ATD 119-148

Page 122

dazzle-painting
A camouflage painting technique used on WWI ships. Link: [1]

Page 123

Igor Padzhitnoff
The whole passage that introduces the rival airship captain is a play on Tetris. Igor's surname is similar to that of the creator of Tetris, Alexey Pazhitnov. Also, the captain himself flies a ship called "The Great Game" and drops "bricks and masonry, always in the four-block fragments which had become his "signature," to fall on and damage targets designated by his superiors."

Tovarishchi Slutchainyi Translates as Comrades of Cheney (according to Ande on Pynchon-L) "...notorious for promoting wherever in the world they choose a program of mischief..."

Page 146

lines
The description of the single-file line at the train station basically describes current security conditions at American airports. A single line (i.e. linear thinking) does not seem to be a 'positive' in the Pynchon world.