All Activity
This stream auto-updates
- Today
-
That’s a heck of an obituary. I had an SST as a backup rig for awhile in 1979-1980 or so. Wendy P.
-
I believe my son was 22 when he told me he’d never use PayPal because Musk was a flaming asshole who treated too many people too poorly. That was 18 years ago. So I think the asshole thing is genetic. Most of us have one, we just don’t use it to present to world every day as our best side Wendy P.
-
I seem to recall a fairly good size homeless encampment on the river on one visit to the Peg.
-
Hey NickyB... I don't know if you saw this, but Perris flew a couple loads in their jet yesterday and are planning on flying some this weekend. I don't know what that bodes for the future, but I can't imagine them putting the cost and effort into it if they weren't hoping to make it a regular thing. It's a DC-9, not a 727, but it's as close as you're likely to get. They won't do tandems out of it, licensed jumpers only. I would've thought they might want a B or C license, but their Facebook page just says 'licensed'. The first license, A, is at 25 jumps. I don't know if you're still interested in that, but if you are, you should call them and ask what their plans are. If so, it would be time for you to get into AFF classes. Train with us at Elsinore!
-
This just confirms what I have read previously: NASA Director Is Glad Elon Musk Isn't Running SpaceX In an interview with NPR, NASA director Bill Nelson assuages any fears of an unsupervised Elon Musk running a space agency by reminding us that SpaceX is actually run by its president Gwynne Shotwell. Nelson trusts Shotwell to protect SpaceX from Elon Musk’s often irrational fever dreams, and thus to protect the billions of American tax dollars granted to SpaceX in government contracts from his wayward spending, too
-
well I expect women's education to become illegal at some point..... It's the godly way.....
-
already adjudicated and decided upon. Trump gets to appeal it (of course), and will continue to appeal as long as the justice system allows it by favoring rich people over us regular folk. Cannot wait for this to be tied up for months at the Supreme Court, as if it has anything to do with the constitution, but we are in the era of enabling trump at any and every opportunity, so there is that.
-
Even after 3 years I get in my Tesla and it feels like the future. Musk loves innovation, it doesn't have to be just software, and in fact I think he likes innovative hardware more, be it a new efficient rocket motor or re-usable first stage from spacex, or Tesla with its huge castings, fancy heat pump for cabin heat, or just the single screen no gauge cluster design of the 3 and Y. But bring software and hardware innovation together, and that is what SpaceX and Tesla will be remembered for (imho). The idea to put a cell modem in every car paid for by Tesla was brilliant. You don't need android auto anymore or apple car play, b/c you can update the UI yourself. And you can update the rest of the car's software at the same time. And now you can allow people to control their cars from an app on their phone, b/c they can talk to the car even when they are not in the car. Such a simple hardware concept, a modem in every car, but it changed everything.
-
Some people might want to think it could be a major draw for a really big boogie...
-
Certainly DZOs are good at having multiple corporations who own all the aspects of the business (rigging/student/aircraft) etc. I do not think that any of the real owners of the biggest dz's in the US are worried about paying for dinner this week. The Spacelands, Chicago, Arizona etc are not poor starving dzo's like some of the cessna owners might be. -
Well….. they ain’t gonna sell much of that fancy software tech without a fancy automobile to wrap around it. So I’m not really sure where you are coming from on this. In the end the product they sell needs to move people from one place to another. So far no one has managed to do that with VR, so as far as I know they are a car company.
-
John Sherman was ARMY
-
Truly incredible legacy. ------- What happened with the carton of milk?
-
It's new for building cars. Sure, the Impact and the Leaf did it first. And before that, there were a dozen EVs produced back in 1910, from the Phaeton to the Morrison to the Studebaker. But there was no comparison between the Leaf's 24kwhr / 107hp drivetrain and the Model S's 85kwhr / 400hp drivetrain. Or the improvement to that, at 100kwhr / 1020hp. That was cutting edge, and had the very important effect of moving the perception of EVs from "golf carts" to "the fastest cars on the road." And to implement them, you need cutting edge hardware AND software. We are entering an age where the software is the larger part (in terms of effort) of any new design, whether it's a car, a phone or even a spacecraft. That's like saying "thrust is a byproduct of using rockets. Nothing cutting edge about the Apollo program or the space shuttle." Both those programs used existing technology and put it together in new (and very significant) ways. Even if the Saturn 1 had very similar engines, and even if the Space Shuttle was just an extension of the HL-10/M2-F2/Dynasoar programs. The cars are the technology.
- Yesterday
-
mud huts maybe not, plywood and plastic sheets and no running water, absolutely:
-
Aluminum die casting wasn't new, nor hardly cutting edge. Putting a battery in a car or using an electric engine was hardly cutting edge Autonomous driving features are much more software related than car related "endless" torque is a wonderful byproduct of using the electric engine. Noting cutting edge there Highest computing platform...yes exactly what I am talking about. The cars themselves are shit, the technology is cool.
-
I grew up in Indianapolis in the 60's and 70's. I remember Dick Simon as an Indy driver. His trucking company was his sponsor, so the skunk logo was pretty prominent. -
Nice to see. I seriously wondered if they would ever get it back in the air. I never got a chance to jump it when it was flying "before"; I sure hope I get at least one jump out of it now it is back.
-
Hi Steve, I served with him on the TSO Committee for many years. Jerry Baumchen
-
Hi Ken, I think Bill has been a DZO since, at least, the mid-60's. in 1964, Bill and his partner, at the time, Dick Simon ran a dz at Alta, Utah. They hosted the 1964 US Nationals there. I'm not sure when, but Bill did buy the dz at Pope Valley, CA. Dick Simon had left the business by then. Later, Bill moved to Lodi, CA. Some trivia: Dick Simon got into auto racing; he owned a trucking company called Simon Trucking. Their logo was a skunk painted on their trucks; I used to see them a fair amount while going up & down on I-5. Dick Simon raced many times in the Indy 500; he never won but, he was competitive. Thought you might like the trivia on trucking, Jerry Baumchen PS) Dick Simon - Wikipedia
-
John Sherman Obituary Published by Legacy Remembers on May 9, 2024. Skydiving Pioneer, Innovator Dies at 85 Skydiving legend John Berry Sherman (born Engle) was born February 1939 in Chicago to John E Engle, GM engineer, toolmaker and turkey farmer and Sara Jo Berry (Sherman), NBC fashion editor and radio personality. He was raised first on his father's turkey farm before moving to live with his maternal grandparents in Monterey, TN and eventually to North Attleboro, MA. He joined the Army in 1957, serving in Germany as one of the Army's first LRRPs (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) for nuclear target acquisitions. There, he made his first parachute jump in 1958. He attended Tennessee Technical University to study engineering but soon found himself engrossed in the folk music scene of Nashville, leading to a stint as a folk musician. An accomplished guitarist, John made his way out to LA in 1961, rubbing noses with budding folk artists such as David Crosby, Peter Paul & Mary, The Kingston Trio and The Smothers Brothers while living and working at a famous LA nightclub called The Troubadour. He met his first wife back in Nashville where they owned the first folk bar and venue called the Third Floor. He eventually settled down in Michigan, working as an engineer for Chrysler Corporation. He was an early advocate for the turn to front-wheel-drive based architectures including his concept for what would eventually become the K-car-based minivan that Lee Iacocca introduced in 1984, a concept for which he was forever proud. In the late 60's, he was reintroduced to skydiving and became obsessed, often leaving work on a Friday afternoon, driving overnight in his custom Dodge van to a weekend skydiving boogie to jump all weekend and hop back in his van and make it back to the office Monday morning. Tired of jumping old, retired military equipment, as was common in the day and already being an accomplished parachute rigger, he began to experiment with equipment design. John invented the first modern "piggyback" harness/container system to be issued a single-unit certification by the FAA. It was dubbed the SST (Super Swooper Tandem, based on a nickname given to John by legend of the sport Ted Strong), which later became the Racer, revolutionizing the sport. As a leader in the skydiving industry, he introduced new design concepts, such as the pull-out pilotchute, main riser covers, anti-line-strip deployment bags, Teflon cutaway cables, the anti-float bag and container concept, the first truly elliptical main parachute, first tandem system with a 3-point drogue release incorporated into the cutaway handle and countless other safety features that have been emulated by other parachute equipment manufacturers. He was a founding member of the Parachute Industry Association, served as Technical Committee Chairman of the PIA, created the first PIA electronic bulletin board system, including the popular "rec.skydiving" forum on the Internet. John was the first U.S. skydiving competitor to Medal in what was then, all of the disciplines of Speed Style, Accuracy and Relative Work, in National Competition. He was instrumental in introducing Relative Work as part of U.S. National Competition, having written the rules for the original 4-way event. He pioneered Ten-Way Speed Star techniques that are still in practice today, designed the first 3-Dimensional skydives, and was largely responsible for the successful design of the first 200 Way World Record Formation as well as many other monumental skydiving formations. John was meet director for the first Thanksgiving Day "10-Man" Meet in 1969, later the "Turkey Meet". Notably, John has been a teacher and mentor to hundreds of riggers who now serve their skydiving communities around the world. He has trained some of the most successful riggers in the world. Virtually every major U.S. manufacturer has trained under Sherman or has consulted him to improve their products and processes. 1987 he started a new company called Decel and was awarded a grant to redesign the Mid-Air Refueling "Probe and Drogue" system used by the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force. John received a U.S. Patent, for the design, which was to become the NATO standard. John lived many lives, more than most, and like a cat, survived many deaths including a car crash in 1964 where he died for six minutes, a plane crash, several parachute test-jumping incidents, a heart attack in 1990, a stroke in 2021, but ultimately met his match with a carton of milk (he loved milk) from McDonalds. John is survived by his wife Nancy, sisters Patty, Marty & Judy, daughters Margaret (Chase), Eliza Beth (James), son Johnny and grandchildren Quela & Thomas.
-
Assets? Good luck. People who sue DZOs are dreamers. And Bill Dause likely is more of a manager than an owner. I think someone is suing the Boyds as well. They also have no assets.
-
Clearly he has been too successful for his own good and is not fully equipped to handle it.
-
None in mud huts. There are some close to third world conditions on reserves though.
-
Hi folks, A young John Sherman: From The Parachute Manual, Jerry Baumchen
.thumb.jpg.4bb795e2eaf21b8b300039a5e1ec7f92.jpg)
