JerryBaumchen

Hi okalb, Here is the part I like, from your link: "The bill is already proving to be the most massively unpopular thing McCrory has ever passed. The Republican Governor has started backpedaling, trying to brand the bill as “bipartisan” even though not a single state Democrat voted for it. In fact, they refused to even participate in the vote and walked out of the Senate chamber in a display of public protest against the law." Do these people even think before they pass these dumb laws? Don't bother, I know the answer. Jerry Baumchen

Hi rehmwa, It was definitely tongue in cheek. However, on the serious side, who are you to tell me when I can or cannot chat up a woman? After all, it is only between her and I. Jerry Baumchen

Hi folks, This might be an oldie, but what the heck: I'm a guy, she's single... She lives right across the street. I can see her place from my kitchen window. I watched as she got home from work this evening. I was surprised when she walked across the street, up my driveway and knocked on the door. I opened the door, she looked at me and said, "I just got home, and I have this strong urge to have a good time, dance, get drunk, and get laid tonight. Are you doing anything?" I quickly replied, "Nope, I'm free!" "Great," she said. "Can you watch my dog?" Jerry Baumchen

Hi muff, I've been in bathrooms like this in Japan. It was somewhat unnerving the first time, but then you just get used to it. Something about as in Rome do as the Romans . . . . . Plus it makes it easier to chat up a female when you're both washing your hands at the same time, side by side. People need to start looking at the upside of this. Jerry Baumchen

Hi Mark, Works for me. Why make a big deal out of it? As long as each stall can be secured from the inside => easy-peasy. Jerry Baumchen PS) Of course, then the bigots will just find some other way to discriminate.

H Gary, And people wonder why I advocate for getting the FAA out of the parachute business altogether. Jerry Baumchen

Hi John, I'm interested; email coming your way. Jerry Baumchen

Hi Brain, Based upon my experience that is how a ripcord looks after grinding; no solder there. It also is possible to grind then use a wire wheel on it for finishing off the surface. Jerry Baumchen

Hi Paul, One of the student engineers on the Student Rocket Project that I am assisting with is going to work for them next month. Jerry Baumchen

Hi brent, IMO it is not the price you pay, it is the price that our heirs will pay. Jerry Baumchen

Hi Robert, From your link: 'The measure passed unanimously in the Senate but drew five “no” votes in the House, all from Republicans, including Rep. Jennifer Sullivan of Mount Dora, the youngest member of the Legislature at 24.' Once again the R's don't want people having fun. Nothing new there, Jerry Baumchen

Hi Sky, Isn't it interesting who he always seems to be doing that. Jerry Baumchen PS) He never did come up with any posting in which John Kallend was wrong on the facts.

Hi folks, Just found out he died today. Jerry Baumchen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard

Hi Gary, I have been sued ( lost & won ) and have sued ( won everytime ). Also. my son is an attorney, so I do get free legal advice these days. I really doubt that any rigger would ever actually get sued; but then, I have yet to buy a winning lottery ticket. My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off. If I were to ever get sued for packing a parachute over some so-called life-limit, my first efforts would be to depose the local FAA people. Once I had them on record, in accordance with the letter that the FAA put out, I seriously doubt that any plaintiff's lawyer would go any farther. Just my $0.02 on this, Jerry Baumchen

Hi turtle, I have never. I also have never killed anyone. But that does not mean I cannot have views/opinions on capital punishment. Just another wasteful posting by you; along with most of yours. Jerry Baumchen

Hi guys, I do not think there is room; the rocket is only 5" in diameter. Things are very tight in there. AirTec is donating the cutters. Jerry Baumchen

Hi tony, They do not have to respond. They can merely let it go before the court for a decision. They just might be thinking that the judge will dismiss the appeal. Jerry Baumchen

Hi turtle, So, a few weeks ago, when you challenged me about wanting to bet, that was 'just trying to start a discussion?' OK, I get it. Jerry Baumchen

Hi brent, Yup, you're a-dreamin'. Jerry Baumchen

Hi turtle, You hate Hillary. Just more drivel from you, Jerry Baumchen

Hi turtle, Right now, that is somewhat of an unknown. The white spools are 2" in diameter ( ~ 6" circumference ) & it only takes about a 1/4 turn ( 1 1/2" of control line deflection ) to control the canopy. And I do not know the speed of the spools when winding up or winding out. And you can imagine, this is an R & D project for these students; and of course a great learning project. When I met with some of the team down at OSU they mentioned that they want to win this competition. While that would be great, I told them that IMO it is the learning that they will do from here to then is the real learning process, not the winning. Jerry Baumchen

Hi Keith, As I understand it, it will use a self-guiding system based upon GPS coordinates. I have met the guy 'in charge' of the guidance system and he is an electronic type of engineering student. Nice guy, but they speak in languages that are beyond me. He is also the guy who designed the control board to detect altitude & fire the cutters; they are not using AirTec circuit boards, just CYPRES cutters. I talked with my contacts on the team about this, as I was concerned that if they just used the one coordinate, it might just be coming in downwind with lots of forward speed ( from the little that we know, it does look like the 10 sq ft canopy has a lot of speed in full flight ). So I suggested that they use two coordinates, one about 500 ft in the air at a location about 500 ft downwind and a second one which is the very dead center that they want to hit. They told me that they thought this is a good idea and that they are working on it. I'm an old-school ME ( Class of '71 ), this whole new world of electronics is way out of my retired pay grade. Jerry Baumchen

Hi 38, Yes. The design concept is that directly, at or just after apogee, the nose cone will be seperated ( still attached via lanyard ) and the pilot chute will deploy. It will then fall from 23,000 ft in pilot chute fall until 3,000 ft where the two cutters will release the canopy to deploy out from the payload. Jerry Baumchen

Hi folks, Back in September, a local DZO invited me to come out to a boogie that they were having. So I went. While there I met a couple of Mech Engr students from Oregon State University (OSU). Since I'm a retired ME, I got to chatting with them & I wished them well with their studies. In October I got a phone call from one of them. He said that he was part of a team working on a student rocket project that they hoped to enter into an international competition in June 2016. Another student and he wanted to come up and see what I might be able to do, in the way of rigging, to help with their project. The project team is about 15 people and these two, along with a few others, are working on canopy recovery of the rocket. So the two of them came up & we talked about what they wanted/needed and what I might be able to do for them. We talked about making a ram-air canopy for the recovery of the rocket. As I quizzed them, we decided that a 10 sq ft canopy would do the job. I explained what would be a canopy building project and about what I would expect it to take. I gave them an extra square reserve that I had and told them to take measurements for scaling this canopy. A few weeks later they returned and they had a 10 sq ft canopy. They had done their homework and contacted a number of mfrs. This resulted in AirTec supplying a bunch of CYPRES cutters and Aerodyne built them a canopy ( it is the one you will see in the video ) & a free bag and two small pilot chutes. I did some sewing for them & sent them on their way. Another few weeks later they called and said that they had broken a line on the canopy & could I fix it. So I drove down to OSU, looked over their project room, met some other team members, talked to them about deployment altitudes, cutter mounting, loop location within the rocket housing, etc. They had been dropping the canopy from the top of the OSU football stadium to check deployments and had broken a steering line. The line is an extremely small line; since I did not have any of this line, I changed out the entire lower steering lines on both sides with CYPRES loop material. It took a couple of tries, but I got everything dimensionally right on the 2nd effort. A few weeks later they did a deployment test out at the Pacific Northwest Skydiving Center. The first attempt was not fully successful in that the circuit board that was to fire the two cutters on the payload had turned itself off just after loading into the plane. However, we did find that the payload would fall somewhat stable in pilot chute fall ( a smaller version of a tandem in drogue-fall ). The two pilot chutes that Aerodyne had provided were a 12" diameter one and a 10" diameter one. We went with the 12" one. One of the next tests was a steering control test. This is the one that you will see in the video. The white wheels that you see are the spools that wind up & back to control the canopy. One problem that we had to solve was that there is no person to release the brakes once the canopy deploys. A lot of brainstorming resulted in trying a deployment without brakes; and it worked perfectly. One thing you will see in the video is that the jumper ( Connor Kelsay ) is holding a pink device in his hand. That is a 'wrap' that I made for him to hold onto the payload, during his deployment, until he releases his grip then the 'wrap' opens up and away goes the payload. My biggest problem in this project is not taking over & telling them what to do at each step. I have to keep telling myself that this is a learning project for them, it is not for me. However, I am having the time of my life working with them. For me, it is unbelievably satisfying to be around & working with a bunch of eager, smart, soon-to-be engineers. They are the future, folks. Anyway, here is one video; I hope you like it: https://vimeo.com/158157565 They have another actual launch test scheduled for later this month at an amateur rocket site located east of Bend, Oregon. I went over for a previous launch test ( some good, some not so good results ) and plan on going over for this next one; it is scheduled for 29 Apr 16. Jerry Baumchen

Hi folks, Who thinks up these things!!!!!!!!!!!! FAMILY TREE OF VINCENT VAN GOGH (always pronounced as Van GO) His dizzy aunt ---------------------------- Verti Gogh The brother who ate prunes------------- Gotta Gogh The brother who worked at a convenience store ------ Stop N Gogh The grandfather from Yugoslavia ----------- U Gogh His magician uncle ------------- Where-diddy Gogh His Mexican cousin --------------------- A Mee Gogh The Mexican cousin's American half-brother -- Gring Gogh The nephew who drove a stage coach ---- Wells-far Gogh The constipated uncle ---------------- Can't Gogh The ballroom dancing aunt ------------ Tang Gogh The bird lover uncle -------------- Flamin Gogh An aunt who taught positive thinking ------ Way-to-Gogh The little bouncy nephew -------------- Poe Gogh A sister who loved disco ------------ Go Gogh And his niece who travels the country in an RV --- Winnie Bay Gogh I saw you smiling . . .. there ya Gogh Jerry Baumchen