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Giving Up Smoking

Hi Guys,
Just wondered how many of you have tried giving up smoking and what methods you may have used? (whether succesful or not)
I am currently using an electronic cigarette (contains non of the carinogenics) and have managed to have no real ciggy's in 7 days. - and also have no disire to have one!
I have dropped the cartridges down to the medium nicotine from High and am still doing well! after a few weeks I will move to the Low and no Nicotine cartidges.
this is the most positive try I have had at cesation to date
Cheers
Rosebud

My new girlfriend told me she was not going to kiss me if I didnt stop chewing. seems pretty effective to me!

Hi Mike, Good to know I'm not the only person trying this route!
I am looking at ecigs as a short term solution, but I am too finding myself using it more than I would normally smoke!
I am going to continue reducing my intake and make my way down to the zero nic carts planned for a couple of months time, I figure that in the short term, even tho still not great for me the e-cigs are a better alternative, for a start they contain over 3000 less chemicals
I am already seeing some benefits, I am more awake, I have more colour in my face??!, I have the obvious benefits too, (Dont smell, etc etc...)
the first few days were hard, and I knew I was missing something else other than the nicotine, but I am now used to them
My long term plan is not to smoke at all, Me and the wife are looking at having another expensive habit ( A baby) in the next year or so, and we dont want to be smoking parents, I for one had smoking parents and feel this is probbably a part of why I smoke (and really enjoy it too )

I´m having a hard time with cigarretes also
Wanted to quit but no success till now...
Never heard of e-ciggies, I´ll find out more of them

orb3000 said:
I´m having a hard time with cigarretes also
Wanted to quit but no success till now...
Never heard of e-ciggies, I´ll find out more of them
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Orb, there is a lot of info online - google e-cigarette-forum
I found the site has a lot of info.
I know it has only been 1 week, but I would certainly recomend them (I have never gone this long with gum, patches, lozenges etc)
Cheers
Steve

me neither...
I cant leave that thing...
You know when I saw somebody that get a cig starts to smoke even in the tv i feel that i want to smoke too. I can manage to avoid do it in that case.
After the meal... sometimes when I awake at the morning, I smoke.
When its cold...
When i have nothing to do or im just walking on the streets i need a cig.
or when i saw any of my family smoks just fro the meaning of smoke or a nice spoken... i need to smoke.
and the last one... when i need to read a lot of forums here i need a cigarrete
My boss on my job told me one day long ago... i had that vicious thing on my life... but when my first child borns i leave it, it just need to have 2 big balls and hold it tight to void smoke again. thats all you need, guts to leave it.
Im smoking right now BTW

rosebud said:
Orb, there is a lot of info online - google e-cigarette-forum
I found the site has a lot of info.
I know it has only been 1 week, but I would certainly recomend them (I have never gone this long with gum, patches, lozenges etc)
Cheers
Steve
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Thanks mate, in fact already done the search, just trying to find out if it´s cheaper that they send it home or better wait 1 month that I´m travelling to USA...
Cheers,
p.d. Paisa ya no fumes!

well i might not be very experienced with cigs as most of you guys may be......
but still i managed to quit
i was 17 when i started smoking regularly
it went on increasing for a year or so
all it took to stop me is my girlfriend and sis who always shouted at me when i used to smoke
and a few nicotine gums for a month or so
i suggest you guys to go for nicotine gums rather thn e cigs they are a lot safer and they really help
(havent smoked a cig for about 3 months now and even stopped using nicotine gums)

smoked 14 years, and dropped it now... just dropped, no need e-cigs, gums and etc.. just stop smoking it easy. And now i feel myself maany better.

sheennick123456 said:
well i might not be very experienced with cigs as most of you guys may be......
but still i managed to quit
i was 17 when i started smoking regularly
it went on increasing for a year or so
all it took to stop me is my girlfriend and sis who always shouted at me when i used to smoke
and a few nicotine gums for a month or so
i suggest you guys to go for nicotine gums rather thn e cigs they are a lot safer and they really help
(havent smoked a cig for about 3 months now and even stopped using nicotine gums)
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Unfortunately already tried gum, and lozenges, and inhilator, and patches, and cold turkey, as you can tell from the creation of this thread none of these worked for me.
I believe there is no "one size fits all" solution to quitting smoking.
Cheers
Steve

rosebud said:
Unfortunately already tried gum, and lozenges, and inhilator, and patches, and cold turkey, as you can tell from the creation of this thread none of these worked for me.
I believe there is no "one size fits all" solution to quitting smoking.
Cheers
Steve
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mayeb then try to have someone to shout on you everytime you smoke(like sis ,gf,mom,wife)
girls are good at this
they will surely help you quit
it might be irritating but atleast will make you think twice before you smoke

hell yeah!
sad but true

9 years & 3 months ago my wife told me she was pregnant with our first child.
I stubbed out the ciggy I'd just lit, crushed the almost full pack I had, and haven't touched a ciggy since. All you need is sufficient incentive and willpower. eCigs, patches, gum, they can help with the symptoms of withdrawal, but they ALSO drag out the process.
Cold turkey lasts about 2 weeks tops. It's not nice; you'll be irritable and difficult to live with, but it worked great for me.
After about 2 weeks of not smoking, you'll discover some things.
* Smell. You sense of smell is seriously affected by smoking. Once your system is clear of it, you'll discover a world of wonderful aromas.
* Taste. Like smell, your sense of taste is also seriously affected by smoking. You'll find it hard to believe just how good food can taste now it's working properly again.
* Virility. You'll be amazed at some of the other things that smoking actually buggers up.
WARNING: Do not substitute snacking for smoking! There's a damn good reason for my nickname!

FloatingFatMan said:
9 years & 3 months ago my wife told me she was pregnant with our first child.
I stubbed out the ciggy I'd just lit, crushed the almost full pack I had, and haven't touched a ciggy since. All you need is sufficient incentive and willpower. eCigs, patches, gum, they can help with the symptoms of withdrawal, but they ALSO drag out the process.
Cold turkey lasts about 2 weeks tops. It's not nice; you'll be irritable and difficult to live with, but it worked great for me.
After about 2 weeks of not smoking, you'll discover some things.
* Smell. You sense of smell is seriously affected by smoking. Once your system is clear of it, you'll discover a world of wonderful aromas.
* Taste. Like smell, your sense of taste is also seriously affected by smoking. You'll find it hard to believe just how good food can taste now it's working properly again.
* Virility. You'll be amazed at some of the other things that smoking actually buggers up.
WARNING: Do not substitute snacking for smoking! There's a damn good reason for my nickname!
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I quit 5 years ago, I even have constant nightmares about smoking again. The gum, patchs, etc help to smooth over the initial shock of quitting, but you really really really have to want to quit. You have to hate cigarettes and truely not want to smoke them.
I found myself bargaining with myself.. "oh one now and never again" or " one now and then when I'm older I will go back to smoking".. The answer had to be NO NO NO NO NO NO NEVER AGAIN..
Good luck folks, set yourself free

i quit smoking 3 years ago and since then never looked back and felt a need. Its quite easy to quit, but you have to have will power and determination. And mind it when you feel that you want to quit, never run for a last drag, then just quit.

I quit several years ago. Tried first not smoking at all, but two weeks later I was in hell. Then I tried gradually with simple goals like today I'll only do 5, then today I'll just do one, and so on. Until it was like today I won't smoke but I'll have 2 tomorrow. Currently I don't smoke, but I can have 1 cigarette socially from time to time, though I don't really enjoy it that much anymore (because of the smell).

I've just quit cold turkey 59 days ago. The first 4 were critical. After that, all went well. It's just a matter of will. Take it as a test: could you or could you not?

I had been smoking for 25 years, ever since I was 13, and tried everything. And I do mean everything, short of resting on my head, upside down for 30 days. Have tried the gum, the patches, etc. etc.
The solution that I found that works for me, but maybe not for many is Chantix. I was taken a little aback by the price of it. It was $120 dollars for a months prescription. (I used it for 4 months and am completely cigarette free for almost a year now.) And I am a Pharmacy Technician and work at a chain pharmacy!! The problem is, many insurances just does not cover it yet. But when you think about it -- at the minimum 1 pack of cigarettes per day is roughly $3-$4. Multiply that times 30 days = $120. So for me, it was worth it.
Chantix works with certain receptors in your brain. When you smoke, these "pleasure" receptors are active and therefore you get a reward response for smoking. Chantix blocks, fewer then more with continued use, these receptors. So without the receptors being active your body says "whats the point", and doesn't desire nicotine, and smoking. Now, besides the price, there is one pretty big con in the pros and cons of Chantix. You WILL have strange and VERY intense and vivid dreams while sleeping. At times scary, at other times just confusing. This interfered with my sleep a lot, but after about a month they started to be more normal. Granted, this might not have been from the Chantix, it could have been withdrawal from nicotine. I mean, nicotine is a drug.
No course will work for everyone, and you really have to have the desire and willpower to quit smoking. Honestly, I think another reason for my success is that I didn't want to go back to having the dreams again.
Good luck to all that are quitting, and believe me, it is really worth it. I can actually taste food again, smell nature around me, save $120 bux a month, hopefully live longer, breathe better, and have a lot, LOT, more energy.

I quit about a month and a half ago, smoked for 26 years. I'm using that pill chantix, and it seems to be working.. I haven't had a smoke, and I haven't killed any one, and haven't had the urge to kill.. yet. <evil grin>

lindsay11 said:
Smoking? Duh! It's very dangerous to our health. But why do others take it as a habit? They are crazy! It does nothing good to our life.
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well there are many reasons which would make someone start smoking
like being a cool kid in school to using cigs as stress busters
and here in india we(college/school students) generally smoke to supress sleep to study and perform well in exams(there is a large group that does it just for being cool though)
there have been times when i had to study for more than 30 hrs at a stretch
so at those times you really dont have any option rather than to smoke
(studying in india is harsh you REALLY have to work hard to stay in the competition)

any of you guys in the armed forces (uk) as a pilot?

hey guys,
i'm thinking of joining the armed forces when i'm older (i'm 15)and the path that really interest's me is being a helicopter pilot, i have been looking on all the sites (army, raf, navy) so does anyone have any tips for me, that i could do to help me get in when i'm older.

If its anything like the US, you have to be an officer to fly an aircraft. Officers require a degree of some sort. Stay in school, try and make good grades

slaming said:
hey guys,
i'm thinking of joining the armed forces when i'm older (i'm 15)and the path that really interest's me is being a helicopter pilot, i have been looking on all the sites (army, raf, navy) so does anyone have any tips for me, that i could do to help me get in when i'm older.
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Don't you need a degree to fly?
I know you need to be fit, not massively (Army's 1 1/2 mile in 11 or 12 minutes, I think - it's easy with a bit of training), but so long as you don't keel over after 5 minutes you'll be fine.
My brother's in the Infantry (via the AFC Harrogate), Step Dad used to be in the RAF (not a Pilot, though), and I've worked with the MoD computers for a few years in a previous role - sadly I've never joined .
Good luck,
Dave

Just go to your local AFCO, they'll be best able to tell you what you need to do. Do it now!
What I do know is that they'll expect you to be fit before you apply, such as 1.5 mile runs in 9 minutes.
You should be a straight 'A' A level student with a degree for best chance, but A levels are the minimum
Do some kind of community service.
There will be an interview with an officer at your AFCO, then if you pass that, a four day test at (I forget where...) if they don't say 'no' after the first 2 days. This will include the fitness tests, further interviews, aptitude tests (such as 'you're flying a jet which uses 1 kilo of fuel per minute, and 5 kilos of fuel in after burner mode,the speed af flight in normal mode is 500mph, after burner mode is 800mph, you are 200 miles from an emeny intercept who is traveling at 400mph in the same direction as you, you will use after burner mode for 20 minutes during the fight, you have then to get to one of 3 air bases after the fight, you have 1000kilos of fuel...)
All pilots will be put forwards for fast jet testing/training first, then work 'down' from that
I forget the rest. You should be able to find more info online.

joel2009 said:
If its anything like the US, you have to be an officer to fly an aircraft. Officers require a degree of some sort. Stay in school, try and make good grades
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Every pilot I've met has to be an officer.
So just perfect saying "pip pip" and drinking tea

Thanks guys I know in our school we have a careers adviser and I'm gonna make an appointment with one of them ASAP and dad says he will take me to our nearest requitment office. Sounds like it should be a nice challenge for me to sink my teeth into.
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Sent from my HTC Desire

oh do they have any other physical requirements other than body fitness?
e.g. if i am a little bit short sighted will I still be able to join?
thx
(it might be fun to fly a jet...when i grow up...)

ClementNg23 said:
oh do they have any other physical requirements other than body fitness?
e.g. if i am a little bit short sighted will I still be able to join?
thx
(it might be fun to fly a jet...when i grow up...)
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i think if your vision is really bad they won't let you join up, i think for the very fast jets you do have to have very good vision. if you can't join up for fast jets (typhoon, euro fighter etc) you can probably come as a transport pilot or helicopter pilot.

Drop-out of college

Results announced. I did very, very poor. Actually the reason for this is, I am not at all interested in studying what I am. I am always like 'Not feeling to'. Currently in Uni, 2nd year. Thinking of dropping out, the same I thought when I was in 1st year but I gave that thought away thinking that its just a new place, I will get suited to it. But now I am fairly sure, that trying to do something which I am not interested in will not land me anywhere good.
Experienced people, please suggest should I drop out? Reason holding me back are, my 2 years will be wasted not to mention the money put in.

lamborg said:
Results announced. I did very, very poor. Actually the reason for this is, I am not at all interested in studying what I am. I am always like 'Not feeling to'. Currently in Uni, 2nd year. Thinking of dropping out, the same I thought when I was in 1st year but I gave that thought away thinking that its just a new place, I will get suited to it. But now I am fairly sure, that trying to do something which I am not interested in will not land me anywhere good.
Experienced people, please suggest should I drop out? Reason holding me back are, my 2 years will be wasted not to mention the money put in.
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I got 3 Choices for ya.
-Finish The School Year
-Switch Majors to something ya like
-Just Stick to it because you have put money in

Debel said:
I got 3 Choices for ya.
-Finish The School Year
-Switch Majors to something ya like
-Just Stick to it because you have put money in
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Cannot switch majors. Our uni doesn't give any option like that.
I might drag myself to the finish of the course or I might drop out. Lets see. Thanks for your opinion.

Sure thing good luck

That's impossible. School have to allow to let you switch majors, unless you live in commie cuba or something. Go back, take easy classes for now, don't overwhelm yourself. My school kicked me out due to low grades. I'm starting a different school in 2 weeks, and I will have to waste 1.5 hours on the subway one way, but I need to get my GPA up so then I can write an appeals to my old school. So just go back, and take classes that won't be too hard to understand.
Sent from my iPhone 6GS using Tapatalk.

Universities in the UK are run differently to the US.
I was at uni in the mid 90s and after a car accident in my first year, went back to start again.
About this time of year, a housemate came home high on drugs and attacked me, so I decided to leave uni, I wasn't enjoying it and back then with loans of only £1000 it was costing too much to live (not like students now with their generous loans).
I was unemployed for 2 weeks, had to pay Hampshire county council the small grant I had back.
However, times have changed, there were better employment prospects at the time, how are yours now?

xaccers said:
However, times have changed, there were better employment prospects at the time, how are yours now?
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What he said.
There's nothing worse than making a mistake that you can't take back. Especially one that could change your life forever. I'd stay the course and see if you can't work something out with your tutors to get on top of the situation.
One or two sucky years is better than forty or fifty!

this is a grim topic....

Let's say you already drop out of college, what would you do after that?

iynfynity said:
Let's say you already drop out of college, what would you do after that?
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Find a minimum wage job?

Stick it out. There are ways to make it more fun. Lots of people think back to college as a time when things were more fun. Get laid / smoke a joint. Oh, and don't forget about cheating to get good grades. Join a study group or frat (ie something where everybody ia trying for good grades). They might also have some fun activities.
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

iynfynity said:
Let's say you already drop out of college, what would you do after that?
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Well, doing this course was never my interest. After drop out, I'll try to do what I always wanted to or had interest in and of course get some job.
Karakoram2 said:
Stick it out. There are ways to make it more fun. Lots of people think back to college as a time when things were more fun. Get laid / smoke a joint. Oh, and don't forget about cheating to get good grades. Join a study group or frat (ie something where everybody ia trying for good grades). They might also have some fun activities.
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
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Well yes, a lot of people think like 'College is the best part of life' and all, but honestly, I never felt that way not even close to. Everyday I am like, oh another week, I have to go to college so that I can get minimum attendance required so that they allow to give the exams. I am never excited or looking forward to going to the classes, not even a single class and no wonder this will affect my result which I have just seen.

... ... ...

after discussion with a few people, I am thinking of continuing this course and get a side course, like correspondence in which you have to study at home and only go to give the exams.

what's your course?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Turn on, tune in, drop out.

iynfynity said:
what's your course?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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applied physics engineering

I was in a similar position several years ago. I've just finished my 2nd year of uni and I've completely lost interest in studying. My poor grades led to me being suspended for a semester.
I seriously considered dropping out to pursue a career in IT via A+ Certification. Anyway, after several long discussions with my family, I decided put my head down and graduate from uni first before making any further career decisions.
It was the best decision I ever made. I became a more mature and disciplined person through the experience. And I'm able to use it my advantage during job interviews. I'm able to say things like:
"I don't give up easily when faced with hardships. I hit a snag in the road during university but I'm able to push through it with my determination. My immaturity early-on cost me dearly in terms of average GPA. But if you just look at my grades over my last several semesters, those high marks represent my growth and my true potential."
If you drop out now, it would be hard to answer the inevitable interview question: "I see here on your CV that you've attended so-and-so university for 2 years. What happened there?"

ohyeahar said:
I was in a similar position several years ago. I've just finished my 2nd year of uni and I've completely lost interest in studying. My poor grades led to me being suspended for a semester.
I seriously considered dropping out to pursue a career in IT via A+ Certification. Anyway, after several long discussions with my family, I decided put my head down and graduate from uni first before making any further career decisions.
It was the best decision I ever made. I became a more mature and disciplined person through the experience. And I'm able to use it my advantage during job interviews. I'm able to say things like:
"I don't give up easily when faced with hardships. I hit a snag in the road during university but I'm able to push through it with my determination. My immaturity early-on cost me dearly in terms of average GPA. But if you just look at my grades over my last several semesters, those high marks represent my growth and my true potential."
If you drop out now, it would be hard to answer the inevitable interview question: "I see here on your CV that you've attended so-and-so university for 2 years. What happened there?"
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You have a good point there.

lamborg said:
You have a good point there.
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I went to engineering college studied electronics.
Passed a AVR & PIC exam.
Then got bored with my classes and dropped out after 2 years.
I went to look for a job... no luck anywhere.
Then wrote comptia +A exam.
Still no luck.
Passed N+
BAM finally got a position that i could live off of.
It's been a hard climb due to my age.
Time is limited.. go now.
Finish thy classes.
For thou shalt have time to peruse other things without the waste.

Opinions on Top Gun: Maverick **SPOILER WARNING**

If you've seen the movie, go ahead and share your thoughts here. I'll go first. Obviously, I understand this is just a movie, it's made for the entertainment value, but I can't help picking it apart.
Overall, I think the movie did what it was supposed to do - a "feel good" flick about America. The nostalgia was nice. But, my experience as a Marine veteran as well as knowledge of military aviation raised a lot of issues for me.
First...The SR-72/Aurora/Darkwing project. It's plausible that someone like Maverick could indeed become a test pilot, but most such projects are run under the Air Force, at the end of a pilot's career. It would have made more sense to put this at the end of the movie, although he would have a literal snowflake's chance in hell of surviving a Mach 10+ disintegration. The human body cannot withstand supersonic ejection; the force of the air stream can literally rip your body apart. Maverick would have been pink mist. Also...You crash a multi-billion (if not trillion) dollar prototype, chances are you'll never fly again.
This brings me to the bar scene, where apparently no one knows who he is, and he eventually gets thrown out by Hangman and the other pilots. The problem with this is, someone like Maverick would have quite the reputation; everyone there would have been buying him drinks, not throwing him out on his ass. Not to mention anyone in the military knows you don't put your hands on an O-6.
I do like the line where he tells Penny "Being a fighter pilot is what I am". This is true for pretty much every career pilot I've known - their whole life revolves around it, and when it's over, they have a lot of trouble finding a sense of purpose. It's tough to know you're staring at the end of something you've done (and loved) your entire adult life, wondering what the hell do you do now?
The element of TOPGUN itself, the Navy's Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, was rather lacking. The pilots were all graduates of TOPGUN, sure...but the idea that only they could perform the mission doesn't make sense. In reality, the military would simply use whatever assets that were the closest and most capable. But, assuming all this...Why are all these pilots struggling against G's like 2nd week flight school boots in the G trainer? They're fighter pilots, not truck drivers. They should be well used to handling high Gs with composure. Then Phoenix crashes her jet...Bird strikes are a thing, engine flameouts are a thing, but she apparently forgot all the boldface procedures. Chances are she'd still have at least limited power even with a fragged motor, and there's no reason she'd lose control of the jet. Still, she crashed it, and they still somehow sent her on this high risk mission. In reality, that wouldn't happen...She wouldn't necessarily be grounded, but she'd be off the team after that. And why are they flying out of NAS North Island? TOPGUN has been at NAS Fallon since 1996, and it's just a waste of gas to fly back and forth that far. That being said, they could have been training at MCAGCC Twentynine Palms, also out in the middle of the Mojave desert. Also, why are two admirals running TOPGUN? And what's the point of Hangman? His story arc is basically "mean girl" > "Not mean girl". No pilot would volunteer for mission commander; if anything they'd fight about who DOESN'T want to be mission commander.
The mission itself doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's extremely unlikely that something high risk like this would be flown by a four ship strike package of Rhinos (Super Hornets). A real strike package would have included AWACS, air superiority fighters, SEAD taking out the SAMs, most likely some EA-18G Growlers...and if they absolutely had to be subtle, they'd use F-35Cs....assuming the mission wasn't carried out by Air Force B-2's. GPS jamming is a thing, but it's much harder to jam laser, and they'd probably drop some SEALs in to lase the target for them. The whole valley thing doesn't make a whole lot of sense, either. No way is any adversary going to leave such an obvious back door open. That entire valley would be littered with SAMs, MANPADs, and AAA....and if for whatever reason they didn't see them on radar (which they would have while they were out to sea) they would definitely have heard them. The TLAM strike does make sense, but they'd probably program them with an off-axis waypoint so they didn't come in from the same direction as the fighters. The pilots wouldn't be too happy about missiles flying a couple hundred feet over their heads; if one goes haywire, that could be it for you or your wingman. It's worth noting that TLAMs are subsonic cruise missiles, too, so they wouldn't be outrunning fighters cruising at 400+ knots.
The diving delivery doesn't make a whole lot of sense. F/A-18s are 4th generation fighters; laser guided bombs don't have to be dropped in a dive, they just have to be dropped into a virtual "basket" where the seeker head can acquire the laser signal. They could do this while staying under the rim of the mountain crater.
The F-14 scene is pretty cool, although if he'd taken off using flaps...he might have saved the nose gear. But, if he saved the nose gear, he wouldn't be able to barricade, and movies have to have tension, right? That being said, the chances of surviving against not just one, but two Su-57s in a F-14 are...Not great. The Felon's capabilities are doubted, sure...the cockpit looks like it has very poor rear visibility...but, it is a 5th gen fighter with 3D thrust vectoring. It would make quick work out of the heavy, ungainly F-35, let alone a Tomcat, and modern heat seeking missiles like the AIM-9X and R-73 (R-74 in the Su-57's case) are hard to decoy with flares. There's no way flying through a canyon would confuse the Felon's systems...they'd just hang back and keep firing missiles until they brought the Tomcat down. They wouldn't bother following it through the canyon, either...they could just fly a couple thousand feet above and behind and maintain visual contact.
Finally...nobody would be crowding the flight deck celebrating. Everyone topside has a job; if your job doesn't involve you being on the flight deck, you won't be there. Their first priority would be ensuring nothing caught fire, and they did that. Second priority would be clearing the deck, because an aircraft carrier is busy 24/7 with launches, recoveries, and training.
Anyway, that's just my take. Feel free to share yours.

We Were Soldiers and Hamburger Hill are good... never liked Tom bs Cruise at all.

blackhawk said:
We Were Soldiers and Hamburger Hill are good... never liked Tom bs Cruise at all.
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Hacksaw Ridge was pretty excellent too. I'm not a huge fan of Cruise either but the intent here is to talk about what we like or didn't like about Maverick

V0latyle said:
Hacksaw Ridge was pretty excellent too. I'm not a huge fan of Cruise either but the intent here is to talk about what we like or didn't like about Maverick
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Numerous technical errors as usual... try to pretend you're stupid, don't think, pretend it's not Tom Cruise and the movie might be ok.
Probably not.
I once shot out a 30" crt with a 9mm Glaser safety slug because Tom Cruise was on it at that time. Got him center mass
Deeply satisfying and the micro shrapnel from it was incredible. Replaced the crt for $169... it was so worth it.
After thinking over, watch Spy Hard instead. Far more believable, better script and acting too

Dang! Glad I saw the movie before reading all of this. I loved it! Could care less about all the technical authenticity or whatever, I go to the movies to forget about the real world, and if I wanted to see all this technical stuff, I could have saved the $60 bucks, had a few sips of Scotch and looked it all up on the interwebz, and forgotten all about it anyways!
Good thing Badgers are simple creatures!

Badger50 said:
Dang! Glad I saw the movie before reading all of this. I loved it! Could care less about all the technical authenticity or whatever, I go to the movies to forget about the real world, and if I wanted to see all this technical stuff, I could have saved the $60 bucks, had a few sips of Scotch and looked it all up on the interwebz, and forgotten all about it anyways!
Good thing Badgers are simple creatures!
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Any critter that decorates its den entrance with bones from its plunders isn't a simple creature

blackhawk said:
simple creature
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I think you meant, Simply effective!

Badger50 said:
I think you meant, Simply effective!
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Simply hungry too
Meh... saw it.
Great cinematography... at times,
sound track- meh,
script- another death star miracle... it was pretentious and rehashed.
wokeness- a token women top gun, lame.
It had a click to it but it felt like a 80yo cougar making a pass at you.
It's ok... hella better then any of the new woke Disney crap

Guess I'll watch it again. Older Tom Cruise isn't nearly as anoying as young TC.
What do two F18 pilots, Wombat and Mover think?
They bring up some interesting aspects of the movie.
I want to believe... *explodes into pink mist*

The sequel to a classic created another classic...Tom Cruise back as Maverick is fantastic...a film to watch and re-watch..

V0latyle said:
If you've seen the movie, go ahead and share your thoughts here. I'll go first. Obviously, I understand this is just a movie, it's made for the entertainment value, but I can't help picking it apart.
Overall, I think the movie did what it was supposed to do - a "feel good" flick about America. The nostalgia was nice. But, my experience as a Marine veteran as well as knowledge of military aviation raised a lot of issues for me.
First...The SR-72/Aurora/Darkwing project. It's plausible that someone like Maverick could indeed become a test pilot, but most such projects are run under the Air Force, at the end of a pilot's career. It would have made more sense to put this at the end of the movie, although he would have a literal snowflake's chance in hell of surviving a Mach 10+ disintegration. The human body cannot withstand supersonic ejection; the force of the air stream can literally rip your body apart. Maverick would have been pink mist. Also...You crash a multi-billion (if not trillion) dollar prototype, chances are you'll never fly again.
This brings me to the bar scene, where apparently no one knows who he is, and he eventually gets thrown out by Hangman and the other pilots. The problem with this is, someone like Maverick would have quite the reputation; everyone there would have been buying him drinks, not throwing him out on his ass.
I do like the line where he tells Penny "Being a fighter pilot is what I am". This is true for pretty much every career pilot I've known - their whole life revolves around it, and when it's over, they have a lot of trouble finding a sense of purpose. It's tough to know you're staring at the end of something you've done (and loved) your entire adult life, wondering what the hell do you do now?
The element of TOPGUN itself, the Navy's Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, was rather lacking. The pilots were all graduates of TOPGUN, sure...but the idea that only they could perform the mission doesn't make sense. In reality, the military would simply use whatever assets that were the closest and most capable. But, assuming all this...Why are all these pilots struggling against G's like 2nd week flight school boots in the G trainer? They're fighter pilots, not truck drivers. They should be well used to handling high Gs with composure. Then Phoenix crashes her jet...Bird strikes are a thing, engine flameouts are a thing, but she apparently forgot all the boldface procedures. Chances are she'd still have at least limited power even with a fragged motor, and there's no reason she'd lose control of the jet. Still, she crashed it, and they still somehow sent her on this high risk mission. In reality, that wouldn't happen...She wouldn't necessarily be grounded, but she'd be off the team after that. And why are they flying out of NAS North Island? TOPGUN has been at NAS Fallon since 1996, and it's just a waste of gas to fly back and forth that far. That being said, they could have been training at MCAGCC Twentynine Palms, also out in the middle of the Mojave desert. Also, why are two admirals running TOPGUN? And what's the point of Hangman? His story arc is basically "mean girl" > "Not mean girl". No pilot would volunteer for mission commander; if anything they'd fight about who DOESN'T want to be mission commander.
The mission itself doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's extremely unlikely that something high risk like this would be flown by a four ship strike package of Rhinos (Super Hornets). A real strike package would have included AWACS, air superiority fighters, SEAD taking out the SAMs, most likely some EA-18G Growlers...and if they absolutely had to be subtle, they'd use F-35Cs....assuming the mission wasn't carried out by Air Force B-2's. GPS jamming is a thing, but it's much harder to jam laser, and they'd probably drop some SEALs in to lase the target for them. The whole valley thing doesn't make a whole lot of sense, either. No way is any adversary going to leave such an obvious back door open. That entire valley would be littered with SAMs, MANPADs, and AAA....and if for whatever reason they didn't see them on radar (which they would have while they were out to sea) they would definitely have heard them. The TLAM strike does make sense, but they'd probably program them with an off-axis waypoint so they didn't come in from the same direction as the fighters. The pilots wouldn't be too happy about missiles flying a couple hundred feet over their heads; if one goes haywire, that could be it for you or your wingman. It's worth noting that TLAMs are subsonic cruise missiles, too, so they wouldn't be outrunning fighters cruising at 400+ knots.
The diving delivery doesn't make a whole lot of sense. F/A-18s are 4th generation fighters; laser guided bombs don't have to be dropped in a dive, they just have to be dropped into a virtual "basket" where the seeker head can acquire the laser signal. They could do this while staying under the rim of the mountain crater.
The F-14 scene is pretty cool, although if he'd taken off using flaps...he might have saved the nose gear. But, if he saved the nose gear, he wouldn't be able to barricade, and movies have to have tension, right? That being said, the chances of surviving against not just one, but two Su-57s in a F-14 are...Not great. The Felon's capabilities are doubted, sure...the cockpit looks like it has very poor rear visibility...but, it is a 5th gen fighter with 3D thrust vectoring. It would make quick work out of the heavy, ungainly F-35, let alone a Tomcat, and modern heat seeking missiles like the AIM-9X and R-73 (R-74 in the Su-57's case) are hard to decoy with flares. There's no way flying through a canyon would confuse the Felon's systems...they'd just hang back and keep firing missiles until they brought the Tomcat down. They wouldn't bother following it through the canyon, either...they could just fly a couple thousand feet above and behind and maintain visual contact.
Finally...nobody would be crowding the flight deck celebrating. Everyone topside has a job; if your job doesn't involve you being on the flight deck, you won't be there. Their first priority would be ensuring nothing caught fire, and they did that. Second priority would be clearing the deck, because an aircraft carrier is busy 24/7 with launches, recoveries, and training.
Anyway, that's just my take. Feel free to share yours.
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The best Way to explain what I think is summed up in the video of this guy..
*not my video* hope it’s ok to post
I think maverick died in the beginning and lived his dream afterlife. However, we will never know.
I’ve read many posts about it, so I don’t think I’m the only one (besides the guy making the video).
It makes sense. But if he died that also means.. no part 3. 🫤

Cv7676 said:
The best Way to explain what I think is summed up in the video of this guy..
*not my video* hope it’s ok to post
I think maverick died in the beginning and lived his dream afterlife. However, we will never know.
I’ve read many posts about it, so I don’t think I’m the only one (besides the guy making the video).
It makes sense. But if he died that also means.. no part 3. 🫤
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That's one way to put it.
On another topic, I saw several comments on YouTube insisting that they used minimal CGI in the movie because Tom Cruise apparently doesn't like doing CGI. So, explain these:
- The SR-72 Darkstar is still in development; if there are any flying prototypes, they are undoubtedly UAVs, much less capable of Mach 10.
- The US military has very specific rules on "safety bubbles" in training - a buffer zone around your aircraft that MUST be clear of other aircraft, the only exceptions being formation flight. Even professional stunt pilots like the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds maintain "bubbles" of at least several hundred feet and use perspective angles to create the illusion of much closer proximity for maneuvers such as the head on break. Why would the military break hard and fast rules written in blood for a film?
- There are only 5 total flying Su-57/PAK-FA fighters, all in the Russian Air Force. How exactly did the Navy gain cooperation from a historically belligerent foreign military to use their 5th generation fighters for a film?
- The only flying F-14 Tomcats are all owned by Iran, again historically belligerent towards the United States, so same problem as above. While a real F-14 was used in the movie, it's a non-flying airframe with no engines or avionics that was shipped in pieces to the film set.
- The missiles...think those were real?
- The one thing that MIGHT be real would be the Mi-24 helicopter, just because there are so many all around the world.

V0latyle said:
That's one way to put it.
On another topic, I saw several comments on YouTube insisting that they used minimal CGI in the movie because Tom Cruise apparently doesn't like doing CGI. So, explain these:
- The SR-72 Darkstar is still in development; if there are any flying prototypes, they are undoubtedly UAVs, much less capable of Mach 10.
- The US military has very specific rules on "safety bubbles" in training - a buffer zone around your aircraft that MUST be clear of other aircraft, the only exceptions being formation flight. Even professional stunt pilots like the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds maintain "bubbles" of at least several hundred feet and use perspective angles to create the illusion of much closer proximity for maneuvers such as the head on break. Why would the military break hard and fast rules written in blood for a film?
- There are only 5 total flying Su-57/PAK-FA fighters, all in the Russian Air Force. How exactly did the Navy gain cooperation from a historically belligerent foreign military to use their 5th generation fighters for a film?
- The only flying F-14 Tomcats are all owned by Iran, again historically belligerent towards the United States, so same problem as above. While a real F-14 was used in the movie, it's a non-flying airframe with no engines or avionics that was shipped in pieces to the film set.
- The missiles...think those were real?
- The one thing that MIGHT be real would be the Mi-24 helicopter, just because there are so many all around the world.
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If you watch Hamburger Hill or We Were Soldiers you don't have turn off your your intellect while watching, but it may get bruised. Hamburger Hill is one of the most realistic war movies ever made. My Nam buddy Al said "It was like that!". It seems plotless and random, horrible $hit happens just like war. Hard to say who "won".
I've watched Hamburger Hill over a dozen times.
Das Boot (director's cut) is another excellent war movie. Uboat ace Captain Eric Topp was a consultant for that film.

blackhawk said:
If you watch Hamburger Hill or We Were Soldiers you don't have turn off your your intellect while watching, but it may get bruised. Hamburger Hill is one of the most realistic war movies ever made. My Nam buddy Al said "It was like that!". It seems plotless and random, horrible $hit happens just like war. Hard to say who "won".
I've watched Hamburger Hill over a dozen times.
Das Boot (director's cut) is another excellent war movie. Uboat ace Captain Eric Topp was a consultant for that film.
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Yeah. And the whole point of Top Gun is a feel good all American movie. If we want to talk about ridiculously unrealistic, how about Mission: Impossible...

V0latyle said:
Yeah. And the whole point of Top Gun is a feel good all American movie. If we want to talk about ridiculously unrealistic, how about Mission: Impossible...
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Yeah I blew MI off after a few minutes
The Bruce Lee movies still impress, he was pulling punches and nunchuk hits so fast it was a blur even at 40fps? Wow. Like Jimi on the guitar, where they mere mortals?
Two oldies but goodies are the original Freaks (all the freaks are real) and Spider Baby with a young Sid Haig, a stellar performance from Lon Chaney jr plus more top shelf character actors.

blackhawk said:
Yeah I blew MI off after a few minutes
The Bruce Lee movies still impress, he was pulling punches and nunchuk hits so fast it was a blur even at 40fps? Wow. Like Jimi on the guitar, where they mere mortals?
Two oldies but goodies are the original Freaks (all the freaks are real) and Spider Baby with a young Sid Haig, a stellar performance from Lon Chaney jr plus more top shelf character actors.
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Typical movie framerate is 24fps. I've honestly never watched the Bruce Lee movies so I don't know.

V0latyle said:
Typical movie framerate is 24fps. I've honestly never watched the Bruce Lee movies so I don't know.
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Maybe 36fps, they deliberately used a higher frame rate to shoot the action scenes. Don't ask me how they integrated that?

blackhawk said:
Maybe 36fps, they deliberately used a higher frame rate to shoot the action scenes. Don't ask me how they integrated that?
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Now there's a technical brain teaser. Before digital film, both cameras and film projectors were mechanical, so the movie had to be played at the same rate at which it was filmed. Variable speeds would be a problem since the soundtrack was synchronized to the film as well. It's not so difficult with digital technology, but most video encoders use a static frame rate - the BIT rate can be variable, wherein the "depth" of the information recorded can vary, but the frame rate generally doesn't.
Now if they shot the entire movie in 36fps, that would make sense.

V0latyle said:
Now there's a technical brain teaser. Before digital film, both cameras and film projectors were mechanical, so the movie had to be played at the same rate at which it was filmed. Variable speeds would be a problem since the soundtrack was synchronized to the film as well. It's not so difficult with digital technology, but most video encoders use a static frame rate - the BIT rate can be variable, wherein the "depth" of the information recorded can vary, but the frame rate generally doesn't.
Now if they shot the entire movie in 36fps, that would make sense.
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36fps it appears to be. Lee was incredibly fast and formidable.

blackhawk said:
36fps it appears to be. Lee was incredibly fast and formidable.
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Oh okay, so they shot at 34fps, which resulted in a bit of a "slow motion" effect when played at the standard 24fps.

What psychiatric medications do you take?

I hope it's not too intrusive of me to ask, I was just wondering because I know I'm not the only one on here that's medicating.
I take Wellbutrin XL and Abilify.

Abilify? You know that's in the Halidol family?
Unless you're schizophrenic don't use that junk!
That group of drugs is known to cause permanent neurological motor damage in some patients. That's not an exaggeration.
Nicotine is a better drug... cigars are delicious.

blackhawk said:
Abilify? You know that's in the Halidol family?
Unless you're schizophrenic don't use that junk!
That group of drugs is known to cause permanent neurological motor damage in some patients. That's not an exaggeration.
Nicotine is a better drug... cigars are delicious.
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They're both anti-psychotics, but Abilify is an atypical anti-psychotic while Haldol is a typical anti-psychotic. I can't, from the top of my head, tell you what the key differences are, but I just know Abilify has less side effects than Haldol does. I actually wanted to switch to Haldol months ago, but my prescriber couldn't prescribe me Haldol.
I am diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, depressive type. Being on anti-psychotics helps me feel "normal" again — I stupidly got off of my anti-psychotics for several months, and have just started taking them again.

If you don't have auditory hallucinations ie talking voices I ditch that class of drugs. In my wayward youth I tried Halidol, big mistake. One of the worst drugs I ever sampled.
Beware if you begin getting neck aches, stop taking it immediately. It's just god awful stuff if you don't -really- need it. They cross prescribe Abilify for depression which is reckless even advertised it for that.
Get your doctor onboard or find one that will listen to you. Again nicotine may be better with less side effects.
I'd take Provigil over Wellbutrin without thinking twice. Provigil is a fascinating drug, nearly transparent with almost no side effects. It's a mild antidepressant and it makes everything more interesting, colors look more intense and so on. It's a stimulant but doesn't raise your heartrate or bp. It will keep you effortlessly awake if taken when you should be asleep but if you wish to go to sleep you can.
Use only this derivative though as the later versions suck; Newvilgil feels like you drank way too much coffee.

blackhawk said:
If you don't have auditory hallucinations ie talking voices I ditch that class of drugs. In my wayward youth I tried Halidol, big mistake. One of the worst drugs I ever sampled.
Beware if you begin getting neck aches, stop taking it immediately. It's just god awful stuff if you don't -really- need it. They cross prescribe Abilify for depression which is reckless even advertised it for that.
Get your doctor onboard or find one that will listen to you. Again nicotine may be better with less side effects.
I'd take Provigil over Wellbutrin without thinking twice. Provigil is a fascinating drug, nearly transparent with almost no side effects. It's a mild antidepressant and it makes everything more interesting, colors look more intense and so on. It's a stimulant but doesn't raise your heartrate or bp. It will keep you effortlessly awake if taken when you should be asleep but if you wish to go to sleep you can.
Use only this derivative though as the later versions suck; Newvilgil feels like you drank way too much coffee.
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I have auditory hallucinations, as well as other types, but my biggest issue are the delusions. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with Haldol. I've personally never really experienced any significant or major side effects with Abilify — tremors and lethargy were the two main issues, but they disappear over time.
I do think it's extremely irresponsible to use anti-psychotics for mood disorders (besides mood disorders with psychotic features) or even personality disorders when there are better medications they can prescribe that would work so much better, but because everything helpful is now scheduled, they shove bullsh*t drugs into people's mouths to "test them out first." I've been prescribed 15 different psychiatric medications, 24 different times, and 8/15 of those medications didn't work for me.
Psychotic disorders are serious illnesses, and more-so than not, people suffering from psychotic disorders or psychotic features tend to have a better quality of life when on anti-psychotics. I know a lot of people whose lives are unmanageable without the use of medications, and I know that I function much, much better when I'm medicating. I use nicotine as well, but nicotine isn't going to stop my persecutory delusions and apophenia.
I do agree with you, though — stimulants are amazing, but so is Wellbutrin (for me). Almost a decade of severe depression, and the only thing that has worked for me has been Wellbutrin. We just have different views because we've had different experiences and impairments.

I hear you. Rock and a hard place. Go with the lowest effective dose. After over 50 years you think they have something better.
One thing I can tell you is avoid alcohol; it will make things worse invariably over time if abused or if you're intolerant to it.

blackhawk said:
I hear you. Rock and a hard place. Go with the lowest effective dose. After over 50 years you think they have something better.
One thing I can tell you is avoid alcohol; it will make things worse invariably over time if abused or if you're intolerant to it.
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Yup, that's what I'm on. Too high of a dose made me useless — I couldn't function at all because I was always so tired.
And yeah, I'm not a big drinker, anyway.

None, and I've never did in my 66 years of life.

I take a dose of XDA in the morning and another half dose at evening. Other than that I have never took not even an aspirin and i hope i will never need any...

Rotting Brain said:
Yup, that's what I'm on. Too high of a dose made me useless — I couldn't function at all because I was always so tired.
And yeah, I'm not a big drinker, anyway.
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It's known for that. Use the minimum effective amount. Split pills if needed.
Halidol made me feel like I was in White Zombie.
Lol, be careful when sampling other people's meds kiddies...
Once tried some heart medication too, that was even less fun but stimulating

orb_selektor said:
I take a dose of XDA in the morning and another half dose at evening. Other than that I have never took not even an aspirin and i hope i will never need any...
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XDA Developers is pretty damn addictive, to be honest. [Just pretend like there's a laughing emoji here — I forgot how to add emoticons.]

blackhawk said:
It's known for that. Use the minimum effective amount. Split pills if needed.
Halidol made me feel like I was in White Zombie.
Lol, be careful when sampling other people's meds kiddies...
Once tried some heart medication too, that was even less fun but stimulating
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Yeah, it sucks that a lot of psychiatric medications has the side effect of lethargy. I'm on 10 MG of Abilify now, and while there's a bit of tiredness, it's not as bad as when I was on 15 MG. I kid you not, I would sleep up to 16 hours a day, and spend like 4 hours just trying to wake up.
Haha, did you use the heart medications with a recreational intent?

I don't take any of this. But I do have friends that are on all sorts of stuff.
I'm just happy that people can discuss this all openly now.
Now if they only invent a non-addictive sleeping pill that lets you jump out of bed in the morning I wouldn't have to be typing this at 2:30 AM.

Renate said:
Now if they only invent a non-addictive sleeping pill that lets you jump out of bed in the morning I wouldn't have to be typing this at 2:30 AM.
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Provigil is the one that you wanted... you can take it dead tired and effortlessly stay awake.
No jitters, just rested alertness plus. Even restores eye/hand reaction times. The kicker is after an hour or two if you got done what you wanted you can go into a normal sleep. One of the strangest drugs I've ever used. I experienced no side effects.
My experience is typical of its users.

Rotting Brain said:
Yeah, it sucks that a lot of psychiatric medications has the side effect of lethargy. I'm on 10 MG of Abilify now, and while there's a bit of tiredness, it's not as bad as when I was on 15 MG. I kid you not, I would sleep up to 16 hours a day, and spend like 4 hours just trying to wake up.
Haha, did you use the heart medications with a recreational intent?
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Try 5 or 7.5mg Use to minimum dose that works. Over time you may need to adjust it up or down slightly.
Again nicotine helps with reasoning and productivity. Depending on dosage it and independently, it calms and stimulates. Probably better in tobacco though as the other organic compounds modify it's effects.
Tobacco is also a anti inflammatory. Since I started smoking cigars I don't get tendonitis anymore. Of coarse it has it's down sides including relaxing the esophageal sphincter muscle, bad if you have a hiatal hernia, but otherwise calms the GI tract. As for cancer, best to not inhale the smoke or chew it excessively.
Tobacco has been given a bad name but there are good medicinal reasons it's been used for over a millennium. Exponentially better than coffee to keep you awake, it's saved my life more then once. A good cigar triggers memories from long ago you thought you had forgotten. Quite relaxing and pleasant.
It is also quite addictive especially if used before the brain matures which is in the late 20's perhaps 30's.
Long story but it was in with a box with pot, valium and such. So naturally I assumed it had to be something fun. The label wasn't clear to it's use giving the name and dosage instructions. Of course I took twice as much as indicated, adolescent SOP. It wasn't until latter (with heart fluttering) that I looked it up in Merck's Index. I quickly understood the error of my ways...

blackhawk said:
You can take it dead tired and effortlessly stay awake.
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But I can stay effortlessly awake, I just think of something that happened 20 years ago or what I'm going to code tomorrow or what's for lunch or ...

Full strength cigars keep the killer bunnies indolent for me.