Some educated speculation from FlightGlobal:

"Crews taking off from military bases like Bagram in hostile territory normally plan to climb at the maximum climb angle, to put them at the greatest height above ground level achievable by the time they cross the airfield boundary. This entails a high nose attitude that is maintained for longer than normal, rather than trading climb angle for greater airspeed to make the aircraft easier to handle and safer in the event of an engine failure.

In this film there is no clear visual evidence of a missile travelling toward the aircraft, nor of the explosion or fire that a missile would cause if it were to detonate.

The risks of a maximum angle of climb departure are many. If an engine fails very soon after take-off there is a lower airspeed than normal. Slower speed reduces the rudder authority that keeps the aircraft straight and lowers the margin above stalling speed. In the event of an engine failure it is essential for the crew to push the nose down fast to maintain a safe speed with the lower power output.

Another major risk is that if any cargo is not adequately secured in the hold, the high climb angle will cause the payload to slide backward. This could unbalance the aircraft and cause the nose to pitch up, possibly overwhelming the elevator authority available to the pilots if they attempt to push the nose down."

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/video-flightglobal-expert-analyses-bagram-747-crash-sequence-385338/?cmpid=SOC|FGFG|twitterfeed|Flightglobal

Missed the boat a little, but for those who want to read the most intelligent summary of the salient scientific considerations associated with abortion, have a read of an article by Carl Sagan himself (co-written by Ann Druyan). Absolutely thought provoking and relevant: http://2think.org/abortion.shtml

Yeah, he used a CO2 canister-based pump. Very handy for quick changes, but you need to be careful to do as he do and aim upwards when inflating (downward facing = greater chance of freezing inner tube - from experience). Note: Depending on temperatures and canister size (12g, 16g etc), CO2 canisters often only get you back up to 80-90PSI, which may or may not be enough for your setup


This was a great (and impressive) display. As someone who has changed HUNDREDS of flatties, my ramblings, FWIW:
- The tyre/rim combo can often mean removal (and reseating) of the tyre is a PITA, due to slightly small ID tyre bead and slightly oversize RIM OD. Inevitably this requires n+1 tyre levers, with n being the number you have in your pocket (tip: wheel quick releases make good emergency tyre levers at a pinch)
- 30 seconds spent identifying/removing source of puncture (glass/wire/thorn) saves many minutes of rework when you get another puncture a minute later from the bastard wire strand you didnt look hard enough for
- always carry a patch kit (or 1-2 of the self-adhesive sticky instant patches). Two punctures on one ride is rare but it happens and being stranded out of cell coverage then trying to peel off bar tape to seal a puncture is a way to ruin a good ride
- Replace old tyres. There is an exponential growth curve that describes the relationship between tyre age to incidence of punctures. Old tyres are the single most effective way to spend lots of time on the side of the road yelling

@Ornthoron - touche!

If you are going to fold an ISO sized piece of paper, you made it so far - you are almost at metric anyway - why revert to imperial!

I dunno - IMHO the ultimate sucker punch being from out of view/out of nowhere. I kinda thought the guy in this vid gave the guy a tap to say :hey, here I am, someone new to the scene", before he punched him. It seems a little bit more...honourable?

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public

(you basically said this anyway shinyblurry, but I like the way the t-shirt quote says it)

....just like the other three fucking films

Is slightly surreal that this is all going on less than 5km from where I live (again)...and I see it all on Videosift first!!

{edit} And if you didn't get goosebumps watching the last 10 seconds there's something wrong with you {/edit}

Re: fake/publicity - I tend to agree. I am leaning towards a Joaquin Phoenix/I'm Still Here setup. How about "Charlie shone; Sheen is Past Tense" (that works on 10 levels and zero levels simultaneously). Wow. Brain explosion.

As Dan and Terry say, "it gets better".

The magic starts at 1:00 if the build up is taking too long.

Poor form. At 10s you can see some poor person in the background outside, running for their life; the only reasonable conclusion to draw is that they are about to join one of the many tens of thousands killed.

Too soon to mock people for the way they vocalise their terror?

Fuckin-a it is.

{edit] Many people running for their lives outside.

@10:25 "Thank God...for making me an atheist".

Amen to that brother!

So, where is people's money - are the two missing front teeth a) baby teeth naturally running their course, or b) a failed nollie 360 hardflip...?

Count-down clock counts up.

Reproductively speaking, there can't be to much variance in the chromosomes for successful mating. A rat can't mate with a human for example

Although what you say is 100% accurate, I think that chromosomal variance is not the biggest reason that such a union cannot be consumated...