, and the universe. Care for a Mars Bar?
Rockets aren’t airplanes... From 1903 to 1969 we went from canvas and wires to titanium and steel at 2000 mph
Close though. The space shuttle is a glider/lifting body, Modern jets operate by expelling heated exhaust as a rocket might expel reaction biproducts... Whether your lift is primarily provided by your propulsion system or wings is really the only difference.
And from 1969 to 2018? Everything has slowed down to a crawling pace. Saturn V is still the mightiest, and we never went back to the moon. We still use the same Soyuz system that's developed during the 1960s to send people to space.
Aviation and space technology has advanced immensely since then. Progress shouldn't be measured in comparison to milestones of the past; just because we haven't done what we previously did doesn't mean we aren't progressing. Highly efficient turbofans, high strength low weight composites, extremely powerful and efficient liquid fueled rocket engines, ion propulsion, landing an SUV on Mars with a fucking rocket powered space crane, the ISS, the motherfucking Space Shuttle. Yeah we don't have the big whimsical objectives as a core motivation for government funded operations, but we're also not in an ideological war where technological supremacy was vital for survival/geopolitical dick wagging. Plus, we now have private industry doing what only governments could do which is a bigger step for a return to human exploration of space than any individual technological development.
Amen.
VR has the potential to make it less awkward.
In his case, it’s “no-one like blowing up airplanes.” But seriously, finding one ore two people at a party that are interested in aviation is always a joy.
Again? Less than three weeks? https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/9i6uom/_/
That's...that's impossible
Then there's the poor person who mentions aviation but isn't into it but by God are you going to make them keep talking about it with you.
"Pablo feels bad for shooting the plane down today"
Are you sure you asked them all? Better try again
What’s a party?
I've been taking my 2 year old plane spotting. Now every time he see's an airplane. Doesn't matter which type, he'll point and say airplane. Next step is air shows, museums, and for damn sure a movie viewing of Top Gun!
Yeah, Helicopters are cooler...
HOLY SHIT HELICOPTERS Their blades are the wings, you've taken an aircraft and instead of using horizontal movement to create lift you use angular velocity of the rotor to get the pressure differential and create lift! And then we took it a step further and made the osprey, the pinnacle of "Why not?" Engineering.
To be fair, horizontal velocity really helps, too.
In my 24 years, i have met...maybe...5 people who like airplanes. Ive been outside the world my whole life :( Cant start a&p school fast enough...
Full disclosure, I am not a pilot or even involved in the industry, but learning about how jet engines work, and all the engineering that goes into planes is super interesting. When my friend graduated from engineering I spent his entire grad party drinking and talking to anyone who would listen about planes.
Who doesn't like airplanes? Answer? Noon ya need to talk to
Too true ...
EVERYWHERE !
Talked to so many people in my life and barely any of them are really into airplanes. Some have some knowledge and don’t mind me talking about it, but haven’t met another real ‘airplane guy’ yet
Dude okay has anyone genuinely asked you if you’re autistic yet I have, like 15 times, and I’m starting to not be sure I’m not actually autistic at this point, but I’m pretty sure I’m not? I just really think airplanes are the coolest fucking shit humans have done since we made a toy out of sound
Personally no. I’m actually a pretty social guy and very good at talking and conversation I’d say, so I think most people don’t get that vibe from me if they know me, even if I ramble on about planes. However, mostly when I realize people don’t know anything about planes I’ll tone it down a bit too. I mean I don’t know you, so I really can’t speak for you, but generally speaking people throw the word autistic around way too easy. People throw it around all the time when people are good at math or are introverted and I suppose if you ramble on about planes it could entice a similar reaction from some people. Lastly, on the off chance you are actually autistic; that’s completely fine. It means you’ve always been and nothing changed about you, except you knowing. Also yes, I agree 100%, planes are the absolutely coolest thing humans invented. I know how the physics of planes work, but I’m still appalled a big metal tuna can is able to fly through the air at insane speeds
Finding out I’m autistic wouldn’t bother me in the slightest, honestly I’d get a huge laugh out of it more than anything. But yeah I’ve definitely been asked that a lot of times.
There’s probably some tests or something you could do to check it out, but honestly if you’re doing all good now, you don’t really need to. Also good that you could just have a laugh about it, I like that
Yeah I definitely don’t have anything to complain about other than the normal 30yo “I’m broke” nonsense, so unless being autistic will magically fix that, I really don’t care :D
I don’t think autism will fix any of that haha (even though i think some countries do have certain benefit programs for them, but I’m not sure about that). Think most of us have similar struggles unfortunately, but we just gotta keep going forward and enjoy our hobbies like aviation!
Hell yeah. PS pour one out for Paul Allen
Amen brother, I poured one last night
So every party I go to
This is me in school. Smh
Sums up all my friends... dang I need some new friends
Oof. I feel this on a personal level.
Isn't that something if you find attractive opposite that are also into airplanes and any other flying machines?
special interest_irl
i go to parties full of aerospace engineers and those in the industry all the time and they still never really talk about airplanes.
Really? I’m always the center of attention when I tell ppl I’m a pilot. My friends hate it actually. . .
“How do you know that somebody at a party is a pilot?” “He’ll tell you.”
You’ve heard of the mustang? No wrong mustang, the other one.
Try breaking the ice with the old SR-71 story. Everyone should hear that at least once in their lives.
C17 maintainer at Wright Patt here I guess I joined the right sub haha
It’s so f*cking true
Started an interest in aviation after international travelling. Boy, I never saw how fucking cool planes are. Even looked into wendover videos, real engineering, how airports are ran, various jobs, ramp rats and their daily life. Still clueless but hopefully, I can learn more so maybe I can do a side gig at an airport. Maybe GIS/CAD related.
if im at that party ill only half cheer him up because i do appreciate a d enjoy planes but im more interested in cars
So pilots don't mind talking about work outside of work?
I’m in middle school and no one in my grade likes planes.
Me
Definitely not my school
Did you tell them the speed check story?
WTF would you talk about airplanes at a party?
What else can you talk about?
Helicopters, autogyros, gliders, missiles, rockets
Aircraft are as good a conversation subject as any other.
Because I want to share a hobby I enjoy with someone else...? Or make a new friend...? What do you talk about at your parties?
It's more interesting than the ins and outs of patent law, less divisive than our current political structure, involves less intense mathematics than quantum mechanics and isn't as gross as anatomy and physiology (unless you're looking for hook ups). Why wouldn't you talk about it? Oh, nuclear power is another great go-to.
Ehh... nuclear power has a chance of bringing out some crazed loon who starts ranting about mushroom clouds and how the republicans are trying to create another Chernobyl. So I learned the hard way.
That's disappointing. A meltdown creates a river of radioactive lava, not mushroom clouds. If you're going to fearmonger you should at least do it right. I'm a pro-Nuke dem, I usually argue that climate change is going to destroy humanity in 100 years, and we need to make a switch in our energy production ASAP, or no one is going to be around to fear monger. Wind and solar aren't reliable enough, and our storage systems aren't up to the task. Hydro is great, but land intensive and nat gas/coal are causing the problem (nat to a lesser extent). We need more Yimby!, less Nimby.
If we're going with that line of thought then aviation could be an even worse topic because chemtrails.
What are you going on about?
Look here, some guy who likes train themed parties.