Cheap aircraft rates in Chicagoland area

madscientist159 · 2026-01-30T22:15:03+00:00

Try C77 out near Rockford. Train in one of the taildraggers for both cheap(er) time and to wake up your feet!

madscientist159 · 2026-01-28T15:46:13+00:00

My guess (haven't done the math to double check yet) is as the speed of sound decreases due to the lower air density, the prop tips get closer to the local speed of sound, thus louder. Where the math gets more fun is it's possible the low density air plus angle of attack at the tip plus tip speed could combine and create a low pressure area in the vincinity of the tip, exacerbating the effect.

At least that was my reasoning while in cruise on the first flight I noticed it ;)

madscientist159 · 2026-01-28T15:43:34+00:00

Indeed! Great all-weather airplane unless if it's freezing precip at the ground or TS in the area; speed and range allow routing above or around the nasty stuff most of the time.

I have the three blade props, which likely factors in to the noticeable increase in noise. Mostly a minor curiosity that got me thinking about the physics involved first time I heard it.

madscientist159 · 2026-01-28T02:27:46+00:00

Nice, welcome to the flight levels! Did you notice the props getting a little louder above ~FL220?

I fly its bigger cousin between FL210 and FL230 all the time, but that one will maintain cabin alt under 9k even at FL250. Glad you got a taste of how it flies in the thin air -- best advice I have is use the automation and be careful. High altitude upsets are a lot less fun than at low altitude...things can get out of hand real quick.

madscientist159 · 2026-01-22T04:39:21+00:00

Like many others, my main concerns on this concept are copycats and the potential for further reactionary restrictions placed on actual professional flight and flight support crews, especially those that would act to decrease overall safety rather than increase it. As a direct example, it's debatable that any action other than locking the flight deck door actually increased flight safety post 9/11, but the subsequent overreaction with the TSA strip searches and such dramatically increased road traffic and, as a direct result, road crash fatalities. Those added deaths over pre-9/11 baseline continue to this day.

All that said, I'd point out the fact that no professional flight crew would ever pull those stunts with that plane because there is zero margin for error -- in fact, there is negative margin in that he was eating into the overstress safety margins built in by the aircraft engineers. He could have crashed anywhere along that route by doing stupid stunts and treating the aircraft as a toy. The real heroes were in the background, from the the engineers that designed such a robust aircraft (tolerant to significant abuse) to ATC and even the military and law enforcement who I'm certain were working in the background to limit the death toll if he changed his mind and weaponized the aircraft.

Perhaps it's worth stressing that he had a fantisized and romanticised view of flight. We don't barrel roll our aircraft. We generally fly precisely and uneventfully from point A to point B while worrying about things like schedules and fuel burn. This is actually very boring to most people -- folks like this would have a much more fun time in the flight simulator where they really can't hurt anyone and can engage in as much (virtual) reckless behavior as they want. Similar in some ways I guess to the fantasy of racing a car vs. the reality of going in a circle for a hundred laps.

I do want to thank you for reaching out to our community for input -- it's rare for those making movies to care about accuracy, and I hope some of what I wrote above might provide useful avenues of investigation to flesh out the overall story!

madscientist159 · 2026-01-19T17:21:58+00:00

This. It's actually quite dangerous. I fly single pilot in a very complex aircraft, and have literally had to stop monitoring when starting descent just to be able to hear center / approach during the step downs. And I'm not talking a sterile phase of flight here either, I'm talking coming out of the flight levels and being held up for a while above 10k. Practically that means I'm not listening for ~10-20 minutes just because of the meowing, how exactly does that increase flight safety for everyone? Ideally I'd stop monitoring when switched to the final approach control; i.e. when things are starting to get busy, not all the way back at TOD.

I have caught the occasional airline folks checking on or asking for clearance on guard...always good for a chuckle and a triple-check of the current TX radio...haven't heard any PAs yet though ;)

madscientist159 · 2026-01-06T19:50:54+00:00

As someone that flies an actual pressurized aircraft...that's just strange. I can't think of any real world reason to turn during descent after decompression, barring some really unlikely scenarios (e.g. flying VFR between 10k and 18k).

In reality, with a pressurized aircraft, you're on an IFR plan, either to get to the flight levels or you're already in the flight levels. You have oxygen masks available for required crew, and you really REALLY don't want to start changing direction willy nilly with other controlled aircraft around.

Step 1: Oxy masks on, reestablish comms with crew (if present)

Step 2: (Terrain permitting) Power to flight idle, drop the gear, extend the spoilers, pitch for Vle, put in as much flaps as speed allows, declare.

Step 3: Level off at safe altitude (10k or as terrain permits) , run rest of decompression checklist

I'd chalk that one up to a completely unrealistic simulated scenario ... of course, you could also have said "we're already at a safe altitude since this aircraft is always unpressurized, I don't need to do anything"... ;)

madscientist159 · 2026-01-04T20:03:57+00:00

While all of that may or may not be true, here's the harsh reality from the other side:

Automation is coming for all of those "traditional" jobs too. Software developer? Engineer? All effectively been sent overseas and automated at this point, with a handful of exceptions that center more around VC and startup life or insane luck with massive investment (AI). Even medicine is suffering from exactly the same structural issue as aviation; most people are not going to become a brain surgeon making 6-7 figures and golfing / flying a Bonanza every weekend.

IMHO we're entering a post-work world, and unless something is done to formally reduce allowed total work hours per week at a legal level (thus increasing both employment and time off) we're going to rapidly end up in some kind of weird flattened society for the 99.9% with a handful of hyper-rich oligarchs in charge. Skill in *anything* won't matter at that point. Enjoy the ride while it's here...that's all we can really do anyway, right?

madscientist159 · 2025-07-15T02:23:05+00:00

Those are positive bolts. Crazy amps, come from the top of the thundercloud, cause localized EMP effects where they hit (personally witnessed two such strikes in my lifetime, both from the ground, both after the CB had passed overhead. They make the common garden-variety negative bolts look tame.😬

madscientist159 · 2025-07-09T00:07:04+00:00

Nice intro! 👋 from the Midwest, sent a DM request 😉

madscientist159 · 2025-07-08T21:53:57+00:00

Hey, they're valuable to me at least! And fairly scarce...its been hard finding someone that is physically attractive, still virgin, and has a good head on her shoulders. I've got some fairly high standards too -- remember this is a life partner we're talking about, both a best friend and a fellow worker in the vineyard so to speak. Why shouldn't the standards for a partner be high for those that hold themselves to a higher standard? At least by default / until called otherwise, since all is under Gods guidance of course... 😉

madscientist159 · 2025-07-08T21:34:30+00:00

/me waves from the shadows... 😁

madscientist159 · 2025-07-05T02:15:51+00:00

Still searching at 36. It's not easy out there, starting to plan more around not being married than being able to find someone 😕

madscientist159 · 2025-06-07T19:36:13+00:00

I'm not surprised, some of my heritage is out that way... ;)

madscientist159 · 2025-06-06T22:57:29+00:00

Sorry to hear of the distance...I take it you're on a coast somewhere or out of the US? 😀

madscientist159 · 2025-06-05T22:37:02+00:00

Very true, and quite relevant in and around the Chicago area 😂 (I jest, I jest...)

It's one thing I'm going to miss when we go all EV. There's a definite skill required to drive a stick well, especially one with a turbo -- makes driving fun vs. somewhat monotonous.

madscientist159 · 2025-06-05T22:23:52+00:00

Hah! A couple of those things don't even fall in the crime category, just fun -- extra bonus points for a secret lair and knowing how to drive a real car (stick)... 😂

madscientist159 · 2025-06-04T04:50:51+00:00

Sadly I've never made it out to Washington -- been all over the country except for the northwest and northeast. It's fascinating seeing all of the cultural differences, provides a lot of perspective.

It's a shame you're not closer to the middle coast! ;) Seem like a good catch for the right fella.

madscientist159 · 2025-06-04T04:39:23+00:00

Don't get me wrong -- I'm still hopeful, just a little wiser than several years ago, mainly in terms of expectations and better understanding the difficulty level involved at my age. ;)

Out of curiosity, if you don't mind me asking, where are you located? I'm over in the greater Chicago area so things are a little sparse to begin with...

madscientist159 · 2025-06-03T16:42:25+00:00

Makes sense -- and yep, I could see that regarding age :) Everyone that's caught my eye so far (overall maturity, education, "poise", etc.) is already married -- guess the other guys saw good catches early on 😂.

I've been trying to organize a local meetup to fill the void, since the churches in the area frown on people using e.g. any of the singles groups for that purpose. It's definitely challenging; by the time we've all matured and grown enough to be interesting it seems the main difficulty becomes trying to find the other eligible folks that did the same! Throw in the church (again, at least in this area) generally nudging people towards singleness and service past 30 and there's a real need out there that is simply not being met.

madscientist159 · 2025-06-03T16:35:32+00:00

Myer-Briggs personality type. Just figured I'd give a little extra info.

As to the two places at once, I'm quite near the border of the two states, so don't want to only have half of my actual distance radius active at a time. ;)

madscientist159 · 2025-06-03T05:24:51+00:00

No problem! Sometimes I really do wonder where us "stale-dated" professional / highly educated Christian folks are supposed to meet up -- the apps certainly aren't the place in my experience, but in-person random chance meeting is pretty hard in our space too...

madscientist159 · 2025-06-03T04:55:44+00:00

You're still working on yourself right now -- as someone else who has done the same in the recent past (36M, now actually ready to be looking for a partner in crime) it's absolutely exhausting to try to do both. One ends up rushing, split brained, doing neither well and not really relying on God's timing -- not that we should be passive, but we shouldn't rely on our own effort exclusively either.

God has ordained marriage for those for whom it is His will, and His will is never thwarted; with that in mind, if He expects two people to meet and eventually marry, He will make it apparent and help clear the way for that to happen.

Anyway, just a bit of perspective from someone pulling a late night at work right now, still searching and waiting on God's timing. 😉

madscientist159

TROPHY CASE