bertusgeert

Yes. Absolutely yes. It is foolish for anyone to be in the air and within five miles of a thunderstorm. Yes, aircraft occasionally do this, it's still not a good idea if at all avoidable. Let me refine my question --- I am not talking about anything else besides lightning. I understand the dynamics & dangers of thunderstorms. As far as I understand, a human in an open, flat field is more likely to get struck than any point in the field around him. This is because he presents the path of least resistance for the electrical charge. Now - my question as I intended but was not clear enough to state - is a human & fabric floating around in the air any more likely to get struck than any of the surrounding air? If so, why? --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

Who is smart enough to answer my question --- A paraglider is flying in the vicinity of a developing stormcloud when lightning strikes in the distance. Is he/she in danger, not being close to the ground and simply a suspended object in the sky? --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

WTF is wrong with [Purple]Purple[/Purple] Do you have a sample/example? --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

Sorry - I already have a goat. & Goats & Cows don't go in the same field. --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

Paragliding for a few hours in Arizona sun in the summer...with a black helmet, is not good. Tape & white spraypaint may work but it'll look terrible is my guess. --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

So how do I paint a helmet so it doesn't look like a 5 year old with crayons? I'm talking about a smooth, pro, airbrushed look - of my own design. Where do I get that done? --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

Excellent - I ordered that book recommended. Wikipedia has certainly been good for filling in a lot of gaps for me. The one thing I'm struggling to understand at this point is soundings & what they mean. Trying to interpret pressure, humidity, dew point & understanding how that relates to thermal size/topout. I dream of constructing a weather model in excel over the next few months. Sourcing all kinds of historical data (esp. wind data) to determine averages for time of month & highlighting how this month is different from previous, or even just centralizing live feed information in one place to make better decisions as to where to go fly when I wake up in the morning. --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

Fantastic - thanks. That's what I'm looking for. --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

Thanks, looks like a great site - unfortunately for me it's a little pricey at $186 a weekend. Understandably given the great location. However, I'd rather camp in the woods and drive an hour than be on the beach for that price. --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

Anyone know of a place to camp near Torrey Pines gliderport? --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

What a load of fun... http://vimeo.com/20275350 --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

I'm assembling a first aid kit. Most of the ones on the market are crap, so I'm putting together my own. I'd like to collect your opinion on what to include/exclude. The idea is to make it semi-modular. That is, if I do an afternoon hike with my camelback, I take only essentials (list A). If it's a 4 day hike, I take more serious stuff (list B). Also a kit for my paraglider (C), when I go mountainbiking similar to hiking, for when I go rockclimbing, for travelling, and one I keep in the car. They can all be pieces of the same kit. Any experience with good (or bad) kits? I've been told AMK is good but not optimal. Money is not an issue, this is the kind of thing $20 won't cover. P.S. No, I haven't taken the Wilderness First Aid class yet, although it's on my to do list. --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

Well I've never thought about it that way but it makes sense. In the beginning, there was a big book with your name in it outside that huge gate with it's foundations build solidly on...clouds. With 7Bn people on earth now, that means there must be at least 14+Bn people who have died/will die within the next 100 years. All good, but... That book can't have that many pages, and even the new Excel 2010 only goes to 1,048,576 Rows. That means 1MM rows times 14000 sheets in his "the big book_workbook1.xls". Even God's RAM would struggle with such a workbook. So, what's the next best thing? Split it up, and let slave-children manage your "big book of all names database". --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

I did. I also cancelled Hulu+ when they had shows to watch only for Hulu+ and when I signed up they took it off air. Their ads are also becoming more pervasive, don't tease me for two years and then change your attitude Hulu, I don't take your shit. I have like 40 books I need to read anyways.... --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

100F. BAH! It's the daily average around here. Not that bad. --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

http://www.newsweek.com/2009/03/20/thanks-bono-but-no-thanks.html --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

And how do YOU know so much about how this is done....? --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

You can be a skydiving consultant. You can consult for people who want to do tandems or learn how to skydive........ --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

I'm fairly patient and easy going...until I get spam/crap in my inbox I never wanted in the first place, but got because I bought something or signed up somewhere. I get especially mad when I can't unsubscribe from work, because the damn site is blocked, and I have to wait until I get home. That means I have this one sore email sitting in my inbox the whole time, making me think I have an email from a friend or something, until I glance at it again and get mad all over again. Such is the case with Groupon today. I had to wait until I got home to unsubscribe...and I have to hand it to them, great job taking away my frustration. You just earned some points, LegalSpam (er...I mean, Groupon). This is what I got after unsubscribing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to5znws7mvU --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

Feeding people who can't feed themselves only delays the underlying problem, supporting an unsustainable population. The same goes for healthcare aid. Many examples exist where the absence of aid leads to positive outcomes. The real need is education - to kick-start the process of peoples to take control of their own economic destiny. But then those with education just end up leaving for greener grass. If the local economy could support a competitive salary, that wouldn't be the case. Which boils down to one major issue: corruption & the enforcement of law. If rule of law is present, things are stable enough for business to invest and start creating economic activity - and paying people (doctors, accountants, lawyers) what they're worth, creating more opportunity for this to spread. Point is, as an African, I'd rather you be doing what you're doing than anything else. Good luck with such an ambitious project! --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

yeah obviously this is a joke not actually the beginning, but definitely old. So old they haven't even thought of sitting on planks yet. From what I've heard early inspiration for paragliding came from mountaineers looking for a quick way down the slopes in the alps. Do they have slopes in the NE steep enough for the glideslope of a paracommander?! --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

The more you have, the more you have to worry about. Why are poor people in third world countries some of the happiest people you meet? Where in Africa are you headed, and what's the objective? --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

I remember learning in high school how the pressure systems determine wind direction with Coriolis, and what the ensuing weather will be. Also cloud types and what they mean. That's the forgotten knowledge I am after, and looking to expand. --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

LOL that was an awesome video with the horror movie soundtrack. Yep, this one takes first prize so far. --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

What's a good source to learn more advanced weather interpretation? Wunderground is nice for temp high & cloud cover, but I'm talking about beginning to understand these: http://aviationweather.gov/data/products/swl/ll_12_3_cl_new.gif I'm interested both in the macro patterns, as well as the micro - mostly to predict thermal activity :-) --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei!