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FAA History: 1986
FAA History (main page)
Tuesday, January 7, 1986:The first helicopter flight simulator certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration was commissioned at the Bell Helicopter plant in Hurst, Texas, for use in Bell 222 helicopter training and proficiency checks.
Thursday, January 9, 1986:FAA published a rule requiring passenger-carrying airliners to carry a medical kit in addition to the basic first aid kits already mandated. The agency estimated that roughly 21 in-flight deaths occurred annually, most involving persons already suffering from terminal illnesses. FAA expected that about 10 percent of the in-flight deaths would be prevented by the new rule, which became effective August 1, 1986.
Thursday, January 23, 1986:Northwest Airlines announced that it would buy Republic Airlines. DOT approved the merger on July 31, 1986.
Tuesday, January 28, 1986:The space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. The accident killed all seven persons aboard and dealt a severe blow to the U.S. space program. No further shuttle flights took place until September 29, 1988.
Monday, February 10, 1986:FAA formally established the National Aviation Safety Inspection Program (NASIP), a plan to continue on a more systematic basis the kind of in-depth inspections begun under the National Air Transportation Inspection, or NATI (see March 4, 1984). An inspection of Eastern Air Lines already begun in December 1985 became part of NASIP (see March 7, 1986). The program also included inspections targeting airlines operating under military charter, an emphasis that fulfilled a directive issued by the Secretary of Transportation in the wake of a crash in Newfoundland (see December 12, 1985). NASIP inspections during fiscal 1986 included 18 carriers providing military charter flights, as well as 20 turbine engine repair stations. The program was then redefined annually, as were the certificate holders targeted for inspections, and special emphasis inspections were conducted as circumstances warranted.
Tuesday, February 11, 1986:The Department of Transportation released an order suspending commercial aviation relations with Libya. The action made final a tentative order issued in response to a January 7 Presidential directive which declared Libya a threat to U.S. security. Tensions between the two nations continued to grow, fed by events that included naval clashes and a bombing in Germany in which a U.S. soldier was one of the two fatalities. On April 15, the confrontation culminated in a U.S. air raid against Libya. (See December 27, 1985, and April 15, 1992.)
Wednesday, February 12, 1986:FAA commissioned the first "family" group of automated flight service stations (AFSSs), at airports in Cleveland, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio, and Bridgeport, Conn. The group of stations used the Model 1 Flight Service Automation System (see October 2, 1981). They were linked by dedicated communications lines with a Central Flight Service Data Processing System (FSDPS) at the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center. Computer terminals at the three automated stations gave flight service specialists quick access to weather information, flight plans, and other data continually fed into the FSDPS. The commissioning was part of FAA's long-range plan to consolidate all its flight service stations into 61 automated facilities. On September 28, 1987, FAA completed the first phase of the AFSS program as it commissioned the 37th and final AFSS planned to receive the initial version of the Model 1 system. In February 1987, meanwhile, Congress had approved development of the Model 1 Full Capacity system in place of the Model 2 system that FAA had originally planned. (See November 1982, and November 8, 1991)
Thursday, February 20, 1986:Transportation Secretary Dole announced a comprehensive review of domestic airport security to be coordinated by her Safety Review Task Force (see August 16, 1985). The Task Force submitted its initial recommendations in August 1986, and FAA responded with a range of actions to improve security training and planning, and to tighten access to secure areas.
Monday, February 24, 1986:Financially troubled Eastern Air Lines tentatively accepted a buy-out offer by Texas Air. The board's decision followed labor negotiations in which Eastern's pilots agreed to make concessions but the union representing machinists and mechanics demanded replacement of Chairman Frank Borman. Following the purchase agreement, Borman remained as Eastern's head until his resignation in June. (See October 1, 1986.)
Saturday, February 1, 1986:FAA completed acceptance testing for new Flight Data Input/Output (FDIO) equipment. FDIO, which provided a modernized method of transmitting and updating flight plan information, was delivered to 11 air route traffic control centers and their associated terminals during fiscal 1986. By the end of FY 1987, FAA had accepted delivery of FDIO equipment to all enroute and terminal control facilities; the first system became operational in December 1989.
Saturday, March 1, 1986:Trans World Airlines acquired Ozark Airlines under an agreement that received Department of Transportation approval in September. Ozark had begun flying in 1950 and expanded within the Midwest, then grew beyond that region with the introduction of airline deregulation in the late 1970s. The airline had encountered economic difficulties, beginning in 1984. Ozark's operations merged into those of TWA on October 26, 1986.
Friday, March 7, 1986:FAA proposed a $9.5 million civil penalty against Eastern Air Lines, by far the largest penalty the agency had proposed to that date, for safety violations revealed during an inspection from December 3, 1985, through February 20, 1986. Eastern objected to the fine, but in February 1987 agreed to pay. Meanwhile, on August 22, 1986, FAA announced that Pan American would pay $1.95 million for safety violations revealed by an inspection that began in March. This was the largest penalty actually levied by FAA to that date, but smaller than the $3.9 million originally proposed to Pan Am for these violations.
Thursday, March 13, 1986:FAA activated the domestic message portion of a computerized system to collect, process, and distribute notices to airmen (NOTAMs) throughout the U.S. airspace system and abroad. This completed the commissioning of the Consolidated NOTAM System (CNS), culminating a two-year implementation effort that began in February 1984 when the international messages subsystem of CNS came on line.
Friday, March 14, 1986:FAA announced the choice of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University to provide a new management training facility to replace the existing school at Lawton, Okla. (see May 3, 1971). After building the new school at Palm Coast, Fla., Embry Riddle operated the facility for FAA under a 20 year contract, while FAA awarded separate contracts for instructional services. FAA dedicated the new school, named the Center for Management Development (CMD), on October 15, 1987, and the first class began four days later.
Saturday, March 15, 1986:FAA Administrator Engen and the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration Director signed a U.S.-Chinese agreement on cooperation in civil aviation. The agreement covered a wide range of activities including the exchange of scientific and technical information and personnel, cooperation in research and development, and the provision of training and other technical assistance. (See May 5, 1985, and March 31, 1995.)
Wednesday, March 26, 1986:FAA announced a contract to upgrade the New York Radar Approach Control (TRACON) Facility, which provided radar service to aircraft approaching and departing the major hubs and designated satellite airports in the New York area. The existing facility used a special ARTS IIIA Automated Radar Terminal System capable of tracking 1,200 radar targets at one time. This would be upgraded to a unique ARTS IIIE able to simultaneously track 1,700 targets. The second stage of the enhancement would allow tracking of 2,800 targets, with a capability of expanding to 3,400 targets if needed. (See January 10, 1981, and September 20, 1991.)
Saturday, March 1, 1986:FAA commissioned the first second-generation common radar digitizer, known as CD-2, for operational use (see April 6, 1979). The first two CD-2s had been delivered to the FAA Academy on February 11, 1983, and the first field delivery took place in May 1984.
Wednesday, April 2, 1986:A bomb hidden under a seat cushion exploded aboard a TWA 727 on approach to Athens, Greece, creating a hole in the fuselage four feet in diameter. The blast killed four passengers and injured nine others, but the aircraft landed safely. The bomb was similar to one that exploded on August 11, 1982, aboard a Pan American 747 flying from Japan to Hawaii, killing 1 person and injuring 15.
Tuesday, April 15, 1986:In a move to consolidate aviation medicine expertise and responsibilities, FAA transferred direction of the Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI) from the Director of the Aeronautical Center to the Federal Air Surgeon. (See September 30, 1966.)
Tuesday, April 29, 1986:Direct airline service between the United States and the Soviet Union resumed after an interruption of over four years (see December 29, 1981). The flights resulted from an agreement announced soon after the November 1985 summit meeting of President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. (See February 16, 1990.)
Friday, May 16, 1986:FAA published a rule upgrading fire safety standards for cargo or baggage compartments in future transport category aircraft by establishing new fire test requirements. The regulation also limited the volume of Class D compartments (those not readily accessible to crewmembers or equipped with built-in fire extinguishers, but instead designed to control fire by restricting oxygen). The rule stemmed from a testing project undertaken at the FAA Technical Center in the wake of a Saudi Arabian in-flight fire (see August 19, 1980) and from a rulemaking proposal published in August 1984. (See February 10, 1989.)
Monday, June 2, 1986:FAA and the Coast Guard concluded a Memorandum of Agreement outlining the roles of each agency in developing the LORAN-C navigation system for use by civil aviators (see August 23, 1984). In an updated edition of the National Airspace System (NAS) Plan issued that same month, FAA included a new project for LORAN-C, an interim, supplemental radio navigation system providing at least single-level coverage for instrument flight rules (IFR) navigation for the contiguous U.S., eventually including the "mid-continent gap" not covered by existing transmitters. FAA would provide procurement funds, while the Coast Guard would operate and maintain the transmitters. Non-precision LORAN-C approaches would also be supported where signal requirements were met, and FAA therefore planned to acquire and operate equipment to check the quality of LORAN-C signals. In October 1986, the agency awarded a contract for the first 112 of these signal monitors. (See May 14, 1991.)
Wednesday, June 18, 1986:A Bell 206B helicopter and a DHC-6 Twin Otter airplane collided while conducting air tours over the Grand Canyon National Park, killing all 25 persons aboard the two aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board listed the probable cause as the failure of both flightcrews to see and avoid each other for undetermined reasons. As contributory factors, the Board listed: failure of FAA oversight regarding Grand Canyon flights; National Park Service influence over route selection by air tour operators; and modification of helicopter routes to intersect those used by fixed-wing aircraft. On December 9, 1986, FAA published a proposal to establish special temporary flight restrictions above the Canyon, to be followed by a permanent rule addressing the safety and noise issues associated with operations over the park. (See March 26, 1987.)
Friday, June 20, 1986:A directive issued this date established a new Office of Science and Advanced Technology reporting directly to the Administrator. The office was later abolished by a directive issued on August 29, 1988.
Sunday, July 6, 1986:President Reagan proclaimed this to be National Air Traffic Control Day in honor of the 50th anniversary of Federal involvement in controlling air traffic (see July 6, 1936). FAA personnel throughout the nation observed the occasion with ceremonies and celebrations.
Monday, July 21, 1986:FAA published a rule setting stricter flammability standards for materials used in cabins of existing and future airliners with 20 or more passenger seats. The new standards required use of fire resistant and slower-burning materials for cabin sidewalls, ceilings, partitions, storage bins, galleys, and other interior structures. Establishment of such standards had been one of the recommendations of the Special Aviation Fire and Explosion Reduction (SAFER) Advisory Committee (see September 10, 1980). The necessary research had been conducted primarily at the FAA Technical Center, and further toxicity studies had been carried out at the agency's Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI). The new rule was effective on August 20, 1986, but prescribed a phased compliance schedule stretching over four years.
Tuesday, August 5, 1986: In an example of action under the International Security Development and Cooperation Act (see entry for June 14, 1985), the Department of Transportation announced that Manila airport in the Philippines did not maintain effective security standards. Airlines were required to inform passengers buying tickets for Manila of this determination. Following an FAA team's inspection, the Department on September 2 announced that the airport now met international security standards.
Wednesday, August 13, 1986:The National Academy of Sciences issued a report on airliner cabin air quality and related safety issues. The report had been mandated by Congress in 1984. Its most controversial recommendation was a ban on smoking on all domestic commercial flights (see April 23, 1988). The authors cited four major reasons: to lessen discomfort to passengers and crew; to reduce potential health hazards to cabin crewmembers from environmental tobacco smoke; to eliminate possible fires; and to align cabin air quality with standards for other closed environments. Further recommendations included an FAA review of carbon dioxide standards, which eventually resulted in a 1996 rule lowering the allowable concentration of this gas for occupied areas of transport aircraft from 3.0 to 0.5 percent. The report's other suggestions included FAA consideration of requiring additional protective breathing equipment for use during in-flight fires aboard airliners (see May 26, 1987).
Thursday, August 21, 1986:FAA's Air Route Traffic Control Centers handled 112,467 en route operations, the highest single-day traffic to that date. Record operations levels at many facilities in fiscal 1986 helped to create a 19.85 percent increase in delays as compared to the previous year. During the fiscal year, FAA proceeded with implementation of a Traffic Management System integrating certain air traffic control functions to create a more orderly traffic flow. Work also continued on the Expanded East Coast Plan, the first phase of which was scheduled for implementation in 1987 (see February 12, 1987). Under development since 1982, the plan was designed to alleviate congestion in the New York area and associated airspace through the use of additional departure routes and other techniques. During fiscal 1986, FAA also deployed mobile "tiger teams" of personnel with expertise in a variety of air traffic control disciplines to improve traffic management in areas experiencing delays.
Sunday, August 31, 1986:A Mexican DC-9 and a Piper PA-28 collided in clear sky over Cerritos, CA. The Piper had inadvertently made an unauthorized entry into the Los Angeles Terminal Control Area (TCA), and its radar return was not observed by the controller providing service to the Mexican flight. The accident killed 82 persons–all 64 aboard the DC-9, all 3 aboard the Piper, and 15 on the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board later listed the probable cause as the limitations of the air traffic control system to provide collision protection, through both air traffic control procedures and automated redundancy. The Cerritos accident was the first midair collision to occur within a TCA. On September 15, FAA Administrator Engen appointed a special task force to study actions to improve the TCAs. On October 27, the agency announced plans to implement the group's 40 recommendations, including: a minimum 60-day license suspension for pilots violating TCA boundaries (see October 10, 1986); expanded requirements for altitude encoding transponders (see January 29, 1987); and action to simplify and standardize the design of TCAs (see January 12, 1989).
Friday, September 5, 1986:At Karachi, Pakistan, four men dressed as security guards stormed a Pan American 747. The flight crew escaped, but the four terrorists demanded a crew to fly them to Cyprus. They killed an American passenger during the ensuing 17 hour negotiations. When the lights aboard the aircraft failed, the terrorists began a massacre, killing 22 persons and injuring 125 before being arrested.
Monday, September 1, 1986:An FAA/Air Force review board endorsed specifications for a new long-range Air Route Surveillance Radar, designated ARSR-4, for use at joint surveillance sites. On July 25, 1988, FAA announced that it had awarded Westinghouse a $271.6 million contract for 34 ARSR-4s. The new three-dimensional, solid state equipment would replace the 25- to 30-year-old Joint Surveillance radars, improving detection and reducing the clutter from terrain, weather, and other sources. The Air Force and FAA shared the cost of all but one of the ARSR-4s, which the Navy purchased. FAA began initial testing of the new radar during fiscal 1992. (See June 25, 1979, and April 12, 1996.)
Wednesday, October 1, 1986:DOT gave final approval for Frank Lorenzo's Texas Air holding company to acquire Eastern Air Lines (see February 24, 1986), with Lorenzo becoming Eastern's chairman on October 15. The Department had earlier rejected the merger on August 26, but reversed itself following an agreement safeguarding Pan American's role as a competitor on the Boston/New York/Washington shuttle routes. On October 24, DOT gave final sanction to Texas Air's acquisition of People Express and most of the assets of People's bankrupt subsidiary, Frontier Airlines. A no-frills airline, People Express had grown rapidly after staring operations on April 30, 1981, but had begun to experience heavy losses in 1985. (See February 1, 1987.)
Thursday, October 9, 1986:FAA announced an agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for a joint program to develop basic requirements for an airborne wind shear detection and avoidance system. The program's goal was a predictive alert system that could "look ahead" of the aircraft, as distinguished from already-available systems that reacted when wind shear was encountered. (See August 2, 1985, and September 22, 1988.)
Friday, October 10, 1986:FAA issued an enforcement bulletin implementing a 60-day suspension of the certificate of any unauthorized pilot who entered a Terminal Control Area (TCA). The agency could seek harsher actions, including a $1,000 civil penalty, if there were aggravating circumstances, such as causing a near midair collision while illegally within a TCA. (See August 31, 1986, and March 5, 1990.)
Tuesday, October 21, 1986:FAA announced the award of two contracts to develop competing prototypes of the Voice Switching and Control System (VSCS). The system would provide controllers at air route traffic control centers with computer-controlled voice switching for air-ground communications and well as intercom and interphone communications within and between FAA facilities. Compared to the existing electromechanical system, the new electronic VSCS would be faster, more reliable, and cheaper to maintain. Harris Corporation received the production contract on December 31, 1991. (See June 30, 1995.)
Thursday, October 23, 1986:FAA announced the purchase of 19 turboprop Beech Super King Air Model 300 aircraft for its flight inspection fleet used to check the accuracy of air navigation and landing aids. Expected to be more fuel efficient and easier to maintain, the new aircraft were to replace a number of Saberliner Model 80s and all five of the agency's Jet Commander Model 1121 aircraft. Delivery began in April 1988. The purchase was part of a modernization process that was reducing the number and types of aircraft that FAA used for flight inspection and for other purposes. At its peak in FY 1964, the agency's total fleet had consisted of 116 aircraft of 24 different types. In FY 1987, the fleet would be reduced to 50 aircraft of 16 types. (See July 8, 1973 and October 1, 1991.)
Thursday, October 30, 1986:President Reagan signed the Public Law 99-591, including Title VI, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Act of 1986 authorizing the transfer of control of Washington National and Dulles International Airports to an independent regional authority under a 50-year lease (see June 8, 1984, and June 7, 1987). The authority was to be created by agreement between Virginia and the District of Columbia. It would be governed by a board of 11 members appointed by the Governor of Virginia (5), the Mayor of the District of Columbia (3), the Governor of Maryland (2), and the President (1). The law also prohibited airlines from operating non-stop flights between Washington National and any airport more than 1,250 miles distant, a wider non-stop service perimeter than previously set by policy (see December 6, 1981).
Title V of P.L. 99-591, the Aviation Safety Commission Act of 1986, established for 18 months a commission of seven Presidentially appointed members to study how FAA might most effectively fulfill its functions. In April 1988, the commission released its final report, concluding that overall the nation's air transportation system was safe, but that the regulatory structure was inadequate to deal with future growth and technological change. The commission's recommendations included: the creation of an independent federal aviation authority with a separate safety director; increased safety inspections; tighter regulation of commuter aircraft operations; mandatory use of Mode C transponders for general aviation aircraft flying near hub airports; and a set term for the FAA administrator.
Friday, October 31, 1986:In a restructuring of the organizational complex under the Associate Administrator for Aviation Standards, the Office of Flight Operations was retitled the Office of Flight Standards. The Rotorcraft Program Office, which had been disbanded on March 7, was formally abolished and its functions divided between the Office of Flight Standards and the Office of Airworthiness. Certain other adjustments in the responsibilities of these two offices also took effect.
Sunday, November 16, 1986:Effective this date, a Department of Transportation order ended air service between the U.S. and South Africa, as required by the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986. (See August 8, 1991.)
Tuesday, December 23, 1986:Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager became the first aircraft pilots to circle the globe without landing or refueling when their experimental airplane Voyager touched down at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., after covering 25,000 miles in nine days. The aircraft had a propeller at each end of its fuselage, and was equipped with a main wing nearly 111 feet long as well as a smaller forward wing. Voyager took off on December 14 with 1,200 gallons of fuel and landed with only eight gallons of usable fuel remaining.
Primary Sources:
Dated items along the left margin of the FAA History Pages were compiled from the series of FAA's 'Historical Chronology' PDF files. For a list and links to uploaded copies of these PDF files, see aiReform's 'FAA History' main page (link above).
Additional content has been compiled from Wikipedia and other sources; these items are presented along the right margin, and include significant accidents, Whistleblower case actions, various news items, ATC technology developments, links to related material, comments, etc. Further content will be added at a later date.


With the relatively recent boom of technological advancements, a common question being asked is if technological systems will soon run the world? Will humans be left with little to no work to do? Artificial Intelligence is clearly the next generation of incredible advancement as it more than ever challenges the human mind with capabilities never seen before, and possibly, a higher, and faster, learning capacity.
The mere thought of AI brings in fascination and fear. A fascination born out of its thought provoking learning, and a fear for human extinction. We already know that AI can affect numerous industries such as transportation, healthcare, and IT. What is yet to be seen, is how big of an impact will AI have on managed services.
Artificial Intelligence will continue progressing and tech companies will continue leveraging with its advancements. It is now our job to offer clients answers and solutions for questions and concerns such as, can robots be hired as our staff? Wouldn't they eliminate human error of technicians? Will I still have a job in 5 years?
The last few years have been breakthroughs in the world of Artificial Intelligence. Scientists have been able to feed massive amounts of data into millions of webs of algorithms and hence, created a more advanced machine. AI can in fact learn without reprogramming by understanding what the machine already knows and mixing it with new information. In effect, this is what humans do, This was once a thought that no one thought could be possible, that AI would ever achieve that goal, yet here it is, present in today's world.
When looked at with a managed services point of view, this information would eliminate human intervention. A system could be set in place and companies would simply press start and leave the work up to the robots. This would even continue to develop with the evolution of artificial intelligence.
But let's not forget that the human brain contains more connections within itself than all the stars in the sky. It is because of this that AI depends on a technical team to run it. AI still needs managed IT support to be taught to perform and has to be fed information. So, while Artificial Intelligence can handle a specific number of functions, the need for the human element will also be needed for we have intuition, creativity, and further ability to complete a task.We are able to attain further information and make decisions based on that data at the drop of a hat. We also have sensitivity which often plays an important role is managed services.
There is no question that artificial intelligence can play an important role, but it is also a known fact that for this to work, AI and humans must work as a team.
Major computer breach in 2017 – click to read.


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Ever famous DDoS Attacks
Really simple things can be hugely influential and famous. Like SQL injection, buffer overflow and other classic types of software vulnerabilities — The grand old man of cyberspace remains useful year after year. State sponsored actors, even governments themselves, rivalling companies or criminals alike are keen to fall back using simple methods and tools to demonstrate their capabilities in the cyberspace. Humans, animals as we are, are known friends to employ such campaigns as revenge, show of powers, just insult or acquire business / political priority. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are just good for those who want to be the bullies in the cyberspace.
Cyberspace is still largely unmapped territory. Even when the level 3, the world of packets and pings, travels through cables and connectors which are largely owned and run by state sponsored actors, on the higher level a mythic elevated concept of world citizenship prevails. On that level, a vigorous struggle is going on about that who is able to provide security for people, what are the forms and shapes of the social frameworks for the post-national cyberspace. That struggle inspires old nation-states and their security organisations to engage and to promote themselves as viable authorities in the cyberspace. Many of them have made a silent and unilateral declaration of global mandate. To actualise that and to build up the social attachment, these actors need to demonstrate their skills and capabilities, in essence be able to dominate all the other self-proclaimed sheriffs in the town. Now, on the global scale and scope: Mission Impossible.
What could be better way to push up one's role than to take others down at will? Those who can deny the service of others, even for a while, try to become the new sovereigns in the cyberspace. Welcome to the world of offensives, invasion and intervention, in the pretty talk: DDoS attacks.
Chauvinistic War Games
The DDoS attack stays popular and effective as it relies on the exploit of targets desires. In the wide open global network, greedy web services want to reach out to the world. Every tiny web shop think that they have the customer-base as huge as the world. And what is more, every nation, tiny, immature or hostile government think that thanks to cyberspace now they are global as well. They can reach out and project their power to people they think are theirs, wherever they are. Goodbye territories and limited mandate of sovereignty.
In the global cyber-village, everyone wants to be everywhere and all want to eat the sun. The difficulty in reaching the tail of the rainbow leads to vigorous campaigning to keep others down, maximise own capabilities and still keep on with running after the carrot and away from ghosts of all kinds.
Since everyone desires, yearns and dreams about the world dominance, their inherent vulnerability must be the willingness to be everywhere and to expand. Therefore, the ultimate means to intervene, obstruct and indeed, to throw sticks to the wheels of others, is letting one have that as much as one want, and in this case, even more. Every global cyber business or government want to be everywhere and online 24/7, hence they are doomed for the battle of that role in the cyberspace, a battle that never ends and to which there is no solution.
The one who is able to declare that they are able to provide security against others, the one, may acquire some subordinates and host a regime of some kind. Yet, the world is never for one and one cannot be the world.
Deterring an invasion
As everyone who stays in the global cyberspace is inherently vulnerable for DoS attacks, some are less so than others. And many never meet the beast, even when they are visibly available and even attractive. On the other hand, those who are attractive and even welcoming or asking such hostilities towards them, those either never face or can defend successfully. Still, even with a successful defence and recovery procedure, even a tiny slice of hours can cost a lot. And, since the cyberspace is all there wide open for all to play around, the pride, masculine might, fame and reputation, indeed the self-proclaimed ability to provide security and police within the cyberspace, they are the weak points. Should some company stay offline for a while, even when that would cost some money in the loss of production, what they are afraid of, and what makes then angry and scared, is the apparent humiliation.
Estonian cyber attacks are perhaps one of the most classic example of that. Russia was accused and the tensions between the two countries have not been much better after that. What bugs them, is not the tiny offline time, but the lack of skills, on the deeper sense the balance, borders and territories in the cyberspace. Two or more entities want to be the kings of the castle at the same time, without lack of international institutions to induce a Cyber Peace rather can Cyber War, these various entities are doomed to exercise their skills and manoeuvres in the state of anarchy.
Since one may or may not experience such attempts of invasion, on the network level 3, one may either take the risk, outsource it or try to defend. The consequences of such invasion, however which could be also due to normal increased business activity or increase in level of interest towards oneself, may vary depending on the business and entity. Most companies have no resources defend for risks which are not too likely and of which no fatal or critical consequences may be expected. Thus, the viable options stay as take the risk or outsource it.
Various outer edge proxy solutions are on market, behind which one can withdraw as pre-emptive defence against sudden DoS attacks or increase in the visitor volumes. With flexible Internet-facing "buffer zone" service, any denial of service attacks would be taken by the common and capable front-line rather than the small and incapable business. Similarly like military alliances, small entities tend to prefer to dwell under the patronage of others. And indeed, defence industry, even the defence against cyber invasion, rogue packets and hostile networks, pays money more than many companies can afford. Therefore, a shared hard and well armed front-line in the cyberspace may be a good solution for many small and ever larger businesses.
However, there is the cost attached to such patronage, both financial and political, yet something that might be less than the expected cost of the incident when one of the risks would actually materialise. Ultimately, it is a business decision, to decide on security investments. Typically companies take high risks, which may or may not be good for the long lasting business strategy.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This is the hottest news in Korean entertainment scene now! It's also the most searched news on Daum. Daniel Henney has signed up to join the cast of X-men Origins: Wolverine and he will play the role of Agent Zero. Woohoo! I'm so happy and proud for Daniel Henney. I haven't seen any of the X-men movies (really!) but I think I'm going to wait for this one. Also in the cast is Hugh Jackman, who was in Korea last year (and was interviewed by a friend).
Here's the article in Korean. He started his acting career in the Korean drama "My Name is Kim Sam Soon" and has starred in last year's tearjerker "My Father". Soon we will see him in Hollywood!
The Korean Wave hits Hollywood! Woo! I am happy and hope Hollywood continues to become a melting pot for cultures and people, but I know there will eventually be a huge backlash when the Korean Wave peaks.


In Christian mythology the Wandering Jew is a subject of scorn. Bereft of a homeland, this accursed wraith crosses the landscape again and again, often as not bringing some tragedy or distress in his wake. Seen as the symbol of the Jewish Diaspora, the wanderer is the subject of suspicion, fear and accusation. This solitary and often tragic figure gives rise to repression and becomes the justification for unspeakable acts, of which the 20th Century Holocaust is merely the latest and best known.
Mordecai Richler has given us an astonishing and riveting account of one of these wanderers as he might have appeared in North America. As a child, Montrealer Moses Berger encounters the Gursky family. It's the first step in what will become an almost heroic quest for the truth behind the Gursky family's shadowy ancestor, Ephraim Gursky and the grandson, Solomon, who accompanied him on a journey in Canada's North. Ephraim, against all reason, apparently shipped aboard the HMS Erebus with John Franklin's ill-starred expedition into the Arctic. Richler demonstrates the Christian attitude toward the Jews with accounts of the many searchers for Franklin's remains. Those necrophiles uniformly scoffed at the notion a Jew could have been aboard, let alone survived, since "all know" these urban dwellers wouldn't have the fortitude or presumption to attempt such a feat. The evidence, however, suggests . . .
Richler has woven a rich tapestry with this mixture of invention and history. He does it so well that separating the threads of fact and fiction becomes an insurmountable task. And why not? He's given us a unique picture of the world's second largest nation. A fresh picture indeed, given that the nation of "two solitudes" conveniently forgets those of its number who are neither English nor French. If Ephraim Gursky sailed with Franklin and initiated a dynasty of Inuit Jews with such names as Gor-ski, Girskee, or Goorski. They wander, like their mentor, into the southern lands wearing, against all reason [again!] Jewish prayer shawls. They seem as homeless as their cantor, fulfilling, even in these outlandish circumstances, the Christian prejudice against wandering Jews.
Homeless he may be, but rootless the Wandering Jew is not. No matter where they settled, the Jews brought an endless capacity for adaptation, seizing whatever opportunities emerged to assist in their survival. Wherever they settled, they viewed it as "the next best place". The homeland of Israel remained within their consciousness, but they would do the best they could in whichever land they occupied. In the Gursky's case, circumstances kept opportunity at bay until Americans, in a flush of Protestant fervour, enacted Prohibition, almost certainly one of the least honoured pieces of federal legislation ever enacted. This was the moment the Gursky clan was able to seize, starting from minimal beginnings to emerge as a mighty empire built from alcohol. Richler has again merged fantasy with reality as his account of this aspect of the Gursky family would be better spelt "Bronfman".
Mordecai Richler's inventive mind and well-honed writing skills have provided us with a true masterpiece. He knows people, certainly the Montreal Jewish community, but far beyond that urban confine also. He takes us to the Arctic, the Prairies, flirts with England, pokes into America. The only missing scene is Van Dieman's Land [Tasmania], where Ephraim Gursky arrived as a transportee only two years before Franklin arrived as governor. These, however, are simply locations in which Richler can place his people. His cast is enormous, but he handles the lot with unmatched skill, presenting every persona as fully credible. We may not know the Jewish community intimately, but reading this book is an excellent means of viewing that community and how it sees the world. Moses Berger's quest for the Gursky story makes him the pivot around which this superb novel orbits as he encounters the key players in the story – especially the Wandering Jew.


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Ian McAvity: Is Greed Good for Gold?
By The Gold Report, on December 1st, 2011
Amid a chorus of gold mining pundits yelling for investors to snap up cheap gold equities is Ian McAvity, a 50-year veteran of the markets, telling investors to wait. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, McAvity, who produces Deliberations on World Markets, explains why historical cycles lead him to believe the market is in for some new lows and what that means for the gold price and the juniors seeking out that shiny metal.
The Gold Report: Ian, you have been involved in the markets for 50 years. How much of today's market is a repeat of a cycle you've seen before and how much is unique?
Ian McAvity: Cyclical and secular trends haven't really changed, but each one has slightly different characteristics. From 1982 to 2000, there was a powerful secular uptrend in the S&P 500. Since 2000, there's been a secular bear trend, sideways or downtrend not dissimilar to 1966–1982 or 1932–1949 that may run through 2016 or 2018.
The big change has been the utter corruption of Wall Street and that nearly 80% of the trading on the New York Stock Exchange now is being done by high-velocity computers. When an investor puts in an order, it's basically one computer versus another computer operating in nanoseconds. That's why all of a sudden the volume is up or down 10 to 1 and you get a couple of hundred points added on or taken off the Dow in minutes. To me that's a corruption of the process. "Ethics" and "Wall Street" are words you never use in the same sentence.
The trading mechanism is broken down. Leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are designed to consume the client's capital in leveraging and rebalancing premiums. The high velocity traders literally get the opportunity to "front-run" public orders as the order flow to "the market" is available to them for a fee. It's outrageous in the sense that they've legalized front running for those who pay up for the high-speed data feed. And then there's the initial public offering (IPO) business. Anytime the public can get shares in an IPO, they don't want it. If they can get some, it's only because it's not going to be that good a deal.
TGR: Is it the corruption of Wall Street or the development of Wall Street through technology?
IMcA: It's the culture of greed coming out of the banking system. The Street always wanted to make money. That's never gone away. But there was a time when good clients were actually respected by a firm. A firm wanted to do well for a good client because it wanted to keep the family assets in the firm. These days a client is considered to be a mark. The system is designed to convert the client's capital into their fees and income as quickly as possible. The public is being chased out. There have been persistent outflows from domestic equity mutual funds since 2007. A lot of people justifiably don't trust it.
TGR: Or perhaps the public just doesn't have the tools and the speed to become an influential member of the market?
IMcA: Let me give you an example. The average daily turnover for one gold mining junior ETF is $100 million (M). Probably $80M is day trading where there is no net investment. To call moment-by-moment trading "investment" to me is a sacrilege. There's no way that people are making a rational investment decision in that sense. I'd rather go to Vegas where they've got pretty girls serving you a drink while you gamble.
TGR: Aren't day traders just playing nagainst each other? Someone bets it goes up. Someone else bets it goes down. They wait a very short period. Ultimately, it just evens out.
IMcA: In theory it works itself out, but it creates an illusion of growth that distorts trends because it injects volatility. The majority of the billions of dollars that are trading every day is intraday noise. All the computers scalping each other for as little as a tenth of a cent.
TGR: The market was up the other day in reaction to the debt plan that came out of Europe. Is this a real increase or just more intraday noise?
IMcA: One batch of traders shorted at the opening burst, but that afternoon it didn't sell back. All the guys that shorted in the morning got their clocks cleaned and had to cover in the afternoon. That's why there was a second rush into the close. That trading activity is symptomatic of what's wrong with this market. Markets are being driven by headlines. Plus, the headlines are being misinterpreted most of the time. At first, it appeared that Europe had a perfect solution for everything. Then, by the end of the day, we were discovering that there were a lot of details missing and it was unclear how many parliaments have to approve the plan. Every day there's a leak of some unsubstantiated "plan" and later it's denied but the cheerleaders at CNBC seem to take every wiggle as gospel.
TGR: Is it driven by headlines or the 24/7 news cycle?
IMcA: I wish the news cycle was as slow as 24/7. When people are trading on one-minute and five-minute charts, a 24/7 news cycle can't keep up with it. It's not healthy to have this much liquidity. What it reflects is that the bailout of the banks has flooded the system with liquidity, but none of that is trickling down to Main Street or out into the real world. It's just sloshing around in the financial markets. The velocity of trading reflects that the system is swimming in liquidity and nobody is feeling sufficiently brave to take any risk home overnight. We'll churn the daylights out of it, but flatten the position before lunch or the close.
TGR: How does an individual investor operate in this environment?
IMcA: Basically hide. A number of people have told me that they've become day traders and I ask them how they're doing and they say, "Well, I'm not quite there yet. I know I can make money doing it." I tell them not to blow all of their capital while they try to learn. It's an exploitable game for somebody that has the self-discipline. But it requires a degree of self-discipline that 90% of the people that try it will never acquire.
TGR: At The New Orleans Investment Conference where you spoke in late October, many speakers talked about how junior gold stocks are essentially on sale, inferring that this is the time to buy. Should investors run and hide from a corrupt and frothy market, or go out and buy?
IMcA: You've got to watch the inter-market relationships. The gold stocks have been very poor performers relative to the gold price. In the last 12 months, the junior gold stocks have been particularly bad even relative to the senior gold stocks. That is creating an undervalued situation. But undervalued doesn't mean go out and buy it tomorrow morning. Yes, there was a marvelous October rally after five down months in the S&P. However, I believe that the S&P is going to go back down and at least probe the last lows, if not break them by year end or March. The junior gold mining shares will test their recent lows and then start to show relative performance where they're not falling as much as the stock market. I'm watching for that type of relative strength and that's when I would be looking to buy them. I wouldn't be surprised if the gold price came back down to $1,650 an ounce (oz) as well.
I'm looking for a point where I want to buy, where for several months I was saying I wouldn't even think about it. A lot of the excesses have been wound out, but the best buying opportunity still lies ahead. Year-end tax loss selling and a sharp down turn in the S&P where everyone is looking for a year-end rally could provide a great buying opportunity for the juniors soon.
TGR: You're a technical analyst who relies on a lot of charts. What are you seeing in charts that make you believe that the S&P is going to pull back to its lows?
IMcA: I'm basing that on cyclical analysis within secular trends of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. I believe the top this year goes back to February as the cyclical top of the rebound off the 2009 lows, while the S&P made its actual peak in May. On a secular basis, I view this as the second half of the bear market that started in 2007. The first half of the financial bubble was undone from 2007 to 2009. The second half will run through 2012. There could also be a final low that may be as far out as 2016.
The undoing of the debt bubble over the last three decades is not a short-term affair. It's going to take a long time to work off. The housing market has not seen its bottom. Job numbers are going to get worse. Everything that they are doing in Washington just says that they are looking for new ways to screw it up.
TGR: You're expecting a double-dip recession.
IMcA: It will be called a double-dip only because they've engineered what appeared to be a recovery, but there hasn't really been a recovery that restored many lost jobs or did much more than temporarily slow the pace of decline in the housing market. All of the money and the liquidity that they threw into the market tweaked a few of the numbers in the gross domestic product to create the appearance of a recovery, but barely a penny of it ever got to Main Street.
TGR: Main Street is starting to spend a bit more.
IMcA: That's like saying there is a housing recovery because housing starts went up from 420,000 to 425,000. Housing starts used to be 1 million.
TGR: When will the economy get through this mess and start on a real recovery?
IMcA: It's going to take several years. It might start to show some signs of recovery in 2013 or 2014, or perhaps as late as 2016.
If the S&P is below 1,258 on Dec. 31, 2011, it will be the first down pre-election year since 1939. Election years don't have as bullish a record as pre-election years. But how much fun has this year been so far? The market's going to find a bottom for bear market rally bounces. Ned Davis Research Group created a model that I've modified that projects a decline in the Dow to a prospective cyclical bottom between 8,200 and 8,400 in August or September 2012 if we experience only an "average" bear market. I fear that it could be a lot worse than "average" given the geopolitical uncertainties as a backdrop.
TGR: Wow, that's a claim.
IMcA: It's interesting to see a cyclical decline projected through an election year. It's not unprecedented, but it's quite unusual.
TGR: You said earlier that you expect the gold price to pull back again. Do you expect it to pull back below its 200-day moving average?
IMcA: No. The market has come back and tested the $1,600/oz level twice. The last bounce off the $1,600/oz level was pretty credible. I'd be surprised if $1,600/oz is broken now.
TGR: You don't believe that gold is a bubble then?
IMcA: Whenever somebody talks about gold being in a bubble, I tell them to look at the credit and stock markets. If the gold price is at $1,900/oz, it's 2.2 times the high in 1980. However, debt in the U.S. is 12 times its early 1980 level. The S&P is trading at 10 times its 1980 level. The credit market and the stock market are about five times ahead of the gold price. I don't forecast that the gold price will reach five times its 1980 highs, but it might. If it gets there then you can start talking about a bubble.
TGR: Do you believe that gold will replace fiat currency?
IMcA: I don't know that it will ever replace fiat currency. The leadership of the G13, China, Brazil, and India, are probably going to push the old world to go back to some sort of a central discipline, such as indexing to a basket of commodities. It's too cumbersome in the modern world to return to a gold standard. But I can envision an international governing body being proposed to push for some discipline such as the Bretton Woods Agreement after World War Two.
TGR: What's in the basket?
IMcA: Gold, silver, oil, copper and conventional food.
The problem is no central banker ever wants to surrender sovereignty to some other body. The U.S. government is always going to want to call all the shots. But the U.S. government isn't what it once was. The rest of the world is increasingly going to communicate that message. At some stage, the world needs a globally accepted common denominator. China, Brazil, India and the G13 have nearly $7 trillion worth of the debt of the old world. There comes a point where the creditor will dictate the rules.
TGR: That's how the U.S. got to the position it's in.
IMcA: Exactly, exactly.
My biggest concern is increasing geopolitical risk for those that are exploring all over the world, the most recent example being the Argentinean government putting in a new set of rules. The same thing could happen in African countries. If the gold price gets much higher, the South African government will be talking about nationalizing. Too many of those countries will love you while you are bringing money in, but once cash flow begins to flow out, the politics of greed and envy takes over, typically under the guise of economic nationalism.
Politically stable jurisdictions are my preference. I am most attracted to seeking deposits in conventional mining districts in Canada or the U.S. where mining laws and practices are understood and respected. Even South Carolina is coming back again. I remember the previous go-around on it.
TGR: What happened then?
IMcA: It didn't work out because the gold price went down, as best I recall.
TGR: Any other last thoughts you'd like to leave our readers?
IMcA: The big contrast with this gold cycle and that of the '80s and '90s is that we haven't really seen a big discovery that excites the world. In that last cycle there were about a half-dozen companies built on new deposits that are already mined out and gone now. Names like Echo Bay, Hemlo, Amax Gold, FMC Gold, Pegasus and several others were launched and became the darlings of the last cycle, and they have already gone from the scene by the time gold got above $1,000/oz this time around.
At some stage somebody's going to make a discovery that's going to turn the lights on to get the speculative juices flowing, one good, exciting discovery in a prospective new camp. It looked like that might be taking place in the Yukon with the takeover of Underworld Resources Inc. (UNDWF:OTCQB). Will there be a sequel discovery up there? One solid drill hole can transform a junior explorer, but it does need to deliver follow-up success pretty quickly to build on it.
That's the nature of the drilling beast and discovery cycles. Others will remind you what the odds are. It's a very high-risk and capital intensive business. That's why I'm more attracted to the companies that are in that process of creating value out of the ground as opposed to having the political experience of dealing with environmental permitting and other regulatory impediments to getting a new mine into production. My idea is if you can make a discovery then God bless you and let somebody else have those future political and bureaucratic joys for the right price.
TGR: Ian, thank you for your time.
Ian McAvity has been involved in the world of finance for more than 50 years as a banker, broker, independent advisor and consultant. He has produced his Deliberations on World Markets newsletter since 1972. He specializes in the technical analysis of international equity, foreign exchange and precious metals markets, and has been a featured speaker at investment conferences and technical analyst society gatherings in the U.S., Canada and Europe over the past 40 years.
Financial Markets banking, gold, greed, investing, stocks, technology


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CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Radio Astronomy Techniques for Space Situational Awareness
CSIRO (View other jobs from this organisation)
Do you have an interest in Radio Astronomy?
Use your skills to track objects in and crossing earths orbit.
Join CSIRO - Australia's premier science and technology research organisation
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science (CASS) is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Fellow in Radio Astronomy Techniques for Space Situational Awareness.
As the successful candidate, you will explore new algorithms for identification, characterisation and tracking of objects in earth orbit (low up to high earth orbit) and objects crossing earth orbit (near earth objects such as asteroids). You will demonstrate the algorithms using data collected from existing radio astronomy instruments, or instruments developed to demonstrate space situational awareness.
Your duties will include
Demonstrate the capability to identify and characterise objects in earth orbit using existing techniques and CSIRO radio telescopes.
Develop algorithms to identify and characterise objects in earth orbit with measurable improvement in sensitivity to enable smaller objects to be identified and tracked.
Demonstrate improvement in sensitivity on concept demonstrator or existing radio telescope.
Carry out innovative, impactful research of strategic importance to CSIRO that will, where possible, lead to novel and important scientific outcomes.
Location: Marsfield NSW preferred. Perth WA may be considered.
Salary: AU$83k - AU$94k plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Tenure: Specified term of 3 years
To be successful you will need
Under CSIRO policy only those who meet all essential criteria can be appointed.
A doctorate (or will shortly satisfy the requirements of a PhD) in a relevant discipline area, such as physics, astrophysics or electrical engineering.
Please note: To be eligible for this role you must have no more than 3 years (or part time equivalent) of postdoctoral research experience
Knowledge of radio systems, radar systems or radio astronomy instrumentation.
Demonstrated experience with computer programming and/or scripting, in languages such as matlab or python.
A record of impact from effective collaborations with researchers in other organisations.
High level written and oral communication skills with the ability to represent the research team effectively internally and externally, including the presentation of research outcomes at national and international conferences.
For more information about this role please view the Position Description
We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work. Talk to us about how this role could be flexible for you. Balance
About CSIRO
At CSIRO you can be part of helping to solve big, complex problems that make a real difference to our future. We spark off each other, learn from each other, trust each other and collaborate to achieve more than we could individually in a supportive, rewarding, inclusive and truly flexible environment.
To apply online, please provide a CV and cover letter outlining your suitability and motivation for the role.
Applications Close
Sunday, 16th February 2020 at 11.59pm AEST
NSW - Perth
AU$83k - AU$94k plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Research/Scientific


J.S. I am a husband and the father of a teenage son and a three year old beagle. I have been a doctor for 22 years. I work at my day job arguably in one of the most detested, misunderstood, stressful and thankless professions there is, I am a psychiatrist. That's not a psychologist by the way, it means I went to medical school, and it took about 16 years before I was done with school and training. It means I get to prescribe meds, but most importantly it means I get to sign my signature below everybody else at the bottom of the page. It is sort of like how one feels when you sign for a mortgage or a car loan, remember how you felt? I get to do that 100's of times a month. You get immune to the stress.
I like to travel and be on the move, seeing and learning new places, it helps my writing flow. But as you acquire bizarrely uncommon levels of responsibility for others, whether it be because of choice, or karma or the collective unconscious, you have to find a compromise and place within yourself, that nether land between responsibility, creativity and flow. That is not always easy to do. It is something I work at and struggle with.
J.S. Yes, I used to like to always put ink to paper, but my writing has come so atrocious over the years, I can't read it myself, so original thoughts and words are usually starting from the keyboard now.
J.S. Sometime on my mid 20's in the middle of medical school, about 20 years ago. The journey through my mother's Alzheimer's disease, diagnosed when I was a teenager, sparked me to write.
J.S. Medical memoir is what my first book is , currently I am working on a work of fiction about psychiatric residency.
J.S. I like reading most classic literary works written from 1800-1950. I like seeing how absolutely nothing has changed in basic human nature over the last 200 or so years. I like thinking about out the times then and envisioning things, I like thinking about the authors and their lives, what the world must have been like, it sort of like traveling, except in my mind. I like Hardy, Poole, Fitzgerald, Flaubert, Cather, Hemingway, Wolf, Lewis, Any classics will do. I am finishing Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and I am looking forward to reading some Booth Tarkington soon. All of them motivate me to write.
J.S. Well I think they are supportive, it does not menace or bother them, they know it does not really pay the bills, but they know it is something important to me, and they respect it as a part of me.
J.S. How much the writing, publishing and book industry has changed in the last decade, with the electronic age, I hope it never happens but there are some who would really like for books ink on a page to become obsolete.
j.s. It was a story that was within my psyche and my soul that was just dying to burst out onto paper. We all have a story inside of us. In the end we all have our own personal hell, our own struggles, that are no more or less exceptional than anybody else's. But I wanted my future generations to understand where they came from. Most off all, Alzheimer's disease is such a lousy process, it affects 5 million, and one of the worst parts about it, is the isolation is causes in families. I thought the book might actually help somebody and cut down on that isolation. It's hard for me to really imagine any huge endeavor without maybe benefiting someone, and that pushed me to finally get it done.
" The true life account of a young man living with the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in a parent. The disease was diagnosed in his mother when the author was seventeen years old in 1979, long before Alzheimer's disease was a household term.
The narrative provides explicit commentary on the modern plight of the physician and the global connection family members of an Alzheimer's victim painstakingly share. The unusual, seldom before elicited insights of the dual-perspective vigorously address universal issues such as coping, hope, futility, humiliation and societal bias toward the disease throughout the text."
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Abstract Based on conventional L-band sounding, automatic weather station data and ERA-Interim 0.125°×0.125° 6h reanalysis data, we researched 23 heavy hail events (hail diameter ≥ 20mm ) selected according the grade of hail in China (GB/T 27957-2011) and occurring in Guangdong province from 2004 to 2017, mainly analyzed its characteristics of atmospheric stratifications, melting effect quantificationally, and set up a physical parameters model to distinguish heavy hail. The results are as follows: (1) vertical stratification of heavy hail events with characteristic of upper dry and lower moist is more evident than that of small hail (hail diameter ≥ 5mm and <20mm) events, and vertical potential instability is mainly triggered by upper dry and lower moist rather than upper cold and lower warm. (2) The ratio of H-/H+ (cold could/warm could) can be used to distinguish heavy hail and small hail, and the ratio above 1.6/1 is one of the conditions to forecast heavy hail. (3) Compared with small hail events, the height of maximum thermal buoyancy of heavy hail is higher than the height of -5℃, which helps hail embryo enter efficient growth layer (-10℃~-30℃), driving heavy hail growth. The maximum thermal buoyancy ≥4℃ is a key threshold to distinguish heavy hail and small hail. (4) Thermal conduction and convection transport (Q_cc) play a main role in melting process of heavy hail, and there is an anti-correlation between Q_cc and DBZ level (Dry bulb zero level) as well as t_ave (average temperature of environment). Latent heat consumed by vaporization and re-condensation of water firm resulted from hail melting process has an impact upon consequence that the smaller the hail diameter over DBZ level is, the larger the Q_es is, the greater the hail diameter will melt. Dry layer existed in mid-troposphere extends downward to lower troposphere, which helps to reduce the melting diameter of heavy hail. (5) based on statistics and comparative analysis of this paper, a physical parameters model was set up, including △Td85 ≥46℃, T-Td≥15℃ at 500hPa, the minimum T-Td≤2℃ between 700hPa and 1000hPa, H-/H+≥1.6/1, the intensity of maximum thermal buoyancy ≥ 4℃, and the height of maximum thermal buoyancy > the height of -5℃, which favor heavy hail generation.