Archive for July 16th, 2020

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 108

Thursday, July 16th, 2020

We have Science Sunday. I think I need to declare either “Travel Tuesday” or “Travel Thursday”, for the alliterative value.

We could sort of have a two-fer today, since it isn’t just Travel Thursday, but TWA Thursday. Sit back, relax, perhaps have a cup of TWA coffee, or some TWA tea.

(Somewhere, I hear Pat Cadigan yelling “DWIGHT!” the way she used to yell “GARDNER!”)

(I still miss Gardner.)

“The World of TWA”, from sometime in the glorious 1970s.

The film follows (in droning voiceover) a typical American couple as they travel around the world on TWA, starting in London, England, and continuing to Paris, France, Rome and Pisa, Italy, the Holy Land including the Sea of Galilee, Greece, Egypt, India, Thailand and finally Hong Kong.

I’m a little surprised they didn’t stop over in Hawaii. And speaking of Hawaii…

Bonus video #1: according to the YouTube notes, this is a Coast Guard video (composed of actual 8mm footage and some re-enactments) about Pan Am Flight 6.

Pan Am Flight 6 (registration N90943) ditched in the Pacific Ocean on October 16, 1956, after two of its four engines failed. The aircraft took off from Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, at 8:26 p.m. HST on the flight’s last leg to San Francisco. After passing the point of equal time, the flight received permission to climb to an altitude of 21,000 ft (6,400 m). When that altitude was reached, the No. 1 engine began to overspeed as power was reduced. The First Officer, who was flying the plane, immediately slowed the plane by further reducing power and by extending the flaps, and an attempt was made to feather the propeller. The propeller would not feather and the engine continued to turn at excessive RPM. The captain decided to cut off the oil supply to the engine. Eventually, the RPM declined and the engine seized. The propeller continued to windmill in the air stream, causing excessive drag that increased the fuel consumption. As a result, the plane was forced to fly much slower, below 150 knots (280 km/h), and lost altitude at the rate of 1,000 feet per minute (5.1 m/s). Climb power was set on the remaining three engines to slow the rate of descent. The No. 4 engine then began to fail and soon was producing only partial power at full throttle. At 2:45 a.m. the No. 4 engine began to backfire, forcing the crew to shut it down and feather the propeller.

This sounds very similar to the plot of “The High and the Mighty”, but the movie came out in 1954 (and the book in 1953).

I’ve seen that once, on TV, and I’d like to see it again. Lawrence has the DVD, but we have to wait until RoadRich can join us. (This isn’t ‘Nam, this is movie night. There are rules.)

(It’s also interesting to me that Robert Stack plays the pilot on the verge of cracking up. Compare to “Airplane!” Was this a deliberate choice? Wikipedia talks about the choice to cast Stack, but is silent on this specific point.)

Bonus video #2: inside the Eero Saarinen designed TWA Flight Center in 2014.

Posted in History, Planes | Comments Closed

Obit watch: July 16, 2020.

Thursday, July 16th, 2020

Over the past few days, the paper of record has run two obits that fall into the “obscure outside of a specific niche, but interesting” category.

Jay Riffe. He took up spearfishing when he was 10 years old (“to get food for the table”). He became the Pacific Coast spearfishing champion at 22.

When he died on May 11 at 82, at his home in Dana Point, Calif. — a death not widely reported beyond spearfishing circles — Mr. Riffe left behind a trail of accomplishments in his undersea world, including breaking three world records for deepwater sport fishing; founding Riffe International, a premier American spearfishing and freediving equipment maker; and advancing a campaign for sustainable-fishing regulations. His family said the cause was heart failure.

…

For nearly 50 years, beginning in the late 1960s, Mr. Riffe built and developed spearguns and other devices that revolutionized the sport in the United States. His company used supple woods, like teak, which could be grooved to fit a spear shaft snugly; corrosion-resistant magnets, which kept spear tips from wobbling; and textured nylon grips, which kept guns from slipping from the spearfisher’s hand.

Louis Colavecchio. He used to make jewelry, but turned his skills to a more lucrative occupation: counterfeiting.

…there was nothing more thrilling than creating counterfeit slot machine coins. The coins he made were so detailed that even federal officials and casino workers found it challenging to distinguish his fakes from legitimate ones under a microscope.

…

All of Mr. Colavecchio’s work was meticulous. He could toil alone under microscopes for days, filled by a desire to trick the federal government and the casinos. He would not brook the possibility of an error; each die had to be perfect.
“Making counterfeit items must have appealed to me in some way that I didn’t understand,” Mr. Colavecchio wrote in his book.

…

Mr. Colavecchio perfected his illicit craft over about four years, Mr. Longo said, making thousands of chips and slot tokens for 36 casinos. At one point, the Treasury Department even sought his expertise. According to court records, the department paid him $18,000 after he was released from federal prison in 2000 because his manufacturing dies had outlasted those of the U.S. Mint.

…

His tokens were masterly because he crushed the originals and got the exact breakdown of their composition, Mr. Longo said. Mr. Colavecchio purchased the material, bought a press and, using a laser-cutting die, made molds and copies.
“It’s like having access to the U.S. Mint on the weekend, printing your money and leaving,” Mr. Longo said.

In case you were wondering, his book is You Thought It Was More: Adventures of the World’s Greatest Counterfeiter, Louis the Coin (affiliate link). I may have to order a copy of that for myself.

Great and good FotB Borepatch sent over a nice obit from ArsTechnica for Grant Imahara, which I very much appreciated. There’s also a very good Hacker News thread.

Posted in Books, Fish, Food, Law, Obits, Sports, TV | Comments Closed