Frank Van Haste
@vanhaste.com
PP-ASEL IR Busily retired. Ashburn, VA. I'm a docent at a large aerospace museum located in DC.
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
What we now know about the Potomac air-crash disaster, thanks to this week's NTSB hearings.
(Most before paywall.)
As always in modern air disasters, lots of things had to go wrong at the same time. But most of them went wrong inside the Army helicopter.
fallows.substack.com/p/what-weve-...
(Most before paywall.)
As always in modern air disasters, lots of things had to go wrong at the same time. But most of them went wrong inside the Army helicopter.
fallows.substack.com/p/what-weve-...
What We've Learned About the Deadly Crash Over the Potomac.
And why honest investigations of disasters like these are imperative, in order to make flying safer.
fallows.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 3:23 PM
What we now know about the Potomac air-crash disaster, thanks to this week's NTSB hearings.
(Most before paywall.)
As always in modern air disasters, lots of things had to go wrong at the same time. But most of them went wrong inside the Army helicopter.
fallows.substack.com/p/what-weve-...
(Most before paywall.)
As always in modern air disasters, lots of things had to go wrong at the same time. But most of them went wrong inside the Army helicopter.
fallows.substack.com/p/what-weve-...
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."
- "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar"
#MarkTwain
- "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar"
#MarkTwain
February 1, 2026 at 3:18 PM
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."
- "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar"
#MarkTwain
- "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar"
#MarkTwain
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
I love this performance so much. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLu2...
The Righteous Brothers perform Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions 2003
YouTube video by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
www.youtube.com
January 31, 2026 at 1:25 AM
I love this performance so much. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLu2...
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
This is a very powerful piece by @jeffwise.bsky.social in @intelligencer.com
Among the shocking details to me: How inexperienced *both* of the Army helicopter pilots were. (As an amateur, I had much more flying experience than both of them, combined.)
Worth reading.
nymag.com/intelligence...
Among the shocking details to me: How inexperienced *both* of the Army helicopter pilots were. (As an amateur, I had much more flying experience than both of them, combined.)
Worth reading.
nymag.com/intelligence...
Inside the Cockpit of the Helicopter That Caused the Potomac Air Disaster
Two Army pilots went on an ill-conceived training mission. Within two hours, 67 people were dead.
nymag.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:13 PM
This is a very powerful piece by @jeffwise.bsky.social in @intelligencer.com
Among the shocking details to me: How inexperienced *both* of the Army helicopter pilots were. (As an amateur, I had much more flying experience than both of them, combined.)
Worth reading.
nymag.com/intelligence...
Among the shocking details to me: How inexperienced *both* of the Army helicopter pilots were. (As an amateur, I had much more flying experience than both of them, combined.)
Worth reading.
nymag.com/intelligence...
Pretty bird! And, that 1st flight a half century ago was...unintentional!😊
The 50th Anniversary F-16 Viper livery is, hands down, one of my all-time favorites. More than pretty paint, it’s a visual homage to the original YF-16 prototype that first flew in 1974 and changed the trajectory of fighter design forever.
#F16 #AviationPhotography #ViperDemoTeam #viper #usaf
#F16 #AviationPhotography #ViperDemoTeam #viper #usaf
January 30, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Pretty bird! And, that 1st flight a half century ago was...unintentional!😊
I think that the linked essay is brilliant.
I have a new newsletter out, about John McPhee, the role of perspective and structure in writing, Hubert Dreyfus clowning on 'AI' with the tools of phenomenology, and how to understand the things that even the most capable LLMs can't do and most likely will never be able to do.
It's still what computers still can't do
The cover of John McPhee’s book Oranges, which is about, you guesed it, oranges. It’s great. The New Yorker writer John McPhee, perhaps the 20th century's...
buttondown.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:19 PM
I think that the linked essay is brilliant.
Ahoy @radiofreetom.bsky.social, my esteemed county librarian has come through again, having acquired the 2nd ed. of your "Death of Expertise"; now I can revisit the topic and I look forward to your evolved thoughts. Am likely to check back in a few days.
January 30, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Ahoy @radiofreetom.bsky.social, my esteemed county librarian has come through again, having acquired the 2nd ed. of your "Death of Expertise"; now I can revisit the topic and I look forward to your evolved thoughts. Am likely to check back in a few days.
Shout out to @patrickmccray.bsky.social whose "README", his "bookish history of computing" I've finished. It's a delightful and informative work! Patrick, I particularly enjoyed learning about Don Knuth and the origins of TeX. His commitment to beautiful words on paper really hit home for me.
January 29, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Shout out to @patrickmccray.bsky.social whose "README", his "bookish history of computing" I've finished. It's a delightful and informative work! Patrick, I particularly enjoyed learning about Don Knuth and the origins of TeX. His commitment to beautiful words on paper really hit home for me.
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
Future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier leaving Newport News, Virginia for initial sea trials - January 28, 2026 SRC: X-@johnmorgan726
January 28, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier leaving Newport News, Virginia for initial sea trials - January 28, 2026 SRC: X-@johnmorgan726
Amen.
January 28, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Amen.
This is one impressive lady. The link tells the tale. RIP, Ma'am.
January 28, 2026 at 2:27 AM
This is one impressive lady. The link tells the tale. RIP, Ma'am.
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
At its meeting minutes ago, the National Transportation Safety Board adopted the following probable cause and contributing factors to the January 2025 DCA mid-air collision. See replies for a few notes
January 27, 2026 at 11:18 PM
At its meeting minutes ago, the National Transportation Safety Board adopted the following probable cause and contributing factors to the January 2025 DCA mid-air collision. See replies for a few notes
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
Jan. 27, 1926: Army Air Service Col. Bill Mitchell resigns his commission effective Feb. 1. By doing so the outspoken critic of what he calls military neglect of air power renders moot his recent sentence of five years' suspension of rank and duty for insubordination. 1/2
January 27, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Jan. 27, 1926: Army Air Service Col. Bill Mitchell resigns his commission effective Feb. 1. By doing so the outspoken critic of what he calls military neglect of air power renders moot his recent sentence of five years' suspension of rank and duty for insubordination. 1/2
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
Member Graham: "There will be some times where individual errors may be noted throughout the course of the day in relation to this accident. But I want to make it crystal clear any individual shortcomings were set up for failure by the systems around them."
January 27, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Member Graham: "There will be some times where individual errors may be noted throughout the course of the day in relation to this accident. But I want to make it crystal clear any individual shortcomings were set up for failure by the systems around them."
Chair Homendy nails it here.
NTSB Chair Homendy: "What we refer to as human error is in reality, the last event in the causal chain immediately proceeding a crash or accident."
What to watch for as NTSB determines D.C. midair crash probable cause theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc... (via @willguisbond.com) #staycurrent
January 27, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Chair Homendy nails it here.
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
happy bday aviator Bessie Coleman, b.1892, Atlanta, TX, "the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license."
"I refused to take no for an answer."
"The air is the only place free from prejudices."
"I refused to take no for an answer."
"The air is the only place free from prejudices."
January 26, 2026 at 11:37 AM
happy bday aviator Bessie Coleman, b.1892, Atlanta, TX, "the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license."
"I refused to take no for an answer."
"The air is the only place free from prejudices."
"I refused to take no for an answer."
"The air is the only place free from prejudices."
"social permission to burn electricity"; nice.
I think these guys are finally realizing that they can’t incept a non-existent market. The narrow cases where AI is useful are not enough to sustain the inefficient, brute force way Silicon Valley had developed this tech. The hierarchical reasoning models out of China are better suited that stuff.
January 22, 2026 at 1:01 PM
"social permission to burn electricity"; nice.
Ahoy, @patrickmccray.bsky.social, look what my excellent county librarian has gotten at my request. It looks a delight; cracking it open on the train this AM, will report back in a couple of days.
January 22, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Ahoy, @patrickmccray.bsky.social, look what my excellent county librarian has gotten at my request. It looks a delight; cracking it open on the train this AM, will report back in a couple of days.
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
Why @mark-carney.bsky.social 's speech yesterday was so effective and important.
(By me. Main points before paywall; detailed annotation after.)
fallows.substack.com/p/a-speech-f...
(By me. Main points before paywall; detailed annotation after.)
fallows.substack.com/p/a-speech-f...
A Speech for the History Books.
And for the here and now. A memorable discourse on America's place in the world, by the leader of a US neighbor and former friend.
fallows.substack.com
January 21, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Why @mark-carney.bsky.social 's speech yesterday was so effective and important.
(By me. Main points before paywall; detailed annotation after.)
fallows.substack.com/p/a-speech-f...
(By me. Main points before paywall; detailed annotation after.)
fallows.substack.com/p/a-speech-f...
😁
i didnt even know they had a space program
Yesterday it was cows using tools, today its penguins using satellite imagery.
January 21, 2026 at 3:52 PM
😁
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence.
"Yet the lesson of Chicago is that there is ultimately no level of spatial detail that will ever be sufficient."
"Yet the lesson of Chicago is that there is ultimately no level of spatial detail that will ever be sufficient."
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence.
Most of us, most of the time, tend to act with intent, trying to bring about some desired end.
Most of us, most of the time, tend to act with intent, trying to bring about some desired end.
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence.
"As certain areas of the country went through periods of prosperity, and with the development of an export market, beef as a food commodity grew in importance."
"As certain areas of the country went through periods of prosperity, and with the development of an export market, beef as a food commodity grew in importance."
January 21, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence.
"Yet the lesson of Chicago is that there is ultimately no level of spatial detail that will ever be sufficient."
"Yet the lesson of Chicago is that there is ultimately no level of spatial detail that will ever be sufficient."
A small step toward consigning the traitor Bobby Lee to oblivion, where he belongs:
Looks like Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger is wasting no time in rolling back the last vestiges of public recognition of the Confederacy.
January 20, 2026 at 8:41 PM
A small step toward consigning the traitor Bobby Lee to oblivion, where he belongs:
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
HAPPY 96th BIRTHDAY to Buzz Aldrin!🚀
Walked on the Moon with Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11, here he is during an EVA (spacewalk) on the earlier Gemini XII mission - Nov 13, 1966.
(Digitally remastered from the original flight film for 'Gemini & Mercury Remastered' book):
Walked on the Moon with Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11, here he is during an EVA (spacewalk) on the earlier Gemini XII mission - Nov 13, 1966.
(Digitally remastered from the original flight film for 'Gemini & Mercury Remastered' book):
January 20, 2026 at 6:04 PM
HAPPY 96th BIRTHDAY to Buzz Aldrin!🚀
Walked on the Moon with Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11, here he is during an EVA (spacewalk) on the earlier Gemini XII mission - Nov 13, 1966.
(Digitally remastered from the original flight film for 'Gemini & Mercury Remastered' book):
Walked on the Moon with Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11, here he is during an EVA (spacewalk) on the earlier Gemini XII mission - Nov 13, 1966.
(Digitally remastered from the original flight film for 'Gemini & Mercury Remastered' book):
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
Terrible restaurant could close unless people enthusiastically embrace bad food, complains chef.
AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns
AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns
Big tech boss tells delegates at Davos that broader global use is essential if technology is to deliver lasting growth
www.irishtimes.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Terrible restaurant could close unless people enthusiastically embrace bad food, complains chef.
Reposted by Frank Van Haste
It’s Penguin Awareness Day which seems like a great excuse to post the greatest ever Wikipedia edit.
January 20, 2026 at 9:37 AM
It’s Penguin Awareness Day which seems like a great excuse to post the greatest ever Wikipedia edit.