Countdown checklist "apps?"
Hello All,
While for me, iPads and Smart Phones and Blackberries fall into the category of things that the folks in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia called "play pretties" (attention-diverting, often shiny toys or devices that teachers took away from kids in class), many young--and not so young--people are enamored of these electronic devices. This--along with a mention of a proofreading checklist by a friend of mine this evening--inspired an idea:
If these don't exist already, countdown checklist "apps" for various types of model rockets (streamer recovery, parachute recovery, featherweight recovery, tumble recovery, nose-blow recovery, break-apart recovery, helicopter recovery, glide recovery, multi-stage, payload, etc.) would be natural extra features to attract younger model rocketeers, and such "apps" would also be useful to older rocketeers. (They would be great for preventing missed checklist steps at public demonstration launches and contests, where distractions can easily enable such errors). They could work like this:
The "apps" could be designed so that each one (each countdown checklist, depending on the type of rocket) could be selected from a menu. When used in "Pre-Launch Mode," the text of a given selected checklist (say, for a streamer recovery rocket) would initially appear in black or white characters until the "Pick Up the Countdown" command was issued. After that, the first step in the checklist would flash in red or red-highlighted (and perhaps enlarged) text along with an audible beep until--after that step was accomplished--it would be "checked off" using a stylus or the pressing of a button, after which the text of that accomplished step would turn green (or be highlighted in green) and the next step would flash in red and beep. A "Review Mode" would allow the user to simply read all of the checklists (displayed in black or white text) without being prompted to "check off" each step in the countdown checklists.
What do you think?
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