OK, I am a pilot (although inactive for many years) and I have also = worked in the airline industry. First, Planes flying over Buckeye hills = would typically be at an altitude between 8000-10000 ft msl = (7000-9000agl). Also airliner cockpits windows are on the upper side of = the aircraft, and the pilot sit well toward the center of the a/c, = especially on wide body aircraft. this gives airline pilots a = notoriously lousy view of the ground directly below them. In order to = shine a laser into the flight deck windows you would need to be at a = probably (Pure speculation here) a 45 degree angle to the a/c. There is = a good discourse about this from some expert in the laser field on my = astro officers BB. I'll dig up the link and post it here.=20 Again. reality is that the threat is minimal and any incidents are being = greatly exaggerated. However given the current administrations level of = paranoia, I don't expect this to go away quietly. My 1.19840 Bangladesh taka's Worth Rick -----Original Message----- From: Russell Chmela~ [mailto:rchmela@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 3:06 PM To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: Instant criminals=20 A cockpit windscreen in most of the standard airliners is about the same size as that of an automobile , just double glazed and flat in its shape. =20 What I find odd about the whole thing is that (and someone with more laser knowledge help me out here if this is not correct) a beam from a green pointer would likely diverge and spread if going through all of that glass at an angle. If coming from the ground, it will be an angle and a steep one. The amount of power left would be little or no harm to vision and like Thad said, how can you track a retina with a hand pointer given the large angle movement between those two? The way I see it, its just more paranoia on the part of airlines=20 and government. I would be a lot more worried if that green beam was trying to lock onto an engine. Instead of worrying about George Lucas type threats , maybe the security types should be worried about the=20 hundreds of shoulder carried SAM rockets (infrared) out there and=20 be a bit more realistic.=20 Not a pilot, but very enthusiast on aircraft. Not bored , but photon deprived. =20 RC ---------------------------------- Added bonus thoughts....How big is a cockpit window? How much control=20 would someone from say, a mile or two, have to possess to point a laser in that area, even=20 momentarily, while it's moving at a few hundred mph? Is it feasible to think that someone *could* do=20 it by *hand*? I know there are some pilots in the group, what are your thoughts? Just bored on a Tuesday afternoon, =20 --=20 -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and = please=20 send personal replies to the author, not the list. -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.