Offered by some guys I used to be stationed with in the Air Force, the SR-71, also referred to as ‘the Pick’, is a very specialized piece of kit used in airfield surveys.
It’s a simple soil strength surveying device used Internationally by Surveyors when assessing semi-prepared and un-prepared airfields. Individuals or a team of surveyors can quickly assess large areas and trouble spots / weak areas on an airfield by ‘picking’ the ground and checking top layers of soil for indicators of GO or NO GO criteria. This can save a lot of time as you may find that there’s no need to even break out the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer.
In case you missed history being made yesterday, here’s the money shot.
Here are a few facts about yesterday’s record breaking freefall jump from the edge of space courtesy of Airman magazine.
Here are the stats from the jump:
Exit Altitude: 128,100 feet
Free Fall Time: 4 minutes, 20 seconds
Free Fall Distance: 119,846 feet
Maximum Velocity: 373 meters/second — He achieved Mach 1.24!
Some final words from the press conference:
“When I was standing there on top of the world so humble, you are not thinking about breaking records. I was thinking about coming back alive. You do not want to die in front of your parents and all these people….I thought ‘please God, don’t let me down.”
~ Felix Baumgartner
Best Quote:”I’d like to give the one-fingered salute to everyone who said he was going to break apart when he went supersonic.”
~ Col Joseph Kittinger
“I want to inspire the next generation. I want to be in mission control with someone younger than me wanting to break my record.”
~Felix
It had me on the edge of my seat and I think I was holding my breath until he got stable in freefall. My hat’s off to Felix Baumgartner but I have to say that Joe Kettinger is a stud. Consider that he jumped thousands of feet lower than Baumgartner yet held freefall longer before deploying his chute. And, he did it with a compromised pressure suit. And, it was in 1960! That man has balls as big as church bells. Here’s to the next young person who works to break these records!
Stephen Jensen, an Air Force Medic who’s just returned from a year long tour in Afghanistan has decided to devote his rest and relaxation to raising money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. His plan is to ruck the Air Force Half Marathon while wearing a full combat load out He is doing this to raise awareness and money for our wounded Veteran’s of the Special Operations Community.
He’s only trying to raise $1000 so it would be great to help him meet his goal.
The AF Security Forces Center has modified their existing Defensor Fortis Load Carrying System (DF-LCS) Requirements Contract for USAF Security Forces to include MultiCam (OCP) packs, load carry harnesses, pouch kits, padded belts and misc pouches.
This change allows AF Security Forces to now purchase MultiCam versions of all the items previously available in ABU (Digital Tiger Stripe) at the same price and via the same contract vehicle. All of the new items continue to meet mil-spec and Berry compliance requirements.
Additionally, the new GEN III harnesses are the revamped version based on survey results from users in 2011. Improvements include 5 sizes of harnesses to better address the different body types and heights, improved web management and additional padding in the neck and shoulder areas.
Orders can be placed via the contract itself or, beginning next week, directly through the contract holder, GCS’s portal at GCSWarrior.com.
