HeadInTheClouds

Light is the constant. And for the speed of light to remain constant distance and time will change. Time to drag out my old notes for an example... For example, someone is sitting on a train traveling at the speed of light and decides to look at their reflection in a mirror. They will of course see their reflection as normal. Seeing as the train is traveling at c, an observer outside the train would see that the light from the person doesn't 'catch up' to the mirror hence there would be no reflection. But according to relativity, length contracts and so the person outside the train will 'see' that the light has a shorter distance to travel and hence they will also see the person on the trains reflection as normal. Not a very good example but still.

Yes. The light from the headlights would still travel away from the car at the speed of light (c). Also to someone on the side of the road watching the light from the headlights, it would still travel away from the car at c and not at 2c. This is because of Einstein's theory of special relativity, which states the speed of light remains constant for all observers and so time will dilate, length will contract and mass/momentum will dilate to assure that c remains constant. An easy way to see this is with the fact that speed=distance/time. So if speed (the speed of light) remains constant then distance and time have to change. Ahh physics....

The Dash 8 100/200 is still in service on the Sydney-Lord Howe Island route as it can get into the short runway. I think it is also in use on routes such as Sydney-Moree but correct me if I'm wrong.

That's a ****ing small town... From wikipedia: ...but we will not stand for the F**king signs being removed. It may be very amusing for you British, but F**king is simply F**king to us. What is this big F**king joke? It is puerile

Ok so it's not really a trip as I will be in the back of a 737, but I couldn't see an offtopic section to post in! I wil be in Townsville Thursday and Friday this week for a a Medicine course interview at the uni. On the Friday my interview is early in the morning but I don't fly out till 7:30 that night... Now my question is, is there anything to do to fill in time for the majority of a day? Won't have a car so preferrably within walking distance of the CBD. I've heard walking up Castle Hill is a good timewaster, but then again the weather is supposed to be crappy... Thanks!

Don't you just love the Dash 8? One of my favourite commercial aircraft to fly on for sure! Recently flew Sydney-Armidale on a 300 series and I think it would have to take the cake for best flight I've had so far. I find, even being tall, that the legroom is great and I found when I flew it was more comfortable than the 737-700 I flew on a day before. I also find that prop planes seem to provide the most powerful takeoffs which 'feel' faster than jets, probably because with a jet they need to spool up first. On the flight I was on, during takeoff I was struggling to lean forward to look out the window. Also on landing, the pilot managed to take the first taxiway at Armidale (The only tar taxiway at Armidale...) so I would certainly call it a short field landing, full flap with what I though was quite a pronounced nose down attitude on approach. Touchdown was perfect and braking+reverse heavy! As in I would have fell off my seat without the belt.. Another good thing about this flight was that the crew served breakfast to the pilots, and when she did so I got a good view out the windows of the flight deck which is a rarity these days! Definitely a fan of the Dash 8 series, probably the 300 more than the Q400. Seems to be more similar to me with what I usually fly (Ok not really similar with it being 2 seat and <600kg MTOW but still...) Welcome by the way! EDIT: Now I just need to take a flight on a Dash 8 100/200 series.... Or something smaller like a Saab 340!

What happens if he misjudges it Not much margin for error...

Oh ok then that makes sense now. So how would I go about purchasing something not listed?

Sugar cane waste can be used to ferment ethanol. Basically any plant material has the potential, which would reduce the need to have dedicated ethanol crops. What happens when oil runs out? I think that will occur in about 40 years or so from memory... But I do agree... ethanol will never be a viable fuel source while oil remains cheaper, which will probably be indefinitely. That is unless we find another way to extract it from organic matter which is easier and more cost effective... but again while oil still exists no one will fund the research for this... My prediction is that we will end up skipping ethanol as a complete alternative fuel altogether and move straight to electric.

Thanks Ian, forgot to check the shop on here actually. Is it just me being completely blind or are the two headsets I mentioned not on Clear Prop? I can't seem to find the 4DLX or PA12.8... I must be doing something wrong here...

Watching parliament is always fun these days, Labor presents an argument and instead of getting a debate or valid response, it is basically reduced to "Yes these are valid points, but this comes from a woman who said there will be no carbon tax after the government I lead" responded to by muttered agreement from the backbenchers, and thus the cycle continues...

Hi, Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the Pilot Avionics PA12.8 headset. Seems a decent buy for a first headset, $250 and comes with a headset bag. Looking to get my own headset and tossing up between this one and also the Flightcom 4DLX ($220). The PA12.8 seems to have the advantage in that it has a 5 year warranty, the bag of course, plus the phone/music interface thing (May come in handy someday) Also where is the best and cheapest place to buy headsets online? Opinions would be appreciated, thanks.

Bit wet here at the moment too. Still going flying tomorrow, even though it will be in the back of a 737 ;)

Hi there, Thinking of buying my own headset sometime soon and was just after some opinions on different ones I'm looking at. Kind of liking the idea of having my own to avoid having to rent one at some places and the obvious hygiene reasons. Budget is around $200, give or take a bit. Here is a few I'm thinking of at the moment: Flightcom Classic 4DX ($160): http://www.skyshop.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=314 Flightcom 4DLX, seems a bit nicer than the above one ($220): http://www.skyshop.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=317 Pilot Avionics PA11-60, not sure if this is a very well known brand but it does come with 3 year warranty, not sure on the idea of foam ear seals not gel... ($225): http://www.skyshop.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=150 Pilot Avionics PA12.8, has the gel ear seals, comes with a headset bag too as well as the 3 year warranty ($250): http://www.skyshop.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=151 I use the David Clark ones at the moment but it seems a bit out of my price range to buy my own set of them. Any opinions would be great, also if there is anywhere cheaper to buy them links would be appreciated. Thanks

If you ever needed a reason to see why seatbelts are a great idea in all sorts of aircraft, especially helicopters, this is it. You can see how he almost falls out onto the blades destroying themselves but the seatbelt drags him back inside and keeps him safe... The seatbelt is probably one of the main reasons he survived this accident

Loving this new show from the Chaser! Not as funny as their past oens but it certainly does it job in pointing out the BS fed to us by the Australian media everyday, albeit in a humorous way. Here are a few of my favourite segments they have done:

I want his job...

I don't know why more young people (like me) aren't interested in flying to be honest.. Money probably is a big thing, but I manage to do lessons and I only work casual at a supermarket. Can't wait till I get my certificate, then I will try to make some of my friends want to start flying by taking them flying!

Ethanol fuel is good for a lot of cars and a lot of people use it, costs a bit less but doesn't last as many km's (So it can be argued there is no difference cost wise between it and regular unleaded, except with E10 you fill up more) and also it could be argued it is slightly less polluting. Interesting to note that you found someone no longer selling ethanol fuel, earlier this year I stopped for fuel just outside of Newcastle and found that they didn't sell regular unleaded, only E10 fuel and then two types of premium (95 and 98). I found this very strange, but I can use E10 in my car so it wasn't much of a problem.

I remember hearing on centre in a past lesson, a call (callsign i missed) give their position as right near where we were, like really close, caused me to become very alert only then to hear "At FL410"...

An update here, had a brilliant morning of circuits this morning Booked a lesson nice and early and woke up to find out there was no wind at all, the ATIS simply said "Light variable" winds, less than 5 knots the whole time. Did about 6 circuits in total, I managed to do most of the radio today as well. My takeoffs are pretty good now if I might say so myself, the art of balancing on the main wheels is getting easier. Landings are slightly different, managing to do them unassisted but there was one today that was *ahem* firm... But at least so far I haven't managed to bounce on landing. We also started some emergency procedures today too which was interesting. My instructor demonstrated an engine failure after takeoff then I did a couple, not too hard really if you just remember to get that nose down right away. We also did a simulated engine failure on downwind and a glide approach, I found this pretty interesting, didn't have to add power at any point so I guess it was successful. Traffic was also much quieter today and quite a bit easier to spot. Anyway apparently I should be solo by Christmas, got a bit under 8 hours up in total now, getting closer to that magical 12!

That sure looks like an easier way to see Fraser Island without battling all that sand for weeks...

That was an interesting read, thanks!

How in the heck did they manage to start it?

In this case the ATIS stated that the visibility was >10km, right for VFR. Looking from a higher level to a lower one into haze above the ocean seemed to shorten that a bit... but then again aircraft are usually hard to see on a good day.