Word of the day

Minnick –  to behave in a fussy way, esp with regards to the foods one chooses to eat;  be or to act overly dainty while eating.

Saturday’s smiles

P = The problem logged by the pilot.
S = The solution logged by the mechanic.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: No. 2 propeller seeping prop fluid.
S: No. 2 propeller seepage normal. Nos. 1, 3 and 4 propellers lack normal seepage.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on backorder.

P: Autopilot in “altitude-hold” mode produces a 200-fpm descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That’s what they’re there for!

P: Transponder inoperative.
S: Transponder always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: The T/C ball seemed stuck in the middle during my last turn.
S: Congratulations! You’ve just made your first coordinated turn.

P: Suspected crack in windscreen.
S: Suspect you’re right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed radar with words.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

P: Radio switches stick
S: Peanut butter no longer served to flight crew

P: Screaming sound in cabin at start-up
S: Company accountant deplaned

P: Funny smell in cockpit
S: Pilot told to change cologne

P: Aircraft 2,400 lbs over max weight
S: Aircraft put on diet of 92 octane

P: #3 engine knocks at idle
S: #3 engine let in for a few beers

P: #3 engine runs like it’s sick
S: #3 engine diagnosed with hangover

P: Brakes howl on application
S: Don’t step on ’em so hard!

P: Radio sounds like a squealing pig
S: Removed pig from radio. BBQ behind hangar tomorrow

P: First class cabin floor has a squeak
S: Co-pilot told not to play with toddler toys in cabin anymore

P: Electrical governor is broke
S: Paid off governor’s debt to Jimmy “The Fish” Galvano

P: Air conditioning motor makes a loud squeal like my mother-in-law.
S: recommend divorce

Saturday soapbox

Saturday’s soapbox is yours to use as you will – within the bounds of decency and absence of defamation. You’re welcome to look back or forward, discuss issues of the moment, to pontificate, ponder or point us to something of interest, to educate, elucidate or entertain, amuse, bemuse or simply muse, but not abuse.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.  – Helen Keller.

June 10 in history

1190  Third Crusade:  Frederick I Barbarossa drowned in the river Saleph while leading an army to Jerusalem.

1539 Council of Trent: Paul III sent out letters to his bishops, delaying the Council due to war and the difficulty bishops had travelling to Venice.

1619 Thirty Years’ War: Battle of Záblatí, a turning point in the Bohemian Revolt.

1624 Treaty of Compiègne, signed between France and the Netherlands.

1688  Prince of Wales, James Francis Edward Stuart, was born (d. 1766).

1692 Salem witch trials: Bridget Bishop was hanged at Gallows Hill  for “certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft & Sorceries”.

1710 James Short, Scottish mathematician, optician and telescope maker was born  (d. 1768).

1719 Jacobite Rising: Battle of Glen Shiel.

1770  Captain James Cook ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef.

1786  A landslide dam on the Dadu River created by an earthquake ten days earlier collapses, killing 100,000 in the Sichuan province of China.

1793  The Jardin des Plantes museum opened in Paris.

1793 – French Revolution: Following the arrests of Girondin leaders theJacobins gained control of the Committee of Public Safety installing therevolutionary dictatorship.

1805  First Barbary War: Yussif Karamanli signed a treaty ending hostilities with the United States.

1829 The first Boat Race between the University of Oxford and theUniversity of Cambridge took place.

1838  Myall Creek Massacre in Australia: 28 Aboriginal Australians are murdered.

1854  The first class of the United States Naval Academy students graduated.

1864  American Civil War: Battle of Brice’s Crossroads – Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeated a much larger Union force led by General Samuel D. Sturgis.

1871  Sinmiyangyo: Captain McLane Tilton led 109 Marines in a naval attack on Han River forts on Kanghwa Island, Korea.

1886  Mount Tarawera erupted, killing 153 people and destroying the famous Pink and White Terraces.

 

1898 Spanish-American War: U.S. Marines landed in Cuba.

1901 Frederick Loewe, Austrian-born composer, was born  (d. 1988).

1906 Liberal Prime Minister Richard Seddon died at sea while returning from Australia to what he called “God’s Own Country”.

1910 Robert Still, English composer, was born  (d. 1971).

1915 Saul Bellow, Canadian born writer and Nobel laureate was born (d. 2005).

1918 The Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István sank after being torpedoed by an Italian MAS motorboat.

1921 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born.

1922 Judy Garland, American musical actress, was born (d. 1969).

1923 Robert Maxwell, Slovakian-born newspaperman was born  (d. 1991).

1924 Fascists kidnapped and killed Italian socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti.

1925 Inaugural service for the United Church of Canada, a union of Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregationalist churches, held in Toronto Arena.

1935  Dr. Robert Smith took his last drink, and Alcoholics Anonymous was founded by him and Bill Wilson.

1940 Augie Auer, US born New Zealand meteorologist and television presenter, was born  (d. 2007).

1940 World War II: Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom.

1940 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounced Italy’s actions with his “Stab in the Back” speech at the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia.

1940 – World War II: German forces, under General Erwin Rommel, reached the English Channel.

1940 – World War II: Canada declared war on Italy.

1940 – World War II: Norway surrendered to German forces.

1942  World War II: Nazis burnt the Czech village of Lidice in reprisal for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich.

1944 World War II: 642 men, women and children were killed in the Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre in France.

1944 – World War II: In Distomo, Boeotia Prefecture, Greece 218 men, women and children were massacred by German troops.

1945  Australian Imperial Forces landed in Brunei Bay to liberate Brunei.

1947 Saab produced its first car.

1957 John Diefenbaker led the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to a stunning upset in the Canadian federal election, 1957, ending 22 years of Liberal Party rule.

1965 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Xoai began.

1965 – Susanne Albers, German computer scientist and academic, was born.

1967 –  Six-Day War ended  Israel and Syria agreed to a cease-fire.

1973 John Paul Getty III was kidnapped in Rome.

1977 – Apple shipped its first Apple II personal computer.

1980 The African National Congress published a call to fight from their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela.

1996  Peace talks began in Northern Ireland without the participation of Sinn Féin.

1997 Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot ordered the killing of his defence chief Son Sen and 11 of Sen’s family members.

1999  Kosovo War: NATO suspended its air strikes after Slobodan Milošević agreed to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo.

2001  Pope John Paul II canonized Lebanon s first female saint Saint Rafqa.

2002  The first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans was carried out by Kevin Warwick in the United Kingdom.

2003  The Spirit Rover was launched, beginning NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover mission.

2003 – Wicked opened on Broadway, and subsequently won 40 awards for the Broadway production.

2016 – Former The Voice contestant Christina Grimmie was fatally shot in Orlando, Florida following a concert; she died from her injuries at the age of 22.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia