1) The anecdote about flying over Germany: Flotation might be required even if the plane were to slide into a shallow river or lake. I doesn't much matter if the water is 10 feet or 100 feet deep, drowned is drowned. I have it on good authority that Germany has rivers, even in the middle part. Flotation is always a good idea since it can sometimes be difficult to choose exactly where to have a plane crash... which brings us to:
2) The life jackets on a plane aren't stellar. They are likely barely adequate. A tradeoff was made between usefulness as a flotation device and extra weight on the plane. I hear pilots are picky about the extra weight thing. I don't care if they're ziplock bags with straws. It beats nothing at all. The fact that they're yellow and might help rescue workers see me is just an added bonus.
3) Terminal velocity is the constant maximum velocity reached by a body free-falling through the atmosphere under the attraction of gravity. Its where air resistance and acceleration from gravity are in equilibrium, producing a constant speed. This speed is much higher than the stall speed! (The stall speed being the slowest air speed above which a plane will continue flying) That's just nonsense. Why even bring it up?
4) The duck and cover isn't to protect you from the firey mother of all crashes, its to protect you from that oversized tote crammed into your overhead bin by that idiot sitting next to you during emergency maneuvers. (And, I'm told, other misc debris). I've been on a plane where we were asked to do this in preparation for what was expected to be a particularly hard landing due to a nasty crosswind and blustery conditions. In said firey mother-of-all-crashes, the final resting place of your teeth depends very little on their initial position.
Oh and, dilapidated means "run down". (Now I'll grant you, some of the folks I see hoofing it though the airport may fit this description, alive or dead...) He was likely trying for decapitated, as in "without a head". This raises the question: Is the decapitated corpse the best place to be looking for teeth for a dental match? No? Then why bother with the duck and cover?
It would be interesting to ask the guy who sent in the letter about his opinions on the grassy knoll and area 51 as well. Actually, no, on second thought, it wouldn't.
Now, if you will all excuse me, I really must go and remove my tongue from the place in my cheek where it is so firmly planted.
1) The anecdote about flying over Germany: Flotation might be required even if the plane were to slide into a shallow river or lake. I doesn't much matter if the water is 10 feet or 100 feet deep, drowned is drowned. I have it on good authority that Germany has rivers, even in the middle part. Flotation is always a good idea since it can sometimes be difficult to choose exactly where to have a plane crash... which brings us to:
2) The life jackets on a plane aren't stellar. They are likely barely adequate. A tradeoff was made between usefulness as a flotation device and extra weight on the plane. I hear pilots are picky about the extra weight thing. I don't care if they're ziplock bags with straws. It beats nothing at all. The fact that they're yellow and might help rescue workers see me is just an added bonus.
3) Terminal velocity is the constant maximum velocity reached by a body free-falling through the atmosphere under the attraction of gravity. Its where air resistance and acceleration from gravity are in equilibrium, producing a constant speed. This speed is much higher than the stall speed! (The stall speed being the slowest air speed above which a plane will continue flying) That's just nonsense. Why even bring it up?
4) The duck and cover isn't to protect you from the firey mother of all crashes, its to protect you from that oversized tote crammed into your overhead bin by that idiot sitting next to you during emergency maneuvers. (And, I'm told, other misc debris). I've been on a plane where we were asked to do this in preparation for what was expected to be a particularly hard landing due to a nasty crosswind and blustery conditions. In said firey mother-of-all-crashes, the final resting place of your teeth depends very little on their initial position.
Oh and, dilapidated means "run down". (Now I'll grant you, some of the folks I see hoofing it though the airport may fit this description, alive or dead...) He was likely trying for decapitated, as in "without a head". This raises the question: Is the decapitated corpse the best place to be looking for teeth for a dental match? No? Then why bother with the duck and cover?
It would be interesting to ask the guy who sent in the letter about his opinions on the grassy knoll and area 51 as well. Actually, no, on second thought, it wouldn't.
Now, if you will all excuse me, I really must go and remove my tongue from the place in my cheek where it is so firmly planted.