The formula for calculating the energy striking a square meter (or any other square, depending on the units chosen) of surface that is *perpendicular* to the source is [1]:
22:28
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Flying Around in Circles 
Last night I decided to take some cough medicine before going to bed in an attempt to sleep better. It did work, and I did sleep at least a little more (except for an annoying episode about 4am when
19:02
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Flying Around in Circles
It's the middle of March. MARCH. The temperature today has been 81 all day. And very humid. I was very hot and sweaty and my clothes were sticking to me in the plane earlier today. However, appar
21:39
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Flying Around in Circles
Not a lot to report today. Let me just say that just because training is "standardized" doesn't mean it's "good". But at least I'm getting a little more TwinStar time, and some time to hang out in t
22:42
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Flying Around in Circles
I'm done!!1!!1!
This morning I got up at 7:00am NEW time (gack) for an 8:00am checkride. The airport closed at 10:30am for an airshow, so we were under some serious time pressure. I did b
21:23
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Flying Around in Circles
OK, after an hour of reading and working through some very rusty math, here's my first real answer to an astronomy question posed for one of my classes.
The question is: since gravity drops
12:48
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Flying Around in Circles
I'm using Thunderbird 2 to read newsgroups for my astronomy class. The newsgroups can be accessed via NNTP or via a dedicated web-based browser. The web-based browser is a pain to use. It also alwa
11:57
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Flying Around in Circles
There are a number of carefully propagated myths in flying. They are passed from instructor to student as gospel without any real thought. So far I've been hit by two of them this week. When someon
17:08
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Flying Around in Circles
It's been a long time since I've had to drive through hail so severe I was afraid the car would be damaged.
13:54
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Flying Around in Circles
Well, the weather is kind of crappy here. Winds gusting to 23 KTS, 3-6 foot seas on the inland lakes, relatively low ceilings, and a tornado watch with thunderstorms to follow. I decided to scrap th
17:34
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Flying Around in Circles
Last night I took a bunch of drugs before going to sleep, and slept reasonably well - at least better than I've been sleeping. I woke up with a very deep voice, but without much throat pain. The res
22:30
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Flying Around in Circles
There are about 45 people taking each of the astronomy classes I'm in this semester. This is quite a lot - definitely more than I was expecting. There is a newsgroup where we introduce ourselves to
21:57
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Flying Around in Circles
I'm definitely sick. My throat is so sore I can hardly talk. The rest of me feels mostly OK. I wonder if I can take a checkride without saying anything?
Last night I d
Congratulations to G, the woman who did that intensive 6-week private course with me back in November. Despite illness, vacations, and weather delays, she finally passed her checkride today! Woo hoo
19:30
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Flying Around in Circles
This morning I woke up feeling like crap. I had a sore throat and both of my ears hurt. I didn't know if I was coming down with something, had bad allergies, or what. I forced myself out of bed at
19:12
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Flying Around in Circles
Today I got up early (7:15am Eastern - yuck), grabbed a nice breakfast at the hotel, and drove 4 miles (in Florida driving that's 15 minutes if you're lucky) to my seaplane instructor's house / seapla
21:48
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Flying Around in Circles
Yesterday was the start of the first semester for my masters in astronomy. Of course it coincides with my two weeks in Florida when I have zero free time, and only sporadic internet access. Tonight
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Flying Around in Circles
Thursday
cjsmith and I caught a reasonably late flight (10am) from SJC to Fort Myers, FL via D
