Author Archives: Andrew

The frequent fliers who flew too much and estimating Scrooge McDuck’s wealth

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I will have flown eight times this month so airlines are on my mind. An interesting article in the LA Times about an unlimited First Class ticket that American Airlines ran and then regretted as they grossly undervalued how much it would cost to fulfil.

There are frequent fliers, and then there are people like Steven Rothstein and Jacques Vroom.

Both men bought tickets that gave them unlimited first-class travel for life on American Airlines. It was almost like owning a fleet of private jets.

Passes in hand, Rothstein and Vroom flew for business. They flew for pleasure. They flew just because they liked being on planes. They bypassed long lines, booked backup itineraries in case the weather turned, and never worried about cancellation fees. Flight crews memorized their names and favorite meals.

Each had paid American more than $350,000 for an unlimited AAirpass and a companion ticket that allowed them to take someone along on their adventures. Both agree it was the best purchase they ever made, one that completely redefined their lives.

The frequent fliers who flew too much [LA Times]

An interesting thought experiment to estimate the wealth of Scrooge McDuck

How Much Money You Need To Realistically Recreate The Scrooge McDuck ‘Gold Coin Swim’ [The Billfold]

Essential Reading for Sopranos Fans

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The cast and creators of The Soparnos gather for the first time since it ended.

One F.B.I. agent told us early on that on Monday morning they would get to the F.B.I. office and all the agents would talk about The Sopranos. Then they would listen to the wiretaps from that weekend, and it was all Mob guys talking about The Sopranos, having the same conversation about the show, but always from the flip side. We would hear back that real wiseguys used to think that we had somebody on the inside. They couldn’t believe how accurate the show was.

An Oral History of The Sopranos [Vanity Fair]

Birds and their heads-up display, air plane cockpits and miles per hour explained

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Scientists have found that some birds may have a ‘heads up display’ enabling them to navigate. They found this by assessing their ability to fly at night.

It’s well known that birds, such as the European Robin, can detect the Earth’s magnetic field in order to help them navigate on long migratory flights.
This ‘compass’ sense must be associated with the eyeball, because the birds cannot detect magnetic fields in darkness.
But now Oxford University and National University of Singapore scientists have shown that birds may really ‘see’ the invisible force of magnetism, giving them a compass on top of their normal vision: rather like aircraft ‘head up displays’ which overlay crucial navigation information on a transparent screen in front of the pilot.

Birds evolved compass ‘head up display’ [PhysOrg]

An innocent question on Quora morphed into an incredibly comprehensive explanation of just about every switch, lever and button on a Boeing 737.

Every airplane is different. Unlike learning to drive a car, you can’t just hop from one plane to another. A pilot needs familiarization (and in some cases, a whole new type of license) to fly a different kind of plane. Some are piston-powered; some are jet-powered. Some have electrically-driven controls; some are hydraulically-driven. Some have emergency oxygen; some don’t. And so on. All the switches, dials, and knobs in the cockpit control the various aircraft systems, and every aircraft has different systems.

What do all the controls in an airplane cockpit do? [Quora]

And finally, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this…