Wednesday, September 26, 2007  Friend or Foe?  "Aliens, remember
that February is the month to register with the Immigration and
Naturalization Service ..."  This was the tag line for a short
TV spot I used to see regularly when I was a kid. The
announcement had that odd, governmental feel - cheesy, hand-
drawn illustrations and an announcer with a subdued, Don Pardoe-
like voice. A high school chum of mine came up with this parody:
"Aliens, remember that February is the month to register with
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. If you have
difficulty materializing, suitable forms are available at your
local post office ..."  Speaking of NASA, I just finished
participating in a study of pilots funded by NASA. I'm not
entirely sure what it was all about, but I was paid to fly a
bunch of instrument approaches and holds. All in all, a fun
project.  There's something foreign in the photo above -
actually two things. One is the aircraft - a beautifully
maintained Yak-9, I believe. The other is the fu