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I25 South of between Pueblo and Trinidad, CO. Taped off and left in the ditch and no one around! High wind warnings Raton Pass closed to commercial truck traffic,early April '20. Note the dually headed north. Are you a member?
The technology now is amazing. I started flying 40 years ago, didn't even have headsets. Now that we are in the age of GPS, if you hand a chart to some pilots, you get this blank stare. Sad. When I give check rides, one thing they can count on is everything going dark; fly the damn airplane!
Same sort of thing has been taking place with boats. I grew up out on Barnegat bay starting in the 60s. We explored every inch and a bit of off shore. Lots of shallows everywhere. Some of it is predictable and has been that way for years. Other places shift year to year or even month to month. Most channels are well marked. We found all the shallows by running aground as kids. Or going there to clam or party on sand bars.
Few years back the chart plotters started coming in increasingly affordable and accurate. I had my first chart plotter about 2004 or so. Now its a 12" touch screen. Lots of layers of info and I could integrate and overlay Radar if I choose to spend another 3 grand.
The thing is I never needed the equipment until I had it. I still run by sight but I check my location routinely every few moments as Im scanning. Last year my Raymarine started blinking out on me. by the end of the season it was blank.
Now I feel dependent on the chart plotter. Not that I cant go out without it. Not that I depend blindly on it. But as a positioning aid it allows another level of confidence.
And at night having the electronics is a revelation. We always navigated by the lights on radio and water towers and the compass...head S SE until the WOBM tower is dead W... then turn dead W until you see the creek blinker... very spooky in rain or fog.... Buoys are lit but some are hard to see until what could be too late. Not all are lit. But they are on the chart.
Easy to become dependent on electronics. But you definitely need to be capable of running without in case of failure.
I typically don't get to see the sun rise because I leave too early, then I'm headed southwest during most of my hour-long commute as it's actually rising. However I was running a little late the other day and caught this on our road just as I left the house:
It's a pretty nice consolation prize for running 15 minutes behind, huh?
This in the middle of the Ocala Forest......Ocala, FL
Pinecastle U.S. bombing range
F/A-18 jets fly in from the Jacksonville Naval Air Station and practice their bombing on the 450-acre center of the range. This target area includes a mock-up SAM site with entrenched missile pads. The Live Ordnance Impact Area is used for 500-pound bombs, 30mm ball ammo and rockets up to 5 inches in size. The Main Bull consists of concentric circles ranging up to 2400 feet in diameter. A Conventional Dive Bomb and Rocket Target is used day and night on surplus vehicles and tire rings up to 600 feet across. In addition to a strafing target there is also a runway and a convoy of small vehicles. The site has its origins in the early 1940s when it was used by the Army to prepare for World War II. While the current setup resembles a Middle Eastern setting, the original site used a replica of a Japanese city and factory. 2018 Yamaha Wolverine x4
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalytic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
