V speeds

In aviation, V-speeds (from velocity) are standard terms used to define airspeeds important or useful to the operation of all aircraft. These speeds are derived from data obtained by aircraft designers and manufacturers during flight testing and verified in most countries by government flight inspectors during aircraft type-certification testing. Using them is considered a best practice to maximize aviation safety, aircraft performance or both.

The actual speeds represented by these designators are specific to a particular model of aircraft. They are expressed by the aircraft's indicated airspeed (and not by, for example, the ground speed), so that pilots may use them directly, without having to apply correction factors, as aircraft instruments also show indicated airspeed.

In general aviation aircraft, the most commonly used and most safety-critical airspeeds are displayed as color-coded arcs and lines located on the face of an aircraft's airspeed indicator. The lower ends of the green arc and the white arc are the stalling speed with wing flaps retracted, and stalling speed with wing flaps fully extended, respectively. These are the stalling speeds for the aircraft at its maximum weight. The yellow range is the range in which the aircraft may be operated in smooth air, and then only with caution to avoid abrupt control movement, and the red line is the Vne, the never exceed speed.

Noisy Cricket

The Noisy Cricket is a fictional weapon that appeared in the Men in Black film series. It is the first weapon used by one of the protagonists Agent J and his signature weapon in the Men in Black series.

Depiction

A Noisy Cricket is a small pistol-like weapon with a small grip and pointed barrel. It fires a powerful orb of energy, creating the sound of a cricket. It produces a strong recoil that can launch its user if he or she is not careful. It can also be suppressed to reduce the recoil, but this reduces its power. In the spin-off book, the MIB Agent's Handbook, explains that Noisy Crickets are deliberately given to rookies, and bets are taken on how far the rookie will fly as a result of the gun's recoil (a practice discouraged under MIB's 'No Hazing' policy). It may have been adapted from an identically-described tiny gun with immense recoil described on the first page of Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash.

In the films

The Noisy Cricket was first introduced in the first film. While searching for an appropriate weapon for Jay, Agent K found and gave him a Noisy Cricket. Jay mockingly puts it in his pocket and says that he might break it. Yet, he later finds out that the Cricket is very dangerous. Upon firing it the first time, the recoil hurled Jay into a wall. He tries to shoot it a second time with a proper stance, but it launched him back again, this time into the windshield of a passing taxi.