Huh
Sophomore
"Look deep into nature.."--Einstein
Posts: 105
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Post by Huh on Feb 5, 2012 0:00:31 GMT -5
DN@TMIf you're an aviation fan or a student of WWII, then the new George Lucas film Red Tails might just be for you. Inspired by true events, the movie tells of African-American pilots in the Tuskegee Training Program during WWII. The military had said that black pilots weren't brave enough to fight so they weren't given any important assignments. The head of the program fought for them and finally got them to escort, and protect, a bomber squad (the first of a couple of hundred missions for them). They had to struggle to be treated equally and to be given the right to fight for their country...Lucas spent several years having the film made. He even introduced the actors to some of the original Tuskegee Pilots. He (Lucas) apparently wanted the actors to really bond; he had them spend MUCH time with one another in this his 'grand vision' (to obviously shed light on the disparaging way some have been treated in our country's imperfect past). Red Tails itself includes a lot of airplane fight scenes, but I didn't think that the acting was all that great. I never did get emotionally invested in the characters so when the inevitable "trajedy" struck, I didn't feel as bad as I thought that I should have. Really, the movie was a bit too long. The sequences of war violence, predictably, are rampant; although, it's a nice view of a piece of history. I think that I like the stroy, behind the film, even more than I like the film itself however. *Wait for the DVD, imo. --- For those TRULY into aviation, as 'Vintage' P. Allen is... It's well worth the visit on the So. end of Payne Field, N. Seattle (Everett WA): www.flyingheritage.com/TemplateHome.aspx?contentId=1--- Over the M.L. King Day Holiday the family and I attended a lecture from one of these original "Tuskegees" aforementioned. The Airmen's Lecture took place @ The WA State History Museum (Dwntwn Tacoma, WA)...the "museum district" is also worth the visit should any meander into the PNW.
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Post by azvb on Feb 5, 2012 13:25:22 GMT -5
Saw this Friday night and really enjoyed it. Can't even imagine the skill needed to be a fighter pilot. Do they get sick their first few times doing those flips and just get used to it, or are they "born" with iron stomachs? I can barely go on a ferris wheel .
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Post by OptimusPrime on Feb 5, 2012 14:14:06 GMT -5
Saw this Friday night and really enjoyed it. Can't even imagine the skill needed to be a fighter pilot. Do they get sick their first few times doing those flips and just get used to it, or are they "born" with iron stomachs? I can barely go on a ferris wheel . Born with an iron stomach!
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 6, 2012 10:18:13 GMT -5
FWIW, I don't think I've ever been motion-sick. Ever.
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Post by bigfan on Feb 6, 2012 15:02:36 GMT -5
Do they get sick their first few times doing those flips and just get used to it, or are they "born" with iron stomachs? I can barely go on a ferris wheel . IMO Stay off the ocean and avoid cruise ships!
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Post by TheSantaBarbarian on Feb 6, 2012 19:35:02 GMT -5
My Dad used to fly competitive aerobatics. It's partly an iron stomach but a lot whether you are flying the plane or a passenger. (How many people get car sick while driving a car?)
On a side note, if you ever go flying with an aerobatic pilot, make sure to call it quits as soon as you start to feel a bit queasy. There is a lag on the effect, and if you wait until you feel really sick before you call it, you may find yourself crawling from the airplane to the toilet. My Dad would warn friends who were going up with him about that but there were a few who were too macho to listen, and boy did they pay the price.
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Post by OptimusPrime on Feb 7, 2012 14:02:04 GMT -5
My Dad used to fly competitive aerobatics. It's partly an iron stomach but a lot whether you are flying the plane or a passenger. (How many people get car sick while driving a car?) Very true but only for the pilot.
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Post by azvb on Feb 8, 2012 15:18:04 GMT -5
It's probably more a fear of heights than motion sickness for me. I feel very safe in airplanes - like to look out the window. But you should have seen me at the top of the Empire State Building. I was a basket case.
I've done a loop or two on a roller coaster, but probably doesn't compare to doing it in an airplane (minds out of the guttter, please).
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Post by BearClause on Feb 8, 2012 22:16:49 GMT -5
It's probably more a fear of heights than motion sickness for me. I feel very safe in airplanes - like to look out the window. But you should have seen me at the top of the Empire State Building. I was a basket case. I've done a loop or two on a roller coaster, but probably doesn't compare to doing it in an airplane (minds out of the guttter, please). I wouldn't get closer than 3 feet from the face of Half Dome. Others at the top were dangling their legs. Buildings don't do it for me, although the upper floor(s) at a typical mall freak me out.
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 8, 2012 22:24:45 GMT -5
It's probably more a fear of heights than motion sickness for me. I feel very safe in airplanes - like to look out the window. But you should have seen me at the top of the Empire State Building. I was a basket case. I've done a loop or two on a roller coaster, but probably doesn't compare to doing it in an airplane (minds out of the guttter, please). I wouldn't get closer than 3 feet from the face of Half Dome. Others at the top were dangling their legs. Buildings don't do it for me, although the upper floor(s) at a typical mall freak me out. I have done a lot of mountaineering, but I *hate* ladders and roofs. I will walk along the edge of a cliff 400 feet high, but a roof 10 feet high scares me.
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Post by BearClause on Feb 9, 2012 0:19:13 GMT -5
I wouldn't get closer than 3 feet from the face of Half Dome. Others at the top were dangling their legs. Buildings don't do it for me, although the upper floor(s) at a typical mall freak me out. I have done a lot of mountaineering, but I *hate* ladders and roofs. I will walk along the edge of a cliff 400 feet high, but a roof 10 feet high scares me. Basically I wasn't willing to do this: I've been in places where I knew caution was the operating word. I've been on some trails where there was a serious dropoff. I just can't look sometimes. When I was a kid I didn't have the same fear. For some reason I do now. I mentioned a typical mall. It makes me freak out just in case someone might intentionally push me over (people have been intentionally pushed into moving trains and vehicles) or even that some kids are goofing around and that leads to an accident.
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 9, 2012 0:32:32 GMT -5
You mean the guy in red? That's the first place I would want to walk out to.
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Post by BearClause on Feb 9, 2012 1:42:05 GMT -5
You mean the guy in red? That's the first place I would want to walk out to. Some people go a little futher: Someone actually fell off the face last year. Supposedly screaming until he hit the side and his body apparently exploded on the initial impact after a drop of maybe 1500 ft. Of course his body kept on going until it landed near what they call the "Death Slabs" (climbers make up all sorts of strange names). Nobody knows if it was accidental or perhaps a suicide. There were climbers on the face of Half Dome who witnessed it. Los Gatos Man Falls 2,500 Feet From Half Dome, Dieswww.ksbw.com/news/28963303/detail.html
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 9, 2012 3:00:28 GMT -5
Did they have to add "Dies" to the headline? Surely falling 2500 feet makes that redundant.
Death Slabs is pretty tame as a climbing name goes.
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Post by BearClause on Feb 9, 2012 11:28:54 GMT -5
Did they have to add "Dies" to the headline? Surely falling 2500 feet makes that redundant. Death Slabs is pretty tame as a climbing name goes. The families of the three who went over Vernal Fall last year criticized the National Park Service for not continuing search efforts late into the night in case someone would have survived the impact with the rocks, being dragged along the rocks, and being submerged beneath water for hours. Here's a list of climbing route names: www.supertopo.com/routebeta/yosemite.html"Bring in the Fembots" sounds promising. "Fecophilia" on Manure Pile Buttress is probably the most interesting. Or how about "Drive By Shooting"?
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