Belton “Repeating” flintlock

 history, Hmm..., politics, weapons, youtube  No Responses »
Oct 112023
 

The idea of a repeating firearm (a gun that does not need to be manually loaded after each shot) goes back to at least the 1500’s. But more-or-less practical “repeaters” were produced in time for the American Revolutionary War. Such weapons were proposed to Congress, but even though they worked they were very expensive. As well as complex, heavy and likely unreliable in field conditions. but the important thing to note is that they existed, well in advance of the adoption of the Constitution. So anyone who suggests that the Second Amendment only supports ownership of single shot muzzle-loading muskets because that was all that was available… well, they’re (charitably) wrong, or (not unlikely) outright lying.

 Posted by at 2:00 pm

Vulcan “Starfire”

 aircraft, art, history, projects  No Responses »
Oct 102023
 

Sadly not a lot of info on this. The Vulcan Aircraft (Houston, TX) “Starfire” concept from the mid/late 1980s used lift vans and vectored thrust for VTOL. Both military and civilian uses planned. Seems kinda reasonable, if perhaps a bit light on power. The basic design seems like it might be more practical today, though of course someone would try to make it all-electric.

If anybody has anything more on this, let me know!

 Posted by at 11:01 pm

Louis CK on “2001”

 art, history, science fiction, youtube  No Responses »
Oct 082023
 

What he says is interesting… mostly because it’s not what I generally expect to hear from non-sci-fi/non-science types. Most of “those people” look at “2001” with some mix of bafflement and disdain, generally bored out of their minds.

 Posted by at 8:37 am

Sabrebat

 aircraft, art, history, models, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, projects  No Responses »
Oct 042023
 

Grumman won the contract to build the forward-swept-wing X-29. But Grumman was not the only company to go for the contract; Rockwell devoted a fair amount of effort – both engineering and PR – to win the prize. Their concept was similar, though intended to be a wholly new aircraft, and with a notably different planform.  Below is a magazine ad from 1980 showing a model of the Rockwell “Sabrebat” concept.

 

The full-rez scan has been uploaded to the 2023-10 APR Extras folder on Dropbox for $4 and up Patreons/Subscribers. If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.



 

 

 

 

 Posted by at 10:50 pm

Bond rumors

 art, awesomeness, history, Hmm...  No Responses »
Sep 302023
 

These rumors sound good. Too good, in fact…

 

Rumor: Christopher Nolan Directing Next James Bond?

Not just that Nolan will direct the next two or three Bond movies, but that they will be based on the original Ian Flemming novels, set in the original time periods, and will be faithful to the source material. This would be directly opposed to the modern studio system of making crap For The Modern Audience, with character race and gender swapped, with the good guys turned into bad guys, beauty made ugly.

Again, just rumors. Thus very likely not gonna happen. But if it does, it’ll be remarkable.

 

 Posted by at 1:40 am

“2001” Space Suit

 art, awesomeness, history, science fiction  No Responses »
Sep 232023
 

Do you want your very own genuine space suit from “2001: A Space Odyssey?” Sure, we all do. Got at least eighty grand to start bidding on it? Sure, we all don’t. But at least you can look at the pictures and dream.

Astronaut Space Suit (6) Piece Ensemble from 2001: A Space Odyssey (MGM, 1968)

 

 

 

 Posted by at 10:09 pm

One Life

 art, awesomeness, history, youtube  No Responses »
Sep 232023
 

Well before the BBC fell into ruin and self-parody, it had a moment of undeniable awesomeness. Nicolas Winton was a British banker who rescued nearly 700 mostly Jewish children from the Nazis just before the outbreak of WWII, getting them to new lives in Britain. Afterwards, he did little to nothing to glorify himself or his deeds; it only really came out in 1988 when his wife found an old notebook with the names and passed them on to a Holocaust researcher. There followed a couple TV programs culminating in an episode of “That’s Life” where, unbeknownst to Winton, the *entire* audience was filled with the children and descendants of children he’d saved.

That’s how you fricken’ do it.

And now there’s to be a movie about Winton starring Anthony Hopkins.

 

 Posted by at 12:36 pm

YouTuber worth watching: “Vampire Robot”

 AARRRGH, history, Hmm..., youtube, YouTubers worth watching  No Responses »
Sep 192023
 

This YouTuber has a *lot* of incredibly mundane videos that are surprisingly interesting. They are largely videos shot in public places over the years… stores, malls, etc. on average days and remarkable days.

https://www.youtube.com/@vampirerobot/videos

For instance, shopping at a mall in 1984 is a fundamentally different experience than any mall I’ve seen in over a decade: there are a lot of people there.

And then there are the videos shot on unusual days:

And then there are the videos that presage what we’re going to get to live through again:

 

 

 

 Posted by at 12:23 pm

August 2023 Rewards

 aircraft, art, CAD diagrams, drawings, history, Monthly Historical Documents Program, new products, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Sep 012023
 

The rewards for August, 2023, have been released. They include:

Document: Report No. ZD-013, “Preliminary Detail Specification for United States Navy Class VP Long Range Patrol Seaplane,” Convair, 1 April 1946

Document: “Space Shuttle: What Will It Do?” A 1970’s brochure describing the Shuttle, with six full-color full page illustrations

Art: McDonnell-Douglas lithograph of “NASA Earth Orbital Space Station”

CAD Diagram: Northrop Grumman Next Generation Long Range Strike

 

If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, along with getting high quality scans for yourself, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program. Back issues are available for purchase by patrons and subscribers.



 

 

And as happens far too often, I’ve been remiss in my PR campaign. The rewards for July, released a month ago, included:

Document: “C-5 Galaxy Pocket Guide,” brochure giving info on the C-5

Document: GDIC-64 O29-21, “Alighting Gear Convair Model 48 Light Armed Reconnaissance Airplane,” an illustrated report on the landing gear for Convairs competitor for the OV-10

Document: “Police Department Lecture #3 Effects of Atomic Weapons,” an early-50’s paper describing what NYC could expect int he event of a nuclear strike

Diagram: EMW “Wasserfall,” German WWII surface to air guided missile

CAD Diagram: Boeing 2707-100-derived bomber

 

 Posted by at 1:43 am
 Older Entries  Newer Entries