3...2...1...POP!

For the Hiller Aviation Summer Camp, I've been testing various film canister rockets today, and here's the verdict:

• Alka-Seltzer and water work much better than vinegar and baking soda (more vinegar than baking soda works well, about 8:1 in volume), and less disgusting, and you can reuse the A-S pill immediately since not the whole pill is dissolved in one shot, and water is much more ubiquitous, and your mom
• Don't even bother with the black film canisters; the white semi-transparent/opaque ones with ridged lids (below) work much better because they don't leak and allow more pressure to build up inside
• Go to any camera/photo-processing store and ask for these canisters
  
  
  Have fun.

I'm in the SF Chronicle!!!

What does it feel to see your name in the newspaper? Weird.

15 minutes

When's the last time I got interviewed by a reporter from a major newspaper? Oh....let me thi.... Never. So how could I turn it down when C.W. Nevius asked me about helping him with a piece on the physics of Superman?
"Hi this is Chuck Nevius from the Chronicle..."
"Excuse me, who is this again?" I didn't say that I only read NYTimes online, and occasionally CNN. I = stupid.
On the drive home, my mind was racing faster than the traffic on 101 S (ummm...ok). Physics of Superman, I better not say something grotesquely wrong and end up being ridiculed by my peers. Stories of publicly derided scientists trickled into the cracks in my skull. Now that I think about it, I had nothing to worry about. Not only is Chuck a great guy to talk to and that I (nervously) enjoyed every minute of our conversation, I remembered that I wasn't even that great of a physics student, so what reputation do I have to uphold?!
Some highlights of my contribution, or rather, what still remains in my mental flash memory (emphasis on flash):

• Physicists are once again playing with the anti-gravity term that Einstein erroneously put into his equations, maybe the Kryptonians worked that out already and incorporated into their biology, allowing them to fly so freely.
• If gravity was stronger on Krypton, so that Kryptonians just developed insanely strong muscles, then we should've sent the U.S. soccer team to Krypton.
  
• Clark Kent was only a 2nd class Superman since he picked up buses over his head horizontally, thus allowing for easier balance. The 1st class Superpeople picked them up vertically over their head in a less energetically stable arrangement.
• In order for his X-Ray vision to work, Superman had to radiate X-Ray on the target and then run behind them to capture the resultant image, thus if you slow the movie down frame by frame, in some frames he should not be there because he's on the other side.
  
• If Superman actually traveled at the speed of light around the Earth and then came back, not only would Lois still be dead, but the entire world would've disappeared due to time dilation.
  
• The legacy of Superman is alive and well as part of the U.S. Air Force's "Superman Drill" tradition.
  

I can't believe we kept a straight face while seriously talking about the physics of Superman. Anyway, the piece comes out on newsstands tomorrow, and Chuck wanted to read my review of the movie after I see it today. Imagine my excitement. I can hardly breathe, and I'm still on Earth.

Culmination

Six years. That's 1/4 of my life. And so it came and went, with all the laughs and tears and late night stomach aches from too much caffeine. Finally, I'm a Stanford student no more. Right now, I honestly can't say that my Stanford years have been the best years of my life or that I'll miss this campus that much, but along the way, roads were paved and razed and paved again, so I'd say the journey was more fulfilling than the destination.
June 15-18 was the culmination of so many things: 4 years of service to the Air Force's up-and-coming, 2 years of fighting Matlab, a 6-year-old fairytale. It was nice to have most of the family and some friends around, though not always soothing or convenient. I'll let the pictures tell the stories, but just remember that in front of cameras, everyone smiles.

I ain't got no Permanence

It's not my fault. I didn't choose to have a three-month gap between commissioning and actually reporting to Edwards. I didn't choose to have to look for a day job from June to September. It's not my fault. Blame it on the AF.
I'd say today was my first *real* job interview 'cause talking with the manager at A.G. Ferrari's about possibly restocking their shelves just doesn't really have the same edge, no matter how good their cheesecakes are. Being lightly grilled by engineering gurus was just...different. Like Neo, I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin.
"So, after we've briefly introduced our program to you, why don't you tell us about yourself."
"Ok, I'm a Stanford at student..."

'nuff said. I'll get ready to start shelving.

Fun with Big Propellers

You almost don't see them any more on most commercial flights, and the birds are all the more thankful. Of course, you'd be more thankful, too, if you knew that there's a non-zero chance that any blade on a spinning propeller is eligible for a sudden end-of-career separation from the shaft. And if it's not nicely contained in an engine nacelle partially designed with just this concern in mind, it would quite happily slice through the cabin and anything contained therewithin like Wallace's knife through cheese. Aren't we a tad vexed, Gromit?
El Prezo Busho and his entourage decided to stop by campus the other day, arriving and departing via Sand Hill IM Fields. Forrest and I waited two hours before the squad of Marine Ones (modified Blackhawks) and one modified H-53 (for the groupies) landed and took off from the lightly guarded corner of Stanford. I heard the protestors prevented him from getting to Hoover. Good job. If he only cared. Hint, hint. He Doesn't, and neither do I. I couldn't finish my homework because of this, but when's the next time El Prezo visits my campus? More importantly, when's the next time I'll see Marine One? Anyway, Blogger is being stupid and I can't upload some of the pictures, so why don't you check them out.
After waiting a few years (you think I'm kidding), my rendevous with the Pavehawk, the most kick ass CSAR airframe, finally came to pass Tuesday night. Check it out here. The next night, Downey and I annoyed the 129th again and got on the C-130, but no pictures. Just imagine weaving through a valley, less than 500 ft off the ground so the peaks around you are at eye level. Yeah, you understand. No, you don't really understand. Pure kick ass. No one yakked. More kick ass.
Next time you slice that cheese, just think about it. Respect the props.

Though I Can't On Wounded Knee

You laid out all the soups on the counter, so I wouldn't have to reach for them in the cupboard. You knew I'd be fine--though confined--alone on this rainy day, yet you still wanted to stay. My sausages and eggs were perfect, without a finger lifted. You looked at me and listened in a way I never could and still owe you. For these alone, I gladly take thee. In sickness and in health...in sickness and in health...but you've already fulfilled that promise.
The wedding band arrived, and we both love it. Worry not that it is so small; you've bound me with much more.