reply to post by coyotepoet
Oh, dear, oh dear...and they call ME "condescending"!!
First the FAA maps (or rather map), is shown and discussed clearly in this video, which was posted earlier in the thread. Watch it. You may
learn something.
Listen....I DID "learn something". That woman (n the video?). She nuts.
She is completely crazy, and NOT very well-versed on aviation, either. Where to begin?
Well, in my nearly FOUR DECADES flying airplanes, I have often encountered such ignorance, in the lay public. But, rarely has it ever been to this
level of stupidity, as the last decade or so has seen....again, it is ALL due to the likes of "Alex Jones", and his ilk....AND the Internet Era, that
we live in. You DID realize how recent that is, right?
OK..."intra-flights"??

A term that, apparently, the fringe "chemtrailers" have made up, all on their own. And here nonsense about he
"looping", then the video cuts to images of normal contrails, showing very normal course correction turns, of ten, fifteen, maybe twenty-five degrees
of course change. This s NORMAL!!
She seriously shows another delusional "belief", with the mention of jets that "go out to sea, and turn around and come back". We see that nonsense a
lot, in these threads. People see ONE airplane pass overhead, say westbound...and some time later (after THAT one is well out of sight), they see an
airplane in opposite direction...they ASSUME it's the same airplane!! That is the crux of their "argument", based on a false assumption. Not ONE of
them ever shows proof of having tracked, second by second, the airplane, to verify that it is THE SAME ONE! Because, they can't...it doesn't happen!!
Posting this part, now....will go off to research DETAILS of air traffic over her area, Mendocino County. Her "Maps"?? Man, is she unable to
comprehend what they've told her!!! She's wearing "chemtrail-colored glasses", as do most "believers"...until they get some education under their
belts....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since I'm originally from CA, Mendocino is a familiar term...although, I am not intimately familiar with that part of the state...I grew up in SoCal.
There is sort of a dichotomy, amongst Californians...the "northerners" versus the "southerners".
Anyway, to refresh my memory (and she mentioned Sacramento, the State Capital, of course...east, and slightly south of her area), I reviewed the
Aeronautical Charts for the area. She is hardly, despite her claims, "remote"....nor, "off the beaten path"!
Do you have ANY idea how much air traffic there is, up and down the west coast of the USA?? You can certainly research it, for yourself...if you know
how.
But, first...the aviation charts to review. YOU should do this, just to get started on your education,a nd to dispel SO MANY misconceptions, and
falsehoods that have been fed to you.
Go to
www.skyvector.com... (They have free online charts, the same ones published by the FAA / NOS. Most airline pilots use charts published by
the Jepesson Company...both formats have all the same information, just presented slightly differently. "Jepps" are preferred, due to their
convenience...AND, the airline company pays for them!!).
When "skyvector" loads, look for a box, upper left corner. Since Sacramento is fairly close, we will use that airport, to zero in on the correct
selection of charts ("maps" are called "charts" in aviation...and for maritime use, too).
In the box, type KSMF (not case-sensitive). That is the four-letter (ICAO) code for Sacramento..."SMF" is the IATA (Airline) code that you will see,
when you fly as a passenger in or out.
What will load is the
VFR Sectional Chart. This is used by all Student, Private, and other General Aviation pilots when they fly under
"
Visual
Flight
Rules"...other words, clear skies. AND, below 18,000 feet (in the USA).
What you want, now, is the "Enroute H-3" chart..so click the tab there, along the top. There's a LOT if information, and it will seem overwhelming,
at first...take some time to look and learn it. Jepps Charts have legends on the end panels, to help decode a lot of it....let's see....YES! "Flip"
the chart over....scroll it around, until the option for the other side (Enroute H-4) comes up. Or, just jump to KLAX or something, in the corner
box. THAT "side" of the chart (real, paper charts, printed both sides) has the end panels, with the lengends.
It would be IDEAL if you had the real paper charts in your hand, instead of online. They aren't very
expensive, OR...if you're near a commercial
airport, you might find a pilot or two who will give you their old ones....charts expire periodically, and the old ones are just tossed away, as new
ones are issued to replace them. You have to catch it on a cycle date, for renewals....
So, looking at the "H-3" chart ("H" means "High", or above 18,000 feet....FL180):
Look for the VOR labelled "Mendocino". (A "VOR" is a navigation aid, operates in the VHF radio band. VHF Omni-Range). See the black lines, that are
all labeled with a "J", and a number? Those are "Jet" Airways...J for Jet, see? The blue lines ("Q") are a recent development, requires special
equipment and flight crew certification. They are part of the FAA's new "free flight" upgrade, for the ATC system, in the 21st century. Basically,
they are GPS Airways. More and more jets are using GPS, standard nowadays. The old land-based system (VORs), as you can see, don't have all routes
in straight, and more efficient, lines.
Now, look out WEST of the ENI (Mendocino) VOR....way out to the longitude line of approx. 127 degrees west. See those black triangles, and they all
have five-letter names? Those are "intersections" (old terms)....everything, in the GPS, and even other long-range over-water navigation systems
parlance, are also called "waypoints". GPS navigation is also sometimes referred to as "RNAV" (AREA Nav), in case you see that acronym. You can
research all of these, if you wish....
ALL of those points, out over the ocean? Any one of them can be used by flights, as "anchor" points, when they are departing out over the Pacific, or
arriving to the continental USA, from the oceanic crossing. To/From those waypoints, routing will vary, depending on the overland routes that have
been flightplanned. There are a GREAT number of variations, there....and flights can choose them based on traffic conflicts/availability, and
favorable (or unfavorable) winds, for any given day and time....BTW, speaking of flight planning...some turns you see airplanes making (when their
contrails show the arcs, the "curves") may occur due to changes in the Jet Airway, over a VOR...OR, when in a radar environment (and radar goes out to
well over 200 nautical miles, of shore, when jets are at cruise altitudes), ATC can grant turns that are "more direct", if requested...to straighten
out any of those "dog legs" in a route. Also, on occasion, ATC will require an airplane to turn, because of confflicting traffic of some sort, either
at same altitude, or climbing/descending through shared airspace....
Well, there's a lesson, from a firehose (since it's actually kind of advanced, really...not meant to be taught until a pilot has a great deal of
experience). I wasn't watching the clock....but, for a typical aviation "ground school" rate, a person would expect to be charged about $45 to $50
per hour ...or more.
This one's free....
Oh, and I found, by accident, another website that may be interesting...has a LOT of resources, for those interested in some self-educating:
www.thirtythousandfeet.com...
edit on 11 December 2010 by weedwhacker because: (no reason given)