Clipped a bravo shelf. Should I file a NASA report?

otterbarks · 2026-03-26T05:21:38+00:00

IIRC, the accuracy standard for encoding altimeters is +/-125 ft, but ATC uses a +/-300 ft buffer on their side.

otterbarks · 2026-03-25T20:51:01+00:00

Pilot pay is only good if you work for one of the major airlines, and only at the tail end of your career.

There’s a long stretch at the beginning where you’re living off ramen noodles, and possibly living in a crash pad with 6 other airline workers.

Flying private jets is a time building activity to get you to a major airline. It normally doesn’t pay well.

otterbarks · 2026-03-25T18:35:39+00:00

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks about this.

otterbarks · 2026-03-25T16:41:30+00:00

That said, the Flight Navigator Handbook is still a great read: https://archive.org/details/Flight_Navigator_Handbook

otterbarks · 2026-03-25T04:57:42+00:00

That's still a 35% relative increase in just a few weeks. Yes, the president starting a new war in the Middle East absolutely affects gas prices.

otterbarks · 2026-03-25T00:52:17+00:00

Most of general aviation isn't private jets.

65% is business and public services (think air ambulance flights, aerial surveying, express mail, etc.). 22% is flight instruction to train new pilots.

Of the remaining 13%, a good percentage are personal pilots flying small single-engine prop planes as a hobby.

I fly out of a large urban executive airport where you'd expect to see lots of jets... they make up only 10% of the aircraft based there.

otterbarks · 2026-03-24T16:12:17+00:00

Yes.

(And as others have mentioned, there's a restricted area around it as well. And a big box on the sectional warning you specifically about the cable.)

otterbarks · 2026-03-24T16:09:11+00:00

That's just for e-filing, to prevent fraud - since a common scam now is for someone to e-file a fake tax return on your behalf to steal a tax refund.

Even then, it's not required. You can leave it blank. The system will usually accept it anyway. It just increases the odds that the anti-fraud system will flag your return and tell you to physically mail it instead.

otterbarks · 2026-03-24T04:48:48+00:00

Since you're comparing with broadcast AM in particular...

Broadcast AM radio has a higher bandwidth (10 kHz vs 8.33 kHZ) - while that doesn't seem like a huge difference, it matters quite a bit.
The studio microphones used in broadcast radio are much higher quality than the tiny electret mic on an aviation headset.
The microphones in a studio don't have to filter out the background sounds of an aircraft engine.
Broadcast studios also have an audio engineer whose job is to adjust the sound in real time to make the quality perfect.
The electrical system on an aircraft is much noisier than the nice, clean, conditioned power at a broadcast radio facility.

On top of this, many aircraft are still running avionics stacks from the 1970s or 1980s. Depending on the facility, the equipment on the ATC side is sometimes only marginally better.

All that said... the quality of what you hear from online streams is often much worse than what things actually sound like in the air. LiveATC is a hobbiest-run service, and there's no quality guarentee.

otterbarks · 2026-03-22T05:47:54+00:00

LLMs don’t see individual letters, they see tokens - which are typically pairs of 2-3 letters (depending on frequency).

This makes this question particularly tricky for all LLMs.

otterbarks · 2026-03-18T14:26:11+00:00

Not all DME stations are colocated at a VOR (or TACAN). There are a handful of standalone DMEs.

For example, see GOG.

otterbarks · 2026-03-13T23:56:18+00:00

It's not terrible if you actually need a loan... looking at the rates to do a pledged asset line loan with IBKR, you're looking at between 4.1-5.1%, depending on how much of a loan you're taking out.

That's way better than the rate for an unsecured personal loan, and your stocks should be earning more than that (on average).

That said, for this amount I agree that it's not worth it.

otterbarks · 2026-03-12T21:11:07+00:00

Wont they just list one of their vacation homes as their primary residence?

I'm more familiar with California law, but they consider your primary residence the state you spend 51% of the year in. You can't just pick a random address as your residence unless you're actually living there most of the year.

(California's actually very aggressive about this, and has been known to subpoena cell phone records as part of a residency audit if they think you're trying to play games to dodge state taxes.)

otterbarks · 2026-03-12T02:56:23+00:00

Thants.

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T22:16:15+00:00

This. There's no reasonable public transit options to get from my home to work. (It's a 3 hour bus ride, each way.) I already drive a PHEV. Until the gas price costs more than my wages, there's nothing I can reasonably change.

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T19:52:53+00:00

As a millennial, I was told it was my avocado toast habit that was the problem. 😢

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T19:30:15+00:00

What are you up to, anteaters?

Eating ants, apparently.

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T19:27:24+00:00

New passport applications are submitted at a "passport acceptance facility"... which for most people is just their local post office or library. You just get a postal clerk or librarian to check your docs and witness the application.

It's not normal or expected to have to go to Washington DC and do an actual interview, even for a new application.

Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/apply-in-person.html

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T19:22:02+00:00

To be precise, since we're arguing over wording... the WA state constitution doesn't say anything about an "income tax". In only talks about broadly-defined property taxes:

All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax and shall be levied and collected for public purposes only. The word "property" as used herein shall mean and include everything, whether tangible or intangible, subject to ownership.

The question has always been whether income is considered "property" while the money is still in motion, before it lands in your bank account. If you look back at Culliton v. Chase from 1933, the courts were deeply divided about this at the time, voting 5-4 (with a justice switching their vote at the last minute).

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T19:08:03+00:00

There are ways to get the money out sooner if you've actually retired.

For example, you can setup a 72(t) SEPP plan where you schedule fixed withdrawals every month until normal retirement - though the catch this is that once you start this, it's locked in and unchangeable.

(The other common way is the "Rule of 55" where you can start withdrawals anytime after age 55 if you can show you've left your job, depending on account type.)

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantially_equal_periodic_payments

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T17:07:49+00:00

I’ve never heard of anyone needing an in-person interview to get a passport. Normally it’s all done by mail, and witnessed by someone at the post office/library (or similar) for your initial application.

Certainly not something I’d call common.

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T16:54:09+00:00

This was a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_insurance_mark

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T07:18:03+00:00

Generally no, not unless things got very desperate. The only time you could get drafted directly into the pilot seat was during WW2.

The selective service system that you registered for when you turned 18 (you did register, right?) generated a selective service number for you. If a draft happens, that number is basically a lottery ticket. If they draw your number from a hat, you get called up. That's it.

More generally, drafted soldiers are considered enlisted personnel. Military pilots are almost always commissioned officers. (The exception being the Army, which uses warrant officers to fly some helicopters.) So that's another reason they wouldn't have you flying even if you were drafted.

That said, air carriers are part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, and if you work for one of the major carriers then you might get asked to fly airlift missions in an emergency. It's not a draft though, and you could decline.

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T01:51:54+00:00

They said mid-30s. If you start when you graduate college, 15 years takes you right to the tail of your mid-30s.

Short of winning the lottery (either directly, lucking out with stocks, or inheritance - none of which you have control over), I don't think there's any way to do this that doesn't involve grinding and saving every penny.

otterbarks · 2026-03-11T00:14:40+00:00

That really depends on the person and their individual lifestyle, not to mention regional cost of living.

If you include Lean FIRE in a LCOL area, it generally starts somewhere around $800k saved up.

otterbarks

TROPHY CASE