Free fall

In Newtonian physics, free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. In the context of general relativity, where gravitation is reduced to a space-time curvature, a body in free fall has no force acting on it and moves along a geodesic. The present article only concerns itself with free fall in the Newtonian domain.

An object in the technical sense of free fall may not necessarily be falling down in the usual sense of the term. An object moving upwards would not normally be considered to be falling, but if it is subject to the force of gravity only, it is said to be in free fall. The moon is thus in free fall.

In a uniform gravitational field, in the absence of any other forces, gravitation acts on each part of the body equally and this is weightlessness, a condition that also occurs when the gravitational field is zero (such as when far away from any gravitating body). A body in free fall experiences "0 g".

The term "free fall" is often used more loosely than in the strict sense defined above. Thus, falling through an atmosphere without a deployed parachute, or lifting device, is also often referred to as free fall. The aerodynamic drag forces in such situations prevent them from producing full weightlessness, and thus a skydiver's "free fall" after reaching terminal velocity produces the sensation of the body's weight being supported on a cushion of air.

Charles "Nish" Bruce

Sergeant Charles Christian Cameron "Nish" Bruce QGM (8 August 1956 – 8 January 2002) was a former British Army soldier and freefall expert of high altitude military parachuting who served in 22 (SAS) Special Air Service (1982–88). He served with the 22 SAS in the Falklands War, on anti-drug operations in South and Central America and in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner for which he was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal in 1986.

He received the South Atlantic Medal in 1982 with B Squadron of the 22 Special Air Service and the General Service Medal with the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment for services in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.

Family & Early Life

Bruce was born in Chipping Norton in 1956, middle son of Ewen Anthony Guy Cameron Bruce. He was the paternal grandson of Major Ewen Cameron Bruce (of Blaen-y-cwm).

Military career

Bruce joined the Parachute Regiment in 1973 at age 17 and in 1978 spent 4 years with The Red Devils Display Team participating in test jumping, international exhibitions and competitions before passing SAS selection and joining 22 SAS in April 1982.

Free fall (disambiguation)

Free fall is the ability to achieve the sensation of weightlessness (for example to be falling freely in an atmosphere, or to be in zero-g). In skydiving, the term freefall is also used for the portion of the skydive prior to the deployment of a parachute, even though significant portions of it are at terminal velocity rather than freely accelerating in gravity.

Free fall, Free-fall or Freefall may also refer to:

Books & comics

Coyote

The coyote (US /kaɪˈoʊtiː/ or /ˈkaɪ.oʊt/, UK /kɔɪˈjoʊteɪ/, or /kɔɪˈjoʊt/;Canis latrans) is a canid native to North America. It is a smaller, more basal animal than its close relative, the gray wolf, being roughly the North American equivalent to the Old World golden jackal, though it is larger and more predatory in nature. It is listed as "least concern" by the IUCN, on account of its wide distribution and abundance throughout North America, even southwards through Mexico and Central America. It is a highly versatile species, whose range has expanded amidst human environmental modification. This expansion is ongoing, and it may one day reach South America, as shown by the animal's presence beyond the Panama Canal in 2013.As of 2005, 19 subspecies are recognized.

The ancestors of the coyote diverged from those of the gray wolf, 1–2 million years ago, with the modern species arising in North America during the Middle Pleistocene. It is highly flexible in social organization, living either in nuclear families or in loosely knit packs of unrelated individuals. It has a varied diet consisting primarily of animal matter, including ungulates, lagomorphs, rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, though it may also eat fruit and vegetable matter on occasion. It is a very vocal animal, whose most iconic sound consists of a howl emitted by solitary individuals.Humans aside, cougars and gray wolves are the coyote's only serious enemies. Nevertheless, coyotes have on occasion mated with the latter species, producing hybrids colloquially called "coywolves".

Coyote (comics)

Coyote is an American comic book series created by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers.

Publication history

The characters first appeared in Eclipse Magazine #2-8. It would later be reprinted in a color trade paperback, I Am Coyote.

Afterwards, a new comic book series started at Marvel Comics Epic Comics line, that ran 16 issues. It was notable for the first published work of Todd McFarlane. According to Epic editor-in-chief Archie Goodwin, artist Steve Leialoha's departure after issue #2 caused deadline problems that the series never fully recovered from, leading to its early cancellation.

Collected editions

The original Eclipse & Epic series has been reprinted in a series of collections from Image Comics:

Coyote (song)

"Coyote" is the opening song from Joni Mitchell's 1976 album Hejira and also the album's first single.

Though the song had been introduced (in embryonic form) on the tour to support 1975's The Hissing of Summer Lawns, "Coyote" was a significant musical departure: where Hissing was ornate with pianos, layered vocals and percussion, "Coyote" was stripped down to electric and acoustic guitars and a fretless bass guitar played by legendary virtuoso Jaco Pastorius. In a sense, this was similar to Mitchell's early albums, but the sound was extremely spacious, even repetitive, with the verses made much longer and more like a long story. Thus, although this is one of the faster-tempo songs on Hejira, it still lasts for an even five minutes. Mitchell's guitar itself was in an unusual (low to high) C-G-D-F-C-E tuning (the same as in the song "Ladies of the Canyon") - presumably a type of open tuning designed to play a seventh, ninth, or even eleventh chord.

Lyrically, "Coyote" is concerned with the difficulty of establishing any sort of connection with people who come from "different sets of circumstance" (as the song has it). In particular it describes an encounter (which turns into a one-night stand) between the narrator (possibly meant to be Mitchell herself as there is a reference in the lyrics to her coming home from the studio) and "Coyote", a ranch worker. In Chris O'Dell's 2009 autobiography Miss O'Dell she details an affair she had with married playwright Sam Shepard and states that Shepard then cheated on her with Joni Mitchell. O'Dell claims that "Coyote" is written about Sam Shepard. Coyote represents nature contrasted with the narrator's big city (presumably LA) life where "pills and powders" are necessary to "get them through this passion play". The aforementioned line is also a reference to Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, which Mitchell was a part of in the fall of 1975.