Geography lessons: Can you draw a map of the U.S. as well as Al Franken?

by Jamie Rhein on

Watching Minnesota senator Al Franken draw a map of the United States reminded me of 7th grade. Back then at Olympia Jr. High in Columbia, South Carolina, I had one of those social studies teachers who handed out blank pieces of paper and had us draw a map with every new unit. Perhaps you, Gadling reader, learned geography in a similar fashion.

For example, if we were going to study Europe, we would open our books to the map of Europe and replicate it as best we could. Countries were to be drawn to scale, colored a different color than the ones they bordered, and include major mountain chains and bodies of water. By the end of the year, the world had become a grand kaleidoscope that I could picture with my eyes closed.

Even though I’ve traveled to many of the places I’ve drawn, I couldn’t replicate those maps from scratch–not without looking at a picture at the same time. Can you? Al Franken can.

Senator Franken can draw the United States like nobody’s business. He showed off this talent at the Minnesota State Fair this summer. I wonder who his social studies teacher was? I’m impressed. Watch to see what I mean. . .

Gadlinks for Monday 9.14.09

by Brenda Yun on


In keeping with the Weird America theme today on Gadling, here are some weird travel reads for you, this glorious fall (it is fall, right?) Monday.

‘Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks HERE.

Cockpit Chronicles: Paper makes an airplane fly

by Kent Wien on

Looking back on the accomplishments of the Wright brothers in 1903, I find it a miracle that they were able to get into the air while lacking a critical piece of material. Something so important that the FAA, JAA and CAA would ground any airplane today that tried to lift off without it.

You see, the Wright brothers lacked the paperwork to fly. They had no airworthiness certificate, no weight and balance data, no flight plan or even a license in their wallets. It’s truly astonishing that they ever left the ground.

Today we need this paperwork to fly and despite efforts to create a paperless cockpit, we’re carrying reams of additional information that’s still printed with a dot matrix printer at the airport before each flight.

To give you an idea what’s needed before a typical transatlantic crossing, I took a moment before beginning the preflight inspection and sat down to go through the trip paperwork for our recent flight from London to Boston.

This didn’t include the customs and immigration paperwork that the purser, or number one flight attendant, handles. Nor did it show the volumes of books that we carry with approach plates, checklists, procedures and aircraft manuals that I’ve described before.
Boeing and Airbus have done their part to offer a Class III Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) in their newer airplanes that promises to eliminate the need for these books and manuals and some of the paperwork shown in the video above.

The 787 even includes a Class III EFB as standard equipment. But it’s up to the airlines to retrofit their older cockpits with this technology that will not only save weight, but promises to give us better situational awareness when taxiing around the airport and maneuvering to avoid thunderstorms since airport diagrams and real-time satellite weather can be displayed on the newer EFBs.

Maybe then we could get away from paper depictions of weather phenomena along our route of flight in favor of real time information that just might keep us away from unforecasted headwinds or areas of moderate or greater turbulence.

Even Orville and Wilbur could see the benefits in that.

Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on some of Kent’s trips as an international co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 based in Boston. Have any questions for Kent? Check out Plane Answers.

Road trip tip: How to stay awake while driving

by Jamie Rhein on

There are ways to stay awake while driving. I’ve done some of them. Coffee is one. Chewing gum is another. This video explains why and how those two methods work, plus offers other suggestions.

At the end there’s a statistic that gives one pause. Falling asleep at the wheel is not uncommon. It doesn’t hurt to have a few tricks for a road trip, but also is a reminder that pulling over to take a nap is not the worst option. In that case, it seems that being parked at a rest stop would feel more restful than being parked at a fast food or gas station parking lot. Consider that Virginia.

If you do stop at a rest stop to take a nap, make sure you are alert before you take off otherwise you might forget something.

Mark your calendars for the 2010 Death Race

by Grant Martin on


If this year’s Death Race is any indication, I’m totally onboard for 2010’s race. The annual competition that takes place every year in Vermont just finished, and our old friend and contributor Erik Olsen put together a video for the New York Times detailing the trials of competition. Dubbed “survivor meets jackass,” competitors are pitched against each other in a 24 hour race carrying rocks up hills, chopping out stumps, crawling under barbed wire and even assembling legos. It sounds, well, miserable, but like an enlightening experience. Take a look.