It might be this plane she jumped from, a DC 9 not a 727 - similar but a bit smaller.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eigjb/4035916870/

I wouldn't be surprised if it featured on the documentary. Assuming the 727 pilot is an experienced skydiver, it would still make sense for them to take a few practice jumps from the DC 9 to familiarise themselves with jumping out the back of a jet airliner.

I call bullshit on the word "ejected". Installing a seat would be a massive amount of hassle - cutting a hatch in the roof of the cockpit would be a major modification of the airframe. I'm no airplane geek but I bet the airframe would need FAA recertification after that kind of modification, plus a massive amount of testing to make sure it all worked correctly (you really don't want the situation where the seat fires but the hatch remains locked in place). I admit I'm pulling a number out of the air, but I'd be unsurprised if there was little change from ten million.

Forget the ejection seat. I bet the reason they used a 727 is that it's fitted with an Airstair, a combined hatch/stairway at the very rear of the aircraft. The Airstair makes the 727 one of the few airliners that it's possible to parachute from without the risk of being hit by the engines, wing or tailplane - a person known as "Mr Cooper" proved this was possible in 1971. The only modification needed to do it again is the removal of the Cooper vane, a small aerodynamic device fitted to 727s after the DB Cooper hikack, intended to stop the Airstair being opened in flight.

I'm not sure exactly what kind of experience this reporter had with a low, fast Spitfire, but it doesn't seem to have been sexual, despite what he subsequently said.

Since this thread has already established that the boat is still a valuable asset that remains the property of the owners. Sinking it when it could be salvaged with little effort would presumably open the Canadian authorities up to an immediate lawsuit from the owners.

“Subsonic cruise missiles, aircraft, fast-moving boats, unmanned aerial vehicles” — Mike Deitchman, who oversees future weapons development for the Office of Naval Research, promises Danger Room that the Navy laser cannons just over the horizon will target them all.

I'm confused. Surely the one thing a laser canon can't do is target things from over the horizon.

One time a fantasy film-make used non-British English accents.

The accents were one of the reasons he wound fending off accusations of racism and anti-semitism. So I can imagine other film makers remembering this, and just preferring to avoid the risk of the same thing happening again.

Having seen pictures of World War 2 aircraft, recovered form the sea after 70 years, that looked like the only restoration needed was to hose off the mud and straighten the propeller (see image), I'd say neither of us have any real idea what condition they'll be in.

Basically, it's all about what angle the S-I stage hit the water 40 years ago. Cold deep sea is comparatively kind to aircraft alloys, although post-recovery conservation is a massive problem.

This is absolutely not about digging a basement.

The man simply likes playing with R/C earthmovers. And this is a way for him to keep on doing it during the five-month Canadian Winter, when everything is covered in snow. I doubt if he would care if it took 20 years to finish.

I think you're talking about a suprepressure balloon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superpressure_balloon

Sod guns, obviously the most useful application this technology would have, assuming it can have the range claimed for it, is spotting suicide vests as frisking is clearly impossible. I believe the only current option is to force the suspected bomber to undress at gunpoint, while standing well away from them.

I'll be interested to see if the Israelis start buying this technology. Though I assume it'll only take a another 7/7 in London before they put these into every tube station.