This complaint is nothing new. About a year ago there was a thread on this forum
about how boring AFM has got. The webmaster even posted a thread asking for suggestions which didnt seem to do anything. In my opinion these forums have
become a sort of online AFM magazine with people posting interesting pics and storys about their local aviation encounters. Maybe the plane spotters here should spend more time taking photos instead of copying down seriel numbers and then we could start seeing some good material here about military aviation.

alex- Is that where you roll dice and play on a playing board with a grid of octogons? I think you were born to late as you missed the heyday of these games. What about computer RPGs? Thats the next thing I plan to get into as far as pc games. Ive heard good stuff about Myst and Final Fantasy.

Hey rabie, I sent a pic to your yahoo address for reducing. I want to mention there is a way to recieve hotmail emails on your hard disk so you dont have to worry about going over your space limit. I was told you right clic on the in-box, select new folder and give it a name, and then messages will be sent there. Havent got it to work yet though.

It should be mentioned that IBM first approached Gary Kildall the designer of the CP/M OS to make their pc OS but Gary who was into private aviation at the time decided to go flying instead, and that was the end of that. Many say that DOS is a cheap hacker copy of of CP/M. These are some of the OS inovations of Gary Kildall:

– He introduced operating systems with preemptive multitasking and windowing capabilities and menu-driven user interfaces.

– Through DRI, he created the first diskette track buffering schemes, read-ahead algorithms, file directory caches, and RAM disk emulators.

– In the 1980s, through DRI, he introduced a binary recompiler.

– Kildall defined the first programming language and wrote the first compiler specifically for microprocessors.

– He created the first microprocessor disk operating system, which eventually sold a quarter million copies.

– He created the first computer interface for video disks to allow automatic nonlinear playback, presaging today’s interactive multimedia.

– He developed the file system and data structures for the first consumer CD-ROM.

– He created the first successful open-system architecture by segregating system-specific hardware interfaces in a set of BIOS routines, making the whole third-party software industry possible.

I have to agree with drrogerdagghest, the spin is an aerobatic manuever that should be taught in an aerobaticly rated aircraft by an instructor fully experienced in aerobatics and the physcis of a spin. Yes I say physics. Did you know that engineers that design and test aircraft DONT fully understand the reasons that cause and effect spins? The spin is a dangerous manuever, a sort of vertical barrel roll and not recovering properly can cause a spiral dive or a deeper more unrecoverabel spin. Lets face it, the PPL is
for people who want to fly a plane from point a to point b, and except for stall training, the whole idea of that training is to fly in a way that avoids problems, not to fully understand the limits of the capability of an aircraft. If you stall or spin at low altitude, the place that its most likely to happen, your dead, thats it, stall or spin training goes with you into the ground.

The 152 is definately an efficient plane, but I dont think it climbs very well because it has a fixed pitch prop optimized for high speed. Ive never flown a 172 but I know it has a variable pitch prop and a plenty powerful engine. Anyone care to compare the two?

ewenT- coanda mentions in the spin thread that hes done military type flight training for which the view in a highwing is not suitable for the extreme manuevers which they do. I think thats what he meant by his statement.

Originally posted by Viper01

I’ve perceived rumors indicating that Tom Clancy has employed a support team assigned to provide him with assistance during the writing processes. Can anyone confirm or contradict this assertion?

Regards,

Viper01 [/B]

I heard that when Clancy wrote Hunt for Red October he had a Navy guy proof read it and edit out all the inaccurate parts (deleting entire pages at times) and then provided accurate technical senarios to replace it, hence it became a hit for its realism. I personally dont see why anyone would read fiction war novels as war history itself has no shortage of drama. I will mention one good one though which is Das Boot by Lothar Gunter Bucheim. He served on U-boats and so his book gives a realistic look at what it was to fight in these boats. The depth charge attacks are particularly well written as the sonar operater gives out heading and movements of attacking destroyers
and the Captain reponds with headings
to the boat. You really get a 3-D picture of the manervering and it gives an excitement to the idea of comanding ship.