I think that any good/great player would make the bad instrument sound good; the musicianship and tone production would still be evident. The instrument might limit some factors, such as range or overall timbre, but you would still know that you are hearing a great player.

Exactly. Do you think Rafael Nadal would suddenly start to suck if you gave him a Wal-Mart tennis racket?

As my trumpet teacher said: "I never knew a bad trumpet player who, when given a great instrument, suddenly became a great trumpet player. Likewise, I never knew a great player who, when given a poor instrument, suddenly became a bad player."

The 377 was a derivative of the C-97 troop transport, which itself was based on the B-29.

I like this retro United livery, but putting it on an Airbus is just wrong.

Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, Clipper Invincible

The J model.

Retro liveries are all the rage these days. Aer Lingus, KLM, Air France, and others are all flying in them.

I agree wholeheartedly. I think the on-air talent for F1 on Speed is top drawer.

Let's try this again.

What an inverted ANA B-737 might actually look like.

Tex Johnston was amazing.

Nope. We get Darrell Waltrip and the rest of the Fox NASCAR commenting team. I would prefer the Aussies, myself. But hey, Darrell is "all fizzed up" about covering this.

There's always this.

Thanks, David.

As a father, I'm guessing that straw-hat-guy is looking for his family.

While panicking? Possibly not.

In case you missed this morning's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Watch in HR.

That was my first thought, then I clicked the NPS link and read this: