The interstate highways were built with an aircraft landing capacity every 5 miles
February 10, 2022 at 2:33 am
Henry
I drove the “superhighway” between Montreal and Quebec once, on my honeymoon. By all indications, it looked and acted exactly like a US Interstate all the way, including the speed limits… except for one spot close to the Quebec side, out in the middle of nothing, where (with zero visible advance warning!) there were railroad gates and a track crossing the highway! I almost had to change my pants.
February 10, 2022 at 11:14 am
WayneM
Those rail crossings are still there… although there was talk of making an overpass but, as far as I know, it still hasn’t happened.
February 10, 2022 at 10:54 am
John
A legacy of the Cold War.
Eisenhower was not only a big proponent of the Interstate system as road transport, but had seen just how many way the Autobahn had been used.
February 11, 2022 at 1:00 am
John+M.
“…were supposed to be built…”
Interstate 40 near Hickory NC is a perfect example. Exit 118 to Exit 123 is perfectly straight, two lanes and hard shoulders in each direction, with a slight uphill into the prevailing wind. (westbound) No overhead obstructions, or large trees near the right-of-way.
What happened? In their infinite wisdom, NCDOT and Catawba County decided there needed to be a new exit and overpass at MM 121.5 for “…possible future expansion in the area.” Nothing there on either side right now but agricultural land, “…but you never know…”
This happened about ten years ago, and of course since they built the exit the area expanded and is no longer Ag Land.
Yeah. I drove the stretch from Plattsburgh, NY to Quebec enough times. It ALWAYS seemed to snow on the way back!
Zar Belk!
February 10, 2022 at 2:21 am
Bren
Tell me you’ve never been to Montana without telling me you’ve never been to Montana. (yes, I know it’s on the other side of the border. The roads don’t care.)
Many many many moons ago I took an entire two weeks off and did the road trip vacation – San Antonio TX to San Diego CA, up Hwy 1 to Canukistan then east to the Dakotas, then south eventually getting back home. Did all the ‘tourist’ stuff on the way. On many stretches of roads there are miles and miles of miles of open land – plains, forests, etc most very beautiful. IMHO you could give every living breathing USA citizen a hundred acres and have land left over. Just think of how it would be if your nearest neighbors were several of miles away in all directions.
February 10, 2022 at 10:26 am
Oldarmourer
A place where you can watch your dog run away for three days 😉
February 10, 2022 at 4:34 pm
Punta Gorda
February 10, 2022 at 11:27 am
John D. Egbert
I remember a news item from some years back that said that you could take the entire human population of planet Sol III (aka Earth), divide said population into four-person units, assign each unit a 1/4-acre lot, and they all would fit inside the borders of Texas – with room left over. Toss that one out at the next idiot railing about planetary overpopulation and watch the face(s).
February 10, 2022 at 1:00 pm
The 300
That was back in the day of 5 billion world population. By now it’s probably Texas and Oklahoma.
Or maybe not. Air America Flight Services is the pilot training/jet charter co. in Clearwater FL that my granddaughter used to get her pilot license at 17 in 2018.
They did a great job and she loved the owner Steve and his son and the other instructors. We drove over from Sebring to watch her first solo and I spent some time with Steve who told me Grace was ready then for her license but she was only 16 so she had to wait. They had kind of adopted her and the whole outfit celebrated that solo.
Unfortunately in ’18 he and his charter pilot flew a Dassault 50 up to SC with a rich couple and due to some really dumb choices they overshot the runway and broke the cockpit off at the end, killing both Steve and the pilot.
Really crushed my granddaughter and she actually pulled back from her schedule, and I really thought she might just drop the whole thing. She didn’t, ended up getting her ticket and passing the flight test with flying (heh) colors.
Ironically, Steve was a Canadian.
So. Air America with a Canadian jet pilot? Don’t do it.
Cockpit conversation: ” Bob, do you see how short this runway is? MAN, that was tough to land on! ” “Nicely done, Dave. And you know, I’ve never seen a runway this wide, silly Canadians…”
Interestingly, Coutts/Ross International Airport is just a few blocks west of the port of entry. It’s a grass strip that’s only about 3000 feet long, but small prop-driven planes land there sometimes during the summer. It runs east-west and is only a few feet north of the border — and from Cemetery Road in Sweetgrass, MT, a dirt road that runs close up to our side of the border. I’m not sure that jet could land on it, even if it wasn’t covered with snow this time of year.
However, the jet appears to have landed on Interstate 15 anyway, just south of Sweetgrass. It could also have landed on Alberta Highway 4 north of Coutts.
There may be a little help from a N.C. representative in the house. He is trying to get term limits in the house and the senate. It probably wont get far but it is a start.
I’d much rather have term staggering than term limits.
As things stand our elected representatives spend most of their time fund raising on _our_ time instead of actually doing their job.
Give them all 12 months paid vacation each year, the budget would balance itself in no time.
February 10, 2022 at 9:22 am
Mike-SMO
As I recall, Quebec is the Mississippi Delta of Canada and the reliable Librul voting population. Say it in “bastard” French and they will follow Fidel’s son anywhere.
Maybe they are not so bad as we make them out. Most Canadians dislike Ottawa as we “dislike” dc. You have to admit, the Canadians are doing a top line job of protesting their Govt. actions. AND the Yellow Vest protests in France, with many thousands of people, even had some physical clashes with their police.
Yeah well, if they were not so bad they would never have allowed their country and their gov to become so thoroughly communist and they would have themselves a good strong conservative leader like…oh, wait a minute.
True their protest is so good it has those “leaders” there and here quaking in their waders…godspeed to them. And prayers for us.
Be nice, there are readers from up here in Cold Commie Quebec…… 😉
PS: Our bagels are the best. Poutine? That’s special…
On the other hand, the Habs (Canadians NHL) suck…
Only a quebecker would understand the following question…
In the middle of the Forum Hockey Rink, there is a big ‘CH’. What does it stand for?
Sorry Earl, but if the winter sampling of Quebecois we get in Teh Fla is any guide? Second only to Haitians as nasty unpleasant unwelcome invaders…and that even includes N’ Yawkers!
The Coutts/Ross airport is a grass strip right at the edge of Coutts and snugged up to the US border. It’s about a 6-block walk from there to the Port of Entry. People flying small aircraft into Canada stop at one of the international airports to clear customs. You have to have a pretty small plane to land at Coutts/Ross though. There’s no control tower, no pavement, and, in the winter, no snow plow.
43 Comments
“…owns half of Quebec….”
I think there are any number of small, quaint, mobile home parks in Florida that are worth far more than half of Quebec.
Their worth is growing as refugees flee from Blue Hell states.
If only they would stay in the cesspool they created with their bought votes.
A super-sonic convoy! love it!
And yeah, no idea why anybody would want anything to do with that pond full of Quebecois frog scum. Leverage maybe.
Skye’s jet is VTOL capable? Interesting!
…or did they just find a long straight stretch of highway with no overhead hazards?
There’s a *lot* of highway that goes by that description in those parts.
The interstate highways were built with an aircraft landing capacity every 5 miles
I drove the “superhighway” between Montreal and Quebec once, on my honeymoon. By all indications, it looked and acted exactly like a US Interstate all the way, including the speed limits… except for one spot close to the Quebec side, out in the middle of nothing, where (with zero visible advance warning!) there were railroad gates and a track crossing the highway! I almost had to change my pants.
Those rail crossings are still there… although there was talk of making an overpass but, as far as I know, it still hasn’t happened.
A legacy of the Cold War.
Eisenhower was not only a big proponent of the Interstate system as road transport, but had seen just how many way the Autobahn had been used.
“…were supposed to be built…”
Interstate 40 near Hickory NC is a perfect example. Exit 118 to Exit 123 is perfectly straight, two lanes and hard shoulders in each direction, with a slight uphill into the prevailing wind. (westbound) No overhead obstructions, or large trees near the right-of-way.
What happened? In their infinite wisdom, NCDOT and Catawba County decided there needed to be a new exit and overpass at MM 121.5 for “…possible future expansion in the area.” Nothing there on either side right now but agricultural land, “…but you never know…”
This happened about ten years ago, and of course since they built the exit the area expanded and is no longer Ag Land.
Yeah. I drove the stretch from Plattsburgh, NY to Quebec enough times. It ALWAYS seemed to snow on the way back!
Zar Belk!
Tell me you’ve never been to Montana without telling me you’ve never been to Montana. (yes, I know it’s on the other side of the border. The roads don’t care.)
Many many many moons ago I took an entire two weeks off and did the road trip vacation – San Antonio TX to San Diego CA, up Hwy 1 to Canukistan then east to the Dakotas, then south eventually getting back home. Did all the ‘tourist’ stuff on the way. On many stretches of roads there are miles and miles of miles of open land – plains, forests, etc most very beautiful. IMHO you could give every living breathing USA citizen a hundred acres and have land left over. Just think of how it would be if your nearest neighbors were several of miles away in all directions.
A place where you can watch your dog run away for three days 😉
I remember a news item from some years back that said that you could take the entire human population of planet Sol III (aka Earth), divide said population into four-person units, assign each unit a 1/4-acre lot, and they all would fit inside the borders of Texas – with room left over. Toss that one out at the next idiot railing about planetary overpopulation and watch the face(s).
That was back in the day of 5 billion world population. By now it’s probably Texas and Oklahoma.
Visit http://www.zo.utexas.edu/courses/THOC/Texas.html for a discussion on this. Really shows the fallacy of the concept. I found it quite educational
Memory of growing up in the Maine woods. If a man can’t take a piss off his own back porch because neighbors are too close… it’s time to move.
Doesn’t stop the latest batch of neighbours we got…
Luckily, our deck is on the other side of the house.
I live in a subdivision. I built a fence.
A Pilatus Porter from Air America would be fun 😉
Or maybe not. Air America Flight Services is the pilot training/jet charter co. in Clearwater FL that my granddaughter used to get her pilot license at 17 in 2018.
They did a great job and she loved the owner Steve and his son and the other instructors. We drove over from Sebring to watch her first solo and I spent some time with Steve who told me Grace was ready then for her license but she was only 16 so she had to wait. They had kind of adopted her and the whole outfit celebrated that solo.
Unfortunately in ’18 he and his charter pilot flew a Dassault 50 up to SC with a rich couple and due to some really dumb choices they overshot the runway and broke the cockpit off at the end, killing both Steve and the pilot.
Really crushed my granddaughter and she actually pulled back from her schedule, and I really thought she might just drop the whole thing. She didn’t, ended up getting her ticket and passing the flight test with flying (heh) colors.
Ironically, Steve was a Canadian.
So. Air America with a Canadian jet pilot? Don’t do it.
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20180927-0
Take off should be fun. Did Skye bring in provisions and some added fun stuff
Maybe she could figure out where to get some good poutine.
At long last! Honest reporting from an unbiased news source! The truth? THE TRUTH? (Yes, we can handle THE TRUTH!)
Cockpit conversation: ” Bob, do you see how short this runway is? MAN, that was tough to land on! ” “Nicely done, Dave. And you know, I’ve never seen a runway this wide, silly Canadians…”
Interestingly, Coutts/Ross International Airport is just a few blocks west of the port of entry. It’s a grass strip that’s only about 3000 feet long, but small prop-driven planes land there sometimes during the summer. It runs east-west and is only a few feet north of the border — and from Cemetery Road in Sweetgrass, MT, a dirt road that runs close up to our side of the border. I’m not sure that jet could land on it, even if it wasn’t covered with snow this time of year.
However, the jet appears to have landed on Interstate 15 anyway, just south of Sweetgrass. It could also have landed on Alberta Highway 4 north of Coutts.
There may be a little help from a N.C. representative in the house. He is trying to get term limits in the house and the senate. It probably wont get far but it is a start.
I’d much rather have term staggering than term limits.
As things stand our elected representatives spend most of their time fund raising on _our_ time instead of actually doing their job.
Give them all 12 months paid vacation each year, the budget would balance itself in no time.
As I recall, Quebec is the Mississippi Delta of Canada and the reliable Librul voting population. Say it in “bastard” French and they will follow Fidel’s son anywhere.
Maybe they are not so bad as we make them out. Most Canadians dislike Ottawa as we “dislike” dc. You have to admit, the Canadians are doing a top line job of protesting their Govt. actions. AND the Yellow Vest protests in France, with many thousands of people, even had some physical clashes with their police.
Yeah well, if they were not so bad they would never have allowed their country and their gov to become so thoroughly communist and they would have themselves a good strong conservative leader like…oh, wait a minute.
True their protest is so good it has those “leaders” there and here quaking in their waders…godspeed to them. And prayers for us.
Be nice, there are readers from up here in Cold Commie Quebec…… 😉
PS: Our bagels are the best. Poutine? That’s special…
On the other hand, the Habs (Canadians NHL) suck…
Only a quebecker would understand the following question…
In the middle of the Forum Hockey Rink, there is a big ‘CH’. What does it stand for?
Center Hice
Sorry Earl, but if the winter sampling of Quebecois we get in Teh Fla is any guide? Second only to Haitians as nasty unpleasant unwelcome invaders…and that even includes N’ Yawkers!
I hope the half he owns is the northern half – with the James Bay hydro projects.
And there is an airport about 5 miles from Coutts, Ross (7S8)
The Coutts/Ross airport is a grass strip right at the edge of Coutts and snugged up to the US border. It’s about a 6-block walk from there to the Port of Entry. People flying small aircraft into Canada stop at one of the international airports to clear customs. You have to have a pretty small plane to land at Coutts/Ross though. There’s no control tower, no pavement, and, in the winter, no snow plow.
Think Javier could add retractable Skis as landing gear?
Mr. Muir, they ain’t no snow in Coutts. It’s all brown. Daily highs have been above zero for nearly a week. Yesterday was 51° F.
I do, however, appreciate you putting little Coutts, AB on the DBD map. Thx!
If at first you don’t succeed:
https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/breaking-ontario-freezes-all-givesendogo-convoy-donations/
Check that update from GiveSendGo…talked me into throwing a few shekels in knowing it will go where I intend…