News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]

Visibility was reported at 400m, not 80. "Mist" can turn into "Fog" in a matter of seconds. It's simply a change in visibility. If the temperature changes and the dew point remains the same, mist or fog will form. It's not an uncommon thing...

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


*sigh* are we really going back to fog machines and executions?

In that case, I will stick by the "aliens took over the bodies of the crew and caused them to descend below their minimums" as my entry.

Enjoy...

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


10am local, 7 zulu which is what the transcripts are given in.

here it is from avherald:

10:00Z (1pm) Temp 3°C Dew 2°C Humidity 94% QNH 1025 hPa Visibility 4 kilometers Winds east 14.4 km/h / Mist
07:00Z (10am) Temp 1°C Dew 1°C Humidity 98% QNH 1026 hPa Visibility 0.5 kilometers Winds SE 10.8 km/h / Heavy Fog
04:00Z (7am) Temp 0°C Dew -1°C Humidity 89% QNH 1025 hPa Visibility 4 kilometers Winds ESE 7.2 km/h / Mist
01:00Z (4am) Temp 3°C Dew -0°C Humidity 72% QNH 1025 hPa Visibility 10 kilometers Winds SE 7.2 km/h /
22:00Z (1am) Temp 6°C Dew -0°C Humidity 52% QNH 1025 hPa Visibility 10 kilometers Winds SE 7.2 km/h

The two relevant ones are bold.


They didn't know they were going to hit the ground. 400m of visibility is nothing when you're travelling at 150 knots. 2-3 seconds max to avoid something. Regarding survivability, posted a couple of messages above on it from the report.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]

The controller was providing advisory information. It was a non-precision approach, a pair of NDBs. It was not a radar approach. A radar approach wasn't available in Smolensk...

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


Authentic Chinese restaurants don't do too well in the US. They just adapted better :)

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


Wow, that sounds exactly like eating out in Poland...

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


some of us are fat barbecue, tex-mex, and steak eating slobs :)

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


I always get a dumbfounded look at Rodeo when I tell them I don't want sauce :) "....but it's free"

Anyway, like I was saying about Maggies in OKC, the food was crap. Just garbage. That's the only Polish place that I've been to in the US, and good riddance.

Travel / Whats your favourite Polish city and why? [132]

Amen to that. Krakow is nice, I've lived in Wroclaw long enough to be completely militant against Poznan, Warsaw is meh. Wroclaw has nearly everything (hangers at the airport would be nice, but that's another story). It's also really easy to get around. Little corners around the city stacked with pubs. Yea, not too shabby.

USA, Canada / Polka Parade Television Show [43]

Not many Mexicans listen to Czech music :)

...but lets keep this one on topic..there is another thread out there for it.

News / Andrzej Lepper committed suicide [98]

What does rhetoric (coming from all sides mind you) have to do with police and PO men with fierce looking dogs imprisoning, beating up, and killing PiS voters?

Anyway, back to Lepdawg, I used to enjoy telling people in the student bars that he was by far the best politician for Poland. Such angry people...

News / Andrzej Lepper committed suicide [98]


Like that homeless guy that got tossed in jail for saying that Poland under Lech and Jaroslaw was turning into a dictatorship?

Travel / Direct flights to Asia from Poland [10]


Lots of Vietnamese folks in Poland.


Couldn't disagree with you more. Quite a few banks are foreign owned, and for bonus points are spread around Poland.


There would have to be daily flights. I think it would make more sense to open up a route to one of the star alliance hubs in Asia, either Beijing, Singapore, or Seoul and use their codeshare agreements to get passengers where they need to go with the least amount of hassle.

News / VAT, OFE, ZUS and costly dress under Tusk's government in Poland [48]

Cut out the middleman and sell long term government bonds directly to the people.

Travel / Watch out for airport personnel stealing stuff on regional Polish airports. [64]


LOT does the handling at the major Polish airports. FWIW, I've never had anything stolen....and there really isn't much opportunity to steal in Wroclaw as it pretty much goes from the belt to a single room where it's loaded onto the carts bound for the aircraft. They'd have to be pretty bold to rifle through stuff..

Travel / Direct flights to Asia from Poland [10]


No ME airlines are part of staralliance, so no codeshares. I'm guessing they would want to take the longhaul traffic to asia.

Food / Where can you buy a crockpot aka slow cooker, in Krakow? [38]

Just pick one up on ebay, that's where i got mine.

Food / Where can you buy a crockpot aka slow cooker, in Krakow? [38]

That's a big one, top of the line...and they ship to Poland :)

Food / Where can you buy a crockpot aka slow cooker, in Krakow? [38]


Just another tool in my awesome arsenal of kitchen appliances. I don't like babysitting the stove all day. I'm doing sous vide short ribs right now in the cooler...will be done tomorrow. Embrace the low heat :)

Law / The Zlotych v the Swiss Franc [16]

You can get CHF loans in just about all the CEE countries. People that got CHF loans and didn't hedge...well, kind of ridiculous.

Law / What's the best way to transfer £20,000 into PLN [31]

Ask PKO what kind of deal they can make you. If it's the same as the kantors, take it and save yourself the hassle :)

Work / Polish Salary and Tax [43]

Need to give your lifestyle and any financial obligations you have.

That's about 12,5k/mo net btw...

Real Estate / Building a house in Poland need advice from anyone that has built [100]

domiporta.pl has a lot of land.

Work / Polish Salary and Tax [43]


Have a quick look at domiporta.pl to get an idea of housing costs. alma24.pl will give you an idea of grocery prices. Utilities don't really differ too much from the rest of Europe.

I'd say 12,5k puts you at upper middle class.

If you're taking a management position or a high end specialist, ask for the same money that you would expect anywhere else. The cost of living in Krakow isn't a whole lot less than the rest of Europe.


If he's a CCIE, he can expect that kind of salary. If not... might be a bit difficult..

Work / Polish Salary and Tax [43]


If you're on 60 in London, 12k/mo net will be a walk in the park in Krakow :) Are they offering housing or school?

Work / Polish Salary and Tax [43]


Exactly. See if he can get work to pay for it, then come over.

Work / Polish Salary and Tax [43]


domiporta should give you a good idea on what you can expect to pay for housing. If you're planning on sending them to an international school, it can get pricey real quick. €10k/yr per child is a good baseline. Hope they're young :)

Work / Polish Salary and Tax [43]

That's a tough one. Polish in a couple of months even with a Slavic head start might be difficult. If you think you can do a Polish school, the cost is negligible. If you're going the international school route, you probably won't get under €10k/year. With that in mind, might be something to toss into the negotiations...

Work / Polish Salary and Tax [43]

No clue on the curriculum out there, but you can get a private teacher for a decent price. It might be a better idea to get something tailored towards someone that already speaks Russian vs. someone teaching to the crowd..