Miscellaneous desk
< January 26	<< Dec \| January \| Feb >>	January 28 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

January 27

Since when is a pilot called the Captain?

When did airlines adapt the lingo previously used for the shipping industry and why? The major pilot being called Captain, landing strips being called airports, etc. Joepnl (talk) 02:33, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

In the OED Online, the earliest use cited for "airport" or "air-port" is in 1902, but that one refers to a city that is served by aircraft. The next citation, however, is from the London Times in 1914 and it has the modern meaning: "every town of importance will need an air-port as it now needs a railway station."

In the OED Online, the first citation for "captain" in reference to a pilot is from an international conference in 1929: the passage refers to the "captain and crew" of an airplane.

Of course, this does not tell us to what extent other usages competed with these at different times. --76.69.45.64 (talk) 05:56, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

How many cities were served by aircraft in 1902? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:09, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Dirigibles? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 17:46, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Airships didn't really get going until after the Wright Brothers. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:54, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

True. The sentence in 1902 was clearly talking about a future time when aircraft would become practical. --76.69.45.64 (talk) 02:05, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I will note that the captain of a ship is never called the pilot. The captain of a ship may take on a pilot in approaching or leaving a harbor or in transiting a strait. A maritime pilot is a mariner who is an expert on a particular body of water. To be sure, when the pilot is on the bridge, they are the master of the ship in the same way as the captain otherwise is. Robert McClenon (talk) 17:56, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I wouldn't be so sure of that. I recall one case where the pilot was so incompetent that, fearing for the safety of his passengers, the captain took over. 188.220.211.30 (talk) 18:13, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

IIRC, the Captain of a ship is responsible for it, even when his first-mate (and he's off-duty, sleeping), or a harbour-pilot is at the tiller. LongHairedFop (talk) 19:07, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

EO claims the term "airport" dates to 1910.[1] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:54, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

That's when Bader Field, outside Atlantic City, New Jersey, opened, but it wasn't called an airport until 1919. Dbfirs 19:02, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

And indeed that's the date that that source gives for "airport". The OED's 1914 beats it. --76.69.45.64 (talk) 02:05, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Following up from the London Times citation mentioned above, I wonder why aviation followed the nautical terminology ("airport" cf. "seaport") instead of adapting from land travel ("aeroplane station" cf. "railway station")? → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 04:03, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Not an answer, but navies have naval air stations, which to me sound quite cool and sci-fi. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 09:52, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

In the UK, there was an early distinction between an airfield and and airport. The latter being set up for international flights. In that context, on an island - the use of "Port" rather than "Station" makes sense because it's a 'portal' into the country, just like a sea port. In the UK (before the channel tunnel) there was no way for a train or a car to travel internationally other than by air or sea - and in both cases, you'd use a "port". I don't think the US usage of the terms match up in quite the same way - and things are getting blurred by the passage of time.

On an aircraft, the distinction between "pilot" and "captain" is that there can be two people who 'pilot' the aircraft - but only one of them is in ultimate command (the 'captain') - so all captains are pilots - but only some pilots are captains. SteveBaker (talk) 14:37, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The official aviation terms are "pilot in command" and "pilot flying" (or "handling pilot"). I don't think "captain" has any official meaning in aviation (as opposed to being a useful term to reassure airline passengers), but I may be wrong. Tevildo (talk) 20:33, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Sadly, the word aerodrome fell out of favour in the UK after the Second World War, but was widely used instead of airport before that. See Croydon Aerodrome. Alansplodge (talk) 22:32, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The term is still in use for the smaller airfields - Sywell, Fenland, and Goodwood are a few quick examples. Tevildo (talk) 22:42, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Truly all is not lost. I shall book my next international flight from Goodwood Aerodrome. Alansplodge (talk) 00:04, 30 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

For what it's worth, the word aerodrome is still widely used and beloved by bureaucrats. The ICAO uses it a lot in their publications. Our article also mentions that in Canada and Australia it is a legal term of art that applies to pretty much any area used for flight operations—in other words, a patch of open water that is regularly used to land float planes can be an aerodrome. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 21:43, 31 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Which kinda makes sense - a stretch of ocean can't be an "airfield" since no field is involved - and if it's not equipped with customs facilities, then it's not strictly an "airport" - so I guess "aerodrome" is a good choice of name. SteveBaker (talk) 18:29, 1 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Lowest temperature of Dubai

Hi!
What's the lowest temperature ever measured in Dubai?
Calviin 19 (talk) 16:59, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

According to our article on Dubai#Climate, it's 6.1°C (43°F). Warofdreams talk 17:14, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It's here. But is it the record?--Skyscraper1996 (talk) 17:52, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Am I being scammed?

we cannot give legal or finacial advice, please contact a legal professional

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

So I was in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I while am at a mall, I meet this guy. He claims to be a professional poker player. We start talking about my situation, and he says he's going to give me $1,000. He gives me a $1,000 poker chip. Later, he says he asks what kind of bills I have, and he volunteers to pay off my credit cards. I'm a little skeptical, but the payments from his bank account cleared on two of the three credit cards he paid off for me. One of them, American Express, reversed the payment saying that Bank of America returned the payment because the account number was wrong, which may have been an honest mistake on my part typing in the account number or could be a tell tale sign I'm being scammed. This man says he is giving me $70,000 out of over $300,000 he made in poker winnings and that it's going to be wired into my bank account. We've been hanging out like friends the last couple days. Now, here's what worries me: he's asking me to take out a cash advance on one of my credit cards and send him money via Western Union, he asked me to borrow the American Express card (which is now frozen up) and he would mail it back to me, and he asked to borrow my rental car for a few days. I know the old saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" and I am very familiar with advance fee fraud, and this is beginning to remind me of the old 419 scams. Problem is, I've already given him some money from cash advance and he's asking for more. So my question is, what can go wrong, and should I report this to the Las Vegas Metro Police as fraud or be happy that someone generous wants to help me? Reference Desk Fan (talk) 20:58, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Sure sounds like a scam to me. Banks and credit card companies help the scammers out by showing a deposit has been made before they verify it. Those "deposits" should all disappear soon. And good luck finding a casino that will take that chip. StuRat (talk) 21:30, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

... and even if the money is real, you are probably being used for illegal money laundering. Dbfirs 21:34, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

We can get you the number for the local police, if you need it. Otherwise, see our disclaimer on professional advice. μηδείς (talk) 21:51, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I'm unhatting. It's correct that to point to the Wikipedia:General disclaimer and say that what you get here is not professional advice, but the question is not asking for medical or legal advice, which means it's acceptable for the Reference Desk. As a personal opinion, I strongly agree with the suggestion to call the police. --76.69.45.64 (talk) 02:13, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Protip: No stranger is ever going to come up to you and offer to pay off your credit cards. Especially not in Las Vegas. The "send me money via Western Union and I will send you some of it back" is a standard fraud tactic. --71.119.131.184 (talk) 03:59, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

For reference - [[2]], what's described by the OP certainly sounds like a Advance Fee Fraud/419 type scam. ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 11:15, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Let's try to break down the story:

I meet this guy. He claims to be a professional poker player. - An easy claim to make - it's hard to verify - and this is Vegas.
He gives me a $1,000 poker chip. - Well, maybe. Is the chip legitimate? Which casino produced it? You can buy pretty-looking poker chips in any denomination on Amazon.com and you get 50 chips for $15. So it's probably worthless. You can find out for sure just by taking it to the casino he claims it came from and trying to cash it in. (But explain beforehand that you don't know if it's real - you don't want them calling the cops on you for trying to pass off a counterfeit poker chip!)
Later, he says he asks what kind of bills I have, and he volunteers to pay off my credit cards. - yes, but those payments can be reversed.
the payments from his bank account cleared on two of the three credit cards he paid off for me. One of them, American Express, reversed the payment saying that Bank of America returned the payment because the account number was wrong. How do you know that they 'cleared'? Are you sure you really know that? Phone the number for the credit card companies and ask them.
This man says he is giving me $70,000 out of over $300,000 he made in poker winnings and that it's going to be wired into my bank account. - as soon as you hear the word "wired" - alerts should be going off. Now he knows your bank account details, your address, your name, your credit card numbers and their balances - you're about to become an identity theft victim.
Now, here's what worries me: he's asking me to take out a cash advance on one of my credit cards and send him money via Western Union, - Oh, really? This guy is a high-roller with $1,000 poker chips in his pocket - why on earth can't he cash one in rather than have you send him money? Right here - you know that you're being scammed.
he asked me to borrow the American Express card (which is now frozen up) and he would mail it back to me - what could possibly go wrong? Again, this guy has a pile of money from his winnings - why on earth would he need your credit card?!
and he asked to borrow my rental car for a few days. - yikes! You are responsible for returning that car. What happens if he swaps out the license plate and drives away into the sunset? The rental car company and/or the insurance company are going to be asking you some very difficult questions - and you may find that you're liable for the full value of the car - insurance or not.

So he's given you a (probably fake) poker chip, did he really' transfer money into your credit card account in an irreversible manner? Maybe not...he could have handed over a fake bankers draft (those take several days to 'bounce' if they are fake - so they may appear as a deposit in your account, then be reversed soon afterwards).

Now suddenly, he's wanting you to give him money - wanting you to lend him a credit card - wanting to use your rental car. Why? The guy claims to have $300,000 sitting around. Why the heck would he possibly need you to do any of those things?

This is for 100% sure, a scam. But the good news is that you probably still know how to get a hold of him in person. If you talk to the police, then (with your help) they should be able to catch the guy. You should cooperate with them and see if it can happen.

SteveBaker (talk) 14:25, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

As has been said, most likely this is either advance fee fraud i.e. you've been tricked into thinking you received money when you haven't. Or the money is real but stolen i.e. the person who contacted you is going to bugger off with any money you give them while whoever's money it really is is going to come after you or maybe it'll even be automatically reversed. In the unlikely event the money is real and not really stolen, it's still likely to be some form of illicit money laundering. Since you seem to have actually gotten involved, I agree you should contact the police. (If you'd just talked but hadn't done anything, it's not always worth it. These sort of scams tend to be so common that reports of being contacted may not really be followed up. There's of course never any harm in contacting the police other than wasting your time.)Scratch that, I didn't read carefully & see it's in person contact. In that case it's probably always worth telling the police unlike with phone or email or messaging even if you haven't done anything. Nil Einne (talk) 23:33, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I'll take this to ANI if someone unhats it, Wikipedia:General disclaimer and the guidelines at the top of the page are quite clear. μηδείς (talk) 00:43, 29 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect that the poster and the IP reverters here are trolls, and the estanlished reverters and commenters have done so on the mistaken notion that we need to advise random people whethere accepting tens of thousands of dollars from strangers is a good idea. In any case, I have filed an ANI report, please see it. μηδείς (talk) 02:58, 29 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Soul Mates

Trying to find if Rachel Hunter was in Soul Mates as it shows in her Wikipedia or is it Rachel House? Under Soul Mates it shows Rachel Hunter.

Kmcclain77 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kmcclain77 (talk • contribs) 21:32, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

IMDb says Rachel Hunter, and the picture on the cover they have for the movie looks, to me, just like Hunter. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 21:36, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

There two different "Soul Mates" 2014. See [3] and [4]. Rachel House (actress) plays "Mum" in the Australian ABC TV series. Dbfirs 21:53, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]