Western Standard - Dave Makichuk on things from air travel to military gear

00:00:00.000 So, let's talk a little bit about travel, though. I mean, you've done some recently. Your most recent column was talking about how we've gone from the golden era of air travel to today's hell on earth on the airlines.

00:00:11.540 Oh, God, yes. I mean, I remember I never got to fly on Wardair, but everybody I talked to who flew Wardair said it was the best airline in the world. It was just one big party. The food was great. The people were great. It was all about having fun and enjoying your trip to Europe.

00:00:32.620 I remember my brother and his young bride went to Europe, and they said it was just the best airline ever. I have a friend who told me he flew the Canadian Pacific. Actually, he flew Canadian Pacific and a DC-6 in the late 1950s, and he said it was amazing.

00:00:53.500 But Wardair was absolutely one of the best. And if you fast forward to today, my God, the terrible things the Canadian passengers have had to deal with because of the airlines not really being ready for the post-COVID travel rush and not having enough security personnel to look, you know, check and make sure everything's safe.

00:01:19.980 And then plus you have this arrive can thing, which I had to fill that thing out. It took me about 25 minutes in my hotel to figure this arrive Canada and fill it all out. I guess once you filled it all out, it's a lot easier if you fly again.

00:01:36.040 But plus all the restrictions with the masks and everything. And also the airlines are packing these planes with seat patterns, which are just, you know, we're talking like something out of Con Air with Nicolas Cage, for God's sake.

00:01:57.540 You know, you've got no, you've got literally no, none, no legroom, none, zero. And this was on the Dreamliner, supposed to be a Dreamliner. And it was just absolutely horrible.

00:02:11.180 And in my column, I say, if not for this wonderful flight attendant who saw me suffering and said, look, when you book back to Calgary, book between seats, rows 10 through 14, and there's about that much more legroom.

00:02:27.360 And it was much more survivable and a much better trip on the way back. But it's just, it's just really sad how bad the situation, how stupid it's gotten with so many things. 0.97

00:02:41.760 And now they want to bring back the random testing, which is completely unnecessary. So it's, it's, it's, it's awful. It's just, we've come from, you know, we've come so far, but we've actually come, come so little, you know, it's, it's just about packing those planes with people and, and, and no wonder people are losing their tempers. 0.95

00:03:07.020 No wonder they are, you know, it's one of the areas where the Soviets were actually ahead of their time, a flight, I remember going way back into the late 80s. 0.92

00:03:15.840 And I came off of Finnair in Helsinki, you know, flying to there, which was fantastic overseas flight, great service.

00:03:22.620 Of course, some, some very statuesque Finnish flight attendants.

00:03:27.480 Doesn't hurt, doesn't hurt.

00:03:29.220 Got on to Aeroflot to fly to Moscow from Helsinki. And boy, that was no frills. That was the first time I kind of experienced that in my life.

00:03:37.020 I mean, they just packed you onto that plane. The carpet was kind of loose, even walking up the aisle, because they did actually tell you as part of their trivia, yes, we can take all the seats out of this and turn it into a troop carrier in five minutes.

00:03:48.400 And your seat was wiggling and they took off like a rocket straight into the air and then dropped straight down into Moscow in a way, like, again, I think these were military pilots rather than the, you know, our domestic ones.

00:03:59.680 Right, right.

00:04:00.220 But that was quite a contrast, you know, from the luxury.

00:04:04.440 But nowadays, aside from perhaps those steep takeoffs, our conventional airlines aren't much different anymore.

00:04:09.960 Well, and as I mentioned in the column, a good friend of mine who travels a lot, I mean, he travels more than any person I know.

00:04:16.460 And he was on an Air Canada business flight and a flight attendant was trying to fit another bag into the overhead.

00:04:27.260 And this is in business class, which is an expensive ticket.

00:04:30.860 Like, we're talking big bucks.

00:04:32.900 I've never flown that.

00:04:34.220 You know, it's expensive.

00:04:36.080 And she took out his laptop and was pounding it to get it back. 0.64

00:04:42.340 And he freaked out because all his business, all his work, which, by the way, is classified, was being pounded into the overhead.

00:04:52.820 And he just said, well, I can't allow this to happen.

00:04:55.720 So he took it out of her hands.

00:04:58.120 And she freaked out.

00:04:59.340 And, you know, you're threatening me.

00:05:03.560 You're threatening me.

00:05:04.600 And I'm going to the captain.

00:05:05.820 I'm going to get you tossed from the flight. 1.00

00:05:08.440 And so the captain comes out.

00:05:10.880 And my buddy's, like, you know, talking very polite and, you know, and said, look, this is what happened.

00:05:16.800 And, you know, I'm sorry it happened.

00:05:20.280 But really, I was just afraid she was going to bust my laptop.

00:05:23.620 And the captain just shook his head and, you know, okay, fine.

00:05:26.660 Walked away.

00:05:27.380 And the flight attendant was absolutely steaming mad. 1.00

00:05:31.060 But, you know, I mean, it just takes maybe it takes a little bit of common sense these days to calm down a little bit and treat passengers like passengers, not like prisoners.

00:05:44.540 And, you know, they're just packing us in like sardines and they don't give a damn anymore.

00:05:52.160 They don't care. 0.63

00:05:53.100 They don't care.

00:05:54.140 It's all about the bottom line.

00:05:55.540 To be a little fair, I think some of this was consumer driven, too, though.

00:05:59.860 I mean, the days of Ward Air and that you paid a lot of money to fly.

00:06:04.060 I mean, flying was an experience.

00:06:05.540 You dressed up for it.

00:06:06.520 You didn't go out in a T-shirt and sweatpants to get on the plane.

00:06:09.120 And people didn't casually take an air trip unless they were a specialized business or something.

00:06:14.440 You know, this was something you did once every few years, perhaps.

00:06:17.380 And now people kind of take it for granted and say, well, I want to be able to book it for only a few hundred bucks, get across the country.

00:06:23.520 Well, they're going to cut some services if you want to get that.

00:06:26.300 Like, I think that the airlines kind of filled a bit of a need or a demand for the consumers as well.

00:06:31.280 It's just that it led to such a rough experience.

00:06:33.040 Well, that's the thing.

00:06:35.040 And, you know, back then it was a special thing.

00:06:37.660 You put on a suit.

00:06:38.980 You'd keep your ticket as a souvenir.

00:06:41.660 Everything was special.

00:06:42.720 You were treated, especially all the way along.

00:06:44.680 And I remember as a kid, back in Windsor, my dad and I, we would drive to the airport to watch a C-Pierre DC-8 come in and land at our airport because it was coming in from Scotland.

00:07:00.540 And it would be going to an exotic location like Lima, Peru or somewhere like that.

00:07:06.160 And it was really it was a big it was a big thing just to see a big C-Pierre Empress DC-8.

00:07:12.660 I mean, I'm a big aviation fan and but it was you're right.

00:07:17.560 It was a big deal.

00:07:18.420 Now it's it's changed and there are so many costs associated for these airlines.

00:07:25.080 And I mean, I don't mean to pick on the airlines.

00:07:27.780 I I just think that maybe and maybe they should get more help from the government, too.

00:07:33.640 I mean, my God, it's just it's a disaster.

00:07:38.040 And the government could be and the thing that I hate is that they're telling us what a great job they're doing and they're not doing a great job.

00:07:46.660 They're making things harder for Canadians to travel.

00:07:49.540 And and and some of that's landing on the airlines, which is not their fault.

00:07:53.740 It's not their fault, you know, because covid hit and they had to let people go.

00:07:59.480 And now they're trying to bring them back.

00:08:02.060 And and maybe the federal government should have foreseen this a little bit better.

00:08:06.520 The transport minister and and and the government and, you know, they could have done more to to make things a little better for Canadians instead of telling us what a great job they're doing, which is total nonsense.

00:08:19.780 Well, that's it. And the government helping them out.

00:08:22.080 I mean, it doesn't have to mean giving money to the airports or anything like that.

00:08:24.480 A lot of it, like so many other things, just means getting out of the way.

00:08:26.920 We've got a lot of ridiculous restrictions, testing, they arrive, can't all these things.

00:08:31.640 I mean, these border or these these airport staff are already overloaded.

00:08:35.620 You've got to check for this. You've got to check for this.

00:08:37.540 And now you've got this other stuff thrown on your plate on top of it.

00:08:40.260 They can only keep up with so much and a thankless job.

00:08:43.980 You know, and one thing I wanted to mention was Charles de Gaulle Airport was really organized.

00:08:48.980 Like I thought, oh, my God, what am I you know, what am I going to experience?

00:08:53.580 And I I there were no people sleeping on the floor.

00:08:58.660 There was a couple of long lines, but but everybody everything was organized.

00:09:03.500 And not only that, they were friendly and they would help you through and say, you know, what you know, where are you going?

00:09:11.400 Oh, OK, fine. Have a nice trip.

00:09:13.260 You know, I was shocked.

00:09:15.180 I you know, I'm not used to that.

00:09:18.580 And and these are the friends, for God's sake.

00:09:21.220 And and I got to the to the WestJet line and there was nobody there.

00:09:27.060 Me. And they said, yeah, go ahead, go go get your you know, go to the front, get your ticket.

00:09:31.620 And there was a couple after me who had no idea what arrive can was.

00:09:36.960 And the lady was trying to explain to them, well, you've got to do this arrive can thing.

00:09:42.080 You have to do that. And they had no idea what that was so that I can see where that would be a problem.

00:09:47.760 But the only the only problem I had was through security and Charles de Gaulle.

00:09:53.400 We got, you know, when your your bags go through the scanner, they have two ways to go the easy way or the way which have to be checked separately.

00:10:04.920 And one of my bags went separate.

00:10:07.480 So I had to wait a long time, about a half an hour before they got to my bag.

00:10:13.140 And the reason why is because the fellow ahead of me had four bottles of scotch and each bag was wrapped in plastic from a duty free shop.

00:10:25.340 Totally legal. Everything fine.

00:10:28.440 They unwrapped every bottle of scotch, took it out, put it in a machine to scan it every single one, one by one by one.

00:10:38.740 And there's people behind me waiting and waiting and waiting.

00:10:41.640 I would say half an hour to 45 minutes, all because, you know, they're checking things.

00:10:47.820 I don't really think they need to, but who knows.

00:10:50.500 And and then they had to rewrap the scotch and put it back in sealed bags.

00:10:58.040 I'm thinking, well, I mean, if we're if we're afraid of bottles of scotch, I don't know.

00:11:04.560 I mean, how far must we go?

00:11:07.280 But, you know, unless they know something we don't, unless they know something we don't about this, then OK, fine.

00:11:15.120 But and I think things like that are going to happen.

00:11:20.080 You know, wherever you go, wherever you travel, it's going to be it's going to be an ordeal.

00:11:25.300 You're going to be waiting in lines, all kinds of lines.

00:11:29.340 And travel is just not as fun as it used to be where you just got on the plane and went.

00:11:36.480 Yeah.

00:11:37.760 Tyler going through a gauntlet, a veritable gauntlet wherever you go.

00:11:44.420 So this is this is our world today.

00:11:47.720 And one of our commenters, Tyler Volstad, saying, yeah, flying's gotten worse since 9-11.

00:11:51.760 I mean, the problem is, too, there's just so many people trying to blow us up.

00:11:54.600 Unfortunately, they got to try and think of every eventuality to block it.

00:11:58.900 And there's just no fast way to do that.

00:12:01.900 So we're kind of pivot, though.

00:12:03.280 Navi was telling me you got another story in the cooker for the weekend.

00:12:06.360 What are you working on now or what's what's about to come out?

00:12:08.560 Yes, I do.

00:12:09.600 I do.

00:12:09.980 Well, I did a couple of pieces there.

00:12:11.380 I just want to mention, I did a piece on Gerald Bull, who was an artillery genius.

00:12:19.120 And the U.S. Army is actually utilizing his base bleed artillery technology.

00:12:27.760 Base bleed is a gas that comes out of the back of the shell, which lowers the turbulence and makes it go longer and farther.

00:12:35.820 But the Gerald Bull story is absolutely fascinating.

00:12:38.900 He came up with an artillery gun.

00:12:44.040 It's called the GC-45, a GC gun Canada, 45 millimeter.

00:12:54.240 And that gun, to this day, is still probably one of the most powerful guns launching a shell for great distances.

00:13:04.400 He came up with all this, and then he was assassinated after working with the Iraqis on the super gun. 1.00

00:13:14.580 And the Mossad is suspected of killing him, but we don't really know for sure.

00:13:19.340 But anyway, that's a really fascinating story.

00:13:21.660 Also, I did a piece on the Valkyrie aircraft, which is a drone that is going to be for the Air Force, which could very well be the loyal wingman following aircraft in the U.S. Air Force.

00:13:41.280 And that is an amazing technology.

00:13:44.640 That is really, really amazing.

00:13:46.420 And it's much, much lower cost than putting a pilot in an aircraft.

00:13:52.940 These things cost about $2 million apiece as opposed to $80 or $90 million for an F-35 and millions more to train a pilot and five years to train a pilot.

00:14:03.000 But this thing eventually will probably get more, it has a brain, and it has an artificial intelligence, keeps expanding.

00:14:13.860 So that's an interesting article, too, if you want to have a look.

00:14:18.120 And as for the weekend, there is a story which I thought was very interesting about a Marine Corps sniper.

00:14:25.420 And this is a very unusual story.

00:14:28.520 He's the greatest sniper in the Marines that ever existed in Vietnam.

00:14:32.940 And his story is just absolutely amazing.

00:14:36.340 It just takes, I guess it takes a different kind of dude to be that kind of person.

00:14:42.820 But it's just a fascinating story.

00:14:45.220 It's not a new story, but it's kicked around for a bit.

00:14:49.020 But I just thought that the Western Standard readers might be interested in it.

00:14:54.580 And also, just FYI, Canada holds the record for the longest sniper killing in Iraq.

00:15:04.140 I believe it was in Iraq.

00:15:05.580 So we actually hold the record for that.

00:15:08.000 And it's an incredible distance.

00:15:09.960 I can't remember how many yards.

00:15:12.160 But anyway, this is just part of war.

00:15:15.520 And it's an interesting story.

00:15:22.420 And I hope readers like it.

00:15:24.580 Yeah, no, I appreciate that.

00:15:26.980 It looks like my, for whatever reason, our connection is acting up over here again.

00:15:30.420 So I'm coming in a little rough.

00:15:33.080 But for those who can hear me, it's a good one.

00:15:35.500 Yeah, it's a good one.

00:15:38.080 Those technology, military items, and it's an interest.

00:15:42.780 Yeah, it's incredible.

00:15:45.580 The drone technology is taking off.

00:15:48.640 It's the drones are, it's now, it's evolving.

00:15:54.640 Well, basically, Corey, Ukraine.

00:15:59.500 Everybody in the world is watching what's going on in Ukraine.

00:16:03.400 The Russians are watching and learning.

00:16:05.800 The Ukrainians are watching and learning.

00:16:07.860 The Americans are watching and learning.

00:16:10.320 And the Chinese are watching and learning.

00:16:12.720 And the rest of the world is watching and learning. 0.71

00:16:15.500 And the power of these drones to kill.

00:16:19.220 The Americans have given hundreds of drones to Ukraine.

00:16:22.460 Hundreds, including some top secret ones.

00:16:25.400 There's one called the Phoenix Ghost, which has never even been used in battle until Ukraine.

00:16:30.540 And what they're seeing is these things are very powerful.

00:16:35.720 And drones are the future.

00:16:37.360 And artificial intelligence in drones as well.

00:16:40.740 And these things are just so dangerous.

00:16:43.540 And imagine if you're a country, any country, anywhere in the world, in South America, in anywhere,

00:16:49.160 and you're watching what's going on in Ukraine.

00:16:52.320 You are now a customer.

00:16:53.920 And those companies that are going to be selling drones, especially advanced drones,

00:17:00.000 are going to make a lot of money because that's where it's going.

00:17:03.840 That's where it's going.

00:17:04.860 It's evolving.

00:17:05.920 And it's changing.

00:17:07.640 And now you can put any type of warhead on a drone.

00:17:15.940 And these companies are making it easier and easier for customers to customize their drone.

00:17:23.660 It's like a Denny's menu.

00:17:27.020 I'll have one of these, one of these, and one of these.

00:17:29.940 That's how simplifying they're making it.

00:17:33.320 And that's where it's going.

00:17:34.980 Anyway, I just wanted to mention that with the drone situation, it's just going crazy.

00:17:41.860 The technology is rapidly expanding.

00:17:44.480 And it's changed everything.

00:17:45.880 It has changed everything.

00:17:48.780 Yeah.

00:17:49.080 It's fascinating stuff.

00:17:50.460 You know, even though it's military, I mean, the stuff.

00:17:52.840 Some of those developments, at least, eventually will evolve into things that are, you know,

00:17:56.520 not necessarily developed to kill each other, which is, you know, a better development in

00:18:01.200 the long run.

00:18:02.040 So, okay.

00:18:02.840 Well, I'm going to let you go and get ready for the weekend.

00:18:05.060 So, thanks for joining us today, Dave, and all the stuff you keep writing.

00:18:10.860 And, yeah, we're looking forward to that story about that sniper.

00:18:13.180 It sounds fascinating.

00:18:14.760 And I'll talk to you again soon.

00:18:16.580 Okay, Corey.

00:18:17.140 Thanks a lot for having me.

00:18:18.260 Thanks.

00:18:18.500 And go Wings. 0.99

00:18:19.420 Go Wings.

00:18:19.900 Yeah, you bet.

00:18:21.220 All right.

Western Standard - July 24, 2022

Dave Makichuk on things from air travel to military gear

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