martinbg

We like our celebrations long and slowwwww! Busy with development work and stuff. Rifle coaching with cadets this morning. One of mine achieved squadron marksman! Martin

Make sure any kit you buy comes with a controller, not just an on off switch. Otherwise it's either Hot or off. Our jackets come with a controller which can vary between off and 100% and any point in between. Martin

He's also exempt from ICAO "rule 5" and "dropping of articles from aircraft" Doesn't need to speak to air traffic even over London, although NORAD do track him. But he does carry a navigation light which would imply he is actually a balloon! A single, steady red light up front.

All As the weather is colder we have secured a deal with a major US manufacturer of heated jacket liners. They either come as 65W of heat or 100W of heat. The liner heats the front and back of your body along with your arms and neck. £159.99 inc vat. (plus postage). Increase the amount of time you can spend in the air at this time of year. You can power it from your motor or our 12V 7.2Ah battery pack. Link to our website below and click on the heated clothing page. Online ordering. MartinBG

I'm still concerned about your next professional flight. I can see Heathrow experiencing it's first JBATO! jet balloon assisted takeoff See you at the field sometime. Martin BG

Now how about live weather, clouds and stuff!!! Watch this, check for google earth update in google earth Help/check for updates online (update if required) Once updated, in the layer panel on the left hand side find the weather tick box under primary database and zoom out for the weather view. How cool is that????? MBG

I've been feeling like that since the party! MBG

Having looked further into the reports I would note the following: 1: It is not necessary for the carabiner to open under flight loads for it to be a problem. If there is any "free play" of the gate under flight loads then it will be like flying with an open carabiner. Absolutely rubbish for its fatigue life. 2: The flight loads whilst performing a spiral can vary from 20Kg to 120Kg so test each carabiner at 20Kg to see if the "free play" exists. If it does don't do spirals. 3: The best carabiners are the ones with little or no "free play" which effectively become solid under a low load i.e. the "free play" is zero. This is what the DHV mean by "activation by gravity". As Francis rightly points out the Finsterwalder Charley pin lock carabiners overcome this issue, but were subject to their own safety notice about two years ago due to a manufacturing fault. This will have been fixed now. They must be checked for security of the pin before each flight. Wear of the pins will also show up as either "free play" or a bent pin (which will be almost impossible to get out of the carabiner). We can get a bulk order together if people wish to order them as we have a supply deal with the manufacturer. or Hope this helps. Martin

That depends entirely on the wing and weight range of it. It will also depend on the type of risers fitted to your current wing. So to summarise, it depends. Can you give us your wing type and size? Martin

Heated jackets are available to order now! Includes heated neck and arms. MBG

Blimey, doesn't he fly fast!

I always find the pilots eye view makes me feel sea sick. If the pilots are going to film a particular view in this way a very steady head is needed if only for a short period. I was given a DVD last week which shows the DHV testing regime on Nova wings (it's more about the testing than Nova) and even the free flight guys soaring with the camera attached to their harness were achieving a wobbly shot at best. When they were doing tests by collapsing part of the wing, the view becomes very disorientating. Head cam shots and the like always make for interesting "bits" on a program. Martin

As suggested by RAF paraglider instructors last week. If you see a fast jet / helicopter coming towards you your best course of action is a) keep turning so that they have a better chance to see you b) land before they get to you (at least you will be in control of the landing) As Francis said, they might not change their flight plan but they will try to give a better look out in that area. The RAF method of looking out is excellent so I would choose option a) probably closely followed by b). If a fast jet has seen you they will climb (hard depending on separation), roll inverted to keep you in sight, and then roll upright and carry on once past your position. They will climb into cloud if necessary, although they won't be able to see you, they will judge when its safe to come back down. I've also seen them do this when I was ridge soaring in a glider at long mynd. Alternatively, fly higher than 1000' AGL (above ground level) and most military stuff will be below you by a considerable margin (500' +) Martin Notification should be at least 2 hours, preferably 4.

You would land very quickly, if not that gracefully.

Are these the grassy fields just between the ridgeway site and the christmas party village? on the right as you head away from Lambourn?

This sort of thing is exactly why you shouldn't go to the pub at lunch time!

v23nb wrote >My reasons for this are: >1. under high g situations it might not be possible to lift your hands behind >your head to reach the handle. Ian you are correct in your statement. This is exactly the reason why no new ejection seats have the overhead handles as the older ones did (if they are there it is only as a last ditch back up). The main handle is between your legs. Even at 2g you will initially struggle to move your arms, now imagine moving them at 8g. Martin

It fits with the rest of the site format. As someone else wrote in another post, if the general stuff stays out in the main site, and club specific sits go into the relevant club then it should work fine.

The link was in before I asked the question.

Why does that help Google find us?????

It's a big thanks to Norman for being the club "Graphics Guru" Martin

Thanks Simon. I used the one Norman did for me first (thanks Norman) and then shrunk it so it would fit in the header (450 wide from memory). I then stuck it on our www.radparamotors.com as a host and just put it in as an off site avatar. It's much too big according to the upload rules but seems to work. Martin

Forging would be the way to go, not casting.

Children's charities will always get good results. Air ambulance as well. I do a lot of work with "Flying Scholarships for the Disabled" but as the task is foot launched it may seem inappropriate. www.toreachforthesky.org.uk Having said that, comments on what is and isn't foot launched has got me thinking about arguing that someone in a wheel chair should be considered "foot launched" as the wheel chair wheels could be considered as their "feet".

For those who didn't follow Norman's link to have a nose around. I found this http://www.parafun.be/movies/other/ilovesky.wmv I found it most amusing! Martin