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Just talked to my father, also a Naval Officer and Vietnam Vet. He was confused about my assumption that he's an expert on Trump's Charlottesville comments but wants to verify whether I'm arriving on Friday or Saturday morning so they can make dinner plans.

My new favorite Q post (linked picture) (For those unfamiliar with this whole silliness, "Q" was kicked off of 8Chan recently, and now back on 4Chan, where they started, there are tons of people posting as "Q". It's kind of hilarious, really, because some of the predictions are clear troll parodies, but some Qultists are still chasing that dragon...) My personal contribution: [D]ecls hOt suMm[E]r Trump will mention Kevin Wash your hat Trust the ProcEss WYSIWYG When Trump mentions someone named "Kevin", anything happens involving a "dome", or anything happens - or happens to - something that could be abbreviated TPE (in the last two cases, note the capitalized letters), I'm going to declare myself the one true Q.

Perhaps you should read, carefully, the SCOTUS decison (written by Scalia) in the Heller case. It makes it very clear that prohibitions on certain types of firearms, and on ownership by certain classes of people, and in certain locations, are quite constitutional.

It's valid but there is also a point of diminishing returns. I've built PC's like that but I've also jumped for years with out them. Is it worth it? Maybe in base? It's certainly necessary in some of the systems I work on but that's so far out side the skydiving envelope that I question whether it's relevant. Lee

And your argument is just the typical one the NRA makes. Like them you just don't have the guts to come out and just say it. Namely, "it's too bad about all the deaths, especially the kids, but it's worth it so that we can have our killing machines". Everyone's gotta die sometime.

„How to train your dragon 2-3“

So does freedom of the press only apply to newspapers & pamphlets printed on movable type? Does freedom from search and seizure not apply to computers or smart phones? Or telephones at all for that matter? Do any of our constitutional protections only apply to the technology of 1776?

That is one of the ways young girls end up deciding to go through a vegetarian phase. Lasted about 10 years for mine. She saw a butcher shop with hanging sides of beef.

And I am fine with that. For the majority of gun use, a gun malfunction means the deer or piece of paper doesn't have a hole in it, no big deal. No secondary users, only one person can unlock the gun. Selling would require manufacturer input to change biometrics. I think that is exactly why it could work. Smart guns could have the ability to simply not be allowed to work within certain areas, or only authorized smart guns can work within those areas.

Thing one - You got your reserve out and landed safely. Things you didn't do: Fight it too long. Think that because it was flying 'ok' with no toggle input that it would be ok to land. Not pull the reserve handle (some folks trust the RSL and don't - bad idea). Get hurt. I agree that not peeling the velcro is 'bad form', and could have resulted in issues, but it worked. I also agree that not looking for the reserve handle is 'bad form' and could have been a problem, but you found it and pulled it. I also agree that losing a handle is a minor issue. Keeping them is ideal, but not required. Things you did: Kept your head and evaluated the situation. Made the decision to chop before it was too late. Landed safely. You are now on the ground and engaging in the extremely important and useful action of 'after action report'. Evaluating what you did right, what you did wrong, and how to make the next time go better. You have enough recollection of the event to make that a fruitful process. As you noted, you can learn and so can others. And last but not least... Was this your first cutaway???

About the only lesson Trump U taught us is that calling a fraudulent operation a "university" does not make it one.

So, I had to research "Praeger University". Which turns out to be not a school of any sort, but a right wing Utube video factory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PragerU

A while ago I saw Steve Cortes on CNN trying to argue that although slavery was a "black mark on American history" it wasn't so bad because even as slaves Africans had more rights than minorities did anywhere else in the world. I figured anyone who could argue that without throwing up in their mouth had nothing of any value to say, ever. Don

Agreed. I don’t think the hysteria is any more productive than “Those who would claim that controlling those types of weapons is just the beginning of a larger effort to remove more and more killing machine rights? Well, they are correct, it is.“. I would be ok with more regulation if it made a meaningful impact. I do want the current laws enforced vigorously. I do want a felon that attempts to purchase a firearm prosecuted. I do want a program that keeps firearms out of the hands of anyone with mental health issue(s) that doesn’t discourage them from seeking treatment. I am against doing something (ANYTHING!) just to say something was done. For example, the magazine and universal background checks here in Colorado. I believe we are all on the same side. I don’t know anyone that wants mass shootings. I know I don’t. Where we get divided is how to go about reducing/eliminating them. This has been a large part of my thinking on the topic. We all agree on where we want to go, just not how to get there. I think if we keep that in mind, the conversation can move forward. Derek V

If you don't know the technical difference between a BASE jump and a skydive, you should not make the jump. signed: Grumpy old grey-bearded Master rigger

This man, what can I say... I met him so long ago in Gainesville, instantly fell in love with him! 26 years later still in love with him! Love of my life... This was truly the worst day of my life, in seconds, one of the best pilots I know, my best friend, my PIC (half the time my partner in crime and the other half my pilot in command), my partner in every aspect and my husband, what can I say my everything... Gone! I will forever and always love you Scotty! Hey Asshole.... Him.... Is It Over... Quote: “I would rather die burnin on a skydive or from a plane crash, then from some senseless tragedy....”

Finally got permission to post some video from the latest flight. It was only moderately successful. Loss of GPS was the reason the flight terminated early. So it was an early abort and only made it to like, 92,000 ft. We still had quite a bit of fuel on board so we were a bit fast on opening. With the new slider it was still under 5 G's. The body was less stable under the drogue then before because with the new cutter arrangement we are not locked into the center of the body as we were before. It's a trade off for redundancy with the two cutters. Interestingly the rocket body tended to oscillate under canopy. My best guess is that it was from the changes to the angle of the risers. For lack of a better term it changed the spring stiffness and I guess the drag on the fins just fit right in with the natural frequency. You can use the hand in the video to move the view around. Up and down to look at the body of the rocket. It's a 20 inches in diameter. 34 ft long. Liquid fuel, Alcohol/LOX. Gimbaled engine. Cold gas ACS thrusters in four quadrants, high rate/low rate at the top and bottom. You will see the launch. It is flying with just the gimbled motor. You will see it pick up some rotation. It reaches a high enough RPM that the computer decides to turn on the ACS and stop the roll. We try not to do that unless necessary to conserve He for tank pressurization. The roll stops. Eventually after 20 sec with out GPS the computer shuts down the engine and aborts the flight. During that 20 sec it was flying on the INU. Now the ACS comes on to maintain the stability of the rocket. Because it was such a low flight with the early abort the nose cone fires at appagy. and the ballute comes out. Then the Main opens. The AGU unstows the breaks by pulling in on the control lines and then lets out to full flight. It makes some turns flying back to the landing area. For some reason the AGU was chasing that oscillation under canopy. You can hear it. There is no gyro in the unit. The only explanation I have is that the GPS must have been far enough off center for it to pick up. Wamore can filter that out. On the down wind leg it burned out it's motors and was not able to turn base and final. It landed down wind with no flare in a skidding slide. Although we had some small payloads on board it was mostly a test of the new control software. It produced some very good data for them to tune the control loops. The ACS worked well but was over active. They need to turn it down, change the setting between high and low rate, expand the dead band, etc. All in all we are calling it a successful test even though it was an early abort and did not make altitude. We got good control data and had an acceptable recovery with no significant damage to the rocket. Thanks to all the usual charterers. The canopy is a Strong Enterprises C-1200. They have been very supportive over the years and have provided us with all of our parachutes. The AGU was built for us by Wamore. Mark has been a big supporter and has gone over and above traveling out to most of our launches to help us on sight. If you don't know them, they are the builder of the control units for all the military precision guided parachutes. Thanks to Aerodyne. We have gone to cutters for the drogue release but their oval shaped rings are still used in the three ring releases for the break lines and have in the past flown to over 300,000 ft. Those are the people you might know. Z+ https://youtu.be/mXiNKGViTt4 Z- https://youtu.be/JHJxgW5uAys Their should be a more polished edited video out soon but I prefer the raw. Enjoy. Lee Lee lee@velocitysportswear.com www.velocitysportswear.com

May I suggest laying the (flaked) canopy on the ground, then covering it with a square yard (square metre) of thick carpet to squeeze the air out while you flake the second canopy? Even better are the perferated heavy rubber mats used in machine shops.