FAA orders temporary grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 9 after a flight from Oregon to California had to make an emergency landing because a chunk of the wall detached midair. I drove school bus 31 years and we had to do circle checks every day on our bus before our departure. Obviously, the precheck on the plane differs but it should have been noticeable before takeoff.

“First, there was a pop. And then a big bang.

Air whooshed out of the side of the airplane, which was flying at 16,000 feet with an emergency exit-size gash. A cellphone, a giant teddy bear and a passenger’s shirt were sucked out the hole in the cabin. Oxygen masks dropped from overhead compartments. Passengers on Alaska Airlines flight 1282—which on Friday afternoon was en route to Ontario, Calif., from Portland International Airport—were fearful for their lives. The flight, however, landed back at the Portland airport less than 30 minutes after takeoff, with 171 passengers and six crew members aboard, all of them alive. “~ MSN

I can’t help wondering how often the outside structure is checked. I wonder if after this, it will be done on a regular basis.

All of Central Florida is under a tornado watch Saturday through 10 p.m.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch that stretches from Tampa and the Gulf Coast through Orlando to Daytona Beach and the Treasure Coast on the Atlantic. Florida has seen a lot of severe weather this week.  Hail pummeled West Melbourne and Palm Bay in Brevard County. A weak tornado touched down in Boynton Beach Friday night.

Trump says,” The Civil War could have been negotiated.” Historians are shaking their heads wondering where he comes up with these outlandish thoughts. “The declarations of secession explicitly state that the seceding states were leaving the Union to maintain that system. … This could not be ‘negotiated, says James Grossman (Director of the Historical Association)

There’s a fascinating series on Netflix I recommend watching called “You Are What You Eat, the Twin Experiment. https://www.netflix.com/title/81133260 Identical twins change their diets and lifestyles for eight weeks in a unique scientific experiment designed to explore how certain foods impact the body. It will definitely make you think twice about the American diet and our meat consumption. 

A 90-year old woman was rescued five days after the 7.6 magnitude hit Japan. She was trapped 124 hours under her house. Sadly, more than 200 people are still unaccounted-for, although the number varies.

I’ve discussed my enjoyment with embroidery and the project I’m doing for my doctor who loves airplanes. I’ve completed the Kittyhawk and the Curtiss Jenny. What I learned when I looked up what colors to use when I stitched them. The Kittyhawk built by the Wright’s in 1903. They used spruce for straight members of the airframe (such as wing spars) and ash wood for curved components (wing ribs). The wings were designed with a 1-in-20 camber. The wing fabric used was a 100% cotton muslin called “Pride of the West“, commonly used for women’s underwear. It had a warp of 107 threads per inch and a weft of 102 from a total thread count of 209. The muslin fabric was on the lower left wing panel of the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, when the airplane made its historic first flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Muslin squares are what I’m embroidering the planes to put in the quilt. I love the durability of muslin when used in quilts but there are disadvantages too. Pulls can be expected and occasionally there are slight color and intensity variances. What I love is it is lightweight and breathable because it is a loose plain weave. Muslin dates back to Ancient India.

The Curtiss JN “Jenny” was a series of biplanes built by the Glenn Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. The Jenny is made from  a combination of steel and aluminum tubing with some wooden parts and a doped aircraft fabric. Its 27.50 ft (8.4 m) span wing has a wing area of 175.0 sq ft (16.26 m2) and the cockpit width is 24 in (61 cm). Aircraft dope is a plasticized lacquer that is applied to fabric covered aircraft.  It tightens and stiffens fabric stretched over airframes, which renders them airtight and weatherproof, increasing their durability and lifespan. The technique has been commonly applied to both full-size and flying models of aircraft.

What I learned that the Kittyhawk and Curtiss Jenny both benefitted from the doping techniques. These techniques have been employed in aircraft construction since the dawn of heavier-than-air flight. Without the application of dope, the fabric coverings lacked durability and were highly flammable. Both factors rendered them far less viable.