http://www.theworld.org/2012/11/the-energy-costs-of-oil-production/ “Back in the 1920’s, oil was paying off at 100-to-1,” said Zencey. “It took one barrel of oil to extract, process, refine, ship and deliver 100 barrels of oil. That’s a phenomenal rate of return. If you work out the percentage, that’s a 10,000 percent rate of return.” But that’s not the rate of return today. Now, conventional oil production worldwide pays off at about a 20-to-1 ratio. And in Canada, where the oil comes from tar sands, it’s closer to 5-to-1. “Renewable energy sources are paying off at higher rates, 12-to-1, 15-to-1, 17-to-1. That tells you right there, hmmmm, the age of oil should be over.”

The difference you are describing is the difference between detonate and deflagrate. Even in a pipe you are not turning black powder into a high explosive - it is still just burning not detonating. See http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~eroberts/courses/ww2/projects/firebombing/detonation-and-combustion.htm for some good info.

I like that: re-event the wheel. I'll see if I can't use that in my next jqm ui presentation.

http://www.fedcoplaw.com/html/Federal%20Explosives%20and%20Bombing%20Laws.dwt.htm
Not obvious to me that what she had qualifies as either a bomb or explosive.

I looked at the top three Google links for Dr. Peter Hagelstein. Could not find anything other than he is still an associate prof at MIT - would think CF would get you tenure. Would you mind pointing me to some CF success? And I'll constrain that to the definition where success means repeatable.

Re the cost increase on AN - does that mean legitimate use as fertalizer went up 25x for farmers?

CALL -151 the only command worth using

I love Holland and immensely enjoyed touring from the cost to Utrecht to Groening and further on my bike in the early 90s, nothing like riding south to Den Oever in a strong wind from the west. We did bomb you only about 6 years prior to the last time we did NK - I am sure you know Nijmegen. And while that was no doubt accidental I'd dare say your neighbors are a center of European economic strength due to their treatment by the US and Allies both before and after VE. One of my favorite Dutch jokes - "How does a German tourist get to France? Drives to Holland and turns left." Perhaps not as funny as some of the Belgian jokes I heard in Holland.

Dude. Full retail is $4K for something that looks pretty good - http://www.marcusuav.com/pricelist.htm.
By decent EE I mean someone like this - DIY http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1337608
I am guessing this cost well less than $4K - though depends on what the guy's time is worth. So if by "big budget" you mean more than a few hundred bucks then yes.

Totally depends on noise in the spectrum where you are flying - I had a cheap Futaba 72 MHZ system and flew my 6' sailplane up to about 1500' once - control was not my issue it was being able to see my plane and get it out of the thermal.

Have a look at this - http://www.persistentsystems.com/products_5a.php - this kind of thing is pretty easy for a decent EE.

I had a 6ft wingspan sailplane up at about 1500 ft out in the AZ desert one time - no problem with the radio signal - lots of problem keeping the plan oriented and trying to get out of the thermal. If the spectrum is fairly clear even my cheap radio was good to a few thousand ft.

On final approach an airliner is more in the 120 to 150 MPH range, and a good pilot is looking hard for other aircraft near the airport - so if you do see something you look pretty hard right at it. And in this case it is not like there is much else at that point to grab your attention - the pilot is still 3 miles out so he can let his attention off the runway for the few seconds it would take to focus on the other aircraft.
Estimating the distance between the aircraft and size of the aircraft is a bit more up in the air.

Best cars I ever owned were an ID-19 from 1969 that regularly gave me 28 MPG, and I was not easy on the pedal; and my 1972 D-Special. Had 200,000 miles on each before I sold them, and I wish I could buy a CIt in the US today - would love a C6.

Good cite. Mods please.