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Dan

If you have questions about becoming a fighter pilot, please reference my BLOG first. Thanks

About Me

I'm a F-16 pilot with the Vermont Air National Guard. Life is good. Went through F-16 training at Springfield, OH and pilot training at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX. o:p

Also working on a PhD through Clarkson University (Potsdam, NY) in Electrical Engineering. I'm researching feature extraction methods for processing EEG data to detect human pain states. In english, that's using computers to look at electrical signals from the head to determine if someone is in pain. The primary goal is to develop a system that can be used in hospitals to determine how much pain a patient is experiencing.

I grew up in Voorheesville, NY. Went to Potsdam, NY for college, then moved to Burlington, VT where I worked as an engineer for a few years before starting my Air Force adventure. Married my wife, Patty Waterhouse (maiden name), in 2002. She is currently a Pediatric Resident at Fletcher Allen in Burlington, VT. Had our son, Xavier Skye Rissacher, in October 2003. He is currently a baby in Burlington, VT.

Please see my webpage for more information on my research and for F-16 videos:

www.clarkson.edu/~rissacdj

My Blog

Wanna Be a Fighter Pilot? (military flying FAQ)

This Blog is attended to answer any questions folks might have on how to be a USAF Fighter Pilot.  I'm going to continually add information to this, so it will be an an ongoing FAQ of sorts. Firs...
Posted by Dan on Tue, 07 Feb 2006 03:27:00 PST

Family Stories

Patty just started her month in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (thats really little really sick babies).  Guess its pretty high-stress, but she's enjoying it.  Maybe gonna specialize after...
Posted by Dan on Mon, 03 Oct 2005 04:04:00 PST

Flying Stories

Today was dropping heavyweight bombs.  That is, real bombs (not the little practice ones) except they don't explode.  I dropped six 500lb bombs at the same time (to be precise, in pairs [one...
Posted by Dan on Fri, 30 Sep 2005 04:06:00 PST