JohnMitchell

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Everything posted by JohnMitchell

  1. JohnMitchell
    Why? I don't know. They just didn't.
  2. JohnMitchell
    Wow, the years have flown by. . .
  3. JohnMitchell
    Yep, approach controls use primary radar much more than center (enroute) controllers, which I was. It's very possible jumpers could show up on radar. Someone mentioned birds showing up on radar. That's actually correct and I should amend my earlier statement about flesh and bone not reflecting radar. It's rare to see bird flocks but not unheard of. Most of my time was spent ignoring primary radar unless a particular blip starting leaving histories like an airplane. Called a couple of those that were a big surprise to the pilots.
  4. JohnMitchell
    We had a replacement mail carrier for a few days and a few of your letters may have been "return to sender"-ed. Let me know it that happens to you. I'll get you in the raffle by this Friday for the Saturday night drawing. Sorry for any inconvenience. John
  5. JohnMitchell
    I was an enroute controller, and we relied mostly on secondary radar, which reads encoded transponder signals from aircraft. Without an active transponder, you're invisible. Primary, or raw radar, reads the echoes off any reflective target. Reflectivity is a function of not just size, but shape, of the metal object ( Flesh, cloth, etc. tend to just absorb microwaves, I believe). The square sides of the old school video packs would make a good radar reflector, I'm sure. Ripcord housings and kicker plates, I don't know. Another thing is that enroute radar cancels out non-moving ( across the ground) targets, so skydivers would be considered ground clutter and deleted from most displays. I've worked a number of jump operations over the years and never really observed any skydivers on radar. Shorter range radar used by approach controls are more sensitive to primary (raw) radar returns. I have little experience with those. Any tower pukes out there have different experiences with this?
  6. JohnMitchell
    Can't say I understand it, but I wish I could have taken him on a sunset tandem and given him something to live for.
  7. JohnMitchell
    Sunset skydive with the woman you love? It don't get no better than that.
  8. JohnMitchell
    Dunno. So many of us are firearms enthusiasts but there are some sensitivities to guns in this forum. Put up a fire fighting video.
  9. JohnMitchell
    Stumpy, Jimmy, great pics. Rick, I never seen that .22TCM before. Looks like a pretty hot round.
  10. JohnMitchell
    Looks like this is the downside of the GoPro-YouTube generation. Stupidity can spread like a wildfire anymore. Moms, tell your kids not to be stupid.
  11. JohnMitchell
    Hell yeah!
  12. JohnMitchell
    Remember, kids. Mind expanding drugs . . . don't.
  13. JohnMitchell
    Damn, I'm starting to feel my life is boring after seeing all these new posts. Soon as I sell some more real estate, V and I plan some new adventures.
  14. JohnMitchell
    FUNNY?! Was it Funny when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor??? Heck NO! And we didn't quit then!
  15. JohnMitchell
    Shouldn't you shave your head and transmit all this over shortwave radio from your jungle camp in Laos?
  16. JohnMitchell
    That picture is way too small for a pretty girl like you.
  17. JohnMitchell
    One week to go until the drawing. Thanks to all of you buying tickets. PM me, of course, if you need more info. You can also buy tickets online at LeapforLupus.org . Thanks.
  18. JohnMitchell
    You ain't shovin' hard enough.
  19. JohnMitchell
    I liked it.
  20. JohnMitchell
    Super sick work. It's already been pasted to my FB page by a friend who saw it and thought of his skydiver friend. Congratulations on such a cool accomplishment.
  21. JohnMitchell
    Livin' the life. I haven't been on a slalom ski in years. Just a little jealous.
  22. JohnMitchell
    No clue, but Dornier of some sort??
  23. JohnMitchell
    I'm not a perfect parent, but I tried really hard. It sucks to see good kids ruined by bad parenting.
  24. JohnMitchell
    It ain't rocket science. We actually had one of our kids, after babysitting a very spoiled child, come home and thank mom for not raising her like that.
  25. JohnMitchell
    This right here. Never give in to a whining, bratty kid. It just reinforces the behavior.