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Member 13445366 wrote: Wingsuit - lot of fun and cut-aways. Wearing a wingsuit must be an incredible experience. Have you seen the video of Jeb Corliss jumping off a cliff wearing a squirrel suit? What's the difference between a squirrel suit and a wingsuit?
Member 13445366 wrote: - Skydive 30k+ feet with oxygen tank (elephant day) 3x That's also incredible. What's the terminal velocity at that altitude? How cold was it up there?Member 13445366 wrote: - Jump from the glider (with the pilot obviously) Upon reading that, I thought you were saying that the pilot jumped out of the glider, too.
Member 13445366 wrote: - 4 surgeries 2 screws. They forgot to tighten the 3rd one (loose). I'd say you've earned bragging rights for life.
Oh, I almost forgot! This is one of my favorite videos of all time.
Jeb Corliss " Grinding The Crack" - YouTube[^]
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Ad.1 Wingsuit is a general term for this kind of outfit. Squirrel is the name of the company. They make good wingsuits. I own Freak 4.
Ad.2 Yes, it is cold out there. No shorts and sandals. You pay more attention to oxygen supply, however.
The speed equalizes to 150-180mph, unless you do monkey tricks, then around 330mph.
Ad.3 Yes, a glider still needs a pilot to land
Ad.4 As far as I grab somebody's attention, my job is done. This is a great outdoor activity and I try to advertise it. As for Jeb Corliss, He is a legend already. I don't do base jumping. Not that crazy.
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Interested in an enthusiastic amateur way. As a kid (aged 4 or 5) I travelled to Italy (Birmingham -> London -> Milan) a fair bit, and can still remember both the Viscounts on the domestic flights, and the Tridents, Comets and (once, I think) a VC10 on the international leg. Loved flying in the days when you had china crockery, room to stretch out, your own large window. In teens went to Farnborough airshow and various RAF bases, with friends who were in the Air Cadets (couldn't afford to join myself). One of my jobs in my 30s involved a lot of European day trips and several longer trans-Atlantic ones, and on one of these took myself on a jolly around Canada. Air Canada used to do a "freedom of Canada" ticket, valid for unlimited domestic flights over a week - but standby only. So literally hanging around the departure gates hoping there'd be a no-show and hopping on where-ever it was going. Best/riskiest bit was going on the Yellowknife -> Resolute weekly trip on a 50/50 cargo/passenger 737. Only one flight back out each week so there just HAD to be a space on the return. Fortunately there were a few.
Also done a couple of gliding trial flights, and some very small aircraft (and helicopter) trips to the Scilly Isles; and also splashed out on a helicopter transfer from Nice when visiting Monaco.
I enjoy flying but hate the airport hassle and stress, and also very concerned about the eco impacts of flying. Last trip to Europe was fly out, train back - tbh, the train return was much better, more comfortable, cheaper and only a couple of hours longer. Including an hour in Paris' Gare de Lyon famous "Le train bleu" restaurant.
Spend a lot of time reading crash reports and watching videos; fascinated by the investigation process and the way that a tiny error can escalate to major disaster. (This aspect I think grew from a similar fascination with railway accidents and signalling).
The one thing I hate about air traffic are the vapour trails, which as far as I'm concerned are a horrific graffiti in the sky. Even at Resolute, and at Nordkapp in Norway, the sky is full of lines scarring the view. Plus as they spread out they form clouds that can obscure half the sky, contributing even further to climate change.
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DerekT-P wrote: ook myself on a jolly around Canada. Air Canada used to do a "freedom of Canada" ticket, valid for unlimited domestic flights over a week - but standby only. So literally hanging around the departure gates hoping there'd be a no-show and hopping on where-ever it was going. Many years ago, I heard about something similar to the "freedom of Canada" ticket. A major airline offered a deal where if you bought a special ticket, you could fly anywhere you want. You had the ability to take as many flights as you wanted to. That one ticket covered the cost of it all. There was a catch, though. You had to travel eastward. This allowed you to travel around the globe for one set price. It was affordable, too. I wonder if any airlines still offer that.
DerekT-P wrote: Spend a lot of time reading crash reports and watching videos; fascinated by the investigation process and the way that a tiny error can escalate to major disaster. When I was training to be a pilot, I realized how important it was to study these same things. I figured if you have a comprehensive understanding of what causes a plane to crash, then it helps you to avoid being in one. You know what to look for. In most cases, the chain of events that lead up to a crash are innocuous little things that go unnoticed until it's too late. Little distractions that you'd never think could pose a danger have the potential to lead to huge disasters. The training was more about safety than anything else, and that's how it should be.
DerekT-P wrote: The one thing I hate about air traffic are the vapour trails, which as far as I'm concerned are a horrific graffiti in the sky. Even at Resolute, and at Nordkapp in Norway, the sky is full of lines scarring the view. Plus as they spread out they form clouds that can obscure half the sky, contributing even further to climate change When I learned how much fuel airplanes burn through, it was a surprise to me. I don't remember how much fuel you burn just taxiing to the runway, but it's actually a lot. I'm not fan of the pollution either, but without fuel, you're not going anywhere.DerekT-P wrote: the vapour trails, which as far as I'm concerned are a horrific graffiti in the sky. Even at Resolute, and at Nordkapp in Norway, the sky is full of lines scarring the view. Plus as they spread out they form clouds that can obscure half the sky, contributing even further to climate change. I actually like contrails. When I see contrails, I see a highway in the sky.
From what I understand, I don't believe contrails themselves contribute to global warming. Contrails are just like any other high-altitude cirrus clouds. They consist of ice crystals. Those ice crystals reflect sunlight back into space. If sunlight is reflected back into space, it's not reaching Earth. If less sunlight reaches the surface of the Earth, then less heat will reach the surface of the Earth as well.
Anyway, climate change is a volatile and highly charged subject, so I'll leave that alone. I enjoyed reading your post. I envy you for having traveled to so many places. Not many people ever get that sort of opportunity.
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The round the world ticket was available in the 1970’s when I first moved to Canada from the UK. It was the basis of a sort of scam against the airlines where a “business” called a Bucket Shop would sell you a one way ticket across the Atlantic (for a fraction of what the airlines charged) which was actually part of one of the round the world tickets. They somehow got a refund for the unused parts & the difference from the original cost was so low that they still made a profit. Had to use it once as a penniless student returning to Canada after a long stay in the UK. It involved some skulduggery where I paid cash for the ticket at the airport & they gave me a ticket with the coupons from all the other legs of the round the world trip torn out. They provided an explanation to use if anyone at check in asked where the other coupons had gone which I’ve forgotten but no one said booh about it.
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I caught the flying bug when I was stationed in Germany and got my private pilot's license there and then went together with my dad (a flight instructor) to purchase a used airplane. Now I am trying to build a low-cost avionics network supporting navigation (both GNSS and ground-based), ADS-B and airframe and engine sensors.
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playwude wrote: Now I am trying to build a low-cost avionics network supporting navigation (both GNSS and ground-based), ADS-B and airframe and engine sensors. No student pilot will ever get lost again.
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At least not without knowing he has engine trouble ...
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PIEBALDconsult wrote: He and my uncle were greatly unharmed. If they walked away from it, then it's a successful landing. I heard that phrase many times in flight school.
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Definitely an aviation fan. Started when I was 11 making rubber powered model planes, moved on to “control line” with small ‘nitro’ powered engines & finally had a 1 channel radio control plane (you pressed the one button once for left rudder, twice for right rudder, thrice for up elevator & 4 times for down elevator. The motor was uncontrolled! I soldered together the transmitter & receiver from kits. The Tx had valves whereas the Rx was cutting edge tech using transistors!) the year before I went to Uni in 1968. After that I had a long hiatus until I got back into RC in 2008 with electrics. The high point was competing in a couple of IMAC competitions where you fly routines of 10 aerobatic maneuvers over several rounds in front of judges who give points for how accurately you fly.
In the interim between ‘68 & ‘08 I did a lot of flying on business as a consulting engineer & vacations. Without a doubt the most memorable was a trip to northern Saskatchewan where we were doing baseline environmental studies for a Uranium mine. I flew Air Canada from Toronto to Saskatoon then next morning at 6am got on a 6 seater twin engine plane to fly 600 km north to Wollaston Lake where we landed on a gravel strip overlooking the lake. While the pilot unrolled his sleeping bag to have a nap under the plane, we walked down to the lake & climbed aboard a single engined Beaver on floats. We took off and flew 30 mins and landed on a small lake next to the mining camp. Finally two of us climbed into a small helicopter with the pilot and flew around to inspect four flow gauging sites located on small creeks in the vicinity. Once that was done by late afternoon we reversed the process & got back to Toronto the next day.
One last memory which I just thought of which I think equals the Wollaston L. trip. In 2010 I was building an RC model of a single engined bi-plane called a Fox Moth (very similar to a Tiger Moth but with a fuselage that can hold 3/4 passengers). Mine was based upon one which flew site-seeing tours from the beach at Southport in NW England where I was born. I discovered the plane still existed & was owned by someone in Northamptonshire so I contacted him & asked if I could visit & take pictures of the plane to use in building/decorating the model. The owner graciously agreed & so I went & got loads of pics. Then to my surprise he pulled it out of the hangar & took me for a 15 minute flight around the local area. An amazing experience to fly in a bi-plane built in the 1930’s which is covered in “doped” canvas & started life carrying passengers between various points in Scotland!
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Steve Raw wrote: I want to go hang-gliding, but it's super dangerous.
Letting the google AI agent due the search for me so no idea if they are right...
"60 deaths per year due to ultralight aircraft crashes"
"roughly 3.5 hang gliding deaths per year"
But it is what I would expect.
I notice you didn't mention wingsuits.
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I watch aviation accident reports all the time ... Mentour Pilot is a very good channel for that on YouTube - very professional.
My excuse for that is that it gives me a "exterior" view as a sysadmin on how well you need to be prepared for any disasters ...
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Wordle 1,093 3/6*
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"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Wordle 1,093 3/6*
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Wordle 1,093 4/6
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Ok, I have had my coffee, so you can all come out now!
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Wordle 1,093 3/6
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Jeremy Falcon
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Quote: The so-called Dutch roll, said to have been named after an ice-skating technique attributed to the Netherlands according to a BBC article.
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Interesting.
Because I was under the impression that ice skating is prevalent in Alpine countries. And Netherlands is not one of them.
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I even see some of the figures playing a game of curling
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A TV report said that a Dutch Roll is a side to side motion caused by application of the pedals that cause the nose of the plane to move in a figure 8 pattern horizontally. They said the passengers might not notice this type of motion but it would freak out the pilots if they were not actively controlling the pedals.
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