Viewing profile — _moof

> If the sky was clear, as the article states, then lack of GPS is not a good enough excuse for a trained pilot to crash into a mountain, unless the cockpit has no windows. I have …

The "skill issue" is that they chose to press on instead of returning to base. Yes, the jamming was a factor, but making a decision to fly a visual into field surrounded by mountai…

I'm sorry, what? Pilot error is absolutely a factor in contemporary accidents. It's the most common one, in fact, because we've rooted out almost all the other risks.

Not true. You also need an accurate altimeter to fly the intermediate segment, as well as the missed approach segment. There are mountains under the obstacle clearance surfaces on …

It would not be safe at this airport, and the ILS procedure there explicitly forbids it. In the remarks at the top of the approach plate you'll see "When local altimeter setting no…

Lack of GPS was one factor here, but poor judgment was the real killer. Flying a visual approach at night into a field surrounded by unlit mountains is suicidal. There's a saying a…

I do think cancel is a poor example because it's conceptually very near "go back" - but it doesn't actually mean that. It means "I've changed my mind". Implementing cancel with a U…

Turns out immigration in other countries isn't a cakewalk either.

And in a truly twisted move, ad tech companies were also using Do Not Track as part of browser fingerprinting. This industry is a paperclip maximizer, and it needs to be dealt with…

I can't find the source now but an idea that really stuck with me is that evolution happens on the margins. If a 0.0001% increase in the height of a giraffe makes it 0.0001% more l…

Because that isn't what evolution does. Evolution is the process whereby traits that make reproduction more likely under selective pressures become more common. There is nothing in…

No, they're actually the same thing: making an honest assessment of reality. In the first case you're doing so to prevent self-delusion. In the second you're doing so to prevent ot…

> testosterone is linked to social status and mental well being As well as a zillion other things. And "linked" in which direction?

There's a series of platforms where you can see it from progressively higher vantage points.

> Before this, everybody in the industry thought GPS solved the aerial navigation problem. Many people in industry believed this but no one with a brain ever did. The vulnerability…

I'm well aware of the law. I was a full-time flight instructor for years, and the relevant regulation is the first one I taught when introducing students to the regs. But I'm not t…

> Actually, I don't think it's a good idea to bring your politics into a an enclosed pace like this where people are forced to be a captive audience, notwithstanding that I agree w…

Sorry, no, I've worked on multiple launch vehicles and "full duration" doesn't mean anything consistent to anyone actually working on rockets.

From the industry: I would expect to hear "mission duty cycle" in that case. "Full duration" doesn't have a consistent meaning (a fact which is sometimes used to the marketing team…

They blew up LC-36.

> TNT equivalent is defined as 4.2 MJ/kg. It isn't this simple for liquid oxygen and methane mixtures, and there's a great deal of disagreement between industry and regulators over…

So, are you getting your share of the surplus or not? And what exactly does it mean to "compete"?