Genealogy / Polish looks? [1462]


Growing up in Sweden I was a baby sitter to two babies and also have seen numerous other babies. Most of them always slept on their bellies (with head to the side). I've never heard of one suffocating. Also, if they throw up the risk of drowning in their own vomit is almost non-existent. I noticed that Chinese babies always sleep on their backs and many adults in that region have flat backsides on their heads. I don't think either method is "dangerous", it simply gives slightly different esthetic results. Little bit of this and little bit of that is probably the best approach.

Genealogy / Polish looks? [1462]

Maybe the SIDS is more common when babies don't sleep on their backs? I can't remember but check this out:

"History

There has been a significant increase in the number of infants with Flat Head Syndrome in recent years. In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics launched the “Back to Sleep” Campaign. This campaign has proven to be highly successful in saving infants’ lives. However, this campaign, combined with the proliferation of convenient equipment such as infant car carriers has resulted in infants spending more time on their backs than ever before. Each infant should still sleep on their back unless otherwise directed by their physician..."

Genealogy / Polish looks? [1462]


Of course not, all it does is shape the very soft bones when they're still very elastic, google and you'll see. This was a biology class we were taking and they showed us cranial shapes of babies born in the 50s and more recent ones; it was a fairly noticeable difference. The main reason doctors started recommending for the babies to sleep on their stomach was the seemingly higher rate of sudden infant death syndrome. The more oval, symmetrical head shapes were just a (positive) side effect of the different sleeping positions.

Genealogy / Polish looks? [1462]


Yes, I did, about 5 posts ago. LOL

...and yes, I think that's the key.

Genealogy / Polish looks? [1462]


"Flat heads" or rather flat spots are usually caused by babies sleeping on their backs the entire time. In the past most parents used that technique and many older people in Sweden have the flat spot you're talking about, because that's how they too slept in their cribs. Nowadays most babies in Sweden sleep on their stomachs and the average shape of babies heads have become more elongated. I remember a discussion about this while taking a biology class in Sweden.

Genealogy / Polish looks? [1462]


You were saying??

News / Polish flag was changed by taking the coat of arms? [48]

That's incorrect. Monaco flag has different dimensions.
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Well, sort of. A few words are misspelled here but it has a good summary of the meaning of the colors.
[I]The Flag
by Mr. Jan Rękawek

Poland's national colors are white and red. On the flag these assume the form of two horizontal bands of equal width and length, the upper white and the lower, red.

The origin of the flag colors goes back to the Piast dynasty and relates to the White Eagle on a red field. However, the concept of the state flag in these colors dates from the 18th and 19th centuries.

In earlier times, red and white are found on royal standards and military flags, though not as separate hands.

In the 18th century, Polish soldiers began to wear white cockades on their caps. Thus white was the first color which had a specific meaning, it was the sign of the Polish soldier.

The civilian population, in sympathy with the army, adopted white cockades during the insurrection of 1830-31. At that time, tricolor cockades (red, white and blue) [borrowed from French revolution - my remark] as well as red and white ones were also worn. This lack of uniformity induced the Sejm to pass a resolution on February 7, 1831, adopting the white and red cockade as official.

It was the first legal act by the nation's supreme representatives regulating Poland's colors and making white and red the national colors. After the uprising was suppressed, the red and white cockades were outlawed by the Tsarist authorities, but the colors continued to be used wherever Poles in exile fought for the cause of freedom.

On November 11, 1918, a Warsaw University student. heralding the coming independence, raised a big white and red flag on the Radziwiil Palace, then the seat of the German occupational authority, and today, the residence of Poland's President. The following year, the Sejm of the resurgent Polish state adopted the white and red flag as the official design which remains unchanged to this day.

In many countries, including Poland, hut not the United States, the country's ensign differs somewhat from its flag. The ensign is the flag flown by warships at sea. On land, it is a symbol of government authority. Poland's ensign differs from its flag by having a White Eagle on a red shield in the middle of the white band. Moreover, the ensign used by the Polish Navy is swallowtailed, a characteristic of the warship ensigns of countries on the Baltic Sea.

The raising of the Star-Spangled Banner by the G-I's over Iwo Jima is a familiar American icon. Earlier, on May 18, 1944, an analogous scenario occuned in Italy, when, in one of the greatest battles of the Second World War, soldiers of the Polish Second Corps captured the Monte Cassino bastion, the pivot of the German defense system in Italy.

The Polish flag was proudly raised that day atop ruins of the monastery on Monte Cassino. It was a signal that the road to Rome had been opened.

While the raising of the Polish flag over Monte Cassino has been photographically immortalized, another event of momentous significance has not. Polish troops of the Kościuszko division, serving under Russian command, were the first to fight their way to the center of Berlin at the end of the World War II. There they raised the Polish flag over the Branderburg gate, only to have it taken down soon thereafter by the Soviets who replaced it with their own red banner.

The White and Red flag and the crowned White Eagle, symbols of sovereign Poland, remain the emblems of the Polish heritage which are traditionallly celebrated on May 3rd, Polands's Constitution Day.[/]

Flag of Poland

Flag of Monaco

As you can see the overall dimensions and the thickness of the stripes is different.

Travel / Direct flights to Asia from Poland [10]

Yesterday Boeing rolled out the first 787 that's about to be delivered to ANA, the launch customer.

boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=13&item=1633

To answer your question, frankly it's supply and demand. Long distance flights are very expensive to operate and the flights have to be booked up to make a profit. To open a new route an airline has to hire local gate agents, mechanics, rampers, supervisors, etc., etc. To pay for that you'd need basically daily flights or you won't make any money. Many European companies have factories in Asia but those corporations are usually based in Germany, France, The Netherlands, etc. Therefore most Asian flights originate in those countries. There are rumors of SAS starting up a Shanghai service, it'd be eather from Copenhagen or Stockholm, either one is very close to Poland.

News / Polish flag was changed by taking the coat of arms? [48]

Hate the time limit

Mariana Islands
Tanzania
Trinidad and Tobago
Sri Lanka
Kenya

News / Polish flag was changed by taking the coat of arms? [48]



:-)

Some other pretty flags are:

Seychelles



Mariana Islands

Tanzania

Trinidad and Tobago

Sri Lanka

and Kenya

News / Polish flag was changed by taking the coat of arms? [48]


Yes, it's just you. If you'll have to pick a Scandinavian flag obviously the Swedish is the prettiest, the colors of the sky and the sun, how much prettier can it get??? ;)

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

It's also against the USPS rules of conduct to make disparaging comments about minorities. Just don't go postal on me.\

News / Polish flag was changed by taking the coat of arms? [48]


Most countries have similar rules. Swedes like to use a flag with the royal insignia which is supposed to be used for official business only, in the US you'll often see flags with military emblems added to it, same in Poland. We all like to pick what looks the best to us.

News / Polish flag was changed by taking the coat of arms? [48]

This one:



And this one:

USA, Canada / TOP 500 Young Polish Innovators program - short internships in USA [14]


You didn't sound proud or haughty and congrats to you! I'm not as frequent here anymore but hope to read about your experiences, hopefully they'll be mostly positive. Good luck to you!

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]

Very good summary. I wish I could say the damn Russians did it, but based on what I've seen so far both the pilots and the ATC made mistakes. The pilot in command makes big bucks for a reason, he or she is the final authority. Aviation is a safe mode of transportation BUT accidents happen all the time. Almost a year ago we burried a good friend of mine who left his wife and two toddlers behind. The final report isn't out yet but in all likelihood it'll be coded as "pilot error". The guy was a great stick, I've flown with him myself, sharp, professional, careful. Yet apparently he had a bad day when he took his own bird for a spin, got too low, clipped some power lines, got inverted and then slammed it into the ground. It took the ground crew several days to recover all of his remains, or what was left of it.

"If you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds; but if you really wish to learn, you must mount a machine and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial."

— Wilbur Wright, from an address to the Western Society of Engineers in Chicago, 18 September 1901.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


I see, all I saw was a red "edit", I guess it means censorship? lol


Very cool, congrats it's an awesome "addiction" lol. Are you flying in Cessnas, Katanas or something else?

If you ever get confused or need a few hints plz let me know here or at the other place, my instructor license is still valid.


Seanus, you're correct if you are talking about the automation, however a TAWS event is a hands-on maneuver, you disconnect the automation, shove the thrust levers all the way in and pitch up for 20 degrees or the stick-shaker, whichever comes first. Tupolev's pitch might be a little less depending on the thrust provided by the engines but the procedures are about the same on all aircraft. It's actually a fairly aggressive maneuver, frightening to the passengers but necessary.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]

MONIA - you bring up several subjects so I'll try to reply to them one-by-one.


Show me that post and I'll send $500 to a charity of your choice, I'll donate the money in the name of your choice and will provide you with a receipt. No BS, I say what I do and I do what I say. If someone called me by that name they weren't addressing me. I was born in Poland but raised in Sweden and have lived in the States for close to 20 years. Nothing new, many of those who've sparred with me here on PF have heard this before.


- You're right, that was vulgar of me and I shouldn't have done it. I appologize for the name calling. I got angry with you because of this specific subject, we were discussing an accident that happened not far away from Katyń where a relative of ours was murdered. So here I am trying to be as unbiased as I can, despite what the Russians did back then, trying to look at this as a professional because in my view that's how I can honor those pilots, by trying to understand what happened and by learning from the accident, by making sure an accident like this doesn't happen ever again - and just because my perspective doesn't appeal to you I'm being labeled as a Russian?! In normal circumstances I couldn't care any less. In the Katyń context though I took it as a very vulgar accusation and I reacted. I was wrong but that's what happened.

- As far as me "sounding different now" - no I don't sound any different. Look at my old thread and you'll see I was pretty disgusted with the Russian authorities not inviting foreign observers and with the fact Putin was in charge of the investigation, and the fact the ATC communication was being conducted in Russian even though this was an international flight and as such ICAO rules stipulate for English to be used (although military fields and special agreements take precedence). There were numerous things I found perplexing and still do. Russians ruined their chances of being perceived as unbiased and fair by not inviting other, foreign specialists to the investigation.

- However, the pilot-in-command is always responsible, if unsure a go-around and diversion to an alternate is always the safest bet. The slow response to the EGPWS alert is another factor, when you hear that warning you only have seconds to react before ground impact becomes a reality. So my views haven't changed. Both sides made mistakes, no doubt about it. However a pilot-in-command is ALWAYS the final authority and the same applied to this fateful flight.


Yes, this is correct, what's being described here is what we call the "take a peak" rule, once you initiate an approach you're legal to continue to the prescribed minimums, "take a peak" and land or go missed if you have to. I never questioned this rule. It's a standard practice all over the world.

Going below minimums however is what killed them. They were lower than they should've been at the particular moment. You say your father is an instructor? Well, I instructed for several years too so I'm certain he'll agree with me when I say that going below minimums is unacceptable in any and all circumstances, in other words it's taboo, that's how people get killed. Why they were lower than prescribed is another story. Where they trying to "cheat a little" by getting lower hoping to see ground or were they confused or a little bit of both? Or was it something else? We will never know because the people who did it aren't here to tell us. The transcripts do not explain what they were thinking but rather what they were doing. We do know an aircraft got closer to the ground then it should have and that's what we must focus on.

(your google translate name-calling link wasn't funny so I'll skip it)


It would help tremendously if you could read entire posts and not just the passages that help your point of view. Yes, I'm a "civilian" pilot but I'm also in the national guard. Ask your father he'll understand how this works but basically I fly two different jets, one in the military and one in the civilian world. I used to be full time military but transitioned to the civilian flying and kept a part-time national guard slot. I was activated as recently as the Libyan mission but nowadays fly primarily civilian flights. Because I'm still in the service I tend not to discuss any specifics as far as the equipment I fly, bases, etc. However both aircraft I fly have four engines each if that helps you. Your father will probably be able to figure it out (I say it out of respect because pilots/instructors tend to read up on aviation related news from many angles)

The passage about "men issues" and the implication that somehow I'm bothered by you writing here because you're a woman shows (again) that you do not pay attention to people's posts. On several occasions I've commented the ridiculous women degrading threads that seem to pop-up, I've written about not making assumptions simply because of people's gender, race, etc. I've worked with numerous women pilots throughout my career, many have become friends for life and I do not look at them as "women" but rather as pilots because that's what they are, my fellow pilots who just happen to be women.

This is a yet another assumption made by you that comes out of the blue simply because you feel the need to attack me for holding a view you disagree with. Which is strange because you said before that you trusted the commission specialists which is exactly what I'm doing. However, I hear the commission say "both sides made mistakes", yet you seem to hear "only the Russians made mistakes."


You're absolutely right, I'm just giving my perspective, what I see based on the published materials. Not sure what you mean by meediting the investigation??

Also, can you expand on the "aviation as a hobby" part? Just curious...


Exactly, which us why within days of the accident I said an international investigation was the only way the Russians would be taken seriously. They squandered a great "good-will" gesture and will always be viewed with suspicion.

Gotta get some sleep,

Gute Nacht!


Well, the blame goes to many parties but unless there's an acceptance of errors being made there won't be any change in the safety culture.

As far as Afghanistan, don't know what you read but several US special ops guys I've gotten to know had very high opinion of the Polish military. I'm sure you'll find bad examples here and there but that applies to any military branch.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


You're absolutely correct and that is exactly what I said had to be done within days of the accident. I said that due to the mutual distrust between the two nations an international team of investigators should be assembled by the Russians. If not there would always be a plethora of conspiracies, and you know that area seanus better than I do (sorry, couldn't resist ;).

At this point however it's too late...


Show me one ******* post when someone calls me Michaił, just one!!! You can call me a communist, you can call me a nazi, you can call me the devil himself but don't fuckung call me a Russian you narrow-minded moron, knock off your dumbness...


I hope you don't include me in your assertion. I've said all along that all sides made mistakes BUT as always it is the captain or the commander who's in charge of the flight. There are many issues involved and we can discuss it if you want or let it be and agree to disagree. However, the notion of someone being labeled a Russian aka a traitor just because he dared to look at the accident from the perspective of a pilot is a total bs. If I was one of few who disagreed it'd be one thing but the pilot boards show almost unanimous agreement, I've been a member of these message boards for years and know personally many of the pilots on there. None of them is a Russian and neither am I.


Didn't see my name next to it so I missed your quote & question. 抱歉
Blasik was in the cockpit according to cvr transcripts, are you saying he wasn't? Why was he there? I don't know of a single pilot who doesn't feel stressed and pressured when a superior sits in the observer's seat. That seat is used for check-rides, line checks, proficiency checks, etc. It's a "stress seat" if you so will and unless used for training, retraining, etc. is usually empty. A supervisor merely sitting in it is indeed putting a pressure on the entire crew. If you make a minor mistake the observer will catch it before you do; the extra stress is why instructors try to stay away from that seat unless they have to utilize them for training.

The irony is that many of us seem to agree yet we keep arguing. Monia said that she supported the Polish report and so do I so why am I being called a Russian for agreeing with a commission that puts the blame on both the pilots and the ATC?

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


Say what??? I'm a Russian??? Where did that come from?!? Obviously you haven't read any of my previous posts. I don't know how many times I've been told, here on PF, that I can't be unbiased because my distaste for the Russians is so obvious. Yet now I AM a Russian?? Go figure...

I've never, ever claimed that the pilots were the only ones who made mistakes, from early on I specified the numerous mistakes the Russian ATC made, I wrote about the sloppy and biased investigation of the Russian authorities. I early said that making Putin the top guy of the investigating commission was a slap in every Poles' face, a person who graduated from the murderous KGB, the same organization that murdered all those Poles in Katyń, including a relative on my mom's side, was now in charge of this investigation, wrong and shameful.

You somehow pick one sentence of numerous posts I've written on this subject and totally disregard everything else I've said. Then when you decide the factors I bring up do not correspond with your beliefs I'm all of a sudden turning into a Russian??

I've been polite toward you, I've asked question when I wasn't sure what you meant, I've given you the benefit of the doubt when other people called you names yet all you can do is insult me? ...and yes, to me that is an insult.

You don't know sh&@t about aviation, several of us here do and we've been trying to show our perspective on this subject, you don't believe us, fine, other aviation links have been provided for you and others on this site, websites where hundreds of pilots are basically agreeing on this subject. Still not good enough.

You've no f@&cling idea how hard it is to attend a fellow pilot's funeral, how hard it is to look at his kids and the widow who's clinging on to the casket, I've been to my share of funerals. We have an obligation to each other to make sure mistakes made by crews become lessons to other crews. All pilots know that and that's why investigations are so important. Yet you cherry pick certain sentences from the dozens or so posts I've made on this subject and resort to calling me a Russian? Where the hell did that come from??? Does disagreeing with you make me a Russian? I have to say that this is the weirdest response I've gotten here on PF since joining it in 2009.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


Yeah, I'm there too somewhere. :)

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I must say I'm struggling a little trying to understand your contention here, could you explain what you believe happened? I don't think anyone is blaming "just" the pilot or rather pilots? I certainly am not.

Convex sees this from a pilot's perspective and so do I, sometimes what's clear to me appears very muddy to others and vice versa, often I miss the non-pilots' perspective because I'm so used to thinking in a certain way. In the thread I created shortly after the crash (pilot's perspective) I said that I believe there were multiple errors here, both by the ATC and by the pilots. The main responsibility, as always, rests with the crew and in particular with the captain. The general top-heavy atmosphere at the Polish Airforce (at the time) was very unhealthy and didn't follow some basic CRM concepts, no supervisor should ever pressure a captain into anything, coming into a cockpit before a landing is often viewed as such. In the past I had a higher ranking officer try to enter my cockpit below the sterile cockpit level, I politely implied it was time for him to leave as we were reviewing our landing procedures, when he kept stalling I told him to get the f&@k out of my cockpit; afterwards I was actually complimented by the rest of my crew for taking care of the stress they felt by having a "supervisor" breathe down their necks.

So are you saying this was all a set-up and the crew didn't make any mistakes? Or do you think they all were responsible? Or do you think the crew messed up really badly? Could you explain please?

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]

Non-precision approaches are, as the name implies, very "non-precise". Think of you holding a compass in your hand and trying to "home-in" on a specific heading (it's called bearing when using an NDB) while the needle swings back and forth. Then a person who's standing several miles in front of you looks at a blip on radar which refreshes every 15-30 seconds or so and says something like "from where I'm standing you're heading this way.". I'm very surprised they even accepted this approach, it's the least precise of the non-precision approaches and frankly pilots seldom get to "shoot them", smaller airplanes do and in some areas they're still common but most often the NDB beacon is just a part on a precision approach, for example an ILS (instrument-landing-system) might use the NDB as a confirmation of a fix (the needles swing from TO to FROM as you're overflying it).

So it's an unusual approach nowadays and trust me, what the ATC tells me when I'm shooting it is the least of my concern, it's hard enough to stay on course from inside the cockpit, his/her radar screen with the lag, etc, is even less precise. I need the ATC for one thing, give me the visibility, ceiling, winds. Then it's up to me to decide if I'm legal to do it (all airlines, companies, etc have different ops-specs and ATC seldom knows which rules apply to which airline, they're very similar most of the time but not always).

If I'm legal I'll request the approach, once it's offered to me and I accepted it then it's my call on aborting it unless the runway gets occupied by a truck, etc. then the tower lets us know. If I lose the NDB signal, if the conditions worsen to a point I think it's unsafe, etc. then I'll call a missed approach. The tower controller's job at this point is to be an observer. Once on the ground I'll need him/her for taxi clearances, in the air I'm basically on my own. I've repeated "I" in this reply to emphasize the captain's responsibility, in reality we decide as a crew, both pilots.

Hope this clarifies it somewhat.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


He did? Just learned something new. :)

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


You bet. As in any profession it drives us nuts when people create their own scenarios but I don't blame anyone for doing so, normal human behavior I guess. When I read an article about a medical mishap I always imagine in my head what'd happened but as my ex-wife often said I was way wrong (she works in the medical field). I guess it just sucks when a discussion involves an accident where people had died, yet that's just how it is, I suppose.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


I've done training in the past and have seen this to be a common mistake for those who aren't comfortable with the TAWS system or those who're simply new to it.

It's a procedure that has to be drilled into you, right now if I were asleep but somehow heard a "terrain, terrain, whoop-whoop-pull-up" warning I bet you my left hand would pull, my right hand would push while my mouth would call out "max thrust" - but it wasn't like that until many, many training sessions. The procedures feels unnatural at first, too aggressive yet it's necessary.

Ps. We don't care if the "button press was recorded" or if the button was pressed, we look at engine instruments, that's all that matters. In a TAWS escape maneuver you don't have to look as you shove the thrust levers all the way in.

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Yes, I did read the report. ...and the report specifies training deficiencies. That's what I'm talking about. It also puts some blame on the Russian controllers. So I'm agreeing with the findings. I too trust the specialists, we simply seem to come to a different conclusion after reading it.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]

You don't use TOGA for an EGPWS warning, instead you use fire-wall thrust, aka all you've got. Anyways, gotta get some sleep, nite nite.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


IF, everything you and some others here say is correct (a huge IF), the EGPWS (TAWS) gave plenty of warning time to execute a safe CFIT (controlled-flight-into-terrain) maneuver, in fact, listening to the tapes I still cringe each time I realize how late the thrust levers are advanced. I disregard all the what-if's and the "speculation" scenarios; if you look just at the execution of the missed approach you quickly realize it was a non-survivable mistake.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]

I've sort of migrated to the other forum for personal reasons but I like to check up on some old friends here as well.

I noticed this thread came up again; I remember we had several on this very same subject in the past, one thread I even started myself. I've reviewed the final findings of the Polish NTSB (not sure what the actual acronym is) and feel that it's pretty much what I and many of us here said before.

There's a very strong bond between pilots, a fraternity if you so will and it doesn't matter what country, airline, airplane, etc. that's involved. When one dies we all mourn. I mourned the pilots involved in the Smolensk accident; it was a little "personal" to me. As I've said here somewhere before a relative of ours was murdered in Katyń and my mom to this day keeps the last letter he wrote to his then newlywed wife, he never came back. ...and one day that letter will be mine, my mom already told me that.

So I don't feel any particular "love" for the Russians and in fact I honestly believe that Russians as a nations have brought more death, tyranny, murder and oppression to the world than any other nation on earth. Whether under the tsar or the commissar - spilling other people's blood was easy for them. Well, that's history and that's politics, in daily life I try to stay as unbiased as I can, needless to say sometimes I succeed better than some other times.

Anyways, I mention all this to explain that as a pilot, both mil and civ, I feel a tremendous kinship with other pilots. Never flown Russian built airplanes but in the past I have flown smaller types that were similar in performance to the Tupolev involved, I've also talked to Russian and Kazakh pilots who had that experience. I choose to withhold the specifics of my flying as I'm still part time national guard and as such need to be careful since my civilian job is primarily overseas.

Having said all that, and as much as it hurts to say, there were some major errors made by the crew. Yes, the Russians made mistakes too, especially with the investigation and I explained it before and still believe that however there's a reason why there's only one captain, or commander, in the cockpit. Just like two chefs in the kitchen might become a danger to each other the very same would apply to having two captains pilot an aircraft. A tower controller will never, ever be in charge of an airplane. Neither will a supervisor who enters the cockpit! No matter what country's military you're in, there's only one captain in the cockpit, period!

An old pilot saying states "Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself!"

That's why I'm speaking up here, mistakes made in Smolensk by the controllers AND the pilots, will be used in future training programs and will save other pilots' and other passengers' lives. If, God forbid, my errors cause people's lives one day I would want for other pilots to learn from my mistakes. I'm absolutely certain Arkadiusz and Robert would've wanted the same.

History / Obituaries with a connection to Poland. [18]

He was a great man, RIP

News / Wroclaw man helping police after recent events in Norway [48]


Looks like it's been done and I think it accurately portrays what the newspaper reported..