Sound in Feet per Second.

[Ron Nossaman]

>
>Ron;
> I'm really disappointed in you...everyone who knows anything, knows that you
>should know to sit in 'front' of the keybaord which is the 'back' of the piano
>on a grand. This is because a grand, going keyboard first, can't reach the
>speed of sound...it has to go round end first to do that.  You'd still be
>crushed, by your body weight, but at least you would be recognizable.
>Jim Bryant (FL)
>

Jim, Jim, Jim,

You haven't been keeping up with the literature, have you? The current
theory is that Asian products, being from the other side of the planet from
the committee that made this sterling observation, CAN, indeed (in theory),
go keyboard first at these speeds. The torso of the pianist, you see, forms
a small shock wave that puts the bulk of the keyboard in a relatively low
velocity shadow. Kind of like those really big Sopranos, only at higher
altitudes. This tends to minimize drag, except at the ends (the KEYBOARD,
not the Soprano), which  whistle under the key top overhangs (well, OK,
maybe the Soprano too), thus allowing the piano to exceed the speed of
sound. This flying position, fortuitously, also minimizes the tendency of
the pianists eyes and mouth to fill up with dust and grasshoppers,
respectively, that is such a problem when flying 'tail' first. Besides, it
fits the nomenclature better. As for being recognizable after the sudden
stop... I've maintained my beard and all this hair all these years to avoid
just such an occurrence. Have you ever heard of the Witless Protection
Program? If times get tough and I have to turn to a life of crime, I'll
shave. There isn't a living soul who knows what I look like without my
disguise. 

  
 Ron