And note that the remaining 62 % include those that “show an effect in the same direction as the original studies.”…not that can be fully replicated, but just kinda can be sorta almost maybe…if you squint hard….might sorta kinda show sorta similar results….

It’s become a profitable industry, where scheming researchers get taxpayer-funded grants to find specific conclusions, then those manipulated and fake conclusions are reported back to the public as if they are real, and then policies and recommendations are made that further cost people money.

This used to be the claim when industry paid for research..especially when they wanted research to show that their products were safe….But now it is pretty much ALL “research”….ESPECIALLY anything to do with Global Warming Climate Change…(isn’t it interesting how, once the “warming” failed to show up the researchers and climatologists and the media switched to “Climate Change” and the believers just ate it up?)

And there is no downside to publishing a “research” paper full of bullshit either….it’s not like you have to pay the money back or worry about being charged with fraud or anything…

I remember reading Scientific American 45 years ago as a kid….My Dad gave me articles to read and explained them if I had questions….and researchers back then published articles which were clear on the methods used and made their research fairly easy for anyone to duplicate….So their peers could easily check their methods….Those days in that publication are long gone, however….

Remember this when you read or are told by the Media that eating food kept in plastic containers increases your chance of getting some exotic cancer that only occurs in white rats that are exposed to extremely high levels of Cell phone radiation while growing up or something….It has a 1 in three chance that the whole research is bullshit. 

And yes, they are a bureaucracy that exists more for itself than for the members. I’ve run into that part before.

And, it would seem, it is an organization that now exists to enrich the higher level members of that organization. (WSJ article, and currently paywalled, but probably worth reading….). Millions of dollars…monies given by members either through donations or dues, are spent on firms that have ties to, or are owned by, directors, presidents, managers or other parts of the organization. Profits given to the members of the organizations management….in addition to salaries.  Is it unethical? Maybe. Is it illegal? Probably not. Is it right? I dunno.

A snippet: New filings from the National Rifle Association reveal that the gun-rights group directed millions of dollars over several years to people with close ties to the group, including former top officials.
A separate review of the NRA’s vendor relationships found other business arrangements that similarly benefit insiders.

It looks bad though. Especially when it isn’t disclosed. Were those contracts put up for competitive bids? We don’t know.

But cronyism looks pretty bad. Much like nepotism in city politics. I don’t like it….it smells. Especially when they call me weekly and email me even more often, asking for money.

I’m no fan of the NRA. Having said that, they are useful. And they have done some good. But the optics on this are not pretty.

Thanks to Dad for the heads up.

HERE

The wind was good, and, for once the ceilings were high enough for some pattern work (2300ft…the weather has been terrible for flying recently).

So I went and did some pattern work.

Worked on approach speeds…with one person and half fuel, it likes 72 knots (The POH lists from 65-80) with 20 degrees of flaps.

80 is WAY too fast. It wants to porpoise at touchdown. 65 is too slow, control is difficult, although doable. I’m gonna have to practice some short field./40 degree stuff another time.

72 to 75 is Just Right with 20 degrees of flaps.

I did try the advice of another 182 owner….I put 40 pounds of water in the baggage department at the aft end. Really made a big difference in the roundout. 2.5 gallon jugs are cheap and can be removed if needed, but they make a great difference in the landing when lightly loaded.

With fairly cool weather, climb rates were in excess of 1200FPM. easy to overshoot target altitudes in the pattern when one is used to less powerful airplanes.

I’m not sure the fuel gauges are accurate though. Both showed about 5/8 full, but I put 22 gallons in each side……and the bladders are only supposed to hold 37.5 gallons each (35 usable)…the math doesn’t add up. I’m gonna run one empty at altitude and see what it takes to fill it…then, if need be, get the gauges fixed. It is possible that the bladders were replaced with larger ones and the  placard is incorrect. I dunno.

If the weather ever gets nicer I’m gonna do me some $100 hamburgers and get some cross country time.

He’s doing great. Not back to 100%, but pretty well. And improving every day.

The docs cleared him for pretty much everything but parachute jumping and waterskiing and bungee jumping lifting heavy weights….

“What we have here is a faaailyuuure to CommuniCate”…I wonder how you say that with a North Texas accent?

Cutting heads of of parking meters will still, apparently, get you placed into the pokey.

Heavy wet snow, but it is, after all, the Winter season.

At the end of it all, there will be worse.

Deal with it,  folks.

You can find his posts HERE.

The info on the border starts at Nov 18 (HERE) and continues to the present.

Interesting. You should read. 

I know him, he’s opinionated but is a straight shooter. If he says it, it’s the truth. And much  the picture he paints of the shennanigans down at the border isn’t pretty.

But then again, the weather hadn’t been good for flying all week and today was good, if a bit windy…..and it isn’t forecast  to be good for next week either…..

So I went flying.

Flew to KCMI (Champaign, Il) for lunch. Took MidWest Chick with me…

39 knot headwind, so it took a while to get there (1.2 hours for a bit over 115 or so miles) (we tried as high as 6500 feet, same winds…ForeFlight said they were even worse higher up so we stayed at 4500) , but we got there. Smooth flight, no bumps. I’m falling in love with the STec-55 autopilot. Set it and forget it.

Not my best landing though…Runway 14 had winds at 160 variable at 18 gusting 32…pretty much at my limits. I debated not landing for a just a moment as we approached the airport..but decided to try.

I landed anyway. A long base entry approach as called for by the approach controller and the final was a nightmare of gusting winds…so much so I almost aborted the landing twice….what with the ATIS warning of potential windshear on final and all… But I got down and it smoothed out on short final so I landed. ….and got blown by a gust about 3 feet from touchdown. Very nearly did some agricultural taxiing for a moment. But I got back on centerline and landed and taxiied to the FBO.

Took a crew car and went into town and ate (Chinese AND Pizza). We were gonna look around for a bit, but the visibility was falling back at the home airport earlier than forecast, so we went back, preflighted, and took off for home. We had a 41 knot tailwind at 3500 feet on our way back, so our ground speed was about 175 knots. 39 minutes on the return trip. I did some hand flying just for practice instead of using the autopilot. Very smooth flight though, only one big bump. 

Winds at home were 170 variable 11 gusting 26 on final, lots of updrafts due to mechanical turbulence from the trees a half mile from the end of 18…..so I planted the plane in a shortfield landing to get it firmly (but smoothly) on the ground. Firm, but not hard. Hit my marks too. What with the headwind, I was nearly stopped in about 350 feet. Lots of other planes in the pattern were having issues on landing. ‘Twas a good day for practice.

1.9 and 2 (as Aaron puts it). All in all, it was a good trip. even if I did push up against my limits.

I’m LOVING the 182. So much smoother than a 172 or a Warrior or Arrow. More stable and a lot easier to fly… and about 30 knots faster in cruise than a 172 for not much more gas.

I’m glad I didn’t go shooting instead.