guest post by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

photos by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

Sure, it’s fun to fly over San Francisco with Google Earth, but there’s no substitute for the real thing.

I recently had the opportunity to buzz the city in a humble Cessna 182 “Skylane.” We departed from Palo Alto under blue skies, then headed north above Highway 101, crossed over SFO right above the runways (the safest way for a low-flying plane to transit an airport is to fly directly over it), then reached San Francisco. At an altitude of about 1500 feet, we made a few loops over The Mission, got eye-to-eye with Sutro Tower, then did a pass over Sausalito and the Marin Headlands before turning east to fly right over the Golden Gate Bridge.

The weather was perfect for photography, so my shutter-finger got a major workout. Hope you enjoy the photos I took during the flight!

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photos by Scott Beale

A couple of weeks ago Shel Israel had a book release party for his new book “Twitterville” which took place at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos. The museum was open during the party, so I took a quick tour and shot a few photos.

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guest post by Burstein!

Pet Airways, whose motto is “Travel for Your Best Friend”, is a pet-only airline that will save your fine furry companion from the indignity of the cargo hold. Along with the joys of potty breaks, there are personal attendants and even a pet lounge where the “pawsenger” can chill until you can pick them up.

The service launches in July starting at $149 for a one way flight.

via Modern Cat

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guest post by John Law

Church of the Sub-Genius High Priest (REALLY high!) and KPFA radio personality Doug Wellman or “Puzzling Evidence” as he’s known of to cultists and the power elite, has been posting edited videos from his backlog of tens of thousands of hours of the weirdest and most ridiculous events to take place in the Bay Area and Beyond from the last 25 years.

Doug has been with Subgenius since the halcyon days of the early 80’s. Among his exploits in intensive voyeurism, surreal tourism and enigmatic conspiracies, Doug has, among other notable accomplishments, killed (allegedly) Subgenius Prophet Bob Dobbs, inspired David Byrne to write the song “Puzzling Evidence,” been accused of being a Oakland Police Intelligence officer by a crazed anarchist lawyer and survived a combat tour of Viet Nam as a naval officer.

Doug and his fellow Subgenius potentate Dr. Howlin Owl Robins have hosted the Puzzling Evidence Radio Show for twenty years. Joined by Subgenius co-founder Philo Drummond in recent years, this show is now (I believe) the longest running show on the venerable lefty station as well as being the most confusing and the least dogmatic.

Doug was at the 1st and 2nd How Berkeley Can You Be Parade “PETA (People Eatin’ Them Animals” float/performance and recorded the tense exchanges between the Meat People and protestors.

This event (staged three years in a row for the family friendly Berkeley parade) was comprised of various “meat providers” such as Steven King’s Carrie White, Texas Chainsaw Massacres Leatherface , Farmer Vincent from Motel Hell and others. Our very own anti-meat protestors the “Veget-Aryans” were there with bullhorns decrying the offense of edible flesh. Badly burned BBQ and fresh GPC cigarettes were tossed out to the throngs of aging Berkeley hippies and their tie-dye wearing progeny (“…here kid, first smokes free!”) My favorite part was when two 15 year old Berkeley High debutants poked at one of the massive pigheads and, in true bewilderment asked: “How did you make these things???”

Doug shot one of the last large group ascents of the Bay Bridge prior to Homeland Security making it almost impossible to climb bridges post 9-11.

Doug recorded some interesting moments at Burning Man during the apocalyptic 1996 event. Watch for the “official” radio call response to an unsanctioned “protest” of the burn!

Doug was there to record for posterity Dick Cheney’s final hurrah in San Francisco:

If you want to know what young officers recently graduated from their respective academies (Naval, West Point, set) were doing on the tax payers dime as the Viet Nam War wound down in the early 70’s look no further than here.

Some other winners are:

• Extra Action Marching Band at Pt. Arena’s 100th anniversary
• The band Abu Ghraib playing after the ’08 St. Stupid’s Parade
• Cyclecide at ace Auto

There’s tons of St. Stupid, Ask Dr. Hal, Extra Action and rare Subgenius edits from another time and another place…….

Check them all out on the Puzzling Evidence TV YouTube channel.

photo by Scott Beale

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guest post by Aaron Muszalski

Last Wednesday, a team of “slightly mad” engineers and adventurers left London on an historic journey to Timbuktu, via bio-fuelled flying car. Their invention, the Parajet Skycar, combines a dune-buggy like automobile with a propeller and a parafoil (similar to those used in powered parachutes and by paragliders) and is capable of being flown in the air and driven on the land.

After leaving London and crossing the English Channel, the expedition will pass through France, Spain, Morocco, the Western Sahara and Mali, a 3,600 mile journey in all, 40% of which they expect to travel by air. They hope to reach Timbuktu on February 20.

To see the Skycar in action and meet its creators, check out this article and video from The Guardian.

photo by The Guardian

images via Parajet

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guest post by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

It’s no secret that Boeing’s Dreamlifter is ugly, but who knew that it’s also allergic to snow?

The Dreamlifters are a fleet of four Boeing 747s that have been modified to shuttle large Boeing 787 components to and from various assembly plants all over the globe.  Apparently, however, the Dreamlifter’s bulbous frame is highly weather-sensitive, so when Seattle got hit with snow last weekend, Big Ugly was re-routed to San Francisco to take shelter. 

Of course, the quintessential Dreamlifter photo is this Photoshopped image, which perfectly encapsulates just how ungainly the aircraft really is:

photos: Dreamlifter at San Francisco International Airport by photo101. Oscar Meyer Dreamlifter by an unknown Photoshop genius.

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guest post by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

This video taken from the cockpit of a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 making a final approach to SFO seems to have been filmed with official sanction, so the production quality is excellent. If you’ve ever wondered what’s going on in the front of the plane as you prepare to land at SFO — or if you’re just a fan of air traffic control communications and NASA-style checklists — these videos should more than satisfy your curiosity.

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guest post by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

This is a clean version of an illuminating FAA graphic I saw recently on the wall at Moffett Federal Airfield down in Mountain View. It’s a guide to the air traffic routes used at airports around the San Francisco Bay Area — a roadmap of the highways in our skies.

I love it because it explains the patterns behind the air traffic I see jetting over San Francisco every day. It all seems kind of random from the ground, but thanks to this route plan, the flight paths now make a lot more sense.

This second graphic shows the southeast routes the jets use when the winds get funky:

images via FAA

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guest post by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

If you happened to look! Up in the sky! Last weekend! You might have seen a big blimp-like airship drifting over the Golden Gate Bridge around noon on Saturday.

Only, it wasn’t a blimp — it was a rigid-framed dirigible, and a genuine Zeppelin at that. Owned and operated by a local startup called Airship Ventures, the Zeppelin NT will be based at Moffett Field, and it should become a familiar sight in the skies over the Bay Area as the company begins carrying passengers on sightseeing flights.

I went aboard the Zeppelin yesterday for a quick demonstration flight, and it was good clean fun. Here’s my flight report, and here’s a link to lots more photos. Wheeeeee!

photos by Telstar Logistics

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