tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-272955212012-01-26T18:42:17.084-06:00Random, often inane ramblings of a career pilot/beach bum/motorcyclist/music loverBob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.comBlogger4131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-50117880843180303942012-01-20T06:01:00.002-06:002012-01-20T06:09:02.935-06:00

It is interesting to watch the competition between Boeing and Airbus. On one hand, Boeing has always been the supplier of air-to-air refueling planes for the military (e.g. the KC-135 which is in reality derived from the old model 707). Airbus wanted a piece of that action, and when the contract came up for bid the European company aggressively pitched a version of its own to be built a few

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-42509612586358033672012-01-14T22:20:00.002-06:002012-01-14T22:28:30.285-06:00

That’s not an old picture of me with the Bell 206 I used to fly. Nope, it was taken today, Saturday, January 12th. Your assumption is therefore correct: I’m back at my old job. Generally I believe that when you quit a job you should stay quit. But you know how the universe is: It sometimes doesn’t care what we think. The pilot who took my place (let’s call him “R,” for replacement) was let go

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-23529151999150125422012-01-03T07:19:00.003-06:002012-01-03T07:34:36.821-06:00

My friend Jacob is distraught over the breakup with his latest girlfriend. He’s going through a rough time. Alvhild (don’t ask me where the name comes from) was the third or fourth “she’s the one” girl with whom Jacob would spend the rest of his life, raise a family, blah blah blah.Jacob tends to get a little obsessive about these relationships, and he takes their inevitable endings pretty hard

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-61114954693278088832011-11-12T12:15:00.002-06:002011-11-12T12:19:14.053-06:00

We muddle along, day in and day out, under some sort of strange assumption or perhaps expectation that nothing will really change in our lives. And then we get gob-smacked when something major happens: An accident or serious illness; the death of somebody close; the loss of a job…the list goes on. These things do happen. Sometimes you get fired. Eventually our parents are going to die.

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-42001527957232553502011-10-20T17:22:00.004-05:002011-10-20T18:51:31.882-05:00

The job in Dallas fell through. It turned out that the LongRanger my friend Brad thought was for sale is...sort of...well...not. The owner does intend to sell it, but he wants to find the replacement helicopter first and he has not yet started that process. Apparently this message was not communicated strongly enough to Brad, who usually doesn't mix up stuff like that. In any event, the

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-46634763558680117452011-10-16T11:23:00.004-05:002011-10-16T12:02:27.862-05:00

I have to go to Chicago this week to look at a helicopter we’re thinking about buying. Quick up-and-back. On the phone with my friend Matt, he suggested that I get a cheap flight that connects through in Atlanta so I could come see him. “You are flying, right?” At which point I launched into one of my patented diatribes about how I will NEVER fly on a goddamn airliner ever again, period. I

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-84063744690671543632011-10-12T22:36:00.004-05:002011-10-13T19:19:45.830-05:00

When my former boss was looking to buy a jet, we focused on a mid-1990’s Cessna Citation V/Ultra. It’s a wonderful airplane. Dependable, tough, economical, can carry a big load and go a long distance…what’s not to love? Well, Citations are not sexy. They have a straight wing (not very jet-like) and they sit low to the ground (no fancy airstair to use getting in and out). My boss ended up

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-34929956343472281112011-10-06T19:53:00.004-05:002011-10-06T22:04:06.473-05:00

Uh-oh. You know me and television commercials. I hate most of 'em. But occasionally we'll find a gem. I've written about some of the good ones before. And I'm happy to report back when I discover another.Remember the old commercial for the Wendy's hamburger chain in the 1980's? It starred three little old ladies who've just been served a (presumably) non-Wendy's hamburger with a big, fluffy

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-41751509214992960842011-10-05T20:42:00.004-05:002011-10-05T21:10:36.567-05:00

Okay, not twenty years ago as The Beatles sang, but it was just a year ago today that someone ran a red light and caused me to drop my motorcycle which resulted in me breaking my arm. I'm usually not big on anniversaries or event-marking on a calendar, but this was something of a pivotal event. Just days afterward I made a decision to quit my job and do...something...else. I did not know then

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-9948788923421402732011-10-04T09:55:00.004-05:002011-10-04T10:12:55.355-05:00

The job in Dallas may not exist after all.As I've written about before, my jet pilot friend Brad’s boss is a big hunter. Kind of on the side, he also owns a huge lumber company that has made him very, very wealthy. To get around among his various, spread out business and personal properties, he owns two business jets. He bought the second one merely because the warranty ran out on the first

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-40044775852054668442011-10-02T21:20:00.004-05:002011-10-02T21:45:50.178-05:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks! Since I’ve been back in Pensacola, I’ve been to see two Sikorsky S-55 helicopters that Dave Smith of Golden Wings Aviation in Brewster, Washington is/was interested in buying. We have to replace the one that crashed and burned, and the prospect of more business for next season means that we'll have to add more aircraft. Trouble is, there are very, very few of

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-81758752340368701232011-09-19T09:31:00.012-05:002011-09-19T22:49:22.233-05:00

It was tough leaving the good people I’d worked and played with over the summer in Brewster, Washington. I’d had a ton of fun and formed some really good friendships, but eventually I really had to go.When I first got up there, Dave Smith, owner of Golden Wings Aviation gave me a spare car of his. I was content to ride the motorcycle around, but there were times when a car came in handy (e.g.

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-6218628838841169602011-09-09T20:19:00.003-05:002011-09-09T20:59:36.498-05:00

I don’t know why I never respected Johnny Rivers as a musician. I guess I always just figured he was a singer of someone else’s songs and therefore not someone to be taken seriously. He might be best remembered for that “Secret Agent Man” song – at least, that’s what I remember him best for. But in researching him for this blog piece, I realized that he had quite a lot of hits over the years…

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-75543786620098913042011-09-02T12:14:00.002-05:002011-09-02T12:31:07.453-05:00

Nope, still in Washington. Yes, I've stayed a lot longer than originally planned, and I have this nagging feeling that I ought to leave. Young Brandon is still here too. I suspect that we’ll both be gone very soon though. We both need to move on and get on with our lives, but we've been dragging our feet. Maybe we just don't want this to end. It's really been an awesome summer. And you

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-72677551413694160402011-08-14T22:33:00.001-05:002011-08-14T22:36:05.832-05:00

The cherries are all picked, the helicopter is back at home base, I’m no longer living in an RV in an orchard somewhere. So ends Bob’s Great Cherry Drying Adventure. And now the question is… What’s next? There’s really nothing for me to do here. I might as well head home. I should head home. There’s “stuff” to do in P’cola. But I don’t know if I will. At least not directly. My friend

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-33305287951667206192011-07-28T18:59:00.004-05:002011-07-28T19:10:25.308-05:00

Aviation is cruelly unforgiving of mistakes. One mistake, you’re dead…period, end of story, cancel Christmas. We who have been in this business for any length of time understand this. I may appear all casual and goofy about flying, but I take it very, very seriously. I did not get to this stage by treating what I do in the air as a lark. Not crashing takes hard work.Our company had a fatal

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-19884876398388310042011-07-24T10:24:00.005-05:002011-07-27T15:47:12.635-05:00

Here I am, just landed after a one-hour cherry-drying flight. They stopped us short because it started raining again. Which means Travis and I will have to go out and dry the whole place again when the sun comes out. Oh-friggin'-joy. Understand, the S-55 was designed in 1949 and produced through the 1950's. Helicopters have come a long way since then.It took me a little while to get used to

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-83785454145157880202011-07-23T00:58:00.007-05:002011-07-23T01:21:33.062-05:00

Mike's Geo TrackerMy friend Mike has the best bad luck with cars. One night last fall, he and his girlfriend, Judy were at my house in Florida. At some wee hour they left in Mike’s 1992 Geo Tracker which has about a million miles on it. Ten minutes later he’s on the phone – broke down just a couple of blocks away. Could I come and get them? Sure! I did, and took them home. Literally, they

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-39897489295013653582011-07-12T23:10:00.000-05:002011-07-13T01:08:43.509-05:00

With apologies to Ray Charles… Oh, it’s drying time again, we’re going to fly now…Yeah we finally got some rain today! All five of our contracted helicopters flew. All of our low-time pilots are happy. The boss is happy. I’m happy. We have two S-55’s now at the orchard in Malott, Washington, north of Brewster, where I'm staying. Travis is flying one and I’m flying the other. The second

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-78986414907160773052011-07-10T11:08:00.002-05:002011-07-10T11:17:41.993-05:00

See that picture above? It contains four (of six) flyable Sikorsky S-55 helicopters under the clear, blue sky that exists above us every day here. The helicopters are waiting to go to work, as are the pilots who fly them. All we need is rain. And we're not getting any. It has been a cool, dry summer, with no rain so far and none in sight. My boss is really, really depressed. I try to

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-11797684484540285522011-07-05T01:25:00.004-05:002011-07-05T01:37:08.096-05:00

I was thinking about my last blogpost, the one just below this. And I was thinking about fun, and how important it is to me.A long, long time ago I was visiting with a guy who was my first real mentor in this business. In fact, it is his name that is on the first line of my very first student pilot logbook. Although retired now, his name would still be familiar to many within the helicopter

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-61351545837654816992011-07-01T15:57:00.007-05:002011-07-01T16:26:55.907-05:00

My friend Mikey and the two helicopters he flies.It’s a nutty business, this aviation. I wonder if people in other occupations have as much fun as we.On Wednesday there wasn’t a cloud in the sky (rats!), so I hopped in the car and went down to the airport. Dave Smith Sr., owner of Golden Wings Aviation provides lodging and two meals per day for his pilots. My intent was to get lunch but I knew

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-92066772166505520252011-06-26T10:44:00.004-05:002011-06-26T11:18:42.652-05:00

Well the big cherry drying adventure isn’t going so well. I’ve been up here in Brewster, Washington for a month now and we haven’t dried a single cherry yet. Normally we’re drying by now. Blame it on the weather, which is gorgeous. The early spring was unusually cool...or wet...or hot...or dry...or something. I'm a city boy; I don't know anything about cherries. The end result is that the

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-5068770691645858282011-06-14T09:13:00.002-05:002011-06-18T15:49:37.655-05:00

The third and fourth days of my trip from Pensacola to Brewster were, shall we say, challenging. But that’s part of being a motorcyclist. If you’re going to call yourself one, then you cannot restrict your riding to nice, sunny days. Sometimes you’re gonna get wet. And cold. Goes with the territory. I was actually prepared for such conditions. But the best rainsuit and the warmest clothes

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-74098762012347284232011-06-09T00:46:00.006-05:002011-06-09T01:36:16.521-05:00

So the tale of this trip is taking longer to tell than it was to actually do. If you’ve read the first three installments, you’ll know that I had pretty good weather for the first half of my trip from Pensacola, Florida to Brewster, Washington. Then things kind of went sour. The bike, which I had been worried about, performed flawlessly. The weather and the roads, which I had not been worried

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-25400559302912623682011-06-07T23:23:00.010-05:002011-06-08T01:54:20.114-05:00

Our story so far: An intrepid-if-stupid blogger who shall remain nameless (me) thought it would be "fun" to travel from Pensacola, Florida to Brewster, Washington - a total of 2,600+ miles - on a Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle. Easy-peasy three-day trip! Um...not.TUESDAY, May 24, 2011Once I was done with the challenge of crossing Bighorn National Forest on one of their late-season snow

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-62569922521647467332011-06-06T15:02:00.009-05:002011-06-07T09:20:54.295-05:00

Dear God: Why do you hate me?The first three days of the trip so far had been absolutely perfect for a motorcyclist: Clear skies and cool temps. But by the time I pulled into my stop for the third night in Gillette, Wyoming, I knew my luck was about to run out. I’d been watching the weather, as we pilots and motorcyclists do. I knew there was rain ahead. If only…I have a good rainsuit.

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-1793844881248868422011-06-05T22:03:00.012-05:002011-06-06T09:13:35.391-05:00

I took this summer job in a tiny town called Brewster, Washington. Google Maps said it was 2,660 miles from my house in Pensacola, Florida. I could've taken the car and done a 2.5 day banzai run like Mikey did a couple of weeks prior, but I decided instead to take the Sportster. No guts, no glory, right? I sent most of my clothes up UPS and only took "the necessities" on the bike. Still

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-55218071722448724412011-05-30T13:21:00.003-05:002011-05-30T13:31:51.900-05:00

I often write about how versatile helicopters are. In my own career, I’ve done traffic-reporting, sightseeing, photo/video flights, Point A to Point B charter, and cargo flying. Out in the Gulf of Mexico I not only shuttled roustabouts around, but did the occasional “sling-load” whereby cargo is carried on a cable underneath the ship. Down in Honduras I flew a helicopter in support of a

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-17265615072222839992011-05-29T09:30:00.015-05:002011-05-29T13:56:38.591-05:00

Here is the forecast for the next ten days for Pensacola, FL courtesy of Intellicast:Yee-ikes! 90's? "Extreme" UV index? Oh my. As much as I love Pensacola (most of the time) I'm glad I'm not there now.Where am I? A little town called Brewster, Washington which is about halfway between Seattle (to our west) and Spokane (to our east). We're in a valley amid the Wenatchee Mountains. Not only

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-85616902031554928492011-05-27T21:03:00.005-05:002011-05-27T21:29:23.201-05:00

I've been remiss in posting stuff lately. A lot has happened in the last month and it's been hard to devote time to sit down and write. Lame excuse, I know. Let's take things one at a time.So it was finally the weekend of the Boss’s wedding. It was held on May 14th, just outside of Eufaula, Alabama on a grand old plantation owned by the bride’s family. Very nice. Very Gatsbyesque…and I felt

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-75982068068124548252011-05-07T20:56:00.005-05:002011-05-08T11:58:57.032-05:00

I own a 2005 Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle. Since I began riding at age 16 I have owned twelve motorcycles; this is my second Sportster. I loved my first one (an ’86 model) and never should have sold it. This ’05 is a better Sportster than the other one, but it is bigger and heavier and less maneuverable. Still, it’s incredibly fun to ride.Among the Harley community, the Sportster is

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-52235183470396787642011-04-26T15:15:00.011-05:002011-04-26T18:13:00.288-05:00

What is it about dropping stuff from a helicopter that fascinates people so? A while back a friend talked me into talking my boss into using our helicopter for a “golf ball drop.” We flew to a nearby golf course where a local radio celebrity got in the back seat and dumped a couple of buckets of numbered golf balls out onto a putting green. I don’t remember the details of the associated

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-52708157924526784612011-04-20T21:44:00.004-05:002011-04-20T22:52:29.859-05:00

So time is winding down. By this time next month I will be gainfully unemployed. I know, I’ve been saying this for a while now, but this time my last day with this outfit really is in sight. Really. The boss hired another helicopter pilot (finally!) who starts at the end of April. Then we’ll have two weeks for him to fly around with me, getting used to the landing sites we regularly go to.

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-9771760384277207272011-04-10T16:16:00.005-05:002011-04-10T18:47:35.625-05:00

We pilots get up early. It’s in our nature. Most of us are so used to sunrise takeoffs that we just normally wake up well before that magical time. At least, that’s how it is for me and most of the pilots I know.And it was no different today, Sunday. I thought it was going to be foggy but it wasn’t. (That’s another thing: we pilots are always checking and watching the weather.) It was

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-51283693221539284682011-04-07T16:21:00.004-05:002011-04-07T16:35:02.920-05:00

Busy? Oh Lord, I’ve been busy. Between shepherding this stupid helicopter through a particularly difficult Annual Inspection, and trying to hire a replacement for myself, and bringing the boss’s new (to him) business jet online, and helping another friend get the Annual Inspection on his helicopter done, and helping two friends move – why yes, I’ve been very busy, thank you very much. There

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-59161823695403394832011-03-16T12:23:00.006-05:002011-03-16T13:44:23.852-05:00

His words carry weight that would break a less-interesting man's jaw...He's won trophies for his game face alone...He bowls overhand...He is...The most interesting man in the world.They're silly, really, these commercials for Dos Equis beer. Maybe it's the absurdity of them that is so appealing. Sitting in a kayak and being pushed out of the back of an airplane at low level with a paddle but no

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-52163099884043268202011-03-13T18:57:00.005-05:002011-03-13T19:54:47.380-05:00

Frankly, I’ve been itching to get back on the motorcycle. After a long, cold winter, the weather here in Florida is finally becoming nice enough to ride. On Saturday morning I changed out the last few bits that got bent or damaged in the accident I had back in October. By noon, she was ready to run and ride. So that’s what Jacob and I did.We rode up to the airport, of course. It’s my

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-3081880578174021542011-03-08T21:49:00.003-06:002011-03-08T22:23:54.529-06:00

It seems that I cannot even quit a job properly. You might find this odd, since as everyone knows (and Matt will gladly testify), I’m a pretty good quitter. In fact, I can be a hell of a quitter!There comes a time when you get to the end of the road at every job. I’m there now. My original plan was to be done with this one at the end of January. But then…you know how plans can change: 1) My

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-45439626080724911572011-03-01T09:14:00.003-06:002011-03-01T10:06:56.232-06:00

The TSA ought to be dissolved, no doubt about it. They are not keeping us "safe" from "terrorists." They abuse their power, subject ordinary citizens to intrusive searches and, more importantly, generate a gnawing, uncomfortable feeling of paranoia among the people. We see "terrorists" hiding behind every lamp post.One recent example of this idiocy happened just before Valentines Day. A group of

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-76979514666105678422011-02-20T21:16:00.004-06:002011-02-20T22:07:31.286-06:00

I have decided to leave the job I’ve been in for the last 3.5 years. It’s a long story. The reason I gave my boss is that I am simply uncomfortable with the night flying we do; it is a level of risk higher than I’m willing to take at this stage of my life. And this is true. There's more to it than that, as you might suspect, but the basic premise is true enough. And good enough. This has

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-23807250968141282632011-02-19T13:47:00.007-06:002011-02-19T22:05:13.494-06:00

When it comes to music, the term “supergroup” gets thrown around often. The rock group, Cream is generally considered the first to have the name bestowed on them. But here in the U.S., while we might have heard of Eric Clapton, nobody on this side of the Atlantic had heard of…well, the other two guys (Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce). In 1969, another prototypical supergroup called Blind Faith

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-37009871180848754232011-02-04T09:23:00.004-06:002011-02-04T09:34:18.760-06:00

The mullet-haired boss catches Scott hanging around doing nothing when he could be cleaning.Scott says: "I'm a very fast leaner. It said so in my resume."Boss says: "Oh, I'd thought that was a typo. So I guess you aren't a fast learner."Scott replies: "Neither of us is."This is one Basic Instructions that had me laughing all the way through. Scott is consistently the funniest cartoonists on the

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-46739046824499585572011-01-25T15:56:00.003-06:002011-01-25T16:11:05.331-06:00

David Thorne is a graphic artist from Australia who is living here in Virginia here in the U.S. He maintains a hilarious (to me) blog called 27b/6, the title of which means…well, it must mean something to him. I’m not sure.Anyway, this past winter David decided to go snowboarding. He went to a ski shop in his area in an effort to purchase a pair of gloves. He was assured by the staff of the

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-17294092396209847022011-01-16T22:40:00.002-06:002011-01-16T23:04:38.266-06:00

For a couple of years I’ve been paying for a mostly-empty storage shed, which is kind of silly since I have a garage now...and have had one for over a year. I’d brought the motorcycles over to the house pretty quickly, but I’d left a bunch of, let’s face it, junk: An old, pre-DOS “portable computer” the size of a suitcase (CPM operating system); three dead laptop computers; three electronic

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-83495771025292547572011-01-10T10:28:00.006-06:002011-01-10T10:58:49.862-06:00

As the tragedy in Arizona began unfolded on TV the other day (and of course I’m talking about the event where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot), there was one surreal moment for me.I happened to surf by Fox News. They had one of their typically alarmist blurbs on their busy, cluttered screen. It said, “Shooting has whole country on edge.”What?I wasn’t on edge. I was saddened and

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-30961069671369636422011-01-06T11:53:00.006-06:002011-01-06T13:02:57.595-06:00

For a long time now, airlines outside of the U.S. have been putting goofy or wacky paint jobs on their planes. In the trade they are called "logo jets." Sometimes it's just the "livery" itself that is striking, like this Belgian airline Jetairfly.Other times the airline will apply a "specialty" scheme such as this 747 belonging to Japan's All Nippon Airways.U.S. airlines have always been very

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-90464681426182339532011-01-01T14:13:00.004-06:002011-01-01T17:00:34.343-06:00

So at seven o’clock this morning…this New Year’s Day morning…I was on the road, headed up to the airport with the intention of flying the Boss. There was very little other traffic, and I guessed that most people on the planet were still safely snuggled in their comfy beds for another couple of hours, waiting to wake up and take some aspirin. But I was headed to work. In fact, I’d been up since

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-58229033858961314632010-12-30T13:49:00.002-06:002010-12-30T14:10:14.522-06:00

That’s right, the rule is No Karaoke. But that rule got violated last night, under the influence of mass quantities of alcohol as you probably can imagine. But we’ll get to that in a bit.Matt came into town from Atlanta yesterday. A mutual friend of ours died – a guy who’d been a strong father-figure to and big influence on Matt since the age of 10, about when Matt’s own father left the

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-67043640292554916782010-12-24T09:53:00.008-06:002010-12-25T09:46:06.187-06:00

Grrr, that just makes me mad. I had what I thought was a great post yesterday. But I got to thinking that it sounded a little familiar. So I went back and reviewed my Christmas posts for the last couple of years. You guessed it, yesterday's post is an almost note-for-note remake of the one in December 2008. Damn! What- am I that hard-up for material...that short on creativity? I must've

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-40823631560791530822010-12-17T13:42:00.004-06:002010-12-17T16:23:22.582-06:00

I usually agonize over my posts. I write them up in MSWord, and then spend an eternity editing, tweaking, fiddling, changing, cutting-and-pasting until I get them to a point I’m happy with. Only then will I transfer them to Blogger and tweak some more. I admire my blogger friends like Debby, who can convey in so few words what takes me so many. Brevity is not one of my strong points.The day

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-35202313669847138432010-12-15T11:56:00.002-06:002010-12-15T12:34:16.149-06:00

There are a couple of things that strike fear into a pilot's heart. I've already talked about our annual flight physical, perhaps the scariest thing we endure. Right after that comes inflight fire, and catastrophic structural failure. But among them on the list has to be a little visit from the FAA we call a "ramp check." What happens is this: You land somewhere. A well-dressed person with a

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-12052239404317414212010-12-04T07:30:00.003-06:002010-12-04T07:50:54.483-06:00

Okay, let me explain. In my last post I wrote about my discomfort with flying at night in a single-engine helicopter at low altitude over inhospitable terrain. That will never change. I'm not going to find a way to "relax" or come to terms with it in any way. It is a risky endeavor; it will ALWAYS be a risky endeavor. Is it riskier than flying at a higher altitude during daylight over good

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-86842131296364427152010-11-28T16:20:00.003-06:002010-11-28T16:45:53.384-06:00

I don’t like flying at night. I mean I really don’t like flying at night. Let me explain.I fly a single-engine helicopter over some fairly inhospitable, densely wooded, sparsely populated terrain (central Alabama). If I had my druthers, I’d always fly up high, day or night, up around four or five-thousand feet. Up there, I’d be in radar contact and could talk to an ATC facility. That way, if

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-29712729369892483592010-11-12T19:30:00.007-06:002010-11-12T20:27:11.227-06:00

Fun Fact #1: There are NO taxicabs in Eufaula, Alabama. None. Zero. This historic city of 14,000 has no taxis. Then again, it has no airline service either. So there's probably no demand for a car service - where would anybody go? Which begs the question: What are we doing here? God only knows. Hey, I only drive the thing; I don't get paid to ask questions. But here we are. I had to

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-8088151430979019032010-11-09T08:52:00.002-06:002010-11-09T08:58:55.535-06:00

In the words of Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, the Chief Engineer on the Starship Enterprise, “Ya canna change the laws o’physics!” When you throw yourself off a motorcycle and go tumbling down the pavement at 25 mph there are consequences to pay.Although my broken arm was the focus of my attention immediately afterward, there were other injuries suffered in my accident. I mean, thinking back, even

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-30367297772115959832010-11-07T11:15:00.005-06:002010-11-07T11:53:55.634-06:00

Am I the only person on the planet who does not consider Conan O'Brien funny? I'm puzzled that so many people do. Various sources refer to O'Brien as a "comedic genius." Genius? Really? Rolling Stone Magazine recently did an article on him, sort of explaining why he is so popular with the college-age stoner crowd. And maybe that's it: Maybe I'm just too old and out of it to "get" his humor.

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-56950786060944774512010-10-31T11:31:00.004-05:002010-10-31T11:36:02.788-05:00

So...the boss wants me to get rid of my motorscooter in light of my recent accident. A reasonable request, I suppose, inasmuch as I am his one-and-only pilot, and this broken shoulder has put me out of commission for a month, and there is no one who can jump in and take my place (pesky insurance requirements). So I see his point.I guess I shouldn't tell him about my mountain bike riding. If I

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-75157572407005433612010-10-28T19:04:00.003-05:002010-10-28T19:13:21.723-05:00

It’s been three weeks and a couple of days since my motorcycle accident. And honestly it’s been difficult. Not only has the pain from the break been fairly constant (although thankfully manageable), but the loss of use of the limb has been a huge inconvenience as I’ve previously whined. Jacob has been a tremendous help, as I’ve also mentioned, driving me around and doing things I could not do

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-11621820800209717732010-10-23T22:53:00.002-05:002010-10-23T22:58:49.644-05:00

This morning, nineteen days after my motorcycle accident I passed a major milestone: I was able to button my own jeans. I know, it sounds silly. But for the last couple of weeks, my broken shoulder simply made it impossible for me to use my left arm for much of anything. Healing progress has been slow, perhaps because I’m not a teenager anymore. I still cannot raise the arm away from my side

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-64742398309118994612010-10-22T16:51:00.003-05:002010-10-22T18:01:41.043-05:00

My views on the TSA and airline security screenings in general are well-known 'round these parts: They are useless. Not only are they unnecessary and a tremendous waste of government money, they are an instrusion of our privacy. We are all treated equally - scrutinized as potential criminals. Travelers must pass through metal detectors, we must remove our shoes, our carry-on bags are x-rayed for

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-33400706964855254622010-10-10T13:19:00.002-05:002010-10-10T13:36:27.196-05:00

Up until her death the other day, a 36 year-old British woman named Linda Norgrove was working in Afghanistan for a civilian company called Development Alternatives Inc. (“DAI”), which is based in Washington D.C. DAI is described as a “global consulting company.” DAI had a contract funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to help the people of Afghanistan grow something besides the

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-10285693149123676662010-10-07T21:47:00.003-05:002010-10-07T22:26:05.518-05:00

Whenever you go into a hospital they always ask you to rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10. In my case, my arm/shoulder was causing intense pain that did not subside even for a moment. It was accompanied by dry mouth, occasional light-headedness and nausea. Thus, I characterized the pain as a 10. Not that I’m a wimp, as I’ve said, but it was really, really bad.But I tend to take things in a

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-18091113425535695862010-10-06T06:17:00.004-05:002010-10-06T06:41:03.408-05:00

This was going to be a nice little story about washing a motorcycle on a gorgeous day and then taking it out on a 30-mile ride to “dry her off.” Didn’t work out that way.Motorcycling involves risk; I know that. And I’ve always believed that every accident can be avoided with the proper level of defensive riding. ...Until that lady pulled out in front of me yesterday.It started off innocently

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-74473471952565024462010-10-03T22:28:00.002-05:002010-10-03T22:34:20.929-05:00

I like riding motorcycles, always have, ever since I can remember. Why? Dunno. Maybe it’s that “one with the machine” thing. Driving a car can be fairly automatic, but riding a motorcycle is totally absorbing. All the extremities are occupied, some with more than one device. For instance, on the motorcycle your right hand not only controls the throttle, but also activates the front brake. You

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-18238045470147288382010-09-19T20:38:00.004-05:002010-09-19T21:21:39.195-05:00

A fellow blogger who sometimes writes about flying is a motorcyclist as well. After a long hiatus he decided to buy a bike again. After much deliberation he is now the proud owner of an Italian job called a Moto Guzzi. I’m happy to see any rider get back “in the wind” as we say, even if it is on a quirky, un-mainstream bike like the Guzzi. If the bike is dependable and he takes good care of it,

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-20964115926263597672010-09-09T10:25:00.008-05:002010-09-11T21:01:47.469-05:00

The most interesting man in the world... on Rollerblading:"...No."Oh man, you know me and TV commercials.The ad agency representing Dos Equis beer has created an ad campaign that is friggin' hilarious: "The Most Interesting Man In The World." He's an older, very sophisticated, worldly gent, always in the company of young, beautiful women. With gentle flamenco music playing in the background, he

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-46878456165722865902010-09-08T20:00:00.002-05:002010-09-08T20:50:55.869-05:00

I’m always amused when small stories from across the country get blown up way out of proportion by the national media. As a culture, we seem to revel in the trivial; every little thing captures our interest for a few moments.When I was growing up, there were only three national television news networks, and they focused on pretty big issues. Tons of stuff happening in the country went unnoticed.

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-81317443874333233502010-09-05T21:28:00.009-05:002010-09-06T00:04:09.295-05:00

The 2011 Harley Davidson Sportster The Harley Davidson Motor Company has always had a problem attracting young riders to its product. Especially lately, the demographic of the typical Harley rider has been...well...me (a 55 y/o boomer). This is a problem. If you don't have young riders coming in the front door, the old riders will eventually die off.Part of Harley's bigger problem lies in the

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-2344957323882975352010-08-30T21:19:00.003-05:002010-08-30T22:40:52.033-05:00

I recently posted about a motorcycle trip my friend Jacob and I took to Key West. It generated a response from another blogger, a guy also named Bob who I admire greatly. He wrote: “Sometimes I think you have the life I would have if I didn't have this one . . .”This is a very odd thing to say, considering that I am so unsatisfied with my own life. Notice that I said unsatisfied not dissatisfied.

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-25808669580907437192010-08-28T10:48:00.003-05:002010-08-28T11:08:31.385-05:00

Jacob and I recently rode our motorcycles from Pensacola down to Key West. Jacob on his Honda Shadow; me on my Harley Sportster. One end of Florida to the other. Stayed off the Interstates as much as possible. It's a trip I had done before, back in the '90s, on a different Sportster, with my friend Jim on his bike (also a Honda very much like Jacob's).During the trip down and back, we got rained

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-77850807567180892072010-08-26T08:56:00.002-05:002010-08-26T09:18:23.659-05:00

I have mentioned before how much I love David Thorne’s blog, 27b/6 . While reading his post, “1,000 Characters” the other night and I was laughing so hard I just about fell out of my chair. There’s a lot of random stuff in the post, but these two items really stood out. Why can't I have a sense of humor as good as this guy's?Girls That have said no Part 1Around the time I was twelve, my sister

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-88806046187135020362010-08-23T21:08:00.004-05:002010-08-23T22:03:03.712-05:00

Acronyms For TSA:Thousands Standing AroundTray Stackers AssociationTruly Stupid AssholesTaking Scissors AwayOkay, that’s it, I will NEVER fly on the airlines again. Screw them. I’ve had it. This whole “TSA: Everyone’s A Terrorist” attitude has just turned me off completely. All the airlines can go bankrupt for all I care.Last time I flew, I was departing Pensacola, Florida on a quiet Sunday

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-56736704631054001832010-08-13T23:40:00.003-05:002010-08-14T00:06:18.424-05:00

...So, let me set it up. The premise is, over the weekend this woman named Shannon lost her cat. When she gets to work on Monday morning, she emails one of the guys upstairs in the Design Department (David) and asks him if he can make up a "lost cat" poster. She includes a picture of Missy. Simple request, right?The posters aren't quite what Shannon is looking for. She offers suggestions -

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-89715333563447334122010-08-11T12:06:00.005-05:002010-08-11T12:52:04.655-05:00

Okay, I usually leave airline stuff to other bloggers, but this is just too funny for words.You heard about the JetBlue flight attendant that went crazy, huh? Well, if not, here's the deal:At 38 year-old flight attendant by the name of Steven Slater had a little...umm...event. Apparently the flight he was working on had just landed at JFK Airport and had not yet made it to the gate. One of the

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-47953045314225965162010-07-30T11:07:00.008-05:002010-07-30T13:20:00.186-05:00

Nice picture, eh? Nothing wrong there, just a shot of the instrument panel of a Bell 206B helicopter flying along in straight and level flight. I’m on my way home. Nice flight on a beautiful day.A closer look at the GPS atop the dash (you might have to click on the picture and open it up bigger) reveals that I have 120 miles to go and I am making a groundspeed of 117 knots. On the instrument

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-76839018021733746292010-07-26T16:48:00.004-05:002010-07-26T18:01:19.651-05:00

Do you know the kid in the picture above? Seems like a fairly average, normal kid, right? Well it turns out that this “kid,” when he was a mere 22 years old, turned down an offer by Yahoo to purchase his company for…you’d better sit down… one billion dollars. That's right, $1 billion. The kid is Mark Zuckerberg. He's 26 now. In 2003, when he was a student at Harvard University, Mark and a

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-52387762495852564352010-07-25T10:39:00.004-05:002010-07-25T11:28:49.951-05:00

Regular readers know of my love/hate relationship with the cellphone. My most recent post about them was back in February. Bear with me as I address the subject yet again.I understand that cellphones are indispensable, and their proliferation is becoming more widespread. But I still think there should be limits. And currently society seems so infatuated and enamored with these little

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-10691230189282279492010-07-24T16:15:00.002-05:002010-07-24T16:18:19.479-05:00

So Tropical Storm Bonnie fizzled. When it re-emerged into the Gulf o' Mexico she never did strengthen. And although it pretty much did follow the path that the National Weather Service had predicted, the storm was not cause for worry.Oh well. Win some, lose some. Next!

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-70964028088393383542010-07-24T11:04:00.002-05:002010-07-24T11:21:23.162-05:00

The speedometer on my motorcycle says, “Harley Davidson Certified.” It gives one the impression that it would be highly accurate, right? We’ll get back to this.After Matt and my disastrous, nearly-fatal hike down into Tallulah Gorge, I realized that I was terribly out of shape. Well, I sort of knew that even before the hike, but the hike drove the point home with the precision of one of those

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-81856350070416951352010-07-23T14:16:00.003-05:002010-07-23T14:25:03.845-05:00

I wonder- have I already made a post with this title? Because it seems that history just keeps repeating and repeating for us here in Pensacola. Why do I say that? Feast your eyes on the image below (taken from http://www.intellicast.com/ where I get most of my weather info).Yes, it's Tropical Storm Bonnie! Right now, as we speak it is entering the Gulf of Mexico. The winds are 40 to 50 mph - not

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-84590959679302202572010-07-22T08:02:00.006-05:002010-07-22T10:07:46.055-05:00

Look at that picture above. Now that is something no pilot wants to see. The XM Weather (as depicted on my Garmin 496 GPS) is showing an area of heavy precipitation adjacent to and around the Brewton Airport (12J). Red is bad. I was only 32 miles out when I took that picture, but I had been watching that storm blossom from 50 miles away or more.It's summertime, and here in the South that means

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-89031003874320244082010-07-16T20:20:00.003-05:002010-07-16T21:23:42.742-05:00

The Flying Across America guys came through Pensacola this week on their way back to Dunellon, Florida from where they started their cross-country trip on June 21st. Jason Schappert and Vincent Lambercy and I had been talking, texting, Facebook messaging and emailing for a while, so it was good to finally meet them in person. Hopefully for them too.On Monday morning, they flew over from Baton

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-73785091236602703952010-07-15T17:09:00.003-05:002010-07-15T22:03:36.528-05:00

And the good news is that as of about 2:30 this afternoon, BP announced that they had stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Not “reduced” it, STOPPED it. They did so using yet another cap placed over the exposed wellhead. This is sort of confusing, because I thought they had said that the casing was leaking from more than one place – not solely out the end of the severed pipe, but at

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-61770958415764532002010-07-06T13:11:00.020-05:002010-07-09T08:56:26.804-05:00

When Matt asked me to come up to Atlanta for the Fourth of July weekend, and I didn't have to work, I eagerly agreed. “Maybe we’ll do...something...go hiking or something…” he suggested vaguely, in that tone of voice that always makes me go, "Oh shit."Heh. The “something” he had in mind turned out to be hiking the Tallulah Gorge, which is in Tallulah Falls State Park. It is reputed to be the

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-23211090167373331972010-06-30T11:27:00.005-05:002010-06-30T12:38:41.617-05:00

It was a simple flight, really. Take the boss somewhere, drop him off and come home. Forty minutes out, forty minutes back. Done it a hundred times. But yesterday was different. Yesterday was strange.Some days I’m much more self-aware than others. Some days, it’s like I’m in the cockpit with myself as an outsider, a third-party watching the other me fly the helicopter, while at the same time

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-14027747022198333302010-06-25T19:28:00.003-05:002010-06-25T20:27:41.635-05:00

You’d have to be living in a cave to have missed the fiasco involving General Stanley McChrystal the other day. And I’ll bet that even our favorite cave-dweller, Osama Bin Laden has heard as well.But for those who don’t have kidney dialysis machines and big-screen TV’s in their "cave," let me recap: A reporter for Rolling Stone Magazine spent some time hanging around with U.S. Army General

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-40920688459000248162010-06-23T23:24:00.005-05:002010-06-24T15:33:39.867-05:00

Ironically, on Wednesday morning my friend Bart Pullum optimistically posted on his Facebook page that all of Santa Rosa County's beaches were open for swimming and boating. I say "ironically" because as he was posting this, a large amount of oil was washing ashore on Pensacola Beach, which is in Santa Rosa County. And it was bad. Our Florida Governor, Charlie Crist happened to be in town to

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-10036152585676794032010-06-19T11:49:00.009-05:002010-06-19T14:42:50.968-05:00

President Obama says that we must eliminate our dependence on foreign oil.::::Yawn::::Sounds familiar. Where have I heard that before? Ohhhhh yeaaaaaah.I clearly remember 1973: the first “gas crisis” which occurred when OPEC shut us off due to our support of Israel. I remember days of not being able to buy gasoline at all, or waiting in long lines to buy what little was allowed that day. I

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-13589423126862706722010-06-18T18:06:00.002-05:002010-06-18T18:45:58.357-05:00

And who doesn’t like cats?Usually I avoid watching TV commercials, considering them an interruption and supreme annoyance. But my attention was grabbed by a soft, melodic tune reminiscent of something from the 1960’s. My head snapped to the tube, and there on the screen was some cat that was apparently having an LSD-induced hallucination. It was dancing with purple and blue, stork-legged turkeys

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-30781521774177984072010-06-17T11:09:00.003-05:002010-06-17T11:33:54.904-05:00

When I tell people that I’m a professional pilot, they usually ask what airline I fly for? I’ll bet you that most people in the country really don’t understand the difference between the airlines and General Aviation. To them, General Aviation is pretty invisible and/or inconsequential.“General Aviation” comprises all civilian, non-airline flying. From flight training to corporate/business use,

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-1358203187582493432010-06-15T10:32:00.003-05:002010-06-15T11:50:11.936-05:00

If you do not already, you’ll think I’m weird after this post. Bear with me. And do not judge.I am a big fan of pop culture. I’m fascinated with the way that the American public latches onto certain fads or trends, then completely devours them before spitting them out like yesterday’s chewing gum and moves on to the next flavor du jour.Back in the mid-to-late 1990’s there was this musical group

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-12311771918976623542010-06-13T12:00:00.003-05:002010-06-13T12:25:17.737-05:00

I understand everyone’s anger at BP. I get it. We see the Big, Bad Foreign Company that is befouling our environment. We see the unstoppable oil spewing from the well. We see their flippant CEO making inappropriate comments on TV. It just pisses us off.I also see a growing movement to boycott BP. And to this I ask: WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS THINKING?!We need BP to be healthy and strong. We need this so

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-82035617540413599762010-06-11T21:46:00.006-05:002010-06-12T07:57:43.684-05:00

Over the years there have been many promotional-type of events in aviation. Usually they involve some sort of record-setting goal, like the infamous Jessica Dubroff. You might remember the big controversy over her. Back in 1996, Jessica was a seven year-old “student pilot.” Purportedly, she wanted to become the “youngest person to fly an airplane across the country.” Except she wasn’t…a pilot,

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-30571539236301098842010-06-09T23:24:00.004-05:002010-06-09T23:54:15.616-05:00

One reason I watch MSNBC is because they don’t even pretend to be a serious news organization. They tell you right up front that they are giving you an OPINION on news stories that you already know about. Often, watching MSNBC is funnier than the news spoof skits on programs like “Saturday Night Live.” At the end of the day, MSNBC is probably more – dare I say it? – fair and balanced than a

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-59137772636054389442010-06-07T16:26:00.012-05:002010-06-07T18:30:58.555-05:00

(As always, you can right-click all pictures and select "Open Link In New Window" if you'd like to see them full-size.)Welcome to Pensacola! With all the hoopla, panic and doom-and-gloom attitudes around here, my friend Gene and I went out to Pensacola Beach over the weekend to witness the destruction first-hand. Saturday wasn’t a great day; thunderstorms all around and not much sunshine. But

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-39491472591211579932010-06-04T16:40:00.002-05:002010-06-04T16:58:37.526-05:00

As expected, the oil has finally reached the beaches of the Florida panhandle. Up and down our coast, people are reporting everything from tar balls to big globs along with a strong petroleum smell in the air. It was inevitable, of course, only a matter of time. Even so, people are reacting with a sense of outrage that seems rather new. There have been calls to boycott BP…suggestions that we

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-83118718623121297062010-05-29T20:04:00.004-05:002010-05-29T22:44:54.995-05:00

It's been a month and nine days since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon driling rig. The oil is still leaking just as much as ever. This is truly as bad as can be. It could not be worse. BP has tried numerous things to get the flow of oil stopped. So far none has worked. President Obama has lost his patience, reportedly grumbling to aides in a meeting that BP should, "Plug the damn hole!"

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-89647402817482262802010-05-20T18:30:00.006-05:002010-05-20T20:40:48.207-05:00

All right, remakes are typically dreadful. The "Miami Vice" remake? I rest my case. If something is a hit once, it's hard to recapture that lightning. The tv show, "Miami Vice" was very of-its-time which is to say the 1980s. The 2008 movie remake was merely a cop movie- and not a particularly great one at that.I'm especially sensitive about people messing with icons from my childhood. Did

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27295521.post-49092432927446792362010-05-18T21:59:00.004-05:002010-05-18T22:54:06.172-05:00

So we get to Birmingham, Alabama early this morning. With the rest of the day free, I have a car reserved through Enterprise so I wasn't stuck hanging out at the airport until check-in time at the hotel. For some strange reason, at this location the smallest car available, the Toyota Yaris is, like, $77/day. But a minivan is only $50/day. Well that’s a no brainer.I did the paperwork in the

Bob Barbanes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.com1