Is there audio of this? Rush's humor is often lost when transcribed.
Linked in the article. He sure as hell doesn't sound like he's joking. And Let's face it, it's hardly the first time he's made an outlandish statement.
But hey, even if he is joking, it's a sign of him getting better, and even more sensible, level-headed, and so on. I mean, It's gotta be better than jokes like
We need to shut down this Gitmo prison? Well, don't shut it down - we just need to start an advertising campaign. We need to call it, 'Gitmo, the Muslim resort.' Any resort that treated people like this would have ads all over the New York Times trying to get people to come down and visit for some R&R;, for some rest and relaxation.
Some travelers took drastic measures to return home. John Cleese, the British comic actor who was part of the Monty Python troupe, found himself stranded in Oslo. He hired a Mercedes taxi to drive more than 900 miles from Oslo to Brussels, where he hoped to get a train to London, said one of his agents, Dean Whitbread. Three drivers took turns at the wheel and the fare came to about $5,000, he said.
While I'm usually all against litigiousness against anyone neglecting to take the absolute safest possible course of action, when it comes to this case, you can't do it.
Take for example, Go-Karts in the US. They are stupidly safe due to lawsuit fears. There's no reason for that. They just need to tell people what the dangers are, and to ride at their own risk. By agreeing to ride the Go-Kart, you are admitting you are aware of the danger, taking the risk upon yourself, and relieving the Go-Kart operator of their liability. At least, that's how it should be. Of course, there are still circumstances where there should be a legitimate lawsuit. Maybe the kart is poorly maintained and just explodes on you. But if you crash and hurt yourself, it should be all you.
But planes are are much different story. Let's say you inform people of the risk and tell them to fly at their own risk, just like with the go-karts. Some people might decide not to fly, and you have to refund them. Now there aren't enough people to make paying for the fuel economical, so you cancel the flight anyway. You've also got the pilot and crew. They are employees. You can't force them into a dangerous situation. If they don't want to fly, then what do you do?
Despite all that, the number one factor is people on the ground. With a Go-Kart, you are probably only going to hurt yourself and other drivers who have accepted the risks involved. With a plane, the people on the ground did not accept the extra risk. Even if the pilots and passengers all agree to the risk of flying, the people on the ground have not. While I see no problem in putting people in danger, if they agree to it, putting innocent bystanders in danger without their permission is too much.
The fact of the matter is they're worried that the ash may stop a jet engine. All the test flights have had no issues so far, so they really need to either prove there's clearly a risk or let the air lines resume flights.
The fact of the matter is they're worried that the ashmaystop a jet engine. All the test flights have had no issues so far, so they really need to either prove there's clearly a risk or let the air lines resume flights.
Two fighter jets had a buildup of glass inside their engines. That's the risk they're worried about. While one flight of a commercial liner may not have a significant buildup, what about cumulative effects? There are too many variables right now that haven't been thoroughly tested, and that's what they're worried about.
Another reason why blimps should be reinstated for commercial airtravel.
Blimps are small, slow sacks of air. As Luke also already pointed out again, Zeppelins, airships with frameworks to keep their structure is what you are thinking about. And even then, they are not fast, it's not a viable form of air travel for passengers, as we have spoiled ourselves with fast planes. It's far more viable to use airships in transportation of materials, however, normals ships and airplanes already do that stuff fine.
The fact of the matter is they're worried that the ashmaystop a jet engine. All the test flights have had no issues so far, so they really need to either prove there's clearly a risk or let the air lines resume flights.
As Nuri Said, it's the cumulative effect.
A large bird being inhaled will severely fuck up your average airliner engine. This volcano admittedly isn't spewing out a cloud of Large birds, as cool as that would be, but instead is spewing out a cloud of small particles of volcanic stone, obsidian, and mica glass - All things you don't want your big, hot, and admittedly somewhat delicate engines to be inhaling too much of. And your engines would be inhaling (very roughly) about a metric tonne of that shit every 30 seconds to a minute. You lose an engine, that's bad, but not too bad - you can still operate as normal. But it's all of your engines that are sucking that shit in, you're risking at the best, multiple engine flameouts, if not complete engine failures - in which case, you've lost nearly everything, Hydraulics, pressurisation, the lot.
Also, there's the problem that it can clog out certain instruments - for example, your altimeter works via a tiny tube called a pitot tube. Clog that up, and it's going to give horribly inaccurate readings, if it gives them at all. I remember a case of one airliner taking a bad flight through some cumleogranite - AKA, flew right into a fucking mountain - because a mechanic left a strip of duct tape over the pitot tube, and they had an incorrect altitude assessment, and since the Altimeter showed an incorrect reading, they ignored the ground warning alarms, and the very last thing that went through their minds was "OH SHIT" followed by the back of their seats.
Now, say you run a plane through the cloud, no troubles. Safe flight. But think - you've just thrown a few tonnes of stone and glass fragments through an extremely hot engine, extremely fast. That's going to do damage. The more you do it, the more it builds up, the more it builds up, the more you're risking catastrophic failures, which even if they only occur in one engine, can cause severe problems - For example, there was a Cypriot air flight that crashed because a mechanic installed a single valve in the engine the wrong way around. Cabin slowly de-pressurised, nobody really noticed, including the pilots(again, ignoring alarms) and the next thing you know, near everyone but for two flight attendants are passed out from hypoxia - and those two only because they were lucky enough to freak out the right way, monkey-swung down to the back, and got on the portable bottles. The last thing seen of that plane, sadly enough, was though the cockpit windows by two fighter planes intercepting the plane to see the trouble(it wasn't responding to radio, and way off course), and it was the lone male flight attendant, struggling to keep the plane in the air, waving at the fighter pilots, who could do nothing. Plane ran outta fuel, went nose down, and it was all over. To get back to the point, you blow an engine that badly, you can lose cabin pressure, and it's not always a BANG WHOOSH RUSHING AIR deal like in the movies or on tv - most often, it's a slow, quiet leak, especially if it's not a cabin leak.
Not to mention the money lost on what will obviously be required cleaning and/or repairs after a flight... Sure, the airlines are losing money by being grounded, but you have to balance that against the cost that each flight will incur in repairing and cleaning damage and buildup.
I guarantee the guys who are making a big stink about the money they are losing are not subtracting the cost of flying through the dust in their loss quotes.
Unable to make out your last message, will you please repeat Skipper's shot! We've been shot. I was trying to help. Have you still got the runway OK? Ah .. just barely .. we'll pick up the ILS here. I have no radar contact with you. Not very # far off the runway. Sure as # isn't. Watch it! We're finished! Four two delta got the strobe lights in sight Pete, sorry. Sound of stickshaker begins and continues to end of recording Hey, what's happening here? There he is .. look at him! Goddamn that son-of-a-bitch is coming! Get off! We’re going to do it right here. He's the emergency he's crashed and is burning off the end of the runway. Ma I love you. So he gave us wrong indications. We thought we were to the left. United 173, Mayday! We're... the engines are flaming out - we're going down! Look at this. He blew up an engine. Equipment. We need equipment. Actually, these conditions don't look very good at all, do they? No need for that, we are okay, no problem, no problem. Larry, we're going down, Larry.... I know it! What's happened? Push it way up. All hydraulics failed. ...hit the water...hit the water...hit the water. What? There's what? Some hills, isn't there? Oh #### this can't be! We have, er, a smoke problem and we are doing an emergency descent! We cannot communicate with the flight attendants. Watch out for those pylons ahead, eh. See them? Yeah, yeah, don't worry. We got an engine failure. We're not gonna make it. Full power.. Can't keep this SOB thing straight up and down. What the hell was that? I don't know. That's it I'm dead. Nah, I can't pull 'em off or we'll lose it, that's what's turning ya. Flame out! Flame out on engine number four. Okay, we just had a seven thirty-seven land and blow up Oh, God ... flip! Ah, reverser's deployed. Going down...eh...1862, going down, going down, copied going down? A bit low, bit low, bit low. Lost number one and two. There it goes, there it goes! Oh no! Watch your speed. Going around. It's OK, It's OK, don't hurry, don't hurry. Down, push it down. Hang on. What the hell is this? OK, mellow it out, mellow it out. Why's that ignition light on? We just had a flame-out? Amy, I love you. Crash landing. We're goin' in. We're going down. Uh.. where are we. Oh what's happening Uh, smoke in the cockpit... smoke in the cabin. I think that was him. I think so. God bless him. Mountains!!! What shit have they done? What, oooh ###. Oh ### me. Well, he must have crashed then. Aaaaaa. Allah Akbar. Oh my God! Oh my God! And we are declaring emergency now Swissair one eleven. Aw ####, we're off course...we're way off. I rely on God OK we are ditching. Ah here we go. Would like to do one 360 due to high on approach Sir. What the #### is going on? Concorde forty-five ninety you have flames, you have flames behind you. #### something there. That’s all guys! Fuck! When they all come, we finish it off. What the hell are we into. We're stuck in it. Oh # what's that. I have nothing in front of me. See what the aircraft did! That's weird with no lights. We're gonna be in the Hudson. We're down.
Comments
But hey, even if he is joking, it's a sign of him getting better, and even more sensible, level-headed, and so on. I mean, It's gotta be better than jokes like
Relevant section -
Take for example, Go-Karts in the US. They are stupidly safe due to lawsuit fears. There's no reason for that. They just need to tell people what the dangers are, and to ride at their own risk. By agreeing to ride the Go-Kart, you are admitting you are aware of the danger, taking the risk upon yourself, and relieving the Go-Kart operator of their liability. At least, that's how it should be. Of course, there are still circumstances where there should be a legitimate lawsuit. Maybe the kart is poorly maintained and just explodes on you. But if you crash and hurt yourself, it should be all you.
But planes are are much different story. Let's say you inform people of the risk and tell them to fly at their own risk, just like with the go-karts. Some people might decide not to fly, and you have to refund them. Now there aren't enough people to make paying for the fuel economical, so you cancel the flight anyway. You've also got the pilot and crew. They are employees. You can't force them into a dangerous situation. If they don't want to fly, then what do you do?
Despite all that, the number one factor is people on the ground. With a Go-Kart, you are probably only going to hurt yourself and other drivers who have accepted the risks involved. With a plane, the people on the ground did not accept the extra risk. Even if the pilots and passengers all agree to the risk of flying, the people on the ground have not. While I see no problem in putting people in danger, if they agree to it, putting innocent bystanders in danger without their permission is too much.
A large bird being inhaled will severely fuck up your average airliner engine. This volcano admittedly isn't spewing out a cloud of Large birds, as cool as that would be, but instead is spewing out a cloud of small particles of volcanic stone, obsidian, and mica glass - All things you don't want your big, hot, and admittedly somewhat delicate engines to be inhaling too much of. And your engines would be inhaling (very roughly) about a metric tonne of that shit every 30 seconds to a minute. You lose an engine, that's bad, but not too bad - you can still operate as normal. But it's all of your engines that are sucking that shit in, you're risking at the best, multiple engine flameouts, if not complete engine failures - in which case, you've lost nearly everything, Hydraulics, pressurisation, the lot.
Also, there's the problem that it can clog out certain instruments - for example, your altimeter works via a tiny tube called a pitot tube. Clog that up, and it's going to give horribly inaccurate readings, if it gives them at all. I remember a case of one airliner taking a bad flight through some cumleogranite - AKA, flew right into a fucking mountain - because a mechanic left a strip of duct tape over the pitot tube, and they had an incorrect altitude assessment, and since the Altimeter showed an incorrect reading, they ignored the ground warning alarms, and the very last thing that went through their minds was "OH SHIT" followed by the back of their seats.
Now, say you run a plane through the cloud, no troubles. Safe flight. But think - you've just thrown a few tonnes of stone and glass fragments through an extremely hot engine, extremely fast. That's going to do damage. The more you do it, the more it builds up, the more it builds up, the more you're risking catastrophic failures, which even if they only occur in one engine, can cause severe problems - For example, there was a Cypriot air flight that crashed because a mechanic installed a single valve in the engine the wrong way around. Cabin slowly de-pressurised, nobody really noticed, including the pilots(again, ignoring alarms) and the next thing you know, near everyone but for two flight attendants are passed out from hypoxia - and those two only because they were lucky enough to freak out the right way, monkey-swung down to the back, and got on the portable bottles. The last thing seen of that plane, sadly enough, was though the cockpit windows by two fighter planes intercepting the plane to see the trouble(it wasn't responding to radio, and way off course), and it was the lone male flight attendant, struggling to keep the plane in the air, waving at the fighter pilots, who could do nothing. Plane ran outta fuel, went nose down, and it was all over.
To get back to the point, you blow an engine that badly, you can lose cabin pressure, and it's not always a BANG WHOOSH RUSHING AIR deal like in the movies or on tv - most often, it's a slow, quiet leak, especially if it's not a cabin leak.
I guarantee the guys who are making a big stink about the money they are losing are not subtracting the cost of flying through the dust in their loss quotes.
Unable to make out your last message, will you please repeat
Skipper's shot! We've been shot. I was trying to help.
Have you still got the runway OK? Ah .. just barely .. we'll pick up the ILS here.
I have no radar contact with you.
Not very # far off the runway. Sure as # isn't.
Watch it!
We're finished!
Four two delta got the strobe lights in sight
Pete, sorry.
Sound of stickshaker begins and continues to end of recording
Hey, what's happening here?
There he is .. look at him! Goddamn that son-of-a-bitch is coming! Get off!
We’re going to do it right here.
He's the emergency he's crashed and is burning off the end of the runway.
Ma I love you.
So he gave us wrong indications. We thought we were to the left.
United 173, Mayday! We're... the engines are flaming out - we're going down!Â
Look at this. He blew up an engine. Equipment. We need equipment.
Actually, these conditions don't look very good at all, do they?
No need for that, we are okay, no problem, no problem.
Larry, we're going down, Larry.... I know it!
What's happened?
Push it way up.
All hydraulics failed.
...hit the water...hit the water...hit the water.
What? There's what? Some hills, isn't there?
Oh #### this can't be!
We have, er, a smoke problem and we are doing an emergency descent!
We cannot communicate with the flight attendants.
Watch out for those pylons ahead, eh. See them? Yeah, yeah, don't worry.
We got an engine failure. We're not gonna make it. Full power..
Can't keep this SOB thing straight up and down.
What the hell was that? I don't know.
That's it I'm dead.
Nah, I can't pull 'em off or we'll lose it, that's what's turning ya.
Flame out! Flame out on engine number four.
Okay, we just had a seven thirty-seven land and blow up
Oh, God ... flip!
Ah, reverser's deployed.
Going down...eh...1862, going down, going down, copied going down?
A bit low, bit low, bit low.
Lost number one and two.
There it goes, there it goes! Oh no!
Watch your speed. Going around.
It's OK, It's OK, don't hurry, don't hurry.
Down, push it down.
Hang on. What the hell is this?Â
OK, mellow it out, mellow it out.
Why's that ignition light on? We just had a flame-out?
Amy, I love you.
Crash landing. We're goin' in. We're going down.
Uh.. where are we.
Oh what's happening
Uh, smoke in the cockpit... smoke in the cabin.
I think that was him. I think so. God bless him.
Mountains!!!
What shit have they done?
What, oooh ###. Oh ### me.
Well, he must have crashed then.
Aaaaaa. Allah Akbar.
Oh my God! Oh my God!
And we are declaring emergency now Swissair one eleven.
Aw ####, we're off course...we're way off.
I rely on God
OK we are ditching.
Ah here we go.
Would like to do one 360 due to high on approach Sir.
What the #### is going on?
Concorde forty-five ninety you have flames, you have flames behind you.
#### something there.
That’s all guys! Fuck!
When they all come, we finish it off.
What the hell are we into. We're stuck in it.
Oh # what's that.
I have nothing in front of me.
See what the aircraft did!
That's weird with no lights.
We're gonna be in the Hudson.
We're down.