steveverrall wrote:
And speaking of the RAAF, this Boeing E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft resulted from an Australian RFP in 1996. After considerable delays due to systems integration all 6 aircraft are now online. The design has also been bought by Turkey and South Korea. (The Wedge-tailed Eagle is Australia's largest raptor with a wingspan of up to 9'4").
My worthless opinion...but we are on the internet, so:
A craftsman (whatever field): One who has the capability to use the simplest fundamental tools in his trade to achieve results beyond what a novice could with the best tools in the trade. The craftsman will evaluate the tools so he can understand their strengths and weaknesses, then use the strengths to achieve his objectives. (Just because he/she can use low end tools doesn't mean he should, of course they should use the best tools they have the capability to use.)
OK, to me, a professional gets paid, an amateur doesn't. Being professional doesn't make you a "craftsman". I feel we have abandoned using the word craftsman because we would offend many professionals. Can an "amateur" be a craftsman? Absolutely!
Jeff, you, along with most the folk here, are craftsmen. You procure an older model camera and make wonderful photos, and those are just the ones you allow us to view.
Very glad that you both enjoyed your trip to Ireland Ray. It is a beautiful place, with many wonderfully gardens - as you've discovered. We've had exceptional value from our tulips this year. I've always assumed (stupidly) that you have Bluebells and Tulips in the US - maybe not the Bluebells?
Anyway, we UK 'togs welcome the arrival of the Bluebells each year. They tend to be at their best when portrayed as a blue haze. I find that tough to do since they become a supporting part rather than the main event.
nickjohnson wrote:
Very glad that you both enjoyed your trip to Ireland Ray. It is a beautiful place, with many wonderfully gardens - as you've discovered. We've had exceptional value from our tulips this year. I've always assumed (stupidly) that you have Bluebells and Tulips in the US - maybe not the Bluebells?
Anyway, we UK 'togs welcome the arrival of the Bluebells each year. They tend to be at their best when portrayed as a blue haze. I find that tough to do since they become a supporting part rather than the main event.
Here in Texas we don't have Bluebells, we have Bluebonnets, but we do have Blue Bell Ice Cream.
The California Science Center has another unique airplane on display, the sole surviving F-20 Tigershark prototype. Northrop super hot-rodded the F-5 to create this fighter for export. Ultimately it was killed by lack of sales due to the Reagan administration's decision to allow widespread sales of the F-16 which it was competing against for countries wanting a new light weight fighter. The prototype painted in the red and white Northrop color scheme during testing looked really cool.
That's a very interesting topic Jeff and I agree with your take on it 100%. I'll revisit the subject with Y'All this evening. Under the topic of "It never rains but it pours..." and in this case that is a very good thing. I had meetings today with a dozen major players in th commercial real estate development market and unless I am dreaming it looks like I've been tapped to do the imaging for over $1B in projects from today's get together alone, and that's on top of the ones I have been blessed with already......sheesh! Kind of walking on air today!
Funny, this morning I was about to walk out the door and made a comment to Sheila quoting Billy Crystal from "City Slickers", something about this is the best I'm likely to feel, look, be, and it's all down hill from here. Obviously it was tongue in cheek, but with some realization about where I stand in the timeline. Guess Someone decided to tell me that, clearly, I don't have a clue what my future holds and that I shouldn't underestimate what's on the slate for the balance of this ride.The photography/videography for $1.3B in new projects in the past three weeks...............a record that I've never been close to in 37 years. I can hardly wait till tomorrow!
Erich, at the time, I understood the US was marketing the F-20 to smaller countries because it had an extremely low initial cost and maintenance cost. It was a really superb aircraft. However, since the USAF did not purchase any, most countries thought it wasn't good enough. If I recall correctly, the F-4 required 38 man hours of maintenance per flight hour while the F-20 was under 20 man hours. F-16 was much more complicated to fly and maintain and more expensive. The smaller countries purchased aircraft from European countries along with aircraft the USAF took out of service. I could be wrong, and the truth could be somewhere in between. Nevertheless, the F-20 was an awesome fighter that never found a mission. On our recent trip, I got to talk to a Northrup stress engineer who worked on the F-20 program and added to some of what I wrote above.
As you say, it was a bit of both. At the time many were looking at the F-20 since the F-16 wasn't an option except for a select few of our allies. The change in policy suddenly made it available and despite the added cost and complexity they went with the F-16. I'd have to go dig it out, but I have some promotional materials from back then the gist of which if I remember correctly was it had 80% of the performance for less than half the price.
I'd like to get some input on a hard drive situation, although I think I already know the answer.
My backup needs are pretty modest. I have the hard drive on my laptop and two WD My Book 4TB drives. Sequence is Laptop backed up to Drive 1, and that gets backed up to Drive 2.
Unfortunately earlier this week I managed to knock Drive 2 off the table and on to the floor. Now when I plug it into the USB port on my laptop the drive lights up, but Windows Explorer doesn't see it (although Device Manager does). Computer Management shows the drive as not initialized, but when I try to initialize I get an I/O error.
This drive is toast, right? I might as well upgrade to the next size up, so I'm looking to replace it with a 6TB My Book. I can get one for $150.
My impression is that you have accurately assessed your predicament. But don't trust me, I erased a 24 TB RAID Array late this afternoon by mistaking it for a new array I need to initialize in SoftRaid..... Multiple back ups are a wonderful thing!
It isn't easy to put lipstick on a pig like the E-7A, but you rendered it wonderfully. Well done sir.
Ha ha. Thanks Jeff.
Jim - congratulations on your recent big wins. No doubt the result of 30+ years of hard work, dedication to your craft and looking after your clients. It doesn't happen by accident.
My impression is that you have accurately assessed your predicament. But don't trust me, I erased a 24 TB RAID Array late this afternoon by mistaking it for a new array I need to initialize in SoftRaid..... Multiple back ups are a wonderful thing!
Thanks Jim. Yes, as hard as it was watching the drive fall to the floor, at least I knew I had another backup.
And congrats on all the new work! Hope you'll be able to share some of the images with us.
I'll be able to share any and all as these projects go through their various stages, but the beauty images won't be until each one is ready for prime time. A lot of this is beginning right now, or has begun in the last couple of weeks, and will continue to evolve for the next five years and beyond. Plus, once you're locked in with folks like this, they have projects all over the world, which can be nothing but great.
Funny how things work out, each one of them asked if I had drone capability to augment my helicopter work, and I could truthfully say, "Yes, I am an FAA commercially rated Remote Pilot!" Tomorrow I'm meeting with the FISDO to initiate a blanket Part 107 flight waiver for selected controlled airspace across the metroplex, a move that helps expedite requests to fly in Class B airspace.
Got to spend a little time with my Buddy Burton Gilliam today, amidst all the action. You might remember Burton's starring role in the most politically incorrect movie ever made........."Blazing Saddles". He's a character and a lot of fun to hang with...............
It may just be that the housing apparatus took a hit, and not the drive itself. If it's out of warranty, I'd open it up and plug the hard drive into a desktop PC if you have one, or one of the external trays that are out there. I've got a Thermaltake that will utilize two SATA hard drives at a time.
msalvetti wrote:
I'd like to get some input on a hard drive situation, although I think I already know the answer.
My backup needs are pretty modest. I have the hard drive on my laptop and two WD My Book 4TB drives. Sequence is Laptop backed up to Drive 1, and that gets backed up to Drive 2.
Unfortunately earlier this week I managed to knock Drive 2 off the table and on to the floor. Now when I plug it into the USB port on my laptop the drive lights up, but Windows Explorer doesn't see it (although Device Manager does). Computer Management shows the drive as not initialized, but when I try to initialize I get an I/O error.
This drive is toast, right? I might as well upgrade to the next size up, so I'm looking to replace it with a 6TB My Book. I can get one for $150.
Multiple back ups are a wonderful thing!
