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Pointyhead

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Posts posted by Pointyhead

  1. Where is it written that he's being a moral compass for anyone?

     

    He's simply a boss (he owns the rights to the pagents) that had the opportunity to either fire an employee or do something to bring that wayward person back in line. He chose the latter. I have had to do this before in my previous career.

     

    Personally, I think her moral compass is precessing wildly.

  2. A record for C-17s

    Twenty-plane aerial dance assesses ability to drop entire Army brigade

    Friday, December 22, 2006

     

     

    ABOVE CHARLESTON - Slicing through a hazy sky, 20 C-17s paraded over the new Cooper River bridge Thursday morning, the largest flying formation of C-17s ever assembled.

     

    One by one, the muscular military cargo planes raced over the harbor, like a flock of pelicans gliding over the marsh, only these birds weighed 8 million pounds total and are worth about $4 billion.

     

    "The most we usually fly is five or six ships," said Capt. Christopher Ott, 29, sitting in the co-pilot's seat of the No. 3 jet. "So this is a big feat for us."

     

    A world record, in fact, at least for C-17s, Air Force officials said.

     

    The mission's purpose was do some required monthly training and also test the military's ability to drop an entire Army brigade - 3,250 soldiers and 3,450 tons of equipment - within 30 minutes.

     

    With Charleston-based C-17s in heavy demand for work in Afghanistan and Iraq, it's rare for the Air Force to assemble large numbers of C-17s to test this air-drop goal.

     

    But the timing worked out for this exercise, and just before 9 a.m., 20 C-17s lined up at the Charleston Air Force Base, some flown by active duty members of the 437th Airlift Wing, and

     

    others by reservists with the 315th Airlift Wing.

     

    Sitting next to Ott in the pilot's seat was Capt. Avery Schutt, 27, who would use this flight to gain new air-drop training.

     

    At 9:17 a.m., a flock of 19 white birds flew by in a loose "V" formation, and three minutes later, Schutt powered the engines and followed the second plane into the sky.

     

    The 20 planes took off in 30 second increments, and as the fleet arced toward Seabrook Island, Ott mentioned that he and others in the exercise had just returned from a 120-day deployment flying in and out of Iraq. He said C-17s are being used more and more as ground convoys get beaten up by IEDs, improvised explosive devices.

     

    "In Iraq, we normally just fly one plane at a time," he said, adding that flying in large formations is one "of my favorite things to do. It's more dynamic, and it's fun to be up there with all the guys you work with."

     

    Large formations are among the most difficult things an air wing can do, a massive exercise in aerial choreography, planning and teamwork. The previous record for a C-17 formation was 17.

     

    "We're lucky we're No. 3," Ott said as Schutt maneuvered the aircraft closer to the second plane. While pilots near the front of the pack generally have smooth skies, those at the rear get rocked by jet wash.

     

    At 9:48 a.m., the planes were above Folly Beach, curling in toward the harbor and their first target, the new bridge.

     

    Two minutes later, they were 2,000 feet above the water - about 1,400 feet above the tops of the double diamonds. Schutt rocked the wings back and forth. "OK, I'm done playing now," she said.

     

    Next stop: an airfield near Orangeburg, where the fleet dropped to an altitude of 850 feet.

     

    Crews opened the rear doors. Using sophisticated computer programs that account for wind speed, altitude and other factors, the crews launched their pallets. The parachutes spilled open and the pallets floated toward a rectangle 900 yards wide and 1,400 yards long.

     

    Standing behind Schutt and Ott in the cockpit was Capt. Sam Todd, 29, who would take the controls later. He checked to see how they did. All 20 hit their marks.

     

    Schutt then steered the C-17 toward the Atlantic, where nine planes practiced mid-air refueling.

     

    And at 12:46 p.m., plane No. 3 was falling, falling, toward the runway.

     

    "100 feet," Schutt said.

     

    "50 feet."

     

    Then, a landing soft enough to keep a full cup of coffee from spilling … and a new flying formation record to break.

  3. WOW my husband graduated from Georgia holds TWO masters and teaches! SO YEAH WHATEVER!!!

     

    I graduated with honors and have a wonderful job. You don't need to go to Tech to make money or be happy.

     

     

    I wasn't slamming you. However, you started this topic picking on Reggie Ball...so, whatever!

  4. Too bad they didn't get into Georgia. I know a bunch of Seniors that have been deferred from Georgia but accepted by Tech...

     

     

    Um, yea, sure. whatever.

     

    My daughter graduates in May with honors. She's carried at least a 3.5 average the whole time she's been there. And has been offered a full fellowship to get her Masters.

     

    I kind of think she got the right school.

     

    :)

  5. I was thinking the same thing. No one had any way of knowing if this guy is a pedophile --- it's too risky in this day and age. People need to understand the liability this puts on Disney.

     

     

    Uh, he wasn't molesting kids. He was just being himself. Given this logic, Catholic priests can't go to Disney World either.

  6. Evil-Santa-by-Kruger.gif





    Disney tells Santa clone ho-ho no

    Mr Worley said he was told Santa was a Disney character

    When James Worley paid a visit to Disney World in Florida his portly frame and white beard soon had kids asking: "Are you Santa Claus?"
    Not wanting to disappoint, Mr Worley, 60, played along with some "ho-ho-hos".

    But Disney officials descended, telling him to stop the impersonation or get out of the park. They said they wanted to preserve the magic of Santa.

    Mr Worley took off his red hat and red shirt but said: "I look this way 24/7, 365 days a year. This is me."

    'Confusing'

    Even after bowing to the request to alter his appearance, Mr Worley, from Tampa, said children continued to ask if he was Santa.

    "How do you tell a little kid, 'No, go away, little kid'," Mr Worley told local television.

    He said Disney had told him "Santa was considered a Disney character".

    Officials at Disney World's Epcot park said they had had complaints from "several guests who were very upset".

    Disney said it had its own Santa at Epcot and Mr Worley was "confusing" the children.

    Mr Worley said he had played a jolly elf at charity events for a number of years, while his wife sometimes dressed up as Mrs Claus.

    Mr Worley said he still loved Disney and Christmas.
  7. I saw an article yesterday about a church in Washington, D.C. that is celebrating a "Blue Christmas". It talked about how they were highlighting the fact that not everyone is happy for Christmas.

     

    Well, duh. How about instead of celebrating their depression, let's give them a ray of hope!

  8. The Skyhook

     

    by Jason Bellows

     

    During the Cold War, the US and the Soviets had an ongoing game of tag taking place under the Arctic Ice Cap. Among the better-known technologies employed in this chase, both sides often built "research stations" on the arctic ice floes. Though there was a potential for real science to take place in such locales, the purpose of these ramshackle huts was just to house hydrophones that would track submarines ranging the Arctic Sea. A problem arose, however, in manning these stations: they were beyond the limited range of the period's helicopters, too far into the floe for icebreakers, and in areas that are inhospitable to landing airplanes.

     

    The only practical solution was to deliver personnel from an airplane without stopping, which meant that anyone who pulled arctic-listening-post duty had to parachute onto the ice. When it came time to bring them back home, their extraction was very much like their dramatic parachute entrance, only in reverse.

     

    The idea of fly-by retrievals was first explored during World War II. American and British soldiers would equip with a full harness, and connect it to a cable which was strung to the top of a tall pole. The soldier would then stand between two such poles, and a specially fitted aircraft (usually a C-47 Skytrain) swooped in low, and hooked the cable, lifting the soldier from the ground. Though the system worked, it was generally cumbersome and difficult to set up.

     

    Experiments for an improved system began in 1950 under Robert Edison Fulton, Jr. He was an inventor for the CIA, and had taught himself to pilot a plane. He tried to devise a way to pick up a weight from the ground that would be easier to set up than the method employed in the war. He tested his various methods with his own plane. By 1958 Fulton had developed a reliable method for snaring such a weight, and developed a package containing all that a person would need to use it.

     

    The Fulton surface-to-air recovery system, or more commonly called "Skyhook", could be dropped from a plane to any target, where a single person with proper training could outfit a body or cargo for pickup. The package consisted of: a harness for cargo or person; a 500-foot, high-strength, braided nylon line; a portable helium bottle; and a dirigible-shaped balloon.

     

    The person would climb into the harness, and connect it to the balloon with the nylon wire. With the simple pull of a ripcord, the balloon would inflate from the helium bottle, and would thus rise. The line was marked with flags or lights to help the airplane find the target.

     

    The airplane had to be fitted with a pair of tubular horns on the nose. In practice, the plane aimed right at a marker on the line, and the horns would catch the line. A mechanism would snap closed when the line was caught, releasing the balloon and anchoring the line to the aircraft. As the target was lifted from the ground, the line streamed back into the aircraft's wake. The crew in the back of the plane would use a long hook to catch the line, and the target would then be winched into the bay.

     

    The first live test was conducted with a pig as the target. Due to some stability issues, the pig spun in the 125 mph wind, and arrived on the plane dizzy and discombobulated. It recovered, however, and promptly attacked the crew.

     

    Later in 1958, Staff Sergeant Levi W. Woods became the first human to experience the Skyhook system. After the initial snap of being pulled from the ground, he rose slowly into the air until he was behind the aircraft. During the ascent he extended his arms and legs, thereby thwarting the oscillations that had plagued the pig. Six minutes after the process began, Staff Sgt. Woods was safely aboard the P2V Neptune. Following this successful test, the Skyhook was assigned its first mission in 1961: Operation Coldfeet.

     

    One of the Soviet Floe Stations– NP 9– had to be abandoned in May of 1961. The runway that was used to supply the station had cracked and was unusable. The US direly wanted to take a peek at the Soviet's toys, and in planning, it seemed the Skyhook would be the ideal means of deploying. Unfortunately, by the time the operatives were trained and the kinks in cold-weather deployment were worked out, NP 9 was out of range. As luck would have it, in March 1962 another Soviet Floe Station, this time NP 8, was abandoned when an ice ridge destroyed the runway. After weeks of searching, NP 8 was found. US spies were loaded onto an airplane and flown to the remote arctic region, where they parachuted onto the ice. After gathering their intelligence, pick up was a little tricky. The weather had degraded to nearly white-out conditions, and the surface winds were near 30 knots. The first pick-up went well, but on the second the balloon was launched, and immediately caught in the wind. The soldier was dragged across the ice. As he tried to regain his breath, the plane hooked the line. He swung wildly in the void, unable to see, and whipped by the cold wind. To the credit of the Skyhook's design, he managed to orient himself, and was pulled safely aboard.

     

    Despite the adversarial weather, everyone came back safely, and what better accolade could there be? The Office of Naval Research approved the Skyhook for general use.

     

    The Skyhook was rendered obsolete with the arrival of longer-range helicopters that could make a pick up in a secluded location faster and with less bustle. In 1996, the US military ceased maintaining Skyhook training and readiness. It's a shame, because damn, what a ride.

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