"Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future." Ray Bradbury, born on this day in 1920
Frank Van Haste
@vanhaste.com
PP-ASEL IR Busily retired. Ashburn, VA. I'm a docent at a large aerospace museum located in DC.
I hope my US followers are recovering after their celebrations of yesterday's National Aviation Day. If you haven't read THE BIG HOP I think you are probably incomplete. The Wall Street Journal (@wsj.com) called it "Riveting." Who am I to argue? wwnorton.com/books/the-bi...
The Big Hop
“Riveting.… [R]estores the 1919 achievement of those two young men, Alcock and Brown, to their rightful place in aviation history.” —Julia Flynn Siler, Wall Street JournalThe ...
wwnorton.com
Instead of Top Gun XXIV, how 'bout a movie about the Schneider Cup, from 1919 until 1931 when the Brits walked away with the trophy for good. Great locations — Monaco, Venice, Bournemouth, Hampton Roads, Baltimore, Naples, Cowes, and Calshot Spit — great airplanes — including one by RJ Mitchell...
100 years ago news@100yearsagonews.bsky.social · 6d agoAug. 19, 1926: The Navy's team seeking to win the Schneider Trophy sits together on a pontoon of their Curtiss F6C-1 Hawk racing plane in Washington, D.C. The competition of the world's fastest seaplanes is to take place at Hampton Roads, Va., in November.
I am writing about the New Mexico medevac crash that has been blamed on social media (and elsewhere) on GPS jamming by the US military. I have some very different things to say about it. Sign up for the newsletter here. Plan to post by end of the week. colleenmondor.substack.com
Colleen Mondor: Probable Cause | Substack
A deep look at the politics of flight safety, especially in Alaska. Spend a lot of time researching the FAA & NTSB. Big fan of all federal databases. Click to read Colleen Mondor: Probable Cause, a Su...
colleenmondor.substack.com
If you're interested in, or concerned about our Navy, this is an excellent account to follow. Thanks for the insights.
The Ace Tomato Company@acetomatocompany.bsky.social · 7d ago1/ Benfold is an older Flight I Arleigh Burke, (commissioned in 1991.) She's in Japan due to age and the ship lacking a helo hangars of the Flight IIA/III. Going dead in the water after an engineering casualty is not a joke.
Ahoy, @jessicagolds.bsky.social, look what my excellent county librarian has lent to me! Three chapters in, having a delightful read thusfar; will check back in a couple of days.
The linked article is a quick bit of fun:
Alex West@ajw87.bsky.social · last wk.A third unwritten rule: the "verb + direct object" rule. In English you have to put the direct object right next to the verb with nothing in between. You sound like a maniac if you say "I ate this morning breakfast", even though this is a normal construction in other European languages.
The legacy of USS England demonstrates how extraordinary leadership and sacrifice can transform an ordinary warship into a lasting symbol of naval excellence. https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2026/august/where-uss-england
Where Is the USS England?
The legacy of USS England demonstrates how extraordinary leadership and sacrifice can transform an ordinary warship into a lasting symbol of naval excellence.
usni.org
I had a '72 exactly that color. Delightful car, sold it when the family size incremented. Wish I had it still.
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 2w agoSaab Sonett V4 (1967) coolvintagecars.tumblr.com/post/8249342...
The evolution of airfoils, from the thin-section designs that the Wright brothers tested in their DIY wind-tunnel, to the rapid progress under NACA to modern supersonic wedges:
I spent some time at Udvar Hazy with the full day yesterday's delayed flight got me.
For many years, the most dangerous place in aviation was between Miss Cochran and whatever she wanted at that time. One extremely impressive lady:
Will or Bill@will-historysnoop.bsky.social · 2w ago#OTD 9 August 1980 #WASP leader and aviator Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran dies. (Women Airforce Service Pilots) (11 May 1906 – 9 August 1980) #RIP #AviationHistory @WomenInAviation @WomenMilAv8rs @WomenAtWar2 @WomenOfAviation @FlyingIsFemale #womenpilots #FlyGirls @WomenintheAir
81 years ago today, on August 9, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped upon the city of Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States. This was 3 days after the first atomic attack on Hiroshima.
Geography trivia: The Scottish Highlands, the Appalachians, and the Atlas once were the same mountain range, the Central Pangean Mountains. Source: buff.ly/3Pn9yBY
I have lately enjoyed these books by non-Dudes: Martha Wells' Platform Decay Kory Stamper's True Color Lucy Betteridge-Dyson's Jungle Commandos Susan Orlean's The Library Book Cindy Cohn's Privacy's Defender Rachel Hartigan's Lost Dierdre Mask's The Address Book Emma Pattee's Tilt + a bunch more
John Wiswell@wiswell.bsky.social · 2w agoHey guy readers! Quote this with some books by women and nonbinary authors that you recommend. A few from me: Meg Elison's Book of the Unnamed Midwife R.F. Kuang's Poppy War Caitlin Rozakis's Dreadful Fonda Lee's Jade City Sarah Gailey's Echo Wife Premee Mohamed's Annual Migration of Clouds
This is a triggering image of a museum display in the natural history museum in DC about life before smartphones. Me and a fellow 40+ person were laughing at how we are now LITERAL MUSEUM PIECES. MY teen was like did you have a clear phone? An address book? A book of maps. Yes, yes I did. 🫠🫠🫠
Happy heavenly 100th birthday to the legendary Stan Freberg. Famous for radio, satirical records, commercials, and voice acting in various #LooneyTunes shorts. He voiced Junyer Bear replacing Kent Rogers. He was Pete Puma, Bertie, Tosh Gopher, and the singer in “Three Little Bops”.
American actor and entertainer, Stan Freberg wrote, "A lot of television stuff is mean-spirited, and I think that's how political advertising got so mean-spirited, to where people are throwing things at the television set every time we have an election."
Stan Freberg Dragonet 1953
YouTube video by Anthony DiFlorio
youtu.be
Maybe only Boomers will recognize the name, but Stan Freberg was born 100 years ago today. www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3hz...
Columbus Discovers America
YouTube video by Stan Freberg - Topic
youtube.com
Stan Freberg was a treasure. I doubt that young people know about him, but his best comedy stands the test of time.
Elderly Man River- Stan Freberg and Daws Butler
YouTube video by nir0bateman
youtube.com
CURIOSITY HAS BEEN ON MARS FOR 14 YEARS!! HAPPY LANDIVERSARY CURIOSITY!!
It’s probably because of the 2-3 Ibs of copper and about 1-2 grams of gold
A-Wax@p1z4t.blacksky.app · 3w ago