@OneTrickPony: Assemble your crew.

@nataku8_e30: My feeling (being a fixed-wing pilot) is that they don't fly at all. They're such a crime against nature, the earth just repels them.

@worthless_cos: Not impossible according to the CarterCopter people. They've achieved mu-1.

@nataku8_e30: Not to mention the retreating rotor blade. If the forward speed of the helicopter exceeds the tip speed of the rotors, then the retreating blade is aerodynamically moving backwards.

@bacon117 - Escort Owner, Lover: heh, what, am I harshing your buzz or something?

I remember being about 12 (30 years ago), in the back of the family car, when my Dad, drunk off his ass, almost put us in a lake. He actually got pulled over for speeding a little while later. I was trying to make meaningful eye contact with the trooper from the back seat, but I was so afraid of my dad and his…

@Maymar: Nice Spinal Tap ref there!

@ncbrit: As I understand it, sport pilot allows one passenger. [en.wikipedia.org] href="http://jalopnik.com/tag/sportpilot/">#Sport_pilot

You all have heard of leaving passive aggressive notes on cars? I'd call this an aggressive aggressive note.

Sting. Hands down.

Oh come on, Sting, no question.

@ODD DOOD: Oh, that makes sense.

I don't think the inner ring is percentage of max RPM. The inside ring appears to be the output shaft speed in RPM. The outside ring appears to be the high pressure (N2) turbine speed gauge, represented as percentage of max.

Do I see an old IMSA Corvette in the garage?

@Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet: Oh, yeah, for the competition, the measurements are suspect. But these guys have better data when they're testing their modifications.

@LucasElectric: Trooper 2 out of Andrews flies low over my house once or twice a week en route to the nearby hospital. I love the sound of five main rotor blades and the Fenestron tail.

@Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet: You may be surprised. Those guys have pretty extensive instrumentation (using the OBD-II port and a ScanGauge II, as well as coast-down measurements) and have developed methodologies for testing, using A-B-A back-to-back tests. They may not be reproducible to three significant…

@64deville: Especially on a '70 Chevelle SS 454.

My grandfather was training to be a fighter pilot when WWI ended.

@elchimpo: Unless you're flying a poorly-rigged 182 with a heavy left wing — without an autopilot. In IMC. Then it stays interesting for as long as you want to live.