Friday at the links

Man, was it ever a beautiful day today. The temperature was in the mid-70s, with lots of sun and a mild breeze out of the north. Absolutely perfect, in other words. Spring is in the air, all right...

Work went swimmingly. There was a lot of traffic in the skies this morning, and the winds kicked up a little in the afternoon, but we escorted the UAV safely out and back. I think I'm even getting the hang of flying the Mooney. It's a tenacious beast, and quite finicky, but if you know what you're doing, it's a hot rod. I just can't get the dang thing trimmed right.

What is "trimming," you ask?

Good question. No, I didn't have to climb out of the airplane in mid-air and take snippets off the wings with a pair of garden shears. You'd like that, wouldn't you?

"Trim" refers to minute adjustments of the control surfaces to keep the plane level and make flying easier on the pilot. In small planes, it's usually controlled by a wheel in the cockpit somewhere. In the Mooney, spinning the wheel moves the entire tail. (That's why it's a complex plane, sweetheart.)

Boss #3, Dawg, let me take over the controls as soon as we were at a safe altitude climbing out of Apple Valley, and I got everything else done as far as leveling out was concerned: pulling the throttle back until the manifold pressure gauge was at 20 inches or so; twiddling the propeller knob until the tachometer was at 2450 RPM; but the trim wouldn't get set right. Either I've got an unsteady hand on the controls, or the plane kept wanting to climb or descend.

Oh well. Everything else went fine today. We cracked the door open as soon as we touched down for a landing, letting the delicious breeze get blown into the cockpit by the prop wash.

Moving on...

The Sententious Vaunter has made some new friends!

Following the Drunk At First Sight Blogfest, we've got a few new faces around here. Plus there's a few new blogs I've found that I'd like to tell you about, so I think I'll take a leaf out of Jon Paul's book and share some link love with you.

• Dr. Bamboo - No, of course mine is not the only boozy blog out there. The good doctor knows a heck of a lot more about the drinking game than I do. Check this blog out for some rare and insanely interesting cocktail recipes and a wealth of knowledge and witty writing about our favorite libations.
• From the Faraway, Nearby - This photographer's been all around, and best of all, he's taken pictures of most of it. For some of the most ethereally beautiful photographs you've ever seen, check this blog out.
• Ftocheia - This blog is not for the faint of heart. Thanatos's writing is dark, certainly, but it's well done. There's more raw emotional power in one of her posts than there is in some tragic novels. For creative fiction and shared thoughts, you must have a look.
• Murrmurrs - A former postal worker muses on some of life's quirks. Trust me, you haven't looked at things from this angle before. Or rather, you have. You just haven't heard them phrased so cleverly before. Her philosophy is "Really, most things are funny." How can you go wrong with that?
• Points of Claire-ification - Claire lives in Japan and blogs with the infectious enthusiasm of somebody who is doing something really cool and knows it (but isn't sententious about it, like me). For tear-jerking graduation stories, writing tales (and jolly good writing), and random Japanese lessons, this blog is a must.

Got that? Now, I'd like each and every one of you who's read this to check those links out (except, of course, your own) and see what they're about. It'll be worth your while. Spread the love. And this isn't the end, either. I might share some more links later on if this trend works out.

To all those of you who clicked that "Follow" button, I just want to say: thank you. I'll try not to disappoint.