
In Flight - matsur
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/14/opinion/14-in-flight-mark-vanhoenacker.html
======
flashman
I'm really interested if anyone knows how the Times is planning to keep this
type of content available on long time scales. They can realistically assume
that twenty, fifty, a hundred years out people will be reading these articles.

These articles are a bit different from maintaining a text archive.

~~~
w1ntermute
I imagine the interactive elements may not render correctly even just 5 years
from now.

~~~
SamReidHughes
What interactive elements? All I saw as part of the content were static
images, and newspapers have had those for a long time. There were some other
illustrations and animations, kind of like the way some children's books have
them interspersed among the text, but none of those were interactive either.

~~~
flashman
The Times broadly refers to this kind of storytelling as 'interactive' judging
by this 2014 showcase: [http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/29/us/year-
in-int...](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/29/us/year-in-
interactive-storytelling.html)

I guess the underlying question is how they plan to support these web
technologies into the future; what's their long-term technical debt in that
sense?

~~~
jballanc
Given that past coders for the NYTimes have included the creator of
CoffeScript/Backbone and the current maintainer of ClojureScript/Om, it seems
(at least anecdotally) that whomever is in charge of staffing the dev team is
doing a decent job.

Of course, some of the worst technical debt I've had to deal with came from
"world-class developers", so this is no guarantee that they won't collapse
under the weight of their own code at some point...but I think the odds are at
least in their favor.

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therockspush
More interesting waypoints.

The SSTIK1 Departure from KSFO has a few good ones: UTOOB, NTELL, AYOOH,
EBAYE.
[http://flightaware.com/resources/airport/KSFO/DP/SSTIK+ONE+(...](http://flightaware.com/resources/airport/KSFO/DP/SSTIK+ONE+\(RNAV\))

One that always made us chuckle was a standard routing from London over
Belgium, the the Biggin Hill VOR, BIG, the KONAN waypoint, then the Koksy VOR,
so the route was BIG KONAN KOK.

The eyebrow raiser was called DROWN, and its right between Cuba and the
Southern tip of Florida. Not accidental.

Little Rock Airport has the ICAO code KLIT. There's heaps of good ones.

I used to dispatch international flights. The author pulled back the veil on
some esoteric aviation knowledge and still managed to make a good story of it.
Good form.

~~~
kzrdude
I'm not a super-fan of the jingoistically named waypoints.

~~~
Shivetya
its not worse than the naming many give to their languages, tools, and such,
in the tech community.

light humor sometimes invades work and for that it serves a purpose. I also
tend to think a little humor or local flavor improve memorization

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ghshephard
I fly about 100,000 miles a year, but this article absolutely brought the
wonder of flight, and, in conjunction with the in-situ animation, just pulled
me in. I couldn't stop reading for a second. Absolutely wonderful, and brought
a lot of the mystique and thrill of flying back. I hope the NYT does more
articles like this.

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kijin
I wonder why they keep using local & global air pressure-based altitude
measurements instead of GPS. Is it just inertia, or does GPS have serious
technical limitations when used in an airliner?

I can understand relying on airspeed instead of GPS-measured groundspeed,
because airspeed is important. But I can't think of a justification for not
using true altitudes, especially during takeoff and landing. What happens if
the pilots punch in a wrong number for the destination air pressure?

~~~
javert
I wonder how robust the GPS system is. Could an unexpected space phenomenon
bring it down? What would happen if a rogue nation started shooting down the
satellites?

This isn't a real answer. I hope someone with a real answer comes along!

~~~
tanzam75
> _I wonder how robust the GPS system is. Could an unexpected space phenomenon
> bring it down? What would happen if a rogue nation started shooting down the
> satellites?_

GPS is not the only system. We currently have about 2.7 global satellite
navigation constellations available for use.

The American GPS and the Russian GLONASS are both complete. The Chinese Beidou
system is about 40% complete. The European Galileo system is about 30%
complete. Each system also has about 20% redundancy in the form of on-orbit
spares.

Dual-system GPS/GLONASS receivers are now nearly everywhere. I was just
looking at a phone that has a triple-system GPS/GLONASS/Beidou receiver. In a
few years, quad-system receivers will be commonplace.

A rogue nation would have to shoot down about 1.9 constellations, or about 60
satellites, before we drop below full coverage.

The American, Chinese, and European systems have the same orbital inclination.
If a gap opened, any satellite from any of these three systems could
theoretically fill that gap. It would take some time to reposition the
satellites, though.

There is also additional redundancy in the eastern hemisphere. India and Japan
have satellites that provide regional coverage. Part of the Chinese system
also operates as a regional constellation.

At this point, the rogue state is at war with the US, Russia, China, the EU,
India, and Japan. They might as well just surrender.

~~~
spdustin
It would take only one nuclear device being "detonated" in low orbit, to wipe
out nearly all of the satellites in a large area of that space. The resulting
EMP may wreck quite a few ground-based systems too, IIRC from a book I read
recently. Can't recall the name, though...

In any case, disrupting satellite-based navigation is the simplest kind of
rocket science: a missile that just has to go up and then detonate, no aiming
required.

~~~
tanzam75
> _It would take only one nuclear device being "detonated" in low orbit, to
> wipe out nearly all of the satellites in a large area of that space. The
> resulting EMP may wreck quite a few ground-based systems too, IIRC from a
> book I read recently. Can't recall the name, though..._

A nuclear weapon detonated in low earth orbit would not destroy a single
global navigation satellite. They are not in low earth orbit.

A nuclear weapon detonated in medium earth orbit would wipe out between 0 and
1 navigation satellite, depending on how close you get. The satellites just
aren't that close together.

An EMP would destroy electronics on the ground, but this will be a systemic
effect. Satellite navigation would be collateral damage. When the ground-based
electronics are replaced, though, the satellites will still be working.

> _In any case, disrupting satellite-based navigation is the simplest kind of
> rocket science: a missile that just has to go up and then detonate, no
> aiming required._

Nuclear weapons are powerful, but they still have to obey the laws of physics.
If you get far enough away, the inverse-squared law makes even a nuclear
explosion look like a firecracker.

A 1 megaton nuclear weapon would have to be detonated within half a kilometer
to damage a satellite physically:
[http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacegunconvent...](http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacegunconvent.php)

The shielding needed to protect a satellite against EMP only adds 5% to the
cost of the satellite:
[http://fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1997_h/h970716u.htm](http://fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1997_h/h970716u.htm)

So basically, it's going to take one nuclear warhead to destroy one navigation
satellite. If a rogue nation has 60 nuclear warheads, it's hardly going to
waste them to take out 60 navigation satellites.

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m-app
Was looking up some more info on Maastricht Upper Area Control Center (MUAC)
and found [1] this image of a controller in front of a terminal with a Tux
sticker on it:
[http://i.imgur.com/VQFn2hM.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/VQFn2hM.jpg)

Does anyone have an explanation for that? Are they using FOSS at these
centers?

EDIT: Apparently the stickers aren't on every terminal but at least on more
than one, as can be seen in this picture:
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/eurocontrol/5201407322/in/albu...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/eurocontrol/5201407322/in/album-72157625452300368/)

[1]: [http://www.eurocontrol.int/muac](http://www.eurocontrol.int/muac)

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akhilcacharya
Absolutely gorgeous.

I love it when these publishers get creative with the medium.

~~~
lqdc13
I agree that it's pretty and the medium really conveys the "cloudy" feeling
with the text materializing from whiteness, but I think this is a bad thing
for 2 reasons.

1\. One of the cores of my cpu is at 100% while viewing the page.

2\. It forces others to do the same kind of stuff for people to view it. I
think every piece should be on the same level in terms of design. That way the
pieces that are better written are going to be recognized more instead of
being recognized for flashy javascript.

Of course, you cannot ban people from doing flashy things, and if it wasn't
for flashy content, graphic novels wouldn't be a thing. Nevertheless, graphic
novels are in their own section in a bookstore.

~~~
kalleboo
> 1\. One of the cores of my cpu is at 100% while viewing the page.

Interesting. What browser/OS? On Safari on my Mac, the worst it gets is 20% of
one core when one of the top/bottom animations are in view, but it drops to
nothing when there's just text or one of the other, non-layered animations.
And that's on a Retina display

~~~
lqdc13
Chromium and Firefox on Ubuntu.

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ericye16
The writing and the interactivity go beautifully hand-in-hand. I hope NYTimes
continues doing this type of work.

~~~
rconti
And this is probably the worst one they've done. The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek
was far, far better.

------
MichaelGG
I started studying to fly when I was 16. Judge preemptively revoked my
driver's license, so I figured I'd fly just to show him how petty he was. Up
til then, it had just been JetFighter II for me.

This article nails it in the opening. I don't remember a whole lot about my
first flights (well other than almost hitting a tree - JF2 was mostly carrier
landings so I had bad habits). But the feeling of pushing the throttle,
watching the marks turn to steaks, and the feeling of holy-shit-I'm-flying --
it's amazing. I recommend getting a first lesson (should be cheap-ish) just to
feel that. In nearly 20 years, it's one of the top physical experiences I
recall with exhilaration.

~~~
wheaties
Ditto. Every time I take off and I'm at the controls of a plane, it is pure
wonderment. Best feeling in the world. One day I will buy but for now I rent.
I recommend it to everyone to get their license or even a sports license.

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erobbins
I found this really well written.. captures the magic and puts you in the
seat.

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imperialdrive
WOW - That must have taken a lot of extra time to polish, but totally worth it
I hope - I definitely fell into the story with enjoyment. A new generation of
writing.

------
w1ntermute
Note that this is an excerpt from the recently released book _Skyfaring_ :
[http://www.amazon.com/dp/038535181X](http://www.amazon.com/dp/038535181X)

------
ruddct
Fabulous article, elegant design. Nice touch with the NYT logo and a little
hiring message console.log'ed:

"NYTimes.com: All the code that's fit to printf()"

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bwooceli
Really makes me miss Captain Dave. [http://www.airliners.net/aviation-
forums/general_aviation/re...](http://www.airliners.net/aviation-
forums/general_aviation/read.main/5607316)

~~~
tfe
For others who might have been curious, the last word on the subject appears
from Capn. Aux (another semi-famous pilot/writer) who talked to him in late
2012. He said he was alive and well and may be back in the future. Sadly that
doesn't appear to have happened yet.

[http://americandigest.org/mt-
archives/site_notes/flight_leve...](http://americandigest.org/mt-
archives/site_notes/flight_level_390_and_capt.php)

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zenocon
It looks great, but be honest: did you really read through the whole story? I
got bored pretty quick. The text just lost me..and it seemed to be a
neverending css showpiece, which is fine, but I don't think you can disguise
that as an interesting news piece for too many scrolls.

~~~
testingonprod
Exactly right. I just ended up skimming it and then skipping to the end.

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joblessjunkie
On one hand, I'm annoyed because I know that this book excerpt appears in the
Times as part of a marketing campaign.

On the other hand, this was probably the greatest thing I've read in a long
time, so I guess bring on the paid content!

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ayushgta
It is really interesting how the bottom part of the text fades away
progressively. It elicits an emotive reaction to want to scroll further down.
Well done!

I can't spot any css, fixed divs etc. Thoughts on how that is being done?

~~~
comex
On the other hand, it slightly annoyed me, I guess for a very specific reason,
which I'll state in case anyone finds it interesting. I'm nearsighted and wear
glasses; as I often do, I was using my laptop with my glasses off, because
taking them off moves my default focus point closer and thus lets me focus on
nearby objects with less eye strain. However, the result goes a bit too far in
the opposite direction and I need to keep the laptop closer to my face than
normal to be able to focus on the screen, which means the high-detail center
of my field of view covers less of the screen than typical and I have to move
my head slightly to shift it. On top of that, when I started reading the
article, in an unconscious attempt to focus on the text, I had leaned forward
to move my head even closer... And so I had been reading using solely a
paragraph or two of space, which happened to be at the bottom of the screen
(gently scrolling the trackpad to continue - this is way more precise than
using a mouse scroll wheel, by the way)... for the first part of the article;
then that space suddenly became half greyed out, and the required head
movement to switch to reading higher up was unusual enough to bubble its way
into conscious thought.

Oh, and I guess it doesn't help that a fade to white at the bottom of the
screen is also what the NYTimes paywall does when you've run out of free
articles - I have a paid subscription, but sometimes I get logged out. This
has happened often enough to cause me to form a mental association between the
bottom of a NYTimes article suddenly greying out and the annoying act of
logging in. Pretty pedantic complaint, I know.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
I wonder if I'm the only dev who completely ignored the presentation and just
enjoyed the story!

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gnyman
If you find this interesting, you will probably also like the PilotsEYE stuff
[http://pilotseye.tv/en/](http://pilotseye.tv/en/)

They have some content on youtube
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENe89j89tBA&index=2&list=PL6...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENe89j89tBA&index=2&list=PL6frPCZsQeyXccCxt40jeYYvbkxJ_bIxy)

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jamesrom
The writing is beautiful. The graphics are really well done, but just don't
hold the same magic.

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ing33k
have they developed a new CMS to produce articles like these ? reminded me of
the Apple watch review article by The Verge

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collectodotio
As a lover of aviation, I got bit bored reading this.

~~~
markcerqueira
Troll harder, bro.

