Flying

The woman who says she represents North American Power is not telling the truth about the benefits of buying electricity from her company. "You can save up to 10, 15, 20 percent of your bill, depending on your usage," she says in a telemarketing call to my house. But the rate she eventually quotes is only about 7 percent less than the standard price offered by Baltimore Gas & Electric — something the average customer would have no way of knowing. And of course the percentage savings won't vary even if my "usage" goes up to that of a steel mill.

- Christopher Gearhart does not know where he would be without fly fishing. Growing up in this Frederick County town, Gearhart's father left the family when he was a small child. Donald Lewis, the town's mayor, took Gearhart and a few other kids to an annual event on the grounds of Camp Airy run by a group of men who taught boys like Gearhart how to fly fish. "Honestly, my father left us and these gentlemen kept me out of trouble," Gearhart recalled Saturday. "They knew I liked to fish, and they kept me doing it. " Now 40 years old and an insurance executive who lives in nearby Waynesboro, Pa., Gearhart has stayed involved in the organization that taught him so much.

Navy Lt. Mark Tedrow has no problem reconciling an air show with a commemoration of the War of 1812, an era that precedes flight by almost a century. The Blue Angels pilot said he looks forward to flying over the Inner Harbor, Middle River and Fort McHenry - birthplace of the national anthem - during a bicentennial celebration in June. "It will be outstanding to perform multiple maneuvers over Fort McHenry," he said. "It will show just how far we have come. " Tedrow and his co-pilot flew into Martin State Airport in Middle River on Thursday to give a small preview of what the Navy's renowned flight team will do for the bicentennial maritime and air festival that kicks off June 13. "Stake out your places on the waterfront so you don't miss a thing," said Lt. Cmdr.

The description at the TLC website for "On the Fly" gives a pretty good sense of the up-with-Southwest-Airlines tone that permeates this reality TV series premiering at 9 p.m. Thursday. " On the Fly gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the large-scale operation and personal customer stories at Southwest Airlines," the promotional copy says. "Each episode introduces viewers to Southwest Airlines employees who must think on their feet as they cope with weather delays, irate passengers, and more surprising situations.

If all goes as planned, sometime this morning a spacecraft will blast off from its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and ride a fiery plume of contrails upward through the pre-dawn darkness to begin a two-week journey to the International Space Station and back. But the flight won't be just another NASA resupply mission. Instead, the Falcon 9 rocket and its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - SpaceX for short - will be the first commercially owned and operated vehicle ever to rendezvous with the station's orbiting astronauts.

An American and a Dutch company have created their own unique versions of flying cars, and are looking to bring them to market soon. The American firm, Terrafugia , has designed a two-seat vehicle whose wings unfold, runs on gasoline, and can fly off with a propeller. It debuted at the New York Auto Show this week. The Dutch firm, PAL-V Europe N.V ., has built the PAL-V One, a two seat gyrocopter that has three wheels. The rotor and wings fold up neatly into the vehicle.

Owings Mills now has a "healthy alternative" to fast-food joints, according to Flying Avocado Cafe's creator/general manager, Lisa Valle. An offshoot of the popular Your Prescription for Health Holistic Pharmacy, the cafe opened just a couple of weeks ago. Valle says the cafe's aim is to use almost all organic produce, bread, eggs and meat, and buy locally as much as possible. And to make that healthful food taste great. Valle describes the cafe as a "great little cozy space," with mahogany tables on an acid-stained concrete floor, mahogany counters that run along the windows and wall with high stools, tin ceilings and walls painted ... you guessed it, avocado green.

Isee where the airlines are engaged in another price war, which means you can fly from Baltimore to London for about seven bucks now and, as an added bonus, the three surviving members of the Beatles will greet you when you land.By now we're all familiar with how these price wars work.One airline slashes its fares 30 percent and everyone gasps"Ooooh! That's not bad!"Then another airline says: "Oh, yeah? Not only will we match thaticket price, but we'll let you bring all the carry-on luggage you want.

I WAS TRAPPED in an airport security cattle call early one morning on my way out of Baltimore when a disturbance erupted just ahead of me in the long, serpentine line. A man wearing dress pants and a dress shirt open at the neck was berating a woman of Middle Eastern descent who was wearing a head wrap. "Why don't you dress like an American?" he said to her. "Because your people flew planes into our buildings, we have to stand in lines like this." Another man just ahead of her in line and wearing jeans and a T-shirt took up her cause, saying that because this was America, she could wear what she damn well pleased.

For one week each year the Wittman Regional Airport here is the busiest airport in the world, with up to 12,000 landings and takeoffs each day. More than 14,000 planes were tied down in the green fields around the place.It was the week of the annual Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-In Convention. More than 800,000 people were here, spectators and pilots alike, some of them staying a week, living in hotels as far away as Milwaukee, 100 miles down the road, or just camping under the wings of their aircraft.

Here's a challenge for The Sun writers: At your next staff meeting, have everybody dig into their pockets (or pocketbooks) and count the number of Susan B. Anthony $1 coins you have collectively. My guess is zero ("Sensible change: Switch to $1 coins," April 25). This raises the question, how does op-ed writer Dave DuGoff get almost 700 words on the commentary page to promote an idea that coincidentally would be quite convenient for his car-wash business? Readers should know that the U.S. Mint has hundreds of thousands of Susan B. Anthony $1 coins on its hands, but it can't get banks to order them due to lack of demand.

UMBC's thrilling 17-16 overtime decision over America East rival Albany last Saturday - which included a five-goal run in a span of 2 minutes, 18 seconds in the fourth quarter - put the Retrievers squarely in the mix for the top seed and homefield advantage in the conference tournament. While that victory was reminiscent of the program's nine-goal rally in a 14-13 win against the Great Danes in the America East Tournament final in 2008, coach Don Zimmerman said he would prefer if the team didn't dig itself such a big hole.

Baltimoreans can get a nice look at the International Space Station tonight - late enough to be visible but early enough for the kids to watch before bedtime. The station will appear as a bright, swiftly moving star just over the southwest horizon at about 8:22 p.m. It will move toward the northeast, rising to about two-thirds of the way above the horizon before disappearing in the northeast sky at 8:29 p.m. On board are two NASA astronauts, three Russian cosmonauts and a European Space Agency astronaut.

Mandatory showers and mouthwash for all people sitting in my aisle. Luke Broadwater, reporter, The Baltimore Sun How about slightly larger bathrooms ... or iPad rentals? Stokely Baksh, community coordinator, The Baltimore Sun Improve the pretzels. And by "improve," I mean get Auntie Annes on the plane. Wesley Case, reporter, b Improv theater, performed by flight attendants. Between the flight attendant who sailed cursing down the emergency chute, and the ranting pilot who lost his mind mid-flight, this seems to be an industry trend.

Editor: On behalf of the VFW 8126 and auxiliaries, I would like to thank Huber Corporation for keeping the American flag flying at the overpass at Juniata Street in Havre de Grace with a light shining on same. This is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your patriotism. Helen Zengel Havre de Grace

An American and a Dutch company have created their own unique versions of flying cars, and are looking to bring them to market soon. The American firm, Terrafugia , has designed a two-seat vehicle whose wings unfold, runs on gasoline, and can fly off with a propeller. It debuted at the New York Auto Show this week. The Dutch firm, PAL-V Europe N.V ., has built the PAL-V One, a two seat gyrocopter that has three wheels. The rotor and wings fold up neatly into the vehicle.

THE FIRST TIME I ever went flying with a woman instructor, she restricted herself almost entirely to the laconic flightspeak of pilots."Compensate the rolling moment with opposite stick pressure. Now apply back pressure to maintain your pitch attitude."And with that she guided me through a series of what seemed like incredibly steep turns in both directions.She was an engineer, you see, and I think she was getting even with me.Earlier that day, when were were introduced, I had politely asked to see her license and instructor rating -- something I had never thought to ask any of the men who taught me.The request expressed what I thought was the natural curiosity of a student pilot.

A few months ago, after a flight from Baltimore to Miami during which I clung to the arm of a startled nun for two hours, I wrote a column about being a nervous flier.The flying itself is not what scares me. What scares me is the prospect of the plane plummeting 33,000 feet and slamming into a desolate ravine, after which it'll take weeks for teams of emergency personnel on burros to drag out what remains of the charred bodies -- assuming they haven't all been picked clean by vultures.Anyway, unlike most everything else that appears with my byline, that column on flying actually provoked a response from many readers.

Disinclined as we may be to pity the plight of those making more than $500,000 a year, the state Senate, in its attempt to raise more revenue from such top earners, has gone too far. The Senate has adopted a plan that appears to be unique among the 50 states and would violate a cardinal rule of income tax policy, which is that a dollar earned should not cost more than a dollar in taxes. When the House of Delegates takes up the budget, it will have some work to do to clean this mess up. Gov.Martin O'Malleyproposed what remains the most sensible plan for raising new revenue through the income tax. Rather than changing the rates, his plan was to phase out some exemptions and deductions for the top 20 percent of Maryland earners.