Episode #269 "Beer Barrel Poker Run"

[eaglepilot]

With regard to the youtube Audio of the Mitsubishi MU-2 and icing, here is a link to some pictures of the terrain the airplane was flying over...

http://www.telemark.net/randallg/photos ... revelstoke

start at about #80 to #72 in reverse order to fully appreciate the video.

[jackhodgson]

Is anyone gonna comment on the oh-so-clever play on words in the ep's title.

// Jack "I make myself laugh" Hodgson

[ruckin]

Interesting discussion on the effectiveness of an ELT (or lack there of). I am probably biased based on my recent SAR training and the fact that I live out west where there are lots of uninhabited mountainous terrain... I won't debate if 121 or 406 is a better frequency but being able to encode your GPS location and send out a "help signal" right now that gets forwarded to a response center is a good thing. There were a couple of pilots in the class that make their living flying big iron and they don't monitor 121.5 (they normally monitor the company frequency). Also the "search area" if you hear a 121.5 signal at 30k feet is many square miles.

My class is that the proper installation and placement of the ELT is important to it functioning correctly post crash. If you are able when the plane stops moving check the ELT, if necessary hook the antenna back up and make sure the antenna has a view of the sky. I saw numerous photos where the ELT was separated from the aircraft and/or the antenna.

PLBs are becoming much more common and may in some cases reduce the need for an ELT, but I personally prefer to have both - but I am a belt and suspenders kind of guy.

Ruckin

[PropFan]

You guys were much more tolerant of FAA Mobile than I am. Simply put, it is lame. I attempted, unsuccessfully, to access my IACRA account through it (something that would be useful when I meet with my instrument rating DPE in the near future). When I emailed the FAA to ask if this functionality could be added, I received a dismissive "unable" because of "licensing issues with Apple."

While it might be true that you have to walk before you run, this doesn't even amount to a crawl.

[mbuto]

OK Jack, I'll bite: Remember your quick 2/4 step dance training, a full house beats a flush, and the gangs all here. But you knew that.

But seriously, thinking back to a previous thread about how uncomfortable some are with how airplanes are sometime used, I can't think of a better way to use a Spitfire.

Mike

[jackhodgson]

Propfan,

Re: "licensing issues with Apple."

Yes, that's pretty lame on the face of it, cause, if this FAA thing is a "web app" then Apple has nothing to do with its "licensing". Can anyone else out there offer an explanation for this?

// Jack

[jackhodgson]

...and the gangs all here

There you go! Yes.

For your listening and viewing pleasure: A one-ah, and a two-ah...

http://youtu.be/-mD-JeYjozc

// Jack

[gmarshall]

Quick note on barrel orientation:

Pointing a barrel sideways would increase drag dramatically. A cylinder is one of the worst shapes possible. It has to do with the flow staying attached longer creating greater a more powerful area of low pressure behind the object. Vortex shedding and all that. You'll note that cars almost all have a bluff profile at the rear with a defined break instead of rounded rear ends. Obviously a teardrop profile is superior, but a long tail doesn't work in many applications.

A cylinder has the equivalent drag of a streamlined section ten times as large. Hence why early biplanes are so darned slow.

[champguy]

I once reshaped the trailing edge of a sailboat rudder square, with a sharp edge down each side. Took the Class Nationals. It is so much easier to win when your boat is just a little faster than the rest of the fleet.

[jackhodgson]

Another data point.

I saw an article awhile back about studies on the wire wing bracing on early biplanes. They discovered that simple round wire was incredibly draggy. So most biplanes you see have "wires" that, in cross section, are almond shaped.

Jack