It looks like Tsu will be flying in a MIG

[Ivan Seeking]

Here's another one that I would like to do before I'm too old.

Formula One racing school
http://www.jimrussellusa.com/racingcourses/racingcourses.php

 

[Evo]

You know, any day that I go to bed with the same number of body parts that I woke up with, I consider a good day. I don't dare tempt fate.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Well, if you don't like the high speed stuff, maybe http://travel.discovery.com/fansites/worldsbest/sharkdive/sharkdive.html is more to your liking.

 

[Evo]

Well, if you don't like the high speed stuff, maybe http://travel.discovery.com/fansites/worldsbest/sharkdive/sharkdive.html is more to your liking.

..

 

[Cyrus]

That race car school looks cool. But for $4k, I would learn how to fly instead.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There are much cheapers programs available. That is a pretty serious course - more than I intended to reference. That last time I checked, you could do a two day course for something around $1k or less.

 

[Evo]

There are much cheapers programs available. That is a pretty serious course - more than I intended to reference. That last time I checked, you could do a two day course for something around $1k or less.

I used to want to drive a race car, seriously, I think that would be so cool.

 

[turbo]

For the $$$ you'd spend paying for these courses, lay down the bucks for a HD Softail and put your life on the line every day. They are really comfortable and fun to ride without being too twitchy (my buddy's turbocharged Yamaha had such bad turbo-lag that you'd roll back the throttle, wait almost a second and then roll off to avoid wheelying over backwards at 50 mph). The dangerous part is that you are sharing the road with people driving cars, trucks and SUVs, while eating, drinking, talking on the phone, checking the makeup, tuning the radio, and disciplining the kids.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

No kidding! I used to ride in L.A., and after about my third close call [when I was being good for a change], I decided that riding in the city was far too dangerous.


One that I would never try is base jumping - parachuting from building, bridges, or any low altitude jump. Those guys are nuts! In spite of the odds of serious injury, which I don't recall but were completely unacceptable, I heard one jumper argue that base jumping is obviously as safe as driving your car since many more people die in auto accidents every day. That was enough for me.

Probably my most thrilling and dangerous experience was to Boogie-Board on a 20~25 foot wave. Based on the distance of the break from shore, which is a pretty good gauge, I was convinced that it broke at about 25 feet. Since waves are measured from the back side where the water is deeper, the face of a wave that size can be 35 feet above the water's surface, or more.

I had grown up spending a good percentage of my pre-teen and early teen summers body surfing and surfing, and at age 20, when in great physical condition, I went after the biggest wave that I could find. It was a hot summer's day, there was a storm down off Baja that was kicking up an awesome southern swell, so I went to the best south facing beach in my neck of S. Cal - Seal Beach. I was the only one in the water as far as one could see and it nearly killed me trying to get beyond the breaks, but finally I managed to be in the right place at the right time. Wow! I'm not even going to try to describe the rush and the power when you fall off the top of the wave, but it was increible. When I tried a bigger one, it broke on top of me and I nearly didn't make it out, but I got one.

Edit: I was just thinking how on Oahu, at the Pipeline and Sunset Beach, the hot dogs all start going home when the waves get that small.

 

[scorpa]

For the $$$ you'd spend paying for these courses, lay down the bucks for a HD Softail .

I am counting the days until I can make that happen! For me it would either be a Street Bob, Wide Glide or Springer Softail.

 

[turbo]

I am counting the days until I can make that happen! For me it would either be a Street Bob, Wide Glide or Springer Softail.

Any of those would be acceptable. I chose the Softail because it has clean lines (similar to a hard-tail) and a Wide-Glide front end.

 

[turbo]

My most thrilling sport was white-water kayaking. I had a low-volume squirt boat and in heavy white-water, the darned thing would be submerged due to the low density of the foamy water. There are some really nice rivers up here that are often running at Class IV and V. It's a blast. After a while, my friends kind of lost interest in leaning to run heavier waters in kayaks, switched to canoes, etc, so I sold the boat and spent my weekends on the bike. The most difficult thing to learn was the Eskimo roll. If you're going to run heavy water, you need to learn to roll from either side, and from either the upstream or downstream side. That's important if you should flip in a rocky rapid and you're upside-down in heavy turbulence with boulders coming at your head. A few seconds of that will give you a thrill.

 

[wolram]

I tried jet sking for a couple of years, boy does water hurt, good for leg muscles though.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I get queasy just reading this thread. I think a ride on the Teacups would be about all the excitement I could stand.

 

[Evo]

I get queasy just reading this thread. I think a ride on the Teacups would be about all the excitement I could stand.

You and me both, but I guess there is a reason why Tsu is the pilot for the Supersonic RV. I think we'll be in for some wild rides after this

 

[wolram]

I :!) soft tails.

 

[Danger]

I :!) soft tails.

Cue Arildno... [/size]

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Fly MiG and Sukhoi Fighters in Moscow. Flight Tour Packages
http://www.flymig.com/packages/

MiG-29 $11,300.00
S p e c i a l !

 

[Cyrus]

Come on, find out what kind of airplane ur going up in already!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I won't know until next week... but thinking of Moscow...

 

[Cyrus]

Oh man, don't even think about spending that kinda cash in Russia. That's a rip off. Its a 30min flight. Give me a break! If you want to go to Russia that bad, bring home a wife, there a lot cheaper.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

"This isn't like 'Top Gun' school," Mr. Orsos said, explaining that amateurs cannot take the pressure of gravitational forces in a dogfight. "When you are going head to head in a jet fighter, the novice will be blacked out in three seconds."

Pat Moran, the president of an oil exploration company in Houston, did not pass out when he went through the training in Slovakia last June, but he did have a few stomach problems. "I got airsick after the third loop," said Mr. Moran, one of the few Americans to have gone through the MIG training. But airsickness was only a minor bother to Mr. Moran, who said he spent $16,000 for the experience of flying a MIG-29, and would gladly do it again.

"The adrenaline is pumping out your ears," Mr. Moran said. "It was one of the great experiences of my life. The adrenaline keeps burning, but I slept well that night." [continued]

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=990CE1DD123DF933A25756C0A963958260

 

[wolram]

Oh man, don't even think about spending that kinda cash in Russia. That's a rip off. Its a 30min flight. Give me a break! If you want to go to Russia that bad, bring home a wife, there a lot cheaper.

Cyrus you seem to forget that Ivan is mega rich. blackut 11,000 is like a weeks work for him.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

At a total of say 20,000, that amounts to $11 a day for five years. I saved nearly as long for my first motorcycle.

I wonder what will happen when Tsu sees this...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Cyrus you seem to forget that Ivan is mega rich. blackut 11,000 is like a weeks work for him.

We're not rich. You are only considering the good weeks. There are plenty more bad ones than weeks like that.

We are talking about a handful of experiences over one's entire life.

 

[Cyrus]

You know you can get a ride in a P-51 mustang for $600 bucks.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Many people could ride a Mig 29 if they gave up Starbucks for five years.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

You know you can get a ride in a P-51 mustang for $600 bucks.

You can rent a VW at Ugly Duckling Car Rentals.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Just kidding

 

[Cyrus]

Hey hey hey, let's show the P-51 the proper respect that it deserves. It has one of the lowest coefficients of drag, even compared to modern airplanes.

cough cough, commie sellout, cough cough...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Truthfully, I would get a charge out of flying a P-38.

 

[Cyrus]

http://www.rdavp.com/Reports/Langley%202004/Langley%20Heritage%20Flight%202004.jpg




Russians and their made in Russia junk...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Have you seen the SU30 thrust vectoring? Right near the end of the first segment he'll stand it straight up on it's tail and fly backwards and...backwards. .
http://www.flightlevel350.com/Aircraft_Sukhoi_Su-30-Airline_Untitled_Aviation_Video-2738.html

 

[Cyrus]

Have you seen the new F-22? It has thrust vectoring. It might not fly backwards, but it will shoot down the Su-30 before he ever catches sight of the Raptor visually or on radar. It is stealthier than the F-117 Night hawks used in Gulf War 1.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

You realize of course that this is probably the last generation of piloted fighter aircraft... or nearly so. There is one unpiloted craft that pulls 13 g's or so. They may have even said 20 g's.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

btw, this isn't about Russian vs US fighters, this is about what one has access to. I would be equally or more thrilled to ride in an F series fighter jet.

 

[Cyrus]

You realize of course that this is probably the last generation of piloted fighter aircraft... or nearly so. There is one unpiloted craft that pulls 13 g's or so. They may have even said 20 g's.

Maybe. With stealth aircraft, who needs to pull 13g's anymore?

UAV's still have a long way to go in terms of reliablity.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Well I see that Tsu is online... gulp...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Maybe. With stealth aircraft, who needs to pull 13g's anymore?

It is already known how to defeat stealth.

 

[Cyrus]

What do you mean?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

If I told you I'd have to kill you.

 

[Cyrus]

Damn, I don't have a blue badge yet...maybe you can tell me after next summer. (I need to get me an orange one, Top Secret...O 'la la).

I think blue takes 6 months background check, orange 1 year.

I am white, along with the janitors and building services...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It is a truism of most defense technology that once built and deployed, that is to say, once we hear about it, it is virtually obsolete wrt to the cutting edge.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Also, back to the bit about money. You know, Tsu and I are in a somewhat unique situation since we never had kids. But we also work to get by just like everyone else. And trying to keep up with the demands of our property is terribly labor intensive and expensive, so that is a huge liability as long as we live here. But we have either learned or chosen to do things we can't really afford because, well, you only get to live once. There is a balance to be sure, and one must plan for the future, but I think too many people are willing to pay a fortune for things that have no value - keeping up with the Jones' - while passing on what can be life changing experiences of much greater value - the memories of a lifetime. I personally cherish every dollar wasted.

 

[Cyrus]

If you want to waste money, buy a ferrari. Ok, let's be more reasonable, a Porsche or something.

Don't wase 20 grand on a 30min flight, that would be stupid. (unless your flying in spaceship 1)

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Get me a Ferrari for 20k and you're on.

Besides, I just said that I was thinking about it... okay, drooling, but still just thinking. Maybe an hour in a 21 would make more sense.

Keep in mind that you are flying, not just riding.

 

[Cyrus]

Eh, maybe I should elaborate. Ok this is what a 30 min flight REALLY means.

Engines are on...tick tock tick tock...do an engine run up, engines fine, check the gages, gages fine, talk to tower, "hello tower, just chatting it up as I waste this guys flight time, hows the weather?"...tower-"weather is fine proceed to taxi to the furthest runway of your choice at the slowest allowable taxi speeds"...taxi to the runway...do de do do do still taxiing....10 mins later your at the runway and now have 20 min left to actually fly in the air...Ok now your in the air...wee this is fun...one, two,up, down: time is up time to land!

Thanks for flying, now give me 20k!

I don't think so!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Okay then you're not invited to the PF Mig flying party.

btw, it was ONLY 11K for the flight. I figured the other nine for travel, which is probably way too high.

 

[Evo]

My vacation to Japan and Thailand cost $30K, and had an experience I will never forget. (luckily I didn't have to pay). This is an incredible opportunity that you will remember the rest of your life, I say go for it!

I blew $9,000 just to put a fence around my back yard. Over $10k in damaged furniture, appliances and othe misc items destroyed by the jaws of death, and I have no happy memories.

 

[Astronuc]

Have you seen the new F-22? It has thrust vectoring. It might not fly backwards, but it will shoot down the Su-30 before he ever catches sight of the Raptor visually or on radar. It is stealthier than the F-117 Night hawks used in Gulf War 1.

Many years ago, we had an airshow locally. A couple of F-15's did a demo. Right before the show opened, they F-15's were flying around the area. I was holding my daughter while standing in the front yard as they flew over our neighborhood. The came back right toward my house, tilted sideways, and the pilot of the lead jet waved to us as they did a tight U-turn over our house. INCREDIBLE!