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Better than being a Republican. They always go low.

The only reason we have such low temperatures is that we have so many thermometers.

Variable pitch/constant speed props are used because 1) piston engines like to run at a specific speed, 2) you don't want to exceed a certain tip speed at higher speeds (breaking the sound barrier at the tips makes a LOT of noise and drag) and 3) you can't reverse a piston engine to provide beta range braking. Two of those three aren't a factor for electric motors, and if you want to climb, cruise and descend at similar speeds, there's really not much advantage to a variable pitch prop - and a lot of weight, complexity, cost and risk to reduce.

I'm unfamiliar with who has what designs, but the freefliers at the DZ will know what's good and what isn't in your area. The diffusing - might make first flights safer/easier but I'm not an instructor so I could be wrong there. My home tunnel is an iFly 14 Footer. 2 Fan Recirculating design.

Hi Nico, I do not know who makes the one that is punched from steel plate. If you can use a welded version, contact these folks: http://plabsinc.com/1.html Jerry Baumchen PS) They will also make them in various lengths should you want.

Well, it's done. How sad it was to watch 48 Senators behave politically. They would have opposed the nominee regardless of the situation just like with the last two nominees. The end of term nomination discussion was just an excuse. Bottom line is the Constitution was followed. Yes it was unusually fast. Yes the Garland thing was bad and should not have happened. Let's hope that the SC returns to what it's supposed to do, and stop making law. That's the job for Congress and they should get to work. If the ACA is found to be unconstitutional then it should be halted. If that happens then complain to your Congressperson about writing defective legislation.

Hold on to your boots my progressive friends, we are only minutes away from outlawing gay marriage, abortion and voting rights for minorities and women. Every right thinking white male will be able to have their own personal cruise missile and the waterways of the US will be turned into toxic waste dumps. (According to MSNBC anyway). I guess we will just have to wait and see.

I PLF more than most people. In fact, my default landing is PLF, with a standup being a last-minute decision if everything looks perfect. And it's a fairly honest PLF, generally done only when it's a no-wind or downwind landing, so there is some speed. I just don't run out landings any more. Frankly, my depth perception isn't great, never has been, which makes using my backbone/ass instead of my legs be the first point of contact (i.e. sliding) a really bad idea, too. What has this bought me? A dirtier rig than most, and an injury-free jumping career so far. That includes about 500 round jumps (although most of those were standups). I taught PLF's back when I was an instructor, so I do know how to do them, and it's pretty automatic. I highly recommend the skill, and enough practice for it to be fairly automatic. Unfortunately, the most realistic PLF nowadays would be to jump off a moving truck or something, but frankly the injury rate would be too high. And since generally the forward speed is higher than the downward speed, it'd be jumping off a lower platform than the 3-4 feet that we used to use for PLF practice. The practice should't injure you (though I did have a student discover once that she had osteoporosis after breaking her ankle jumping off the PLF platform). Wendy P.