Ben Longden

Thunk of the zeros after the first digit. A thousand has three so thats 10x103 (supposed to be superscripted to say mathematically ten to the power three) A million is 106 Billion 1012 trillion is 1024 and so on... I think..... been a long time since skool. Ben

In the case of the Jab flipping over at Echuca a while back, the big thing that struck me was how strong the passenger capsule is. That Aircraft went over onto its back, and there was NO deformation to the cabin area. Even the doors unlatched normally. This is a testament to the solid design and construction of the Jab. 10 out of 10 to Jabiru. Ben

My understanding is the picture is a still image taken from a police helicopters' onboard video camera. The camera has a wide angle setting, and though they should have used the frame where the camera is lazed, it shows as a green dot. A bloody bright dot. This frame I guess was chosen because the perspective from the wide angle lens shows the beam. To illustrate the point, have a really wide angle lens (at least an 20mm) on a still camera, and point a pencil at the lens while looking through the viewfinder. The resulting perspective distortion will make the parallel sided pencil look huge close to the lens. I think Ive mentioned it in a previous post, but I was lazed with a low power pointer at night several years ago. I was disabled from driving during the incident, and had to pull over as I could not see the road. Never mind the pain and after images for a couple of hours. The point is, lasers themselves are not dangerous, and in use with 99.999% of the population they are safe. Its the intelligentia of our population that decide its a bit of fun to shine them at peoples eyes. Only then does it become an issue. As for jailing offenders... lock the bastards up and throw the key away, even though they will protest they "were only having a bit of fun". Ben

Robyn is in Ireland this week... and she has a copy of the joke to see if its real....;) Ben

An aircraft shows a laser attack from a Sydney suburb. (Nine) VIEWS: 0 | FLOCKS: 0 | 0 comments so far A man has been arrested after allegedly targeting a police helicopter with a laser pointer. The Polair crew were hit with the green laser light at 10.15pm (AEST) Saturday as they conducted routine patrols of the Colyton area, in western Sydney. A 29-year-old man was arrested at a unit block on Carpenter St, Colyton, after the helicopter crew were able to pinpoint the source of the laser. Police seized a green laser pointer from the unit. The man has been interviewed by Penrith police, but has been released pending further investigations. He has yet to be charged. The laser attack follows another incident in south-west Sydney on Thursday night, when an 18-year-old man was arrested for shining a laser light at officers driving on Carlton Avenue in Chipping Norton. NINE News

Woohoo!:thumb_up: Thats the best thing Ive heard this week... Ben

Nice training vid... well done all round!! :thumb_up: Ben

My cousin drives VC10s and L1011s for the RAF, ferrying "self loading cargo", and his navigation skills are all grounded on a map, compass and stopwatch. While the AC he flies do have full IFR instruments, he actually bought his own GPS unit to check his own maths.... Ben

Mmmm.. I'd better check my books but I thought the Strato part meant layer in latin. Check this; http://www.bom.gov.au/info/clouds/ Ben

Let me understand this.. the Tecnam was delivered WITHOUT a freestanding, bog standard, sit on top of the panel ordinary, everyday direct reading, magnetic Compass? IF this is the case, the flight was illegal, and a tad devoid of common sense. Unless a compass has been fitted (and calibrated) then ALL subequent flights would be illegal. I take it the situation HAS been fixed? :raise_eyebrow: Can anyone from RAA comment on this? Ben The CAOs are pretty danged clear on this; CAO 20.18 Appendix 1 for VFR flights; states your plane must be fitted with a direct reading magnetic compass or a remote indicating compass AND a standby direct reading magnetic compass. In other words, your plane has to have a magnetic compass fitted. Even if you have a remote reading compass displayed on a GPS. No iffs or buts. Im not one for sticking up for regulations, but to me this CAO seems to be based on sheer common sense.

Now we need to get a few more up and running to cover the gaps in the BOM network!! Well done Ben

Mmmm, if they paid an extra $45/yr on their RACV insurance it would cover the windcreen.... ;) Ben

I wonder if the genius who dreamt up the nazi card, as that is really what the ASIC card is, managed a nice promotion, as this only benefits the govt. If some bug eyed fanatic of BinLiner really wanted to use a light aircraft as a weapon, do you really honestly think they would go through the whole ASIC process first? Nope. I'd better get off my soapbox before the MIB start kicking in the door, I guess. So much for the constitution. Ben

http://www.flightlevel350.com/Aircraft_Antonov_An-225_Mriya-Airline_Antonov_Aviation_Video-10354.html Ben

Gotta agree.... you can replace the plane, but not the pilot. Ben

Ben

Anyone have a copy of the crash report? Make a good comparison to the possibilities we have come up with.. Ben

MENTAL HOSPITAL PHONE MENU Hello and thank you for calling The State Mental Hospital. Please select from the following options menu: If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly. If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you. If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5 and 6. If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want, stay on the line so we can trace your call. If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be forwarded to the Mother Ship. If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press. If you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press, nothing will make you happy anyway. If you are dyslexic, press 9696969696969696. If you are bipolar, please leave a message after the beep or before the beep or after the beep. Please wait for the beep. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. If you have low self-esteem, please hang up our operators are too busy to talk with you. If you are menopausal, put the gun down, hang up, turn on the fan, lie down and cry. You won't be crazy forever. If you are blonde, don't press any buttons, you'll just mess it up.

Its one hell of a way to get a promotion to 'flying' a desk at a small air force base in Siberia.... Ben

With that vid, it must be my eyes, but I could not see any sparks (other than after the impact) But watching the climbing turn, would it be fair to say the angle of bank was greater than 20 degrees, which would contribute toward a stall? Ben

Small? My boss only has a print run of 50,000 copies per edition.. I guess ERSA would be waaaay more than that. Ben

Now you can scoot over to Shepp for lunch on a Saturday! Ben

Thought this the best place for this..... I'm on the cover of this month's Auscam mag... a magazine for video enthusiasts...

Did'nt someone once say that if it takes full power to taxi, then the gears up? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVPsYUky2l8&feature=related

Ben