RIP CAPortal

Its with a heavy heart that I found out yesterday that one of my favorite sites on the web has closed down. CAPortal was always on the cutting edge of CAP news, from the Iowa plan to latest photoID info, I hope those of us in the online CAP community can continue to carry the torch. This was Tedd's post on CAPTalk.net regarding its closure.

" First of all, thank you all for your membership.

My decision to remove Civil Air Portal from the online CAP community was not without much consideration, which I might add, went on for several weeks.

Although I did not discuss it with NIN last night, it is a fact that I will be taking on increased responsibilities as a Coast Guard Auxiliarist. In particular, I will be assisting an active duty Coast Guard Sector with revamping and maintaining it's website. Although I will enjoy serving the Coast Guard a lot, this has not been a factor in the closing of CAPortal. What has been, however, is my CAP duties at the squadron and even more so at the wing level. Like so many CAP officers, I wear several hats. To my credit, or misfortune, (depending how you look at it) some of these hats feel like the ten-gallon kind and I only have so much CAP time in a week to devote to them.

For those who admonish me for closing the site, I say how dare you! It is more than likely that you have been the problem rather than the answer. The mods I selected did a fine job policing the site without overstepping their boundaries. A real problem, however, is that a great many officers have refused to police themselves. Being a part of all the CAPolitical punditry has grown very tiresome, and has been surpassed only by witnessing the same in others.

Civil Air Portal has gone over it's allotted bandwidth for many months and costs me considerably. To those who have contributed much of their time there and are left feeling troubled, I share your feelings. I assure you I take no joy from closing CAPortal and I encourage you to use this site, as well as CAPblog to share your ideas and develop yourselves as officers.

Theodore J. Agnello, Maj CAP
Director of Information Technology
Wisconsin Wing"

Thank you Ted for all the time and effort you put into the site, it will be sorely missed, portal-people and all.

-Becks/SAREX

Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS) Danger

*Thanks to Wikipedia.com for the images.

Throughout the decades, aerospace firms have sought to make their respective companie's airframes more reliable, easier to fly and paramount: safer. Thus enter the Ballistic Recovery System (BRS) that is more commonly fit to small single engine piston aircraft such as the Cirrus SR-22 you see above.

A Ballistic Recovery System is a sort of "last resort" for the unfortunate pilot in an emergency. Upon (in Cirrus' case) pulling a red lever on the inside roof of the aircraft, explosive charges will force a parachute from the airframe, thus slowing the descent of the aircraft. (Which in the proper case, the aircraft will land vertically on it's landing gear as you can see in the set of pictures).


You may ask, "What does this mean for me?" Well, it means quite a bit say you happen on a crashed SR-22 as a result of a REDCAP.

My sources at the local FBO and several Cirrus pilots have stated on several occasions, however that I have not been able to confirm, the typical BRS has the explosive power of a hand grenade. Should you happen on the wreckage of an aircraft that is equipped with a BRS, the best policy would to be to stand clear. Notify the IC via any means possible. This could perhaps result in a call in to the local bomb squad to dis-arm the system, which WILL operate sans electrical power from the aircraft.

Let's remember: Look before you leap.

First Lieutenant Christopher Bishop
Communications Officer SC-056

A new bird in the air?

Received this email from a fellow wing member, given that I live in SC maybe I'll get to see some overhead sooner than I had hoped.


PRESS RELEASE -- Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Public Affairs

Release No. 021006
October 4,2006

Air Force proposes Initial Joint Strike Fighter locations

ARLINGTON, Va. - Plans for initiating environmental analyses for proposed locations of the Air Force's newest fighter, the F-35A Lightning II, were announced by Air Force officials today.

The initial Joint Strike Fighter locations include Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. for primary maintenance and flight training; Nellis AFB, Nev. and Edwards AFB, Calif. for flight-testing; and Hill AFB, Utah, Kadena Air Base, Japan, and Shaw AFB/McEntire ANGB, S.C. for operational squadrons. Both stateside operational bases will combine active duty and Reserve Component personnel to maximize flexibility and combat capability.