the New York Times reports that the FAA is making a recruiting push aimed at avid video game players to fill a national shortage of air traffic controllers. (or, they could simply off to pay them a lot more money to get more applicants!)

The FAA’s new campaign aims to reach young adults who possess useful skills that are transferable to a career in air traffic control, including:

Demonstrated high cognitive functions
Multitasking
Spatial awareness
Strategy and problem-solving

With only about 25 percent of controllers holding a traditional college degree, this effort is focused on reaching talented young people pursuing alternative career paths, many of whom are active in gaming. Feedback from controller exit interviews reinforces this, with several controllers pointing to gaming as an influence on their ability to think quickly, stay focused, and manage complexity. Approximately 65 percent, more than 200 million, of Americans regularly play video games.

https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-and-federal-aviation-administration-unveil

https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/posts/the-faa-is-making-a-recruiting-push-aimed-at-avid-video-game-players-as-the-trum/1350828856899574/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/10/us/politics/air-traffic-controller-gamer.html

https://fortune.com/2026/04/13/why-is-faa-recruiting-gamers-air-traffic-controller-shortage/

one step closer to a terminator robot... but - is this also one step closer to robots being used as bomb defusers, deep sea welders, and other high dollar and high danger work (but it's not likely, as human labor is often dirt cheap... robots like this will never clean hotels)

Japan Airlines will introduce the robots for trial run at a Tokyo airport amid country’s surge in inbound tourism and worsening labour shortages, with a view to deploying them permanently as a solution to the country’s chronic labour shortage.

The Chinese-made humanoids will move travelers' luggage and cargo on the tarmac at Haneda, which handles more than 60 million passengers a year.

The president of JAL Ground Service, Yoshiteru Suzuki, said using robots to perform physically demanding work would “inevitably reduce the burden on workers and provide significant benefits to employees”, according to the Kyodo news agency.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/28/humanoid-robots-baggage-handlers-japan-airports

news flash... LaGuardia ATC has got a lot of explaining to do

2 pilots of Air Canada dead, the airliner collided with a fire fighting vehicle

The pilot and copilot of the Air Canada plane were killed, and 41 passengers and crew members, some with serious injuries, were taken to local hospitals. Of those injured, 32 have since been released

The fire truck was traveling across the runway to respond to a separate incident on board a United Airlines flight that reported an odor issue. Moments before the crash, audio of an air traffic controller revealed that they gave clearance to a vehicle to cross part of the tarmac. Moments later, a controller can be heard saying, “Stop, stop, stop, truck 1 stop, truck 1, stop.”

Later in the audio transmission, a distraught controller is heard saying, “We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.”

Preliminary data show that the Air Canada plane was traveling between 93 and 105 mph when it collided with the fire truck

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/article/2-pilots-dead-dozens-injured-after-air-canada-plane-collides-with-fire-truck-at-nycs-laguardia-airport-141713866.html

Follow up, 

A flight attendant was found alive on the ground by rescuers, still strapped to her seat with the seatbelt - which had fallen through the floor of the damaged plane

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c620w12y59nt

And we will never hear the end of that from airlines about wearing the damn seat belt during landing UNTIL the plane has reached the terminal. God damn it. They now have proof 

I hope this makes you grin, I just learned that in Kentucky, there once was a "The New Fangled Flying Machine Incorporated Airport" near the city of Hopkinsville

https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/KY/Airfields_KY_W.htm#newfangled

£1.8 million worth of gold bars discovered at the airport, and seized by police,

Officers stopped a man carrying the bars in his hand luggage as he prepared to fly abroad in May 2025, and a court ordered that the £1.8 million worth of gold bars can be retained by police under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2407ne901o

I admire this effort to help just ONE employee ( he must be amazing!) A US-based tech firm stepped up to help one of its employees of 3 years, leave the Mexico safely.

Cloud platform company Vercel arranged seats on every available flight headed to the United States from Guadalajara in a bid to ensure their employee and his wife could get out of Mexico pronto.

The Chaos in Mexico on Sunday forced flight cancellations, with flights called off at several of the country's busiest airports

Meanwhile,  San Francisco-based Vercel's leadership team in the United States mobilized, determined to secure a safe exit, they purchased tickets on all US-bound flights from the airport, hoping at least one aircraft would manage to depart.

Their strategy ultimately succeeded. Barba and his wife were able to board one of the flights that took off and later arrived safely in Dallas, Texas. 

https://www.ndtv.com/feature/american-company-buys-tickets-on-every-us-flight-to-evacuate-employee-amid-mexico-unrest-11125193

TSA agents were sometimes permitted to keep a percentage of travelers’ cash they helped seize

TSA has stripped more than 10,000 travelers of their money since 2014, but the supposed “criminals” are almost never charged after their cash is taken.

A class-action federal court case could finally end this outrage.

“TSA has secret policies that tell its screeners that they must seize travelers’ cash,” Dan Alban, the lawyer leading a nationwide class-action suit against the agency, tells me. Alban is with the Institute for Justice, which is fighting to stop airport checkpoints from being Constitution-free zones.

But traveling inside America with hefty amounts of cash is perfectly legal. That doesn’t stop TSA from plundering passengers on any and every BS pretext.

In August 2019, 57-year-old Brown was flying out of Pittsburgh International Airport carrying her father’s life savings — $82,373 — which he wanted her to deposit in a joint bank account near her Boston home.

A TSA agent noticed the Tupperware loaded with the cash while scanning Brown’s luggage and summoned a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, who speedily announced he was seizing the money.

There was never any allegation Brown came by the money illegally.

After the media publicized a lawsuit challenging the seizure, the TSA returned the money seven months later.

Until recently, TSA seizure efforts partnered with the Drug Enforcement Agency, whose asset-forfeiture program’s unofficial motto is “You make it, we’ll take it.”

The government doesn’t have to prove the person is guilty. Instead, the feds simply take the cash, and private citizens must engage in a long, expensive fight to attempt to get their money back.

TSA condemns travelers for concealing money even though more than 500 TSA agents have been fired for robbing passengers.

https://nypost.com/2026/02/17/opinion/a-class-action-lawsuit-seeks-to-stop-tsa-from-unlawfully-seizing-flyers-cash/

1953 San Diego map shows a Peik Airfield in the Loma Portal area... I don't think I ever heard of it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peik_Auxiliary_Field#/media/File:PeikAirfield_CA_SanDiego.jpg

Sacramento City College will be the first California college to join a federal air traffic controller training program. Only 12 colleges have joined the program across the country. Huh. Not very popular

according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, a Democrat who represents Sacramento County, the enhanced designation will allow qualified students to bypass the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City and help address the national air traffic controller shortage.

 https://ktla.com/news/california/california-community-college-becomes-first-in-state-to-join-faa-initiative

this is interesting... sueing for mental anguish, distress, and such - because an airline lost his luggage, and like all airlines, won't find it even when you tell them the location via Airtag

On December 28, 2023, American Airlines had a failure to deliver his checked luggage, which caused a severe mental health decline, due to the absence of essential clothing and prolonged stress from the baggage loss

According to the lawsuit, the traveler was exposed to the extreme cold of a Zurich winter without appropriate clothing, as all winter wear and personal items were inside the missing luggage.

He claims this situation directly contributed to a rapid deterioration of his mental health.

During his stay in Switzerland, which lasted several months, KR states that he was admitted to 3 different psychiatric hospitals. He spent more than one month as an inpatient receiving treatment.

Without any form of health or travel insurance, he received medical bills totaling over $50,000 from the Swiss healthcare system.

He had placed Apple AirTags inside the bags and shared precise location data with the airline. Despite providing this information, KR alleges that the airline did not act on the tracking data to recover his belongings in a timely manner.

Because, airlines have not decided to be careful with your luggage, as they really don't care to be responsible for what happens at an airport. They have enough to deal with just flying airplanes, and getting maintenance on schedule, and past inspections. 

https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2026/01/14/american-airlines-passenger-files-50k-lawsuit-amid-lost-bags/#google_vignette

It would be incredibly interesting if someone found a legal way into getting the airlines, and airports, to be vigilant about taking care of everything they are responsible for, and not losing luggage

Pan Am had a great marketing dept in the 50s... everything was cool, but this? Wow.

http://www.everythingpanam.com/Children_s_Items.html

one of the Costco locations in San Diego, is the first / oldest of the business, was bought in 1976 and Price Club began. The first Costco was opened in Seattle in 1983, it merged with Price Club in 1993. The building was either a hanger, or a warehouse, for Hughes Aircraft manufacturing

"The airplane hangar was a building used by Hughes Aircraft Company as a manufacturing facility" says Chat GPT.

Further digging result:

The building was originally a warehouse (specifically Warehouse #401) used by the Hughes Aircraft Company, associated with Howard Hughes, as a manufacturing and storage facility. 

The structure, along with five other hangars, was part of a larger aviation industrial area.

However, there was a nearby airfield, just up the hills in Clairemont

Morena is at the bottom of the photo, this is all South of Balboa Ave, about a mile or two south of Costco. 

This earliest depiction which has been located of San Diego Airpark was a 1947 Howard Rozelle aerial view (courtesy of John Fry).

1947 San Diego Airpark. This very short-lived general aviation airport is now the long straight part of Clairemont Dr where you see the red arrow. There's a 7-11 there, and in the image below, all the apartment buildings have white roofs

https://www.facebook.com/groups/182165938517253/permalink/2929122417154911

https://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanDiego_S.htm#sandiegoairpark

Valley City Flying Club Airport (78OH) is a small aviation facility nestled in the serene town of Valley City, Ohio. A 1930s era air field without a control tower, or air traffic

 

Old Orchard Airpark is a private airstrip, home to the Hudson Valley Hornets Flying Club.

In 1999, the Hornets decided to build their own private airport, after 25 years of moving from one airport to another to another due to rising costs.

The club started in 1974 as Chapter 474 of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Its first home was Warwick Airport, then Orange County Airport and eventually Kobelt Airport in Wallkill.

 A 24 acre defunct apple orchard in Modena became available, and work began.

Hornet members with heavy-equipment experience and surveying and construction backgrounds, joined in a six-year task to build Old Orchard Airpark. 

Trees were cleared, the land was graded, access roads were built and a site plan for a Clubhouse/Shop, 40 privately built and owned hangars, and a tiedown spaces was developed.

https://www.recordonline.com/story/lifestyle/my-ride/2015/08/31/a-flying-club-that-preserves/33609945007/

https://www.hudsonvalleyhornets.com/

Out of 20,000 controllers and technicians, only 776 were able to not miss a day of work in the 44 days of govt shut down. I had no expectations, I don't know why the govt does, and thinks people will show up to earn money when there will be no paycheck

https://www.thetravel.com/us-air-traffic-controllers-reject-faa-10k-government-shutdown-bonus-due-to-workplace-issues/

photos of celebs at airports in the 70s

Burt and a Mopar

Phil Jackson in a Checker taxi

How much free publicity did rock and roll musicians give Jack Daniels in the 70s and 80s? 

Marlon Brando in 1959

Elton John, hell of a gifted musician, and I don't think much of his last couple decades of music, but damn, in the 70s? Saturday Nights All Right for Fighting, Philadelphia Freedom, and Tiny Dancer.... ? Loved those. Island Girl, I'm Still Standing, I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues, Sad Songs (Say So Much), Blue Eyes, and Little Jeannie

How about that Dodge ladder truck?! 

I bet no one under the age of 30 knows who that is based on the name of the airplane. Everyone over 50 does. 

https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/g13142501/celebrities-at-the-airport-in-the-1970s-the-photos

Detroit City Airport, 1974

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1245142834313843&set=a.471703661657768

Hugo Mathis of Switzerland is the owner and one of the pilots of the Classic Formation Team, which features a 1943 DC-3 and three Beech 18s, circa 1952 - and now, a B 25

and Ron Kaplan, owner of  Warbird Aviation Art, painted the Doolittle Raider crests on it, and the name.

The War Bird Shop in Madras says the plane is the oldest flying B-25 bomber in the world.

The mechanics found some surprising discoveries were made along the way. 

 “It’s amazing going into some of these aircraft. The one that just took off — as we were taking all the panels apart, we’d start to see signatures of the Rosie Riveters that put it together, in lead pencil in some cases. 

Erickson's Warbird Shop is becoming the 'go-to' place for bomber maintenance and restoration, they have three B-17s and three B-25s! 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572787136522

and the story really takes off from their - Ron is also the founder and executive director of the Ohio Air & Space Hall of Fame (OASHF) and Learning Center

Ron’s father was a B-25 instructor pilot during WWII and kept flying after the war.

“We flew out of Ohio State [University]’s Don Scott Field [KOSU],” Kaplan said of his father, who had been the fencing coach at OSU and later, as a professor, was also able to rent the school’s aviation department aircraft. 

[Former] Governor [Jim] Rhodes kept ‘Buckeye One,’ the state of Ohio’s C-53, there.

(Since I've never heard of a C -53, I had to look it up) 

Douglas C-53, A military transport aircraft during World War II, a variant of the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner, specialized for carrying troops with bucket seats and a single entry door, lacking the large cargo door and reinforced floor of the more versatile C-47 Skytrain.

Ron attended OSU for graphic design, started a lucrative T-Shirt career, and transitioned to full-time aviation art and writing, which led to him being recruited onto the staff of the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) in 1998. 

He spent 19 years at the NAHF, making connections in the aviation world, especially in the warbird community, then founded the OASHF while simultaneously creating a business around aviation artwork, such as nose art painted on metal or stoneware coasters with images of WWII aircraft.

At the 1981 Doolittle Raider Association reunion in Columbus, Ohio Ron was introduced to General [Jimmy] Doolittle and the attending Raiders, and in 1992 he painted an A-2 flight jacket with the Raiders’ crest and an illustration of Doolittle’s B-25 and gifted it to them at their 50th reunion in Columbia, South Carolina.

His occupation and talent resulted in opportunities to know and work with many such legends and icons of aviation such as Joe Foss, Paul Tibbets, Robin Olds, Bob Hoover, Tex Hill, and dozens more.

https://www.flyingmag.com/destination-tokyo-a-doolittle-raider-b-25s-emotional-restoration/

https://www.warbirdaviationart.com/collections/new-releases

https://www.centraloregondaily.com/news/madras/oldest-flying-b25-bomber-restored-madras-takes-flight/article_2ddda9a9-911b-4d90-b601-024fca73603f.html

The Ohio State University played an integral part in advancing the aeronautics field, while evolving into one of the nation’s premier aviation programs. 

Less than 14 years after the first flight, World War I created the need for qualified military pilots. In spring and summer 1917, the War Department established Schools of Military Aeronautics at eight universities, including The Ohio State University.

The School of Aeronautics opened to teach cadets aircraft construction and maintenance on May 21, 1917, when the first "squadron" or group of 16 cadets reported. As the story goes, the cadets built the aircraft in the aeronautics building, the planes would then be rolled down the hill to the field just east of the Olentangy River, where flight tests and training would ensue.

The university built a second airport on East Broad Street “near the country club,” while also using other local airports such as Sullivant Field on Neil Avenue.

In 1939, Ohio State was one of a number of universities that took part in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, sponsored by the Civil Aeronautics Administration, for the purpose of fostering private flying

In support of its pilot training program, the university, in May 1942, purchased property for the development of an airport. The new facility was located on the outskirts of town, seven miles north of campus in northwest Columbus. 

The first plane to utilize the new airport landed at the field on November 5, 1942. The airport's first two buildings in the spring of 1943, and two 2,200 feet, hard-surfaced runways, taxiways, and aprons in early 1944. Ohio State began offering flight instruction in 1945.

Four Columbus women pilots formed a chapter of the Ninety-Nines organization in 1946. Helen Linn was the assistant coordinator of pilot training at KOSU in 1946.

Ruth Gouthey was Ohio State's first female flight instructor, and helped form the first Columbus chapter of the 99s. 

It became a public-use airport in 1959 upon receipt of federal funding for runway improvements. 

In the 1970s, the University used Douglas DC-3s at the airport to transport university sports teams, faculty, and administration to and from Columbus.

It's now the 5th largest airport in the state of Ohio, and ranks fourth in Ohio in the number of take-offs and landings and within the top 100 general aviation airports nationally.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_State_University_Airport

https://osuairport.org/welcome-ohio-state-university-airport/history-ohio-state-university-airport/commemorating-don-scott-kosus-namesake

A people carrier (also known as a mobile lounge) hit a dock at Washington Dulles International Airport, also causing damage to the terminal.

The lounge had been transporting passengers from Concourse D, and struck a dock at an angle as it was pulling up to the terminal,

Dulles maintains of fleet of 19 mobile lounges, with each able to transport 102 people. 

According to NBC Washington, mobile lounges were involved in 16 accidents during a 10-year period between 2007-2017, including one fatal crash.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jdyw24782o.amp

By the way, thoughts on the FAA / Airline / Airport issue

 Must SUCK to try and catch a flight from SEMA to get home (I drive from Vegas to San Diego, 5 hours, and sure would be less risky to fly instead of deal with TIREDNESS for a boring 5 hour steering wheel chokehold.... trying to rely on caffeine and  podcasts to combat being up for over 20 hours on the drive home, since waking up a 3 am to get to SEMA to hit it at about 10 am that morning. 

Also, just my 2 cents, as what is the point of a blog if not to make a place to give your two cents about whatever... right?

Sure seems sunlight bright and clear to me that the US Govt isn't playing by the rules of "pass a damn budget, on time, every time, no delay, and balance the damn thing, and consider not blowing a couple trillion more that just gets added to the 34 trillion dollar deficit / bankruptcy thing no one deals with" that they once did, and wouldn't it be nice if instead of the repercussions and fallout being something only the regular citizens have to cope with (no airline traffic controllers getting paid, and neither are the other airport govt workers, are the soldiers, sailors and Marines getting paid?) 

It sure would be nice to see that by not passing a budget (and I don't mean a month to month spending bill that only delays the inevitable "where's the next annual budget?" problem) the hundreds of millionaires that are supposed to work for the citizens, who aren't millionaires (huge gap of wealth between politicians and voters on that point) the politicians, and their office budgets, and their govt provided vehicles, transportation budget, per diem food allowance, and gas cards are all frozen from the day the govt gets into shut down mode, until they work out the solution and get the govt budget passed for the next annual cycle... and that they have to show up to work, in the big ol voting chamber where the House of Representatives, or Congress members, plus the VP and the Pres, sit at those desks and don't get to do anything but look at each other with hate and discontent, and eat cafeteria food made by unpaid US Capitol Building cafeteria workers, and use the bathrooms that unpaid US Capitol Building janitors clean... while those politicians are on a pay freeze. 

But, more interesting than my notion of how the politicians should have to be burdened by the results of their lack of results on doing the only job they are hired to do - do not vote for a single one of them to get re-elected, they obviously are not capable of doing their job, and only us regular people have to bear that burden -  

is it NOW clear that a high speed rail system around the country would be a great idea, and a way to avoid using the airlines/airports/air traffic controller who are not getting paid, and actually govt ordered to cut 10% of all flights? 

Yes, a high speed rail system is expensive, and so are airline tickets. It would be nice to avoid the monopoly, and instant death of transport when the airports shut down, if we had a high speed rail system. 

We've recently seen just how paralyzing the airlines are when ONE little thing happens, like

the volcano in Iceland diverting all air traffic from that New York to Europe route in April 2010, 

or the covid pandemic cutting 90% of all air travel at it's worst, 

the combo 1-2 punch of 2008 recession and jet fuel price surge, 

the 2019 Boeing 737 Max groundings, 

the 2017 British Airways data center power fail, 

the Feb 2018 and Jan 2021 storms that screwed up Europe's airports

the Jan 2023 Southwest Airlines snafu back to back with the NOTAMS failure

the June 30th 2023 United Airline fiasco in Seattle-Tacoma airport

the March 2025 electrical substation explosion at Heathrow

Fall of 2025 drone intrusion into European airport airspace

Anyway, clearly, airports can be easily shut down by tech fails, uncommonly harsh weather, and paychecks getting cut off. 

Sure would be a good thing to have another fast transportation way to get around the country, instead of driving your own car