Somewhat Useful Facts Thread

[Senator]

CERN: Whoops.

(But not really, still it's not everyday you see an animation of a black hole eating the earth is it?)
From: http://www.misunderstooduniverse.com/France_Builds_Doomsday_Machine.htm

[captain_obvious]

Your Single Lens Reflex camera?

Self Loading Rifle
L1A1 bambino!

[Senator]

This is Virgin Galactic's suborbital hopper (sorry, but you don't get to call yourself a spaceship in my books until you can reach LEO).

Although ironically, no way would I ever spend $200,000 for a seat on that. Some interesting facts are:

It's name is VSS Enterprise.
William Shatner (age 77) has been offered a free ride, on what is nevertheless the first commerical spac... suborbital hopper of mankind and private rocketplane of mankind and he turned it down. ("I do want to go up but I need guarantees I'll definitely come back")

He had the chance, to be known as the guy who was playing a starship captain in his youth. And caught the first flight of the generation he inspired. Nope, just an actor folks.

Stephen Hawkings on the other hand, first in line as always. :mrgreen:

[1DeadlySAMURAI]

Isn't that a bigger version of SpaceShipOne?

[Senator]

Two times bigger.

[Senator]

And now its time for Art.
Absract Art
Abstract, Expressionist, "Colour field painting" Art.

This thing:
(Titled "White Center")


Once sold, for $72.84 MILLION.

WHY?

[MLeo]

That's nothing, while I can't remember the painter, I once saw a set of 3 panels in a museum titled "Untitled" and they only feature they had was that they were all 3 the same size, and all coloured in a deep, but even, grey.

[El]

Wasn't a Pollock was it, I've seen 3 year olds produce better art.

[Armondikov]

But the expression put forward by the artist, as if he was bearing his soul through the medium, is amazing. Every brushstroke screams with such emotional highs and lows that forces the viewer to stop for a moment and think about the world and it's complex simplicity.

[El]

erm, can't tell if your being sarcastic or not, lol.

[MLeo]

erm, can't tell if your being sarcastic or not, lol.

He actually sounded like an art critic, didn't he?

[captain_obvious]

erm, can't tell if your being sarcastic or not, lol.

He actually sounded like an art critic, didn't he?

Frasier Crane more f**king like ...

[Senator]

Sure, someone could spend 78 millions on the result of the artist testing colors for his wall, OR someone could buy an A320 as a private Jet.

OR, if he was a tad more imaginative you would get for even less a SkyCat20 Zepellin which would give you an interior space of 60sq meters and to kit into a full apartment, can hover, doesn't need a ground crew, can land anywhere rather than just airports, that includes grasslands and water, can fly low and slow enough to open a window, probably has smaller running costs and if the engine mysteriously stopped wouldn't crash in a spectacular fireball.

[limey BSc.]

But is limited to about 0.2 meters per millenium

[Senator]

The company says 75 (max 85) Knots which is a nice way of not saying that it does about 140km/h.

That's not amazing for an aircraft,
(ok, compared to the 900something km/h the A320 and any typical jet of that size does it actually runs and hides and cries for its mommy)
but it's faster than a boat. And it can also do those for days until it meets its 4444km range which falls just short of the A320s range (and with just I mean another 1000km)

What you can't do with the A320, is that after you notice out of your window this:

You can just land, take a dive with your speargun (ok, probably it would be a good idea to throw something like an anchor first) and have grilled tropical fish for dinner.

The idea is to think it more like a private yacht that can also go over land, rather than a jet. The second usually being very boring things that can only go from runway to runway, adhering to a very boring flightplan. And with something like the A320 forget about doing loops. (Ultralights are more fun that a private jet, and I am sure you can fit an ultralight into your airship, next to the car, in the garage on the back of course)

[Weasel]

Some advanced airship designs can fly as fast as 125kts, and carry an entire armored combat brigade of equipment and men all the way across an ocean. The US Dept of Defense was very interested in this as a heavy-lift transporter, but seems to have (foolishly) abandoned the idea.

I've been harping on the use of giant airships for civil transport for nearly twenty years, I've even talked to Air Force pilots, navigators, and crew chiefs about it, and still I'm told that they're too slow. Arrrrgh!!!

All that said, I am somewhat encouraged by all the great designs that I have been able to find online recently. Clearly, I am not the only person that has given some thought as to how these aircraft could be put to good use as truly massive air transporters.

[Weasel]

I'm just going to post these links here, as this thread seems to be the unofficial dumping ground for all things that are too cool to post elsewhere.

http://www.elitechoice.org/tag/Plane

 More to follow, after a coffee break. BRB

[Senator]

I want This:



Except in private yacht rather than cruiser ship scale.

P.S. Airship = Poor man's antigravity.

EDIT: Although on second thought, this doesn't seem water landable like the SkyCat.
I just want an VTOL/no ground crew/water landable Airship with the aesthetics of Wallypower 118. Is that too hard to do people?
(give that brief to an aerospace designer and watch him change colors)

[Weasel]

Here Senator, this should do nicely:

[Weasel]

I want This:
EDIT: Although on second thought, this doesn't seem water landable like the SkyCat.
I just want an VTOL/no ground crew/water landable Airship with the aesthetics of Wallypower 118. Is that too hard to do people?
(give that brief to an aerospace designer and watch him change colors)

You know, there is one major problem that would have to be worked out.... Severe weather. Flying above it, or through it, should be doable- but what do we do about severe weather when the airship is landed? There is really only one option- the thing has to take off, and relocate, because it's too big to fit into a shelter. Sure, back in the early 20th century, they had hangers for these things- but these new airship designs are bigger, and building a football stadium-sized hanger for each lifter is just not possible.

Still, weather alone probably isn't a deal-breaker.