FastCargo 412 Posted February 24, 2011 Strap your ass to a rocket on rails and hit the "Warp Speed" button... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stapp Now, I've known about this guy for a long time (most folks who've flown ejection seat aircraft have heard of him at one time or another) and that he volunteered for crazy crap he designed. Flying without a canopy at 570 mph...check. Subjecting yourself to 45+ G of deceleration facing forward (after hitting 632 MPH)...check. Riding a damn rocket sled at 400+ MPH with NO windblast protection at all...check. What I didn't know was how instrumental he was in the adoption of seat belts as mandatory items for American cars (the USAF objected with his research into that at first, until he showed stats that more USAF pilots were being killed in traffic accidents then aircraft accidents). What I also didn't know was that the term "Murphy's Law" was first used by him during a press conference. Though versions of the saying had been around since at least the late 1800s, the press conference was the first time a name was attached to it, thus starting its growth in the aerospace industry and later, the popular culture. Even after having subjected himself to that kind of abuse, he passed away peaceably at 89 years old in 1999. How many lives (in aviation and in the automobile) has he saved through his putting himself through that kind of abuse. Did I mentioned he looked like Dave, but turned down to about a 5? Thanks Col Stapp! FC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast 153 Posted February 24, 2011 Read about him a few years back... Damn he looks like an accountant... just goes to show watch for the quiet ones... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silverbolt 104 Posted February 24, 2011 Funny....even i knew many of those things before , specially the murphy's law i didn't knew he was born in Brazil. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Dave 2,322 Posted February 24, 2011 I'm not quiet. He was one hell of a guy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fubar512 1,350 Posted February 24, 2011 Did I mentioned he looked like Dave, but turned down to about a 5? The difference is that, nowadays Dave always feels as if he's just endured a 46 G deceleration, whereas Colonel Stapp actually did, and simply took it in stride. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Stary 2,428 Posted February 24, 2011 The difference is that, nowadays Dave always feels as if he's just endured a 46 G deceleration, whereas Colonel Stapp actually did, and simply took it in stride. only 46?! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
