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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234555849108700502016-07-25T15:40:04.052-07:00flylogicalFree Cloud apps, web services, and resources for pilots and avgeeksFly email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-55233054545386843482016-07-25T15:40:00.000-07:002016-07-25T15:40:04.078-07:00Tweet your location for Pokemon Go
...or for any other reason you may wish to share your current location with your Twitter followers...

As a bit of fun, inspired by my kids' current addiction to Pokémon Go, I've added a "Beacon" feature to #ReallySimpleMovingMap. This enables you to share your current location with your Twitter followers. Simply open #ReallySimpleMovingMap in your browser (with Location services enabled/authorised for the web-app), and click the "Beacon" button (lower-right of main page). This will give you the option to navigate to Twitter with a pre-cooked Tweet containing your current location (latitude and longitude) encoded in a URL. If you send that Tweet, your followers can click on the embedded link in the Tweet which will take them to #ReallySimpleMovingMap opened on your current position.

You can use this to broadcast your position for any reason whatsoever. For example, with an accompanying note such as "loads of Pokémon critters here five minutes ago!" etc...

(See my previous post for other recent additions to #ReallySimpleMovingMap)

Fly Meisterhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-52372397964623647192016-07-17T03:15:00.000-07:002016-07-17T03:15:19.933-07:00"I would walk 500 miles", that would be along a Great Circle, I presume...
Drawing Shapes on Maps

A while ago an image was doing the rounds on social media which showed a circle with radius of 500 miles centred on Leith, thereby depicting the possible search area covered by the Proclaimers in their (rather excellent ) "500 miles" .

As is often the case one sees with shapes drawn on maps, the circle was drawn as a pure geometric circle superimposed on a Mercator map projection. This is of course easy to do, but is misleading: strictly speaking, that pure shape suggests that all the radial lines would be Rhumb-lines (i.e., straight lines drawn on a Mercator projection). Although it looks like a circle, it really isn't: when drawn on the surface of a sphere (or more accurately, an ellipsoid) representing the Earth's 3D geometry, that simple Rhumb-line circle would be distorted. Instead, a circle drawn on the surface of the sphere (or ellipsoid) should be constructed from radial lines which are arcs of Great Circles rather than Rhumb-lines (note: such a circle, constructed from Great Circle arc radii, is actually called a Small Circle). The aforementioned distortion is greater for larger circles: but even at 500 miles radius, it is evident.

The image below illustrates the point. The two "500 mile circles" are depicted: the one constructed from Rhumb-lines (which actually looks like a circle on this Mercator projection map), the other from Great Circles (which is actually distorted on the map, but would look like a circle when viewed on the surface of an ellipsoid). Both are centred on Leith (near Edinburgh, Scotland). Since distances aren't preserved under projection, I have (arbitrarily) set the northern-most point of each circle to be in the same location (at 500 miles along a Great Circle from Leith). All other points on the two shapes are different. In terms of perimeters and areas, the Rhumb-line derived circular shape is larger: perimeter 5,639 km; area 254,3000 sq-km, versus perimeter 5,038 km; area 202,8000 sq-km for the Great Circle derived shape. So, assuming The Proclaimers walk along Great Circles in their quest, they will cover a smaller area of land than if they simply drew a circle on a map and used that to navigate.

#RSMM

I've used this "500 miles" example to demonstrate the (new) Shapes functionality I've just released within my #RSMM (#ReallySimpleMovingMap) web-app.

Here's the #RSMM link containing the "500 miles" example. Click on it to go the #RSMM web-app. From there, you can experiment with lots of different shapes (not just circles!)

Here is a summary of the Shapes functionality within #RSMM:

Create shapes and display them on the map. Available shapes include:

point

line (arbitrary number of vertices)

circle and circular arc (portion of circle)

square

rectangle

triangle

polygon (arbitrary number of vertices)

The shapes can be specified as being constructed from either Great-Circle segments (on a reference Ellipsoid), or from Rhumb-line segments (i.e., straight lines on Mercator projections)

For convenience, the shape coordinates are initialised via Marker locations, and then can be fine-tuned via edit-boxes

All visual attributes of the shapes can be customised e.g., line color & opacity, line thickness, fill colour & opacity, etc.

Save the shapes (individually or in groups) to the FlyLogical Cloud (database) for convenient re-use later (and for sharing with the public if desired)

Export the shapes (individually or in groups) to KML file format (sent by email) for ease-of-use with KML-supporting apps such as GoogleEarth.

Enjoy!

Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-77915300163335218262016-04-05T03:31:00.000-07:002016-04-15T13:53:10.976-07:00"Mags Off" -- or are they ?Following recent magneto trouble (see my previous post on this), with both magnetos removed from the aircraft, I decided it was a good opportunity to check the function of the ignition switch (see photo below) on my Bulldog.

The entire functionality of the ignition switch depends on the "p-leads" which connect the ignition switch to the primary coils (hence the "p") of the left and right magneto, respectively. In a nutshell, a given magneto can be effectively disabled (i.e., "switched off" such that it will not generate a voltage in the spark-plugs) by grounding its primary coil against the magneto housing (thereby preventing a high voltage to be induced in the secondary coil when the points open).

The ignition switch has three connectors (terminals) on its back-plate: "L" -- which is connected by insulated wire to the "p-lead" of the Left magneto; "R" -- which is connected by insulated wire to the "p-lead" of the Right magneto; and "GND" -- which is connected by separate insulated wires to the metal housings of each magneto. These "GND" wires ensure that a solid, definitive grounding is achieved in the magnetos, without having to reply on the general airframe grounding.

First things first -- check the wiring, especially the insulation and the terminal connectors

If there are any problems with the integrity of the aforementioned wiring, the operability of the ignition switch and the magnetos can be adversely affected. Therefore, the first thing to check is to verify that the wires are in good condition. Importantly, the insulation must not be cracked (which can cause inadvertent grounding -- and disabling of the magneto); and the terminal connectors (crimped "eyelets") must be firmly connected to the wires (otherwise the grounding can fail, and the magnetos will remain live, irrespective of the switch position).

How the ignition switch is meant to work

The following table summaries how the ignition switch is intended to function

Ignition Switch position	Function	Effect

Off	Completes (closes) circuits between Left mag "p-lead" and ground, and between Right mag "p-lead" and GND (ground)	Both magnetos disabled ("switched off"), spark-plugs cannot fire, engine cannot run

R	Completes (closes) circuit between Left mag "p-lead" and GND (ground); but breaks (opens) circuit between Right mag "p-lead" and GND (ground)	Left magneto disabled ("switched off"); right magneto enabled ("switched on"), spark-plugs (from right magneto only) can fire, engine can run

L	Completes (closes) circuit between Right mag "p-lead" and GND (ground); but breaks (opens) circuit between Left mag "p-lead" and GND (ground)	Right magneto disabled ("switched off"); left magneto enabled ("switched on"), spark-plugs (from left magneto only) can fire, engine can run. Also, engine can be easily started via the (relatively slow) rotation produced by the starter motor since left magneto incorporates an impulse-coupler to amplify the effect of slow rotation.

Both	Breaks (opens) circuits between Left mag "p-lead" and GND (ground), and between Right mag "p-lead" and GND (ground)	Both magnetos enabled ("switched on"), spark-plugs (from both magnetos) can fire, engine can run.

How to test the ignition switch

Given the expected operation summarised in the table above, it is straightforward to test the ignition switch using an electrical circuit continuity-tester. Most digital multi-meters have such functionality built-in, with an audio setting/mode which makes testing particularly easy: the device emits a steady tone when the circuit between the test probes is complete (resistance approaching zero); and is silent when the circuit is broken (resistance approaching infinity).

In order to perform the tests, the "p-leads" must be disconnected from the magnetos, otherwise the primary coils can be grounded (via the closed breaker points), ignoring any effect of the ignition switch. It is very important to make sure that the aircraft is made safe before performing the tests since as soon as the "p-leads" have been disconnected, the magnetos are live, irrespective of the ignition switch position. The aircraft can be made safe by disconnecting all high tension leads from the spark-plugs. Alternatively, the magnetos can be removed from the aircraft.

Once the aircraft has been made safe, the ignition switch can be tested as follows:

Disconnect the "p-lead" from the magneto-under-test

Connect a continuity tester between the "p-lead" wire (coming from the ignition switch) to the GND wire (coming from the ignition switch). The photo below demonstrates the test configuration on the wires for the left magneto of my Bulldog (note: the magneto has been removed from the aircraft).

Test configuration for checking electrical continuity between magneto "p-lead" (red crocodile clip) and GND (ground) wires (black crocodile clip). The audio mode/setting has been selected on the multimeter such that a steady tone is emitted when the circuit is complete, and is silent when the circuit is broken. The aircraft has been made safe by removing both magnetos before conducting the tests. After testing the left magneto wires, the similar test configuration is applied to the right magneto wires, in turn.

 Test each position of the ignition switch, in accordance with the following tables for Left magneto, and Right magneto, respectively.

LEFT MAGNETO SWITCH TESTING SEQUENCE

Ignition Switch position	Expected test result	Actual test result (from my Bulldog)

Off	Circuit should be closed between Left mag "p-lead" and ground, steady audible tone from meter	Intermittent audio tone from meter, affected by wiggling of the knob; silent when knob released, meaning Left magneto would actually be "on" instead of "off", even though switch is in Off position

R	Circuit should be closed between Left mag "p-lead" and ground, steady audible tone from meter	As expected, steady audible tone, Left magneto disabled

L	Circuit should be open between Left mag "p-lead" and GND (ground), silence from meter	As expected, silence from meter, Left magneto enabled

Both	Circuit should be open between Left mag "p-lead" and GND (ground), silence from meter	As expected, silence from meter, Left magneto enabled

RIGHT MAGNETO SWITCH TESTING SEQUENCE

Ignition Switch position	Expected test result	Actual test result (from my Bulldog)

Off	Circuit should be closed between Right mag "p-lead" and ground, steady audible tone from meter	Intermittent audio tone from meter, affected by wiggling of the knob; silent when knob released, meaning Right magneto would actually be "on" instead of "off", even though switch is in Off position

R	Circuit should be open between Right mag "p-lead" and GND (ground), silence from meter	As expected, silence from meter, Right magneto enabled

L	Circuit should be closed between Right mag "p-lead" and ground, steady audible tone from meter	As expected, steady audible tone, Right magneto disabled

Both	Circuit should be open between Right mag "p-lead" and GND (ground), silence from meter	As expected, silence from meter, Right magneto enabled

Implications of test results

On a positive note, under all conditions which would ordinarily be encountered in flight, the ignition switch had the desired and expected effect (as highlighted in green in the tables above): namely, the magnetos are "live" when they are expected to be live.

However, in the one condition which would not ordinarily be encountered in flight, namely, with the ignition switch in the "Off" position, the effect of the switch was not as expected (as highlighted in red in the tables above): namely, both of the magnetos are, in fact, "live" when they are intended to be "off". This has obvious safety implications for anyone in proximity of the aircraft when it is on the ground (e.g., parked in the back of the hangar): if the propeller happens to be turned by hand, the engine could fire. I know I am not the only one who routinely hand-turns the propeller when the ignition switch is "Off": I do it every time I take the aircraft out of the hangar, or put it back in again. I need to turn the propeller "horizontal", out of the way of the mechanical tug I use to move the aircraft on the ground.

What about the "dead-cut" check ?

This check (i.e., momentarily switching the ignition to "Off" while the engine is running on the ground, the point being to verify that indeed the magnetos are no longer live). Some pilots perform this check after every flight. As a rule, I do not since such a check was not part of the RAF checklist for the Bulldog (and that is where I learned to fly, old habits die hard, etc). Also, over the years since, I have been led to believe such a check can actually damage the engine (by causing explosions in the exhaust system ??) --possibly an urban myth, but one that has stuck with me.

In any case, given the precise nature of this failure, it is not clear that a dead-cut check would have actually revealed the problem. Reason: as I noted in the table above, the test suggested intermittent electrical contact when the switch was in the "Off" position. In more detail, what actually happened was that when I wiggled the knob, applying positive pressure with my hand, the circuit would in fact close (on both magnetos), disabling them as intended. However, when in the mechanically-relaxed condition (hand off the knob), the lack of positive pressure would cause the circuits to break (and the magnetos to go live). Since the conventional method of performing the dead-cut check is to momentarily flick the switch to "Off" then back to "Both" again, with one's hand never leaving the knob, manual pressure is constantly applied, and the mechanically-relaxed condition (when the failure actually occurs) is never met throughout the check.

To be clear, there is a check described in Mandatory Airworthiness Directive Bendix AD 76-07-12 (30 August 1977[SB-583]), which must be carried out every 100 hours. The wording therein states "With the engine at normal idle, rotate the switch key or lever through the "OFF" detent to the extreme limit of its travel in the "OFF" direction.". However, in my experience on my aircraft at least, at the behest of the engineer during (typically) the annual inspection, this check has always been carried out by myself (as pilot, which is permitted in accordance with the AD), via the approach for the dead-cut check i.e., momentarily switching to "Off" without taking my hand off the knob. As described above, this does not guarantee that the switch is working correctly.

At the very least, in order to be sure that "Off" means "Off", I therefore suggest that the dead-cut check should be done by actually taking one's hand off the knob when it is in the "Off" position, and verifying that the engine dies (or definitively starts to die, before being recovered by switching the knob before the engine actually stops).

What can be done ?

In accordance with my mantra of "always replace worn parts" (in spite of the fact that this very policy resulted in me recently experiencing a total failure of the right magneto, owing to an assembly defect in the new magneto, see previous post), I went ahead and had the ignition switch replaced with new (see photo below)...Nevertheless, just to be sure that the issue was not due to bad wiring, I did have the tests described above performed all over again on the new switch once installed. Everything functioned as intended, and the issue has therefore been fully resolved on my aircraft.

New ignition switch which fully resolved the problem (Bulldog Part Number BH-81-461 which is actually a Bendix USA component with a BAe label affixed. The Bendix identification engraved on the casing is: 10-357290-1 C 8150)

What about refurbishing the old switch ?

The message here is positive. It turns out that the ignition switch is actually quite a simple electro-mechanical device comprising a pair of spring-loaded metal riders which rotate across metal and/or plastic surfaces to either make or break the circuit (metal-to-metal to complete the circuit when grounding the magneto, and metal-to-plastic to open the circuit, making the magneto live, depending on switch position; one half-track for the left magneto, the other half for the right). Apart from the metal strip contacts, there are no electrical/electronic/circuit components whatsoever inside the switch.

The photo below shows the old switch, opened-up. Although not wholly apparent from the photograph, the track contact surfaces (as well as the metal riders, shown at the bottom of the picture) were covered in "gunk". No too surprising, I suppose, after possibly forty years of service without (I bet) ever being cleaned. After thoroughly cleaning the innards of the switch, reassembling, and re-testing, it worked flawlessly. It is a simple and robust device, and was restored to full functionality with ease. This refurbished switch would of course require authorised approval before installing in a certified aircraft.

View inside the ignition switch which was exhibiting the failure whereby electrical contact was not being made when it should have been, thereby not grounding either of the magnetos when the switch was in the "Off" position (when the magnetos' primary coils should have been grounded). After a thorough cleaning of the insides of the unit, and re-testing, the switch performed as expected, thereby solving the problem in principle (but would, of course, require authorised approval before installing on a certified aircraft).

Note: this procedure for cleaning the switch is in direct accordance with the manufacturer's documentation, available here. Also described therein is a test procedure materially the same as described above.

Lessons learned

Here's what I've learned from this experience:

Magnetos may not be off even when the ignition switch is in the "Off" position

The "dead-cut" check should include taking one's hand off the knob when in the "Off" position to verify that the engine indeed (starts to) die.

Despite 10 successive annual inspections and 3 "star annuals" since I've owned the aircraft (my aircraft is operated on a UK CAA C-of-A and associated maintenance regime), I conclude that the operation of the ignition switch was never adequately tested. I did find a test description similar to the one I've outlined here in the Bulldog T Mk 1 Aircraft Servicing Manual -- AP101B-3801-1 (Vol 2 Chapter 40-3 p11 section 2.3.9 "Do a continuity check...") within the list of side-tasks pertaining to magneto timing, but I suspect that maintenance regime has not been followed: instead, it is my understanding that engineers tend to follow the generic CAA LAMS inspection regime where the only entry pertaining to magnetos (that I could find) is as follows: "Ignition: Task No 66: Magnetos, harnesses, leads, switches, starting vibrators, contact breakers, cooling system and ventilators: INSP 150 FH". Although "switches" are generically mentioned therein, I am unaware of any detailed, focused tests actually being performed under this task.

Given point 2) above, I recommend that if your aircraft has the same or similar kind of ignition switch as my Bulldog, you get your ignition switch tested as soon as possible -- and certainly before you (or anyone else) hand-turn the propeller even with the ignition switch in the "Off" position. The test is straightforward (requiring just a continuity-tester), and so is the rectification if problems are found (thoroughly cleaning the switch inside, or replace it). For piece of mind, I would also propose repeating the test whenever practically convenient (e.g., when the magnetos are removed for overhaul, etc).

Even though I know my own aircraft is now safe in this regard, this experience means I cannot trust that any other aircraft sitting there with the "mags off" is actually safe. It reinforces what was possibly the first lesson in airmanship that I was ever given: "never put any part of your body within the arc of any propeller, as you should consider that the engine could fire at any time!"

Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-24543725058793075772015-10-02T10:56:00.000-07:002015-10-02T10:56:43.239-07:00Loving my new HiFiIt's not what you think: I'm talking about WiFi in my Hangar-- hence HiFi

I needed to get broadband into my hangar at EGNS (Ronaldsway Airport, Isle of Man) and there was no possibility of installing a landline (for ADSL etc). Here's my solution which you may find helpful if faced with a similar challenge:

1) Purchased 4G mobile broadband data-only subscription package from local provider

2) The provider in 1) issued me with a MiFi box: specifically a D-Link DWR-921 router (like this)

3) The router in 2) was easy to set up, but the signal was poor inside the hanger.

4) So I replaced the little paddle antennas provided with the router (see the "paddles" in the pictures at previous link) with an external antenna, specifically this one.

5) I mounted the antenna on the hangar roof (see photo below). The cables attach directly to the terminals of the router, no extra adapters required.

6) I now routinely get 28 MBPS downlink and 10 MBPS uplink, with no dropouts. Without the external the antenna, performance was a few MBPS downlink at best, and frequent dropouts.

Job done.

External antenna mounted on hangar roof provides adequate boost for 4G broadband reception inside the hangar

Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-73081665488530738452015-09-24T11:53:00.000-07:002015-10-04T05:14:57.616-07:00New magneto failure after just 15 flying hoursUpdated 4 October 2015 with result from inspection of left magneto

My recent experience, described here, is quite shocking (pun intended)!

After a pleasant flight around the Isle of Man in my Bulldog last weekend, I discovered (to my horror) when performing the pre-shutdown checks that my right magneto was completely dead (instead of RPM dropping a bit, the engine simply stopped when selecting "R" on the ignition knob). Somewhat strangely, I noticed no loss of performance during the flight. Before take-off, the engine run-ups were nominal (both magnetos working as expected, within the allowable limits of "max drop 175, max difference of 50" when switching between "L", "R" and "Both").

This shouldn't happen to a new magneto!

The magneto in question was replaced less than six months ago, during the aircraft's annual inspection. Rather than have both (left and right) overhauled (which happened to be due), I opted to have them replaced with new. By "new", this actually meant "factory rebuilt", the only option available for these types. Being based on an island, with a water-crossing (of some degree) on almost every flight, in the interests of safety, I prefer to renew key components rather than have them overhauled. I had flown the aircraft just under 15 hours before the magneto failure last weekend.

So what happened ?

Back in the hangar, having made the aircraft safe (by removing all spark-plug leads, and removing a spark-plug from each cylinder -- to make it easy to hand-turn the engine), I hooked-up the E50 timing synchroniser to the magneto, hand-turned the prop through a few cycles, and watched the lights on the E50 remain steady (instead of sequencing on-and-off as the points opened). This gave a strong clue that the magneto had failed. Just to be sure, I disconnected the "p-lead" and performed the test again: same result, lights stayed on (this latter test verifying that it was indeed a magneto fault and not some fault with the "p-lead" safety cable).

Next step was to remove the magneto and send it back to the engine shop. They quickly diagnosed the issue, described as follows:

"Due to an assembly error, the internal cable leading from the coil was too long, and was routed too close to the rotor. They came into contact, and the spinning rotor wore through the cable insulation and shorted the coil (see attached photos). The resulting heat dried out the bearings. Best to get a replacement magneto under warranty from the factory, rather than repairing this one...and check the left magneto, since it was built around the same time as this one!"

Note the frayed insulator in contact with the rotor

Lessons learned

Here's what I've learned from this experience:

New components can fail

Always perform every check in the checklist (I'm fortunate: the RAF drilled that discipline into my head). Each and every check is included on the list for a reason.

It is extremely useful to have two magnetos rather than one, especially when flying over the sea!

This type of thing doesn't just happen to someone else...

What's next ?

When the replacement unit arrives from the factory, I'll ask the engine shop to visually inspect that cable before sending the magneto out for fitting to the aircraft

The engine shop will submit a report to the manufacturer based on their findings. Given the seriousness of this incident, I would expect that there will be some sort of action mandated by the manufacturer regarding these magnetos. Maybe the issue pertains to just a specific batch, or maybe to all of that type, or even to all from that manufacturer...

So, if you have TCM/Bendix 1200 SERIES magnetos on your aircraft, don't be surprised if a Mandatory Service Bulletin appears pertaining to this issue...and even if no such bulletin appears, I recommend you have your magnetos checked just to be sure.

What about the left magneto ?
Update 4 October 2015

Just to be sure, since it was replaced at the same time as the faulty right magneto, I had the left magneto removed and inspected. It got the "all clear". As can be seen in the photograph below, the cable lies well clear of the rotor, as it should.

Left magneto inspection (just to be sure, since replaced at same time as the faulty right magneto): observe that the cable is lying in the correct manner, well clear of the rotor.

Fly Meisterhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-73358869238014087202015-09-04T04:43:00.003-07:002015-09-04T04:48:14.270-07:00Automated daily MET and NOTAM briefings via TwitterFor greater convenience for iNavCalc Twitter App users, I've recently added an automatic briefing function for METAR/TAFS and NOTAMS. Basically, the twitter.com/@FlyLogical feed now publishes a METAR/TAF briefing every four hours, and a NOTAM briefing once per day. The list of stations used in these briefings can be added to by any registered FlyLogical.

Instructions here

Enjoy.Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-72074410308972773972015-05-21T01:42:00.001-07:002015-05-21T01:42:30.927-07:00#BULLCHIPMEET2015Just returned from a fun trip to Abbeville, France (LFOI), where I attended #BULLCHIPMEET2015, a annual gathering of fellow Bulldog and Chipmunk enthusiasts. The focus of the event is formation flying. Here are some videos from the cockpit of my Bulldog taken during the event:

Videos

"BALBO" formation of 15 Chipmunks and 3 Bulldogs (full sortie, uncut, including RT feed)

Bulldog four-ship training flight (full sortie, uncut, including RT feed)

...and here's the route I took to get there...

Fly Meisterhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-63615608889516254222015-04-11T05:08:00.000-07:002015-09-04T04:45:38.268-07:00Announcing #TweetiNavCalc Web AppUPDATED 4 September 2015 to include automated daily briefings

I've just made it easier for anyone interested in viewing and sharing METAR/TAFs, NOTAMs, and Route (Google) Maps on Twitter. Basically, I've built a simple web-app wrapper around the existing iNavCalc Twitter App. The wrapper does most of the work for you. You can find the app here, and it looks like the screenshot below (usage self-explanatory, especially if you've read this):

Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-41725198286260317802015-03-07T08:09:00.000-08:002015-03-07T08:09:42.292-08:00Global Aviation Database in GoogleDocs
As an exercise in GoogleDocs API programming, I've published a "data dump" from the FlyLogical database in GoogleDocs Spreadsheet format.

Here's the link: Global Aviation Database in GoogleDocs

The spreadsheet contains all global airports and navaids currently stored in the FlyLogical database (and as used by the iNavCalc and Really-Simple-Moving-Map suite of apps).

The spreadsheet will be updated automatically (every week or so) via the openAIP crowd-sourced data sets. See my previous post for more on this aspect.

Hope you find the database/spreadsheet interesting and possibly even useful !
Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-53869924952465404382015-02-19T04:17:00.000-08:002015-02-19T04:30:41.108-08:00FlyLogical embraces openAIPI'm pleased to announce that I have recently hooked-up with openAIP.net to provide weekly automated updates to the iNavCalc airport COMMS FREQUENCIES database.

openAIP.net is a free, crowd-sourced resource for global aviation data. I encourage you to register and start contributing.

I was first put on to openAIP.net a couple of months ago by a FlyLogical user who suggested it might be a useful resource to incorporate into iNavCalc. I wholeheartedly agree, not least since the "official" bodies don't seem to be able to provide such (see my previous rant on the subject), and because the openAIP.net team make it straightforward to consume their global data, from a "machine-to-machine" perspective.

For now, I have only implemented global airport COMMS FREQUENCY automated updates. In future, I will extend to NAVAIDS. Also, the "machine-to-machine" updates lag the openAIP.net website by a number of days, so do not expect to find openAIP.net website updates propagated immediately to iNavCalc. Instead, you will have to wait a week or so for the catchup to occur.

Many thanks to openAIP.net for providing this resource.

Fly Meisterhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-51760363945446019802015-01-22T09:04:00.000-08:002015-01-22T09:07:11.359-08:00Solar Impulse Route CalculationsGiven that the Solar Impulse team published their round-the-world route overview yesterday, I thought it would be interesting to perform some basic navigation calculations based on that.

To start with, taking the proposed route overview, choosing relevant airports, filling in the blanks ("Kansas City airport" for "mid USA", and "Marbella airport" for "South Europe, North Africa"), gives the following approximate route in Google Maps, <a href="http://flylogical.azurewebsites.net/webapps/rsmm/omap.aspx?Route=%7b24.441938+54.6500736+abu_dhabi_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b23.592778+58.281667+muscat_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b23.0734262+72.626571+ahmedebad_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b25.4521875+82.8574275999999+varanasi_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b21.940547+96.0896359999999+mandalay_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b29.4953002929688+106.359001159668+CN-0030_Airfield_(civil)_China__FLYLOGICAL%7d%2c%7b31.9983005523682+118.811996459961+CN-0002_Airfield_(civil)_China__FLYLOGICAL%7d%2c%7b21.3245132+-157.9250736+honolulu_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b33.4372686+-112.0077881+phoenix_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b39.3006427+-94.7125937+missouri_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b40.6413111+-73.7781391+jfk_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b36.491818+-4.99066800000003+marbella_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b24.441938+54.6500736+abu_dhabi_airport_GOOGLE%7d" target="_blank">Really-Simple-Moving-Map, and SkyVector.

Distance and Time calculations

The total flight distance is 18,814 nautical miles, with a nominal (zero wind) total flight time of 27.5 days to be flown in sections over a few months from late-February/early-March 2015, to late-July/early-August, 2015. The following table summarises the distance along each leg in the route (assuming great circles), and the time taken to fly each leg assuming an airspeed of 35 mph (30.4 knots, 55.6 kph), derived from Solar Impulse 2's performance (which I simply found on the internet, as the published average ground-speed: is there perhaps a more accurate indicated airspeed I could use ?). Times are given for zero-wind, 10 knot tailwind, and 10 knot headwind, respectively. This gives an idea of the (significant) effect of (moderate) wind on the performance, given the relatively low airspeed compared with conventional powered aircraft. A wind-speed of 10 knots at the cruising altitude of 5,500 feet would be considered as not atypical.

Of particular note (highlighted in the table) is the longest leg of 4408 nm, across the Pacific from Nanjing (China) to Hawaii. Nominally (in zero wind), this would take 6 days, or 9 days in a 10 knot headwind, or 4 days 13 hours in a 10 knot tailwind. Many of the other legs also exceed one day, so the solar cells will need to be able to charge the batteries as well as keep the aircraft flying during the day, and the batteries will need to provide sufficient power to keep flying through the night, multiple times in the mission.

Leg 	Distance (nautical miles) 	Time (zero wind) 	Time (10kt tailwind) 	Time (10kt headwind)

1. Abu Dhabi (UAE) to Muscat (Oman) 	206 	6h:47m 	5h:6m 	10h:6m

2. Muscat to Ahmenebad (India) 	791 	1d:2hr:1m 	19h:35m 	1d:14h:47m

3. Ahmenebad to Varanasi (India) 	578 	19h:1m 	14h:18m 	1d:4h:20m

4. Varanasi to Mandalay (Burma) 	757 	1d:0h:54m 	18h:44m 	1d:13h:7m

5. Mandalay to Chongqing (China) 	717 	23h:35m 	17h:45m 	1d:11h:9m

6. Chongqing to Nanjing (China) 	659 	21h:41m 	16h:19m 	1d:8h:18m

7. Nanjing to Hawaii (US) 	4408 	6d:1h:0m 	4d:13h:7m 	9d:0h:5m

8. Hawaii to Phoenix (US) 	2532 	3d:11h:17m 	2d:14h:40m 	5d:4hr:7m

9. Phoenix to Kansas City (US) 	905 	1d:5hr:46m 	22h:21m 	1d:20h:22m

10. Kansas City to New York City (US) 	964 	1d:7h:43m 	23h:52m 	1d:23h:15m

11. New York City to Marbella (Spain) 	3155 	4d:7h:47m 	3d:6h:6m 	6d:10h:39m

12. Marbella to Abu Dhabi 	3121 	4d:6h:40m 	3d:5h:15m 	6d:9h:0m

Follow the Sun

Sunlight is, of course, the key to Solar Impulses's success. You can use the SunDial function within <a href="http://flylogical.azurewebsites.net/webapps/rsmm/omap.aspx?Route=%7b24.441938+54.6500736+abu_dhabi_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b23.592778+58.281667+muscat_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b23.0734262+72.626571+ahmedebad_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b25.4521875+82.8574275999999+varanasi_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b21.940547+96.0896359999999+mandalay_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b29.4953002929688+106.359001159668+CN-0030_Airfield_(civil)_China__FLYLOGICAL%7d%2c%7b31.9983005523682+118.811996459961+CN-0002_Airfield_(civil)_China__FLYLOGICAL%7d%2c%7b21.3245132+-157.9250736+honolulu_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b33.4372686+-112.0077881+phoenix_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b39.3006427+-94.7125937+missouri_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b40.6413111+-73.7781391+jfk_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b36.491818+-4.99066800000003+marbella_airport_GOOGLE%7d%2c%7b24.441938+54.6500736+abu_dhabi_airport_GOOGLE%7d" target="_blank">Really-Simple-Moving-Map to see just how much sunlight Solar Impulse can expect at each point along the route.

For example, here's the Sun track for the starting point in Abu Dhabi, computed for the day I'm writing this post (22 Jan 2015).

Challenging

This challenge represents an extremely impressive combination of engineering, technical, and human achievement. Very best of luck to the Solar Impulse team. I look forward to following their progress in the coming weeks, and hope they manage to break that next set of world-records in their sights.

Record-Breaking

...and talking of record-breaking, whilst warming-up in Abu Dhabi, I recommend they try the Formula Rossa roller-coaster, the fastest in the world...had a go at New Year. Breath-taking.

Fly Meisterhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-72650127150089868302014-08-17T15:51:00.000-07:002014-08-17T15:51:11.293-07:00Modelling the #Indyref outcome probabilitiesGiven the latest poll-of-poll results (courtesy of @WhatScotsThink on Twitter) and the betting exchange implied probabilities (courtesy of @neiledwardlovat on Twitter) pertaining to the upcoming Scottish Independence Referendum, I thought it would be interesting to combine these sources of information into (approximate) probability density functions for YES and for NO, respectively.

Meaningful criteria for the approximate probability distributions

In advance of the actual referendum on 18 September 2014 (which will settle the matter once and for all), assume that the proportion of voters who will vote YES can be modelled as a random variable, denoted Y. Likewise, for the proportion of voters who will vote NO, denoted N. Although the true probability density functions for these random variables are fundamentally unknown, meaningful estimates of the distributions can be derived given that they should reasonably satisfy the following criteria:

The Expected Value (approximated by the Mean or Average) of the given distribution should reflect the result of the aggregate of all the official polls conducted to date. Note: this criterion is only justifiable if the polls can be considered as truly representative of the actual full voting population. This is, of course, a highly debatable assertion, one extreme view being that "opinion polls are meaningless". But for the sake of current argument, the assertion that the polls are indeed representative, will be considered as valid.

The integral of the distribution (or "area under the probability density function" or "cumulative density function (cdf)") evaluated over the range from 0.5 to 1 (50% to 100%) should correspond to the implied probabilities ("chance of YES winning", and "chance of NO winning", respectively) from the betting exchange data. It could be viewed that this is a considerably less justifiable criterion than the previous, but on the basis that "the bookies are seldom wrong", it seems like quite a reasonable assertion. After all, the betting exchange data is "crowd-sourced" in that it reflects the combined "beliefs" of many thousands of punters, i.e., potential voters. Also, there is no other readily available source of such information, with the exception of the polling data itself (utilised in the previous criterion). However, modelling probability distributions on just the polling data would lead to much narrower distributions (i.e., suggesting considerably less uncertainty) than implied from the betting exchange data. Or put another way, the betting exchange data in effect incorporates the (potentially real) broader uncertainties than captured in the polling data alone.

The Beta Distribution

Since the probability distributions for Y and N are fundamentally unknown, we are free to build models which meet the criteria presented above. A good candidate is the Beta Distribution which is often used for the purpose at hand, i.e., to devise a meaningful probability distribution for election outcomes involving two choices. One of the benefits of using the Beta Distribution is that it is formally (structurally) similar to the Binomial Distribution which is widely used for modelling polling results. Taken together, these two distributions can be combined via Bayesian Inference to provide an updated-distribution-after-most-recent-poll which, is itself a Beta Distribution. This useful and interesting aspect will not be pursued at present.

The Beta Distribution has two parameters, denoted A ("alpha") and B ("beta"). The numerical size of these determines the sharpness/certainty (or broadness/uncertainty) with large numerical values representing narrow distributions (i.e., with more certainty), and smaller numerical values representing broad distributions (i.e., with more uncertainty). Also, if A and B are numerically equal, the distribution is symmetric about a Mean value of 0.5 (50%). Unequal values for A and B allow for skewed (non-symmetric) distributions with Mean values different from 0.5.

By trial-and-error, it is straightforward to determine the parameters (A, B) for the Beta Distributions which satisfy the criteria described earlier for both YES and NO. The results of these parameterisations are presented in the distributions below.

Probability Density Function (pdf) for YES

Probability Density Function (pdf) of a Beta Distribution parameterised (with A=21, B=27.89) to represent the random variable Y (or YES) based on polling data and betting exchange data as of 17 August 2014. The Mean of the distribution (indicated by the dotted vertical line) is 0.43 corresponding to the poll-of-polls data which suggests that 43% will vote YES. The cumulative density evaluated from 0.5 to 1 (i.e., the area of the blue shaded region) representing the probability that Y will exceed 0.5 i.e., that YES will win, is 0.15 in accordance with the 15% implied probability from the betting exchange data.

Probability Density Function (pdf) for NO

Probability Density Function (pdf) of a Beta Distribution parameterised (with A=30.3, B=22.81) to represent the random variable N (or NO) based on polling data and betting exchange data as of 17 August 2014. The Mean of the distribution (indicated by the dotted vertical line) is 0.57 corresponding to the poll-of-polls data which suggests that 57% will vote NO. The cumulative density evaluated from 0.5 to 1 (i.e., the area of the blue shaded region) representing the probability that N will exceed 0.5 i.e., that NO will win, is 0.86 in accordance with the 86% implied probability from the betting exchange data.

What are these good for ?

I would suggest that these approximate distributions, derived in accordance with the criteria presented, might be useful for anybody interested in exploring the statistics of #Indyref. For example, if you are inclined to build a Bayesian Inference model for monitoring how the probabilities evolve following successive polls in the days leading up to 18 September 2014, these distributions might serve as usable "priors". Then again, all must be taken with a (large?) pinch of salt, since the assumptions and data used for deriving the distributions, by their very nature, may turn out to be non-valid :-)

Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-48019227057619782922014-07-24T12:33:00.002-07:002014-07-24T12:33:41.544-07:00iNavCalc and Bulldog-Weight-and-Balance for Fire PhoneDelighted to announce that my free apps iNavCalc and Bulldog-Weight-and-Balance have just been approved by Amazon for their newly announced <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/post/Tx2SBWI728CPXHZ/Announcing-the-Amazon-Fire-Phone-App-and-Game-Experiences-Never-before-Possible?sc_channel=EM&sc_brand=Fire_phone&sc_campaign=Fire_phone_Acq&sc_place=EM_Firephone_Multiapp&sc_country=US&sc_detail=EM_NewlyAnnounced&sc_segment=RegisteredDevelopers&sc_publisher=Marketo&sc_medium=EM_Fire_phone_Fire_phone_Acq_EM_Firephone_Multiapp_EM_NewlyAnnounced_RegisteredDevelopers_Marketo_US&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonuq3BZKXonjHpfsX56u4pUKSwlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4ATsthI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFTLDHMadm0rgNXxI%3D" target="_blank">Kindle Fire Phone, giving you even more choice of platformsFly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-38366870145076712162014-07-19T08:09:00.002-07:002014-07-19T08:09:43.273-07:00Get METARs and TAFs nearest to me or anywhere!How often do you find yourself wondering what the aviation weather reports (METARs and TAFs) look like nearest to your current location ? Or nearest to any other location you happen to be interested in ?

Really-Simple-Moving-Map (RSMM) gives you the answer to both with one click. Simply click on the RSMM map at either your current location or anywhere else (in the world!). The popup window contains, amongst other things, METAR & TAF briefings for the nearest reporting stations, ordered by closest first. You can adjust (via Options->Info on Marker Popups) the number of stations to report and whether or not to include decoded as well as raw briefings.

A detailed RSMM Users' Guide can be found here.

[Note: to enable the METAR & TAF functionality, you need to be a registered user. Registration is FREE].Fly Meisterhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-42756388274271720822014-06-01T11:12:00.004-07:002014-06-01T11:12:47.212-07:00Chasing the SunFor some reason, I've always been interested in the geometrical details of how the Sun tracks across the Earth for a given location and season. Some years ago I wrote the software which calculates all of this. [Users of iNavCalc may recognise the output of this effort in terms of the Sun angle calculations presented along a given flight route].

Considering that this topic may be of wider interest beyond pilots and #avgeeks, I've now built the functionality into #reallysimplemovingmap. Simply click anywhere on the map (or on any existing Marker). The usual Marker Info window will open:

You will see there is a (new) Sundial link. Click on this to open the Sundial window:

...which shows the track of the Sun across the sky today for the selected location. The highlighted value corresponds to the position of the Sun right now (i.e., at the point in time when the Sundial link was clicked). Clicking anywhere on the trajectory shows the Sun position at that point on the trajectory (in terms of time, direction --true and magnetic, & height above horizon).

Hope you find it as fun and useful as I do. It is interesting to explore the polar regions, especially those in perpetual light or darkness. Fond memories of a fishing expedition to Alaska one August, when the Sun never set.

Fly Meisterhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-68390027335147380022014-05-11T04:14:00.000-07:002014-05-11T04:14:11.060-07:00Announcing Really Simple Moving MapOver the past few months with my aircraft grounded (during it's C-of-A renewal, now done, thankfully !) and with the weather basically rubbish (around the UK) , I took the opportunity to explore the world of HTML5 cross-platform web-app programming.

As a "test app", I chose to put together a "moving map", inspired by my interest in aviation and navigation, but also because the available mapping & navigation apps on Android, iOS etc never quite seemed to do what I want.

The first step was to select a mapping technology. One thing that became apparent early in the development was that I couldn't use GoogleMaps for this: the licensing from Google forbids the use of the GoogleMaps API for "real time" navigation applications. This was initially disappointing because I'd built up a fair working knowledge of the GoogleMaps API (as used in iNavCalc). However, in the end I'm grateful for the forced change: it led me to discover OpenStreetMap and leaflet.js , two open-source resources which are a delight to work with, and, moreover, have none of the licensing restrictions of GoogleMaps.

I should emphasise that my goal was not to substitute my assorted "real" navigation devices with this "toy" web app. The limitations of web-technology preclude the use of such a web app for serious navigation -- not least since much of navigation takes place where there is no internet connection. Web apps -- by definition -- require a more or less continuous internet connection to function in their full glory, this one no exception.

That said, as I've been putting the app together and "field testing" it, I've been surprised how well it works in unlikely places e.g., hiking in the local hills (on the Isle of Man), skiing in Norway, sitting on airliners etc.. Of course, on the airliners, it only works until the 3G/4G/WiFi signal falls away, typically a few hundred feet into the air. I've also tried the app using the on-board WiFi signal that many airlines now offer. No joy -- not surprising, really, since the location services require triangulation i.e., more than one transmitter, and so the single WiFi hotspot on-board doesn't suffice.

On the subject of flying, I've not yet tried my new app "in the cockpit", so to speak. But now that I've got my C-of-A renewed, and the sun is shining, I'll give it a go. Of course the web-specific features won't work (since there's no reliable internet connection aloft), but with a bluetooth GPS receiver paired with my Android phone, the core location services of the app should be operable. I'll post my observations later...

In any case, I don't expect -- nor ever intended -- this web app to be particularly useful in the cockpit in-flight, given the obvious technical limitations. However, the app does have various features designed to be very useful for flight planning when on the ground. For example, automated METAR and TAF briefings "nearest" to your current location (or anywhere else, by clicking on the map). It also has full Google geosearch capabilities -- so you can find and navigate to your hotel once you've landed!

In the meantime, you can try the app for yourself. It is available here, with a Users' Guide here. Certain features require registration. If you already have a FlyLogical account, that will work across all apps including this one. If not, you can create one for free, here.

Hope you find it fun, and maybe even useful ! Feedback always welcome via the Comments section below.

Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-55647940540128799682014-03-16T07:24:00.003-07:002014-03-16T07:24:25.632-07:00Bulldog Weight and Balance Android App
I've wrapped my recently-published Bulldog Weight & Balance web app into an Android mobile app. The functionality of the mobile app is identical to the web app, but with the added convenience of having an on-screen icon which you can simply tap to activate, rather than having to remember which URL to browse to.

You can download the app for free from the Amazon AppStore by clicking here from your Kindle or Android device. Note: if you are using a general (non-Amazon) Android device rather than a Kindle, you will first need to download the Amazon Appstore App to your device from here (since the Bulldog Weight & Balance app is distributed via Amazon rather than Google).
Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-60181739710627225492014-03-15T07:06:00.001-07:002014-05-11T04:31:48.873-07:00iNavCalc: a complete flight planning solution for SkyVectorUpdate 11 May 2014: my brand new Really Simple Moving Map web-app has full route import and export inter-operability with SkyVector (in addition to the iNavCalc / SkyVector interoperability described below)

A while back I posted about SkyVector and talked about some very basic inter-operability with iNavCalc via the command-string interface common to both.

I hadn't taken another look at SkyVector in almost two years. But when I did, I was pleased to see that they have now provided Plain Text Link URL functionality. I've now adapted this to enable complete two-way intercation between SkyVector and iNavCalc. This enables you to combine the full power of iNavCalc for performing route calculations, planning, and sharing, with the full power of SkyVector for viewing & editing the route on (global) aviation charts.

Here are some simple step-by-step instructions for converting routes between iNavCalc and SkyVector

How to export a route from iNavCalc to SkyVector

How to export a route from SkyVector to iNavCalc

Enjoy :)c
Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-17323287402014330282014-03-01T03:51:00.002-08:002014-03-01T03:51:38.576-08:00Bulldog Triplog TemplateWhen I bought my Bulldog almost ten years ago, the previous owner very kindly provided me with a Microsoft Excel file containing a Trip Log template which I've been using ever since. A few years ago, I modified the template to include the new information required for Fatigue Monitoring (e.g., undercarriage leg serial numbers etc). I've been printing-off the template (20 blanks at a time) and filling them in after each flight. These have then been used as the basis for my submission to DHSL for annual fatigue monitoring.

I recently migrated the Excel document to a GoogleDocs Spreadsheet (screenshot below). I'm pleased to make this template available to any Bulldog operators who may find it useful. You can find it here.

Simply print-off some copies as you need them and fill them in manually, or make a digital copy to your own GoogleDrive (if you have a Google account), and customise to your own needs (e.g., type-in your particulars such as aircraft registration, undercarriage leg serial numbers, etc), then print-off copies as you need them.

For convenience, the template incorporates hyperlinks to my Bulldog Weight & Balance Calculator, my Bulldog Fatigue Index Calculator, and my Bulldog Checklist, all freely-available to anyone who finds them useful.

Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-81874588103807376172014-02-28T11:31:00.001-08:002014-05-07T09:13:13.687-07:00Long Live the File-System !If you have spent much time building mobile apps -- or even using them -- you will know how painful it is to work around the lack of consistency regarding the treatment of file-systems across the various platforms. iOS is the worst. Last time I looked in any detail, the iOS file-system was heavily locked-down such that one is basically confined to the very limited sub-file-system associated with a given app: making it almost impossible to flexibly share files across apps, one of the best things about the file-system in the first place !

Android and Windows Phone 8 are better, but neither is as simple and effective as the good old desktop (or laptop). Perhaps that's one of the reasons why almost half of (the many thousands of) iNavCalc users, are still routinely using the "old-fashioned" desktop (laptop) web-browser version of the app (as opposed to the mobile versions). With the desktop (or laptop) browser, it is trivially simple, for example, to import and export GPX route files (via the Import/export button on the web-form), which happens to be one of the most commonly used features of the software.

I must admit I was a little surprised by all this. I had sort of assumed that the mobile versions of iNavCalc would rapidly outweigh the desktop version in terms of usage volume. But a year or so after releasing the mobile versions, the desktop still commands 50% (or so) of the daily action.

So, given these steady usage volumes on the desktop, I thought it would be good to spend just a little bit of time on improving the desktop version of iNavCalc. As such, and making good use of the file-system, I've enhanced the route file import/export functionality. Specifically, you can now do the following:

Import a GPX route file (this functionality was already present)

Import a Garmin FPL route file

Import a SkyDemon ".flightplan" route file

Export route to a GPX file (this functionality was already present)

Export route to a Garmin FPL file

These functions are all available via the Import/Export popup, as illustrated in the screenshot below.

Of course with the mobile versions of iNavCalc, there is a workaround: namely exchanging files via email and via the Cloud storage functionality....but sometimes you can't beat the good old file-system in terms of simplicity and convenience.

I note in passing that the latest version of ChromeOS has a rather usable file-system. I was able to import/export route files via iNavCalc on the ChromeOS/Browser, with the same ease as I'm used to doing on Windows :)

Enjoy !

Fly Meisterhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-78482833551930006192014-02-23T14:08:00.001-08:002014-02-23T14:08:51.227-08:00Revenge of the Drones
Alas, my beloved quadcopter - complete with GoPro Hero 2 - featured in my recent post, has been lost at sea. It was unable to fight against the strong winds that carried it out to sea from the launch site in the Ramsey playing fields (Isle of Man).  Despite my best efforts to steer it to safety, the Irish Sea has claimed it.

An expensive lesson in the perils of flying beyond the weather limits of the aircraft...
Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-34954973514082141762014-02-22T01:16:00.001-08:002014-02-22T01:31:01.511-08:00Bulldog Weight & Balance
I did some instrument flying refresher training the other day with an instructor plus a bunch of (heavy) documentation on-board. Got me thinking about weight & balance. Normally I fly solo so am well within the loading limits of my Scottish Aviation Bulldog, and hence I don't need to check routinely.

Anyway, when I was calculating the loading and checking against the charts and graphs in the Pilots Operating Manual, it struck me that this would be a very good example of a calculation well-suited to a web-app.

So I put one together (see screenshot below) and have published it for general use. You can find it here.

It is free to use. If you register with FlyLogical (also free), you can save (and retrieve) your settings across sessions.

Hope you find it useful.

Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-8940684933660038342014-01-25T08:42:00.000-08:002014-01-25T09:19:03.972-08:00Attack of the DronesMy first attempts at shooting videos from a GoPro camera mounted on a quadcopter drone

Equipment list:

Walkera QR X350 quadcopter UAV ("drone") with GPS and compass

GoPro Hero 2

See pictures below.

Location:

Laxey football pitch, Laxey, Isle of Man, British Isles

Conditions:

Gusty

Videos:

First flight

Second flight

Comments:

Profile for both flights: (1) manual take-off (via RC transmitter); (2) switch to autopilot stabilised mode after a few seconds airborne; (3) fly around a bit with guided steering inputs (via RC transmitter), whilst remaining in autopilot stabilised mode; (4) switch to auto-land mode whereby autopilot takes full control and lands the drone at point of take-off (GPS-driven).

The gusty conditions meant that the drone's autopilot was making frequent attitude and positional corrections, so the videos are not ultra smooth. That said. even without an anti-vibration camera mount, the quality is pretty good.

The auto-land feature was enabled. Even so, the landings were quite heavy: but perfectly survivable by both the drone and the GoPro.

Pictures

Fly Meisterhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-66563387669599490202014-01-01T08:29:00.000-08:002015-02-19T04:18:19.943-08:00iNavCalc Data SourcesUpdated 19 February 2015 to include openAIP.net source

Here is the current list of sources where iNavCalc gets its data. You will note that some sources are official, but since FlyLogical is not an official (re-)distributer of such data, all FlyLogical web-pages and apps carry a warning and disclaimer about not relying on the data without reverting to the original official sources.

METARs and TAFs: US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) under sponsorship of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This is an official data source. URL: http://weather.aero

NOTAMs: US FAA Aeronautical Information Data Access Portal (AIDAP). This is an official data source.

Atmospheric temperatures and pressures used in PLOG calculations: same source as METARs for surface data, then application of standard atmosphere model to extrapolate from surface measurements to flight altitudes. For each waypoint, data from the nearest METAR reporting station is used, so results must be considered as approximate.

Winds-aloft used in PLOG calculations: same source as METARs for surface data, then application of boundary layer model to extrapolate from surface measurements to flight altitudes (see http://es.ucsc.edu/~jnoble/wind/extrap/index.html ). For each waypoint, data from the nearest METAR reporting station is used, so results must be considered as approximate. Note: previous versions of iNavCalc utilised the NWX web-service ( http://www.navlost.eu/aero/nwx_help ) for deriving winds-aloft forecasts from the NOAA GFS models ( http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/model-data/model-datasets/global-forcast-system-gfs ). However the NWX service has been intermittent of late, and no longer seems to be actively supported. As such, the alternate method of extrapolating from METAR surface winds has been adopted. This approach must be understood to be approximate, not least since the boundary layer model is itself approximate. Moreover, an average value of 0.1 is assumed for the surface friction parameter in the model, thereby not taking account of local variations.

Geomagnetic declination: a local implementation of the World Magnetic Model (WMM), developed jointly by the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC, Boulder CO, USA) and the British Geological Survey (BGS, Edinburgh, Scotland) . URL: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/DoDWMM.shtml

Solar angle calculations: local model based on Earth-Sun orbital model

Airport database: originally derived from the OurAirports.com community-maintained database, complemented thereafter by FlyLogical and by iNavCalc users

NAVAIDs database: originally derived from the OurAirports.com community-maintained database, complemented thereafter by FlyLogical and by iNavCalc users

NAVCOM frequencies: originally derived from the OurAirports.com community-maintained database, complemented thereafter by FlyLogical and by iNavCalc users, and since 19 February 2015, automatically updated via openAIP.net on a weekly basis

Fly Meisterhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-223455584910870050.post-508305567894856482013-11-16T11:32:00.002-08:002013-11-16T11:32:59.033-08:00MET, NOTAMS, and Route Planning via TwitterAs a great fan of Twitter in terms of its concept and its technical implementation, when I was in the midst of rolling-out Version 3 of the iNavCalc mobile app, I got to thinking that it would be a fun mini-project to combine the Twitter API with iNavCalc. So that's what I've done.

The result is simple set of hashtags (#met, #notams, #route) which you can use to generate MET, NOTAMS, and routes directly from your tweets. All you need is a Twitter account. To get started, see the simple instructions here.

Enjoy.Fly Meisterhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
- Table View
- List View
Clinical Cancer Preventionby Hans-Jörg Senn Florian Otto
This book is based on presentations by some of the world's leading experts at the Sixth International Conference on Clinical Cancer Prevention, held in St. Gallen, Switzerland, during March 2010. The main themes are the latest advances in the prevention of breast and prostate cancer and the role of infection in the development of liver and gastric cancer. Special emphasis is given to perspectives on the chemoprevention of breast cancer, as the conference included an international consensus meeting on this subject. New research findings are presented and potentially more effective cancer prevention strategies are discussed, with careful consideration of controversies. The expertise of the contributors encompasses genetics and microbiology, epidemiology, and health economics, as well as clinical cancer prevention. This book will be of interest to all who wish to learn about the most recent progress in combating the development of cancer.
Select your format based upon: 1) how you want to read your book, and 2) compatibility with your reading tool. To learn more about using Bookshare with your device, visit the Help Center.
Here is an overview of the specialized formats that Bookshare offers its members with links that go to the Help Center for more information.
- Bookshare Web Reader - a customized reading tool for Bookshare members offering all the features of DAISY with a single click of the "Read Now" link.
- DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) - a digital book file format. DAISY books from Bookshare are DAISY 3.0 text files that work with just about every type of access technology that reads text. Books that contain images will have the download option of 'DAISY Text with Images'.
- BRF (Braille Refreshable Format) - digital Braille for use with refreshable Braille devices and Braille embossers.
- MP3 (Mpeg audio layer 3) - Provides audio only with no text. These books are created with a text-to-speech engine and spoken by Kendra, a high quality synthetic voice from Ivona. Any device that supports MP3 playback is compatible.
- DAISY Audio - Similar to the Daisy 3.0 option above; however, this option uses MP3 files created with our text-to-speech engine that utilizes Ivonas Kendra voice. This format will work with Daisy Audio compatible players such as Victor Reader Stream and Read2Go.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
adidas and Kanye West Make History with Transformative New Partnership adidas + KANYE WEST
Today, adidas announced the cementing of its long-term relationship with creative pioneer Kanye West in the launch of adidas + KANYE WEST, a YEEZY branded entity creating footwear, apparel and accessories for all genders across street and sport.READ MORE
latest news
adidas' BOOST technology powers Aberu Kebede to victory in Berlin
- adizero adios BOOST claims another Marathon success in the 2016 women's race - adidas' Aberu Kebede first to cross the finish line of the famous course for a third time, following her winning...
adidas Originals-The September Nonissue
adidas Originals channels the progressive energy of the upcoming Fall Winter drop of Tubular footwear via the September NonIssue – a new zine developed in cooperation with Dazed Media Studio. Challeng
adidas UltraBOOST ATR Drops Today
Introducing the adidas UltraBOOST ATR, an all-terrain version of your favorite silhouette for all climates. A waterline layer and mudguard around the toe box provide water resistant protection...
adidas Football Unveils the Unearthed Pack
adidas Football today unveiled the Unearthed Pack, featuring the 2017 Freak x KEVLAR ® , built for the most intimidating players on the field, and the 2017 adizero 5-Star 6.0 x KEVLAR ® , designed for
adidas Unveils First Futurecraft Shoe Created at Industry-Changing SPEEDFACTORY Facility
- SPEEDFACTORY seen as the ultimate in Futurecraft with facility able to create completely unique product through high-speed process - - First product – the adidas Futurecraft M.F.G. (Made for Germany
adidas Baseball unveils the Celebration Pack
adidas Baseball unveils the Celebration Pack adidas Baseball today unveiled the new "Celebration Pack" baseball cleats - a collection of special edition cleats commemorating teams advancing to...
Texas A&M & adidas Reveal 'Junction Made' Retro Football Uniforms
Texas A&M & adidas Reveal 'Junction Made' Retro Football Uniforms Texas A&M University and adidas today unveiled the 'Junction Made' Primeknit alternate football uniform, which will hit the turf when
KANYE WEST and adidas Originals drop the YEEZY BOOST 350 V2
In 2015, the YEEZY BOOST 350 changed the game. This September, Kanye West and adidas Originals introduce a bold evolution of this style. The world's most influential and sought-after shoe debuts...


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Summerfest's Violent Femmes video fuels speculation on headliners
Summerfest officials seemed genuinely shocked when the Journal Sentinel informed them Tuesday that a Marcus Amphitheater show June 26 had been posted on the Violent Femmes website.
But within hours, Summerfest officials had transformed the blind side into a golden marketing opportunity that had multiple media outlets speculating who would be playing the amphitheater with the Femmes on Summerfest's opening day. »Read Full Article(7)
Milwaukee Art Museum makes appearance in iPhone Photography Awards
The subject of one of the winning photos in the 2014 iPhone Photography Awards might look familiar to Milwaukeeans:
Winners of the iPhone Photography Awards: http://t.co/oYFMo8SQso pic.twitter.com/ibgC2fMasV »Read Full Blog Post
Cedarburg native Josh Thompson unveils video for 'Wanted Me Gone'
Just in time for a concert swing through his home state, Wisconsin's biggest national country star, Josh Thompson, has released the video for his new song, "Wanted Me Gone." The song is the second single from Thompson's sophpmore album, "Turn It Up," which was released in April. It is already following the first song, "Cold Beer With Your Name On It" toward the country radio top 40.
The song is a classic country kiss off with a catchy groove. The video finds Thompson addressing his ex from the tailgate of a pickup filled with his belongings and sitting defiantly in a lawn chair under a window with his clothes - and even a whitetail archery target- raining down on him. »Read Full Blog Post
Things to do this week in Milwaukee
Painter's blues
Take a look at Wassily Kandinsky's art from another perspective by attending Gregory S. Athnos' lecture on the artist at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Lubar Auditorium of the Milwaukee Art Museum, 900 N. Art Museum Drive. »Read Full Article


text:
Whether it's the working mother arrested for letting her 9-year-old play unsupervised at a playground, the teenager forced to have his genitals photographed by police, the underage burglar sentenced to 23 years for shooting a retired police dog, or the 43-year-old man put in a chokehold by NYPD officers allegedly over the sale of untaxed cigarettes, the theater of the absurd that passes for life in the American police state grows more tragic and incomprehensible by the day.
Debra Harrell, a 46-year-old South Carolina working mother, was arrested, charged with abandonment and had her child placed in state custody after allowing the 9-year-old to spend unsupervised time at a neighborhood playground while the mom worked a shift at McDonald's.
A Connecticut mother was charged with leaving her 11-year-old daughter in the car unsupervised while she ran inside a store--despite the fact that the child asked to stay in the car and was not overheated or in distress. A few states away, a New Jersey man was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of his children after leaving them in a car parked in a police station parking lot, windows rolled down, while he ran inside to pay a ticket.
A Virginia teenager, charged with violating the state's sexting law after exchanging sexually provocative videos with his girlfriend, was issued a search warrant to "medically induce an erection" in him so police could photograph his erect penis and compare it to the images sent in the sexting exchange.
In Georgia, a toddler had his face severely burned when a flash bang grenade, launched by a SWAT team during the course of a no-knock warrant, landed in his portable crib, detonating on his pillow. Also in Georgia, a police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old boy who answered the door, reportedly with a Nintendo Wii controller in his hands.
Now we can shrug these incidents off as isolated injustices happening to "other" people. We can rationalize them away by suggesting that these people "must" have done something to warrant such treatment. Or we can acknowledge that this slide into totalitarianism--helped along by overcriminalization, government surveillance, militarized police, neighbors turning in neighbors, privatized prisons, and forced labor camps, to name just a few similarities--is tracking very closely with what we saw happening in Germany in the years leading up to Hitler's rise to power.
When all is said and done, what these incidents reflect is a society that has become so bureaucratic, so legalistic, so politically correct, so militaristic, so locked down, so self righteous, and so willing to march in lockstep with the corporate-minded police state that any deviations from the norm--especially those that offend the sensibilities of the "government-knows-best" nanny state or challenge the powers that be--become grist for prosecution, persecution and endless tribulations for the poor souls who are caught in the crosshairs.
Then there are the incidents, less colorful perhaps but no less offensive to the sensibilities of any freedom-loving individual, which should arouse outrage among the populace but often slip under the radar of a sleeping nation.
For instance, not only is the NSA spying on and collecting the content of your communications, but it's also going to extreme lengths to label as "extremists" anyone who attempts to protect their emails from the government's prying eyes.
No less disconcerting are the rash of incidents in which undercover government agents encourage individuals to commit crimes they might not have engaged in otherwise. This "make work" entrapment scheme runs the gamut from terrorism to drugs.
Most outrageous of all are the asset forfeiture laws that empower law enforcement to rake in huge sums of money by confiscating cash, cars, and even homes based on little more than a suspicion of wrongdoing.
So who or what is to blame for this bureaucratic nightmare delivered by way of the police state? Is it the White House? Is it Congress? Is it the Department of Homeland Security, with its mobster mindset? Is it some shadowy, power-hungry entity operating off a nefarious plan?
Or is it, as Holocaust survivor Hannah Arendt suggests, the sheepish masses who mindlessly march in lockstep with the government's dictates--expressing no outrage, demanding no reform, and issuing no challenge to the status quo--who are to blame for the prison walls being erected around us?
This is where democracy falls to ruin, and bureaucracy and tyranny prevail.
As I make clear in my book A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, we have only ourselves to blame for this bureaucratic hell that has grown up around us.
Too many of us have turned a blind eye to the government corruption, or shrugged dismissively at the ongoing injustices, or tuned out the mayhem in favor of entertainment distractions. Just as guilty are those who have traded in their freedoms for a phantom promise of security, not to mention those who feed the machine unquestioningly with their tax dollars and partisan politics. And then there are the government employees--the soldiers, the cops, the technicians, the social workers, etc.--who are "just following orders" and doing their jobs, whether that job is to arrest you, spy on you, investigate you, crash through your door, etc.
1 | 2


text:
Top Definition
a popular term in the gay community referring to good looks, fierceness, or something good.
"that wig is snatched hunny! is it real or synthetic?"
flipandtwist2x tarafından 11 Eylül 2011, Pazar
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?
To have a nice body.
Have you seen julie?
She got snatched over the summer
She got snatched over the summer
Balletluv2009 tarafından 18 Ağustos 2008, Pazartesi
pussy whipped
Your girl got you snatched.
via giphy
kmmrw tarafından 2 Temmuz 2016, Cumartesi
having arched eyebrows that are obvious
Girl, your eyebrows are snatched. You must have been to the Korean lady again.
kdak tarafından 8 Mayıs 2008, Perşembe
Taxed or stolen....
That fool snatched his dope out of his pocket
PizzaMan tarafından 31 Ekim 2003, Cuma
Really skinny
Damn those ballerinas are snatched, you can see all their bones
~-~-~- tarafından 9 Ağustos 2010, Pazartesi
When black guys hide in bathrooms with the lights out and grab girls, when they pass by, inside the bathroom and lock the door to have sexual intercourse
I got snatched last night at prom house
Croger tarafından 20 Mayıs 2014, Salı


text:
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text:
On June 9, a complete page of the Amarillo Globe News was dedicated to a feel-good story about homosexuality (The Associated Press: "Brian, Toby: A gay wedding, unrushed.)
No Christian who believes that the Bible is the word of God can feel good about those who continue to practice sin. And make no mistake, the Bible repeatedly declares that homosexual conduct is sin.
For my local newspaper to glorify such conduct is wrong.
The prophet Isaiah declared: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil."
There can be no greater example of calling evil good than to write as though sinful behavior — any sinful behavior — is acceptable. Jesus proclaimed that it would be better to have a millstone tied around one's neck and to be thrown into the sea than to lead little ones astray.
It is clearly the responsibility for those in the public arena to declare the truth. Please do so.
Harry Cheney


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Genome-wide association study of 40,000 individuals identifies two novel loci associated with bipolar disorder. Human molecular genetics, 2016/06/21, (2016) Read More / View Supplemental Materials Abstract
Disruption of a large intergenic noncoding RNA in subjects with neurodevelopmental disabilities. American journal of human genetics, 2012/12/07, Volume 91, Issue 6, p.1128-34, (2012) Read More / View Supplemental Materials Abstract
- Showing 1-2 of 2 Results


text:
Draft Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessments; Availability: Registration Review
This Notice document was issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
For related information, Open Docket Folder
Registration Review; Draft Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessments; Notice of Availability
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
This notice announces the availability of EPA's draft human health and ecological risk assessments for the registration review of acetaminophen, clofentezine, fluazinam, hexythiazox, quinclorac, sulfur, and triflumizole and opens a public comment period on these documents. Registration review is EPA's periodic review of pesticide registrations to ensure that each pesticide continues to satisfy the statutory standard for registration, that is, the pesticide can perform its intended function without unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment. As part of the registration review process, the Agency has completed comprehensive draft risk assessments for each of the subject chemicals and is making them available for public comment. After reviewing comments received during the public comment period, EPA will issue revised risk assessments, if appropriate, explain any changes to the draft risk assessments, and respond to comments and may request public input on risk mitigation before completing a proposed registration review decision for each of the chemicals. Through this program, EPA is ensuring that each pesticide's registration is based on current scientific and other knowledge, including its effects on human health and the environment.
Comments must be received on or before August 26, 2013.
Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number for the specific pesticide of interest provided in Table 1. in Unit III., by one of the following methods:
Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along with more information about dockets generally, is available at .
For Further Information Contact
For information about a particular pesticide included in this document, contact: The Chemical Review Manager identified in Table 1. in Unit III. for the pesticide of interest.
For general questions on the registration review program, contact: Jane Robbins, Pesticide Re-evaluation Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-0048; fax number: (703) 305-8005; email address: .
Supplementary Information
I. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
This action is directed to the public in general, and may be of interest to a wide range of stakeholders including environmental, human health, farm worker, and agricultural advocates; the chemical industry; pesticide users; and members of the public interested in the sale, distribution, or use of pesticides. Since others also may be interested, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be affected by this action. If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the Chemical Review Manager identified in Table 1. in Unit III. for the pesticide of interest.
B. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, remember to:
i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and substitute language for your requested changes.
iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information and/or data that you used.
v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be reproduced.
vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and suggest alternatives.
vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of profanity or personal threats.
viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline identified.
3. Environmental justice. EPA seeks to achieve environmental justice, the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of any group, including minority and/or low income populations, in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. To help address potential environmental justice issues, the Agency seeks information on any groups or segments of the population who, as a result of their location, cultural practices, or other factors, may have atypical or disproportionately high and adverse human health impacts or environmental effects from exposure to the pesticides discussed in this document, compared to the general population.
II. Authority
EPA is conducting its registration review of the pesticides identified in this document pursuant to section 3(g) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the procedural regulations for registration review at 40 CFR part 155, subpart C. Section 3(g) of FIFRA provides, among other things, that the registrations of pesticides are to be reviewed every 15 years. Under FIFRA, a pesticide product may be registered or remain registered only if it meets the statutory standard for registration given in FIFRA section 3(c)(5). When used in accordance with widespread and commonly recognized practice, the pesticide product must perform its intended function without unreasonable adverse effects on the environment; that is, without any unreasonable risk to man or the environment, or a human dietary risk from residues that result from the use of a pesticide in or on food.
III. Registration Reviews
As directed by FIFRA section 3(g), EPA is reviewing the pesticide registrations for acetaminophen, clofentezine, fluazinam, hexythiazox, quinclorac, sulfur, and triflumizole to ensure that they continue to satisfy the FIFRA standard for registration—that is, that these pesticides can still be used without unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment.
At this stage in the registration review process, consistent with the final paper, announced in the Federal Register issue of March 27, 2013 (78 FR 18585) (FRL-9382-5), jointly developed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ("the Services") to enhance opportunities for stakeholder input during pesticide registration reviews and endangered species consultations, draft environmental risk assessments include an evaluation of the potential risks to federally listed endangered and threatened species (hereafter referred to as "listed species"). EPA intends to complete a refined assessment of potential risks to individual listed species, as needed. The refined listed species assessments will be based on the recommendations of the National Research Council (NRC), which was tasked with providing advice on ecological risk assessment tools and scientific approaches in developing listed species risk assessments that are compliant with both FIFRA and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The NRC report, issued April 30, 2013, provides recommendations to ensure scientific soundness and maximize the utility of risk assessment refinements for listed species. Additional information can be found at the following Web site: . Revisions to risk assessments will likely reflect Agency review of the report and any associated methodology and science policy based on the report's recommendations. Refinements to the listed species assessments may include, but not be limited to, the following:
In the event that a draft risk assessment shows risks of concern to human health or the environment for a specific chemical, EPA reserves the right to initiate mitigation at this stage of registration review. This effort to mitigate a chemical's risks early in the registration review process is consistent with the Agency's approach for registration review. Where risks are identified early in the registration review process and opportunities for early mitigation exist, the Agency may pursue those opportunities as they arise, rather then waiting for completion of a chemical's registration review in order to mitigate risks. The public comment period for the draft risk assessments allows members of the public to provide comments and suggestions for revising the draft risk assessments and for reducing risks.
Pursuant to 40 CFR 155.53(c), EPA is providing an opportunity, through this notice of availability, for interested parties to provide comments and input concerning the Agency's draft human health and ecological risk assessments for acetaminophen, clofentezine, fluazinam, hexythiazox, quinclorac, sulfur, and triflumizole. Such comments and input could address, among other things, the Agency's risk assessment methodologies and assumptions, as applied in these draft risk assessments. The Agency will consider all comments received during the public comment period and make changes, as appropriate, to the draft human health and ecological risk assessments. EPA will then issue revised risk assessments, if appropriate, explain any changes to the draft risk assessment, and respond to comments. In the Federal Register notice announcing the availability of the revised risk assessments, if the revised risk assessments indicate risks of concern, the Agency may provide a comment period for the public to submit suggestions for mitigating the risks identified in those revised risk assessments before developing proposed registration review decisions on acetaminophen, clofentezine, fluazinam, hexythiazox, quinclorac, sulfur, and triflumizole. At present, EPA is releasing registration review draft risk assessments for the pesticide cases identified in the following table and further described in this unit.
1. Other related information. Additional information on these pesticides is available on the chemical pages for these pesticides in Chemical Search, , and in each chemical's individual docket listed in Table 1. in Unit III. Information on the Agency's registration review program and its implementing regulation is available at .
2. Information submission requirements. Anyone may submit data or information in response to this document. To be considered during a pesticide's registration review, the submitted data or information must meet the following requirements:
As provided in 40 CFR 155.58, the registration review docket for each pesticide case will remain publicly accessible through the duration of the registration review process; that is, until all actions required in the final decision on the registration review case have been completed.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Acetaminophen, Clofentezine, Fluazinam, Hexythiazox, Pesticides and pests, Quinclorac, Sulfur, Triflumizole.
Dated: June 19, 2013.
Michael Goodis,
Acting Director, Pesticide Re-Evaluation Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 2013-15304 Filed 6-25-13; 8:45 am]
No documents available.
Comment Period Closed
Tracking Number:
Document Information
Show More Details
Date Posted: Jun 26, 2013
Federal Register Number: 2013-15304
Comments Received*
Docket Information
This document is contained in
Related Dockets:
Related RINs: None
* This count refers to the total comment/submissions received on this document, as of 11:59 PM yesterday. Note: Agencies review all submissions, however some agencies may choose to redact, or withhold, certain submissions (or portions thereof) such as those containing private or proprietary information, inappropriate language, or duplicate/near duplicate examples of a mass-mail campaign. This can result in discrepancies between this count and those displayed when conducting searches on the Public Submission document type. For specific information about an agency's public submission policy, refer to its website or the Federal Register document.
Document text and images courtesy of the
Federal Register


text:
|Doll/Doll Clothing
You can trust my patterns to be professional, well written, and carefully proofread. My background as a teacher and later as an editor helped me in my goal to write professional crochet patterns, ...
You can trust my patterns to be professional, well written, and carefully proofread. My background as a teacher and later as an editor helped me in my goal to write professional crochet patterns, and I also follow the guidelines for writing crochet patterns set up by the DRG publishing network.
If you find a valid mistake in one of my patterns and point it out to me, I will refund the cost of the pattern to you! (Applies only to individual patterns, not collections.)
I learned to crochet at the age of ten but didn't get passionately involved with it until many years later when my son was born. I still love to make baby clothes and blankets even though he's not a baby anymore! All things tiny are what I enjoy crocheting, especially doll clothes and baby clothes.
I have created many of my own patterns that have been published in various magazines (Crochet World, Quick & Easy Crochet, Barbie Bazaar, and Dollhouse Miniatures). I have had 2 crochet books published: "Twentieth Century Fashion Doll Collection" (2006, by Annie's Attic) and "Playtime Jackets" (2011, by Leisure Arts).
I am working on Sweater-of-the-Month designs for the American Girl, and this is my pattern for August. It is a cable cardigan with matching headband, to keep her warm while yachting or boating. :) With this pattern, you can create a knitted look with crochet!
Feel free to sell any items you make from my patterns (but do not mass produce). Please do not resell the patterns themselves or make them available online. They are copyrighted.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or feedback! :)
I also sell on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrincessOfCrochet. My patterns are available there, as well as some of my finished items.
6 sc = 1 inch; 6 sc rows or rnds = 1 inch


text:
Mini Goat Cheese Cheesecakes Recipe
Additional Information
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Break each biscuit apart horizontally into 3 or 4 pieces. Press each piece into bottom and up sides of mini muffin pan. Bake 3-5 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly.
Step 2
Meanwhile, in food processor or with electric mixer, combine goat cheese, cream cheese, eggs, basil, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup tomatoes until smooth and well blended. Spoon into cooled biscuit cups; top with remaining 1/4 cup tomatoes. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Cool slightly to serve.
3 pkgs (12 ounces ea.) refrigerated biscuits
1 pkg (8 ounces) goat cheese, (crumbled)
4 ounces (1/2 8-oz. package) cream cheese, (softened)
4 eggs
1/4 cup fresh basil, (finely chopped)
1/2 teaspoon salt, (optional)
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, (well drained and finely chopped, divided)
Mini Muffin Pan
Food Processor (or electric mixer)
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There may be no dessert flavors better paired than chocolate and raspberry. Watch our online video.
A great way to add bright color and lighter fare to any celebration. Choose your favorite veggies, cut them up and pipe them in with Herb Cheese Spread or choose another cheese spread recipe you love. Place on our Cupcakes 'N More Dessert Stand to serve.
A sensational flavor combination for brides who want a taste as extraordinary as the cake design.