Life in the 21st Century

[Jay Honeck]

One of my hangar neighbors just saw my Facebook post about our hangar being flooded (by our recent storms) and called me on my cell phone about it.

Nothing unusual there -- until you learn that he's currently in Spain. He's been flying C5 Galaxies in and out of Afghanistan, and was wondering if I could look in his hangar (he runs a skydiving operation on the field) to see if it was flooded, too.

Oh, and he called me on Skype, so none of this global communication cost anyone a nickel. Amazing times, we live in.

 

[jtheune]

More to the point abut Skype was that it cost him what it should as all he did was move some bytes from one side of the world to the other. It's just wrong that the phone companies can charge you dollars per minute to convert the sounds to bytes and send the byte across the net while skype does the same thing and does not incur the charges.

 

[darrell]

Using Skype to call a cell phone is not free, unless this is an extremely recent change?

 

[Jay Honeck]

Using Skype to call a cell phone is not free, unless this is an extremely recent change?

Well, I was on the receiving end -- so I'm not paying. And he was on the sending end, using his computer with Skype -- so he's not paying.

So who's paying?

 

[darrell]

Well, I was on the receiving end -- so I'm not paying. And he was on the sending end, using his computer with Skype -- so he's not paying.

So who's paying?

He's paying. It's only free to use Skype to Skype. You have to purchase credits to call phone numbers. Although it really is quite cheap.

 

[Jay Honeck]

He's paying. It's only free to use Skype to Skype. You have to purchase credits to call phone numbers. Although it really is quite cheap.

Interesting. I didn't know that. I've only Skyped from PC to PC.

 

[denverpilot]

It's really cheap. I've used it to do interviews for the podcast.

 

[cowtowner]

Jay, did you see the skydiving operation can't pick people up on the beech anymore??

 

[Everskyward]

Skype is really cheap when you call a cell phone or landline but you do pay. It's something like 1 cent/minute to call the US from Canada rather than 70 cents/minute on my cell phone.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Jay, did you see the skydiving operation can't pick people up on the beech anymore??

Yeah, I heard about that. I'm looking forward to attending the next city council meeting. I hope Jason manages to get this on the agenda, cuz it's total B.S.

What's really funny is that the pilots who were objecting to the sky divers the loudest were the ones who did not want his people landing on the airport -- for "safety reasons".

Now, he will be REQUIRED to have them land on the airport! D'oh!

I just don't understand the opposition to his operation on the field. He's a great guy, and he runs a tight ship. There are NO safety worries with him.

 

[cowtowner]

And my worry, will they require you to have that $1,000 permit to pick up a guest at the airport?

 

[Geico266]

Yeah, I heard about that. I'm looking forward to attending the next city council meeting. I hope Jason manages to get this on the agenda, cuz it's total B.S.

What's really funny is that the pilots who were objecting to the sky divers the loudest were the ones who did not want his people landing on the airport -- for "safety reasons".

Now, he will be REQUIRED to have them land on the airport! D'oh!

I just don't understand the opposition to his operation on the field. He's a great guy, and he runs a tight ship. There are NO safety worries with him.

Sky diving is a protected aeronautical sport. If the airport in question tool federal funds for improvement they must allow any aeronautical sport.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Sky diving is a protected aeronautical sport. If the airport in question tool federal funds for improvement they must allow any aeronautical sport.

Oh, this is getting way, WAY dirtier than anything the FAA can protect.

The latest word is that "someone" offered the skydiving operation's hanger landlord DOUBLE the rent in order to drive them off the field. There are a million ways to make life miserable for an on-airport business that don't involve aviation or the FAA.

Is sucks, IMHO. The operator is one of the truly good guys in aviation, and his business has brought my hotel business. Thankfully, his landlord told the guy to go pound salt -- but at some point that kind of money will be hard to refuse. (Hangar rents on this island are INSANELY high. Offering to double it is real money.)