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Half of Brits abuse apostrophe's
Linguistic doommongers look away now: A survey has shown that almost half of Brits haven't got a clue how to use the possessive apostrophe correctly, with the most common lapse being the inability to "punctuate a possessive plural".…
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(author unknown)Pilot who went blind mid-flight kept apologising to his rescuers
A pilot who went blind after having a stroke while flying home from a family holiday kept apologising to his rescuers as he made repeated attempts to land without being able to see, it emerged today.
An RAF plane had to guide the light aircraft to safety after solo pilot Jim O'Neill put in a mayday alert 40 minutes into the flight and tried to land his plane at Full Sutton Airfield near York.
O'Neill, who had the stroke at 15,000ft, is seriously ill in hospital. The incident took place last week as he was flying the two-seat Cessna back from Scotland to Essex.
He began to have problems seeing his instruments at 5,500ft and asked air traffic control for help.
He dropped to about 2,000ft as he approached Full Sutton airfield, but was not able to see the airfield and was diverted to RAF Linton-on-Ouse 20 miles away.
An RAF team from nearby Linton-on-Ouse was scrambled and a Tucano T1 jet found the aircraft and guided it to the ground over a 45 minute period.
Paul Gerrard, 42, the wing commander, described how he was taking part in an RAF training sortie when he came to the pilot's aid.
At one point Gerrard was flying alongside O'Neill, just 500ft away, giving instructions over the radio.
As O'Neill approached the runway on his eighth and final attempt the Wing Commander reassured him, saying: "You are doing OK, carry on, can you see the runway?"
O'Neill was then able to put down safely after two bounces on the runway. He came to a halt at the very end of the runway where he was met by the emergency services.
"For me I was just glad to help a fellow aviator in distress. I was just part of a team," Gerrard said. "Landing an aircraft literally blind needs someone to be right there to say 'left a bit, right a bit, stop, down'.
"On the crucial final approach, even with radar assistance you need to take over visually. That's when having a fellow pilot there was so important."
Radar controller Richard Eggleton said: "I have had some experience of flying myself and I have been in a glider myself. Being up there on your own without sight - it doesn't bear thinking about."
Eggleton said he had been in regular contact with the stricken pilot and noticed that he became more apprehensive as the drama unfolded.
"You could hear the apprehension in his voice over the radio and the frustration he was experiencing. I kept saying 'Are you visual?' and he would reply 'No sir, negative, I'm sorry sir'. He kept on apologising."
O'Neill, 65, who has 18 years' flying experience, told the Daily Mirror from his bed at Queen's Hospital in Romford, Essex: "It was terrifying. Suddenly I couldn't see the dials in front of me. I should not be alive. I owe my life - and those of dozens of people I could have crash landed on - to the RAF."
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(author unknown)- La ørevoksen være i fred
Just When You Think You've Seen It All...
Looks like it's time to replace that rickety compass with a few hundred of your favorite cattle. Ok, not that you would - but according to a team of German zoologists and the research they did using Google Earth, apparently you could. Using Google Earth's satellite imagery, these zoologists observed the grazing tendencies of thousands of cattle from hundreds of different herds around the world and concluded that the vast majority of these animals position themselves according to our planet's magnetic poles, facing almost due north or south. The zoologists were looking for a way to study magnetisim in large animals, so they turned to Google Earth to, well, steer them in the right direction. You can take a look for yourself and see what you think -- Frank Taylor at the Google Earth Blog was intrigued by this study, so he put together a KML of cow herds.
We've heard some great stories of Google Earth being used for scientific research, but some scientists have also made some accidental discoveries while working with Google Earth. An Australian geologist now has a crater named in his honor after stumbling upon an odd formation in Google Earth -- take a look at Hickman Crater. Similarly, another Australian scientist was doing some research using Google Earth when he noticed an extremely rare coral reef formation. Over in Parma, Italy, our imagery allowed one user to learn that he lived on the site of an ancient Roman ruin!
So, to everyone exploring our world on Google Earth - well done! And to compass makers around the world - looks like you might have some Grade-A competition.
Posted by Aaron Stein, Lat Long Blog Team
Blodbankene bryter smittereglene
