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Let's assume, just for the sake of assuming...


Alpo

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that you suddenly aquired the ability to fly.

 

You think you could find your way around?

 

I mean, let's suppose that I wish to go to the library. I pull out of my yard, turn right, go to the corner, turn left, go three or four blocks to the main street, turn right, go to the red light, turn left, go to the third red light, turn right, go to the red light, turn left, and it's about a block and a half on the left.

 

Fairly easy to drive there.

 

I just went and pulled up my town on Google Maps. It's a small town. I switched it from MAP to SATELLITE, and has hard-pressed to find my way around. If the street names had not been there, I don't think I could have. And I've lived in this town at least fifty years. Once I found the library, I saw a green oval. That was the football field, surrounded by the track, at my junior high. With that as a landmark I was able to find my high school - again because of the green oval. But when I went looking for my elemetary school I had no luck. Even when I found it, using the street names, it did not look like what I thought it would.

 

Comic I read. This girl has super powers, but has been afraid to use them, because OH MY GOD, IF THE GOVERNMENT FINDS OUT - DISSECTION!!! But she finds out that that won't happen, and this is her second day of actually being able to USE her powers openly, and she tried to fly to work.

 

http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1646

 

Just got my mind wandering. That seems to happen frequently. Anybody notice that?

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If you could fly - step out the door and leap in the air ala Superman - you think you could find your way around the town you live in?

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I think I could find my way. but I would be so busy looking down the tops of...... Oh and Xray vision!!! I want that too!!!!

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As an Army helicopter pilot, I had the chance to do almost exactly what you describe.

 

Yes, it is very different to navigate around a town from 300'AGL versus following road signs. Distances and directions are distorted from what you see from ground level. And it gets REAL exciting doing 120 knots following contours and treetops.

 

Lucky for us, every town and village in West Germany had a yellow placard at the city limits sign with its name. More than once we had to hover down to verify location. The good people of Small Town, USA did likewise for us when they painted town names on the water towers.

 

This was all pre-GPS when all we had was a map and compass to get us from A to B.

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I used to try to see my house from the airplane window whenever I flew home from a business trip, and I think I did it exactly once. It took me a dozen tries just to figure out what the landmarks were. I lived near the intersection of two Interstates at the time, so it was fairly easy to find that. But identifying which residential street was mine was like identifying a single strand in a plate of spaghetti.

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As an Army helicopter pilot, I had the chance to do almost exactly what you describe.

 

Yes, it is very different to navigate around a town from 300'AGL versus following road signs. Distances and directions are distorted from what you see from ground level. And it gets REAL exciting doing 120 knots following contours and treetops.

 

Lucky for us, every town and village in West Germany had a yellow placard at the city limits sign with its name. More than once we had to hover down to verify location. The good people of Small Town, USA did likewise for us when they painted town names on the water towers.

 

This was all pre-GPS when all we had was a map and compass to get us from A to B.

What's all this GPS stuff? We are too dependent on that technology. Let someone send a nuke straight up, or solar flares get too rambunctious, and we are all going to be in trouble! Also, I was told in Air Force flight school, "Never fly directly down a railroad track... You're liable to run into a Navy pilot going the other way!" :huh::o:P

 

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Ya know, when I first started postin' here, tha Saloon wuz a real fun place....it's gone WAAAAY downhill since then....but I kint help comin' back jus ta read yer posts ifn' nuttin' else Alpo.....yu iz wun INTERESTIN' person...... ;):lol::lol: :lol: :P

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If you take your eyes off the ground for a second, you're pretty much screwed.

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I took two classes in college that taught forestry practices using aerial photography. I use Google earth in my last job to help customers plan building projects. Both worked best at elevations 1200 to 2500 feet. The idea to locate yourself is to find two or three landmarks and not worry about every detail.

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I could :). Also take of in fog and and anywhere in the world without seeing the ground at least as long as the destination had an interment approach /)

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