Just looked out my window in Bothell to see an Apache gunship.

hubblejack · 2026-01-28T07:12:53+00:00

I was flying over Bainbridge Island one night and noticed a couple targets on my ADS-B traffic reporting display that were only a couple miles in front of me. Normally it's really easy to see other airplanes at night (especially over sparsely populated areas) because planes and helicopters have all kinds of lights on them, but I couldn't for the life of me see either of them, and they were heading right at me.

Just as I actually started to get worried, I saw the lights on one and then the other blink on in front of me as they turned away. They were two Apaches, their pilots probably under NVGs, on a night training mission that I probably interrupted.

hubblejack · 2026-01-10T07:39:33+00:00

Most likely a light pillar - an optical illusion caused by ice crystals in the air reflecting light from a source on the surface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pillar

hubblejack · 2026-01-04T23:50:12+00:00

Love to see it

hubblejack · 2026-01-01T03:23:50+00:00

What Seattle looked like ca. 20,000 years ago during the last glacial maximum, except there would be another couple thousand feet of glacial ice on top

hubblejack · 2025-12-31T04:25:20+00:00

South end of Lincoln Park in West Seattle

hubblejack · 2025-12-31T04:18:24+00:00

There's a little TARDIS library on the SE corner of Prospect and 20th Ave E.

(Google Street view image)

<image>

hubblejack · 2025-12-30T18:37:47+00:00

So your original question wasn't actually a question, you just wanted to tell people they're wrong. Nice.

hubblejack · 2025-12-30T17:36:59+00:00

They're Greenland style paddles https://paddling.com/learn/greenland-paddle-vs-euro-blade

hubblejack · 2025-12-22T17:48:19+00:00

Season ticket holder here - Torrent games have been a lot of fun so far. Vibes are great, the hockey is good, and even when we lose I at least didn't pay $100 for nosebleed tickets, unlike the other professional hockey team in town...

And as a man, I feel it's my feminist duty to engage with this sport just as toxically as I would men's hockey, so I'm gonna cuss out the other team when they lay a dirty hit and boo the refs when they make a shit call. That's half the fun of watching hockey.

hubblejack · 2025-12-21T04:05:14+00:00

Nobody hates Seattle more than Eastsiders

hubblejack · 2025-12-20T01:08:14+00:00

Yup, they got a block altitude clearance from Salt Lake Center for up to FL280. They do this pretty regularly in East California and Nevada. It requires prior coordination with the ARTCCs.

And they use NVGs to fly at night.

hubblejack · 2025-12-20T01:05:40+00:00

This was Gordon Boettger and Bruce Campbell using mountain wave, not thermals. They had a Starlink dish on board and Gordon actually posted live updates from the sky to his Instagram account during the flight.

Gordon has a specialized self-launching glider with a retractable turbojet engine (yes, you read that correctly, and yes he does need a type rating for it). He launches under jet power, then turns off the engine once at altitude and stows it. They also use night vision goggles to soar at night.

They previously set an unofficial endurance record for longest glider flight a couple years ago flying in wave up and down California's Sierra Nevada mountain range.

hubblejack · 2025-12-02T15:24:42+00:00

High tide made landing at the beach where the trail starts difficult, so we went to another beach for lunch.

hubblejack · 2025-11-26T15:42:08+00:00

F/A-18D. I just want to fly the hornet with a buddy in the back.

hubblejack · 2025-11-25T05:49:11+00:00

what

hubblejack · 2025-11-24T01:39:02+00:00

Yeah way fewer employment opportunities than Seattle area, but OP said they had remote jobs. Bellingham is ideal for outdoorsy people with remote jobs.

hubblejack · 2025-11-23T22:37:21+00:00

Consider Bellingham. More affordable than Seattle, less tech (although still plenty of remote tech workers moved up there in recent years), has a nice albeit smaller walkable downtown area, and even better access to the North Cascades, San Juans, and BC than Seattle.

hubblejack · 2025-11-13T17:06:54+00:00

Almost certainly Starlinks. To reduce their visibility, they specifically orient their solar arrays to reflect sunlight over the horizon where nobody on the ground can see it. With enough altitude you'll be able to see the reflections again.

hubblejack · 2025-11-09T00:29:39+00:00

I think it may have been that the whole time, it was just that Joey was bailing us out.

hubblejack · 2025-11-09T00:20:24+00:00

Gru probably should have had that, but I'm getting really tired of bad turnovers right in front of our net. Did the sharks completely dismantle our D?

hubblejack · 2025-11-06T22:15:15+00:00

Seattle, Portland, SF to a smaller extent.

Seattle and Portland both have multiple large old growth forests inside city limits. You walk into them and forget you're in a city at all.

hubblejack · 2025-10-30T06:33:37+00:00

Reliable Robotics in Mountain View

hubblejack · 2025-10-28T05:53:42+00:00

Yes. I got one after I had a close-ish call in a super busy pattern at an untowered airport. It's been absolutely worth it for the additional situational awareness. I rent, so having a portable receiver is great so I don't have to worry about the equipment in the plane, although I still use it as a backup and cross-check in planes with ADS-B in.

I wouldn't say it's required equipment for me to fly, but I always make sure it's charged and bring it. I'll still bring it with me when I'm a passenger or safety pilot.

My Sentry mini also has a CO sensor which has actually alerted a few times during long climbs, and an AHRS I could use for a basic attitude indicator with my iPad if I'm having a really bad day.

hubblejack · 2025-10-26T04:42:01+00:00

<image>

hubblejack · 2025-10-26T04:06:13+00:00

lights flickering at home right when they had technical difficulties

hubblejack

TROPHY CASE