One of the enviable things about cats is their ability to sleep like professionals. And without regard for quaint notions like dignity.
Here’s Tak:
And here’s Raedthinn:
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Jun 062008
Jun 052008
Jun 052008
Found in the Jay Miller archive, Curtis-Wright promo art for an X-19 derived ground attack aircraft…
Jun 052008
A view of the Wasatch mountains (as seen over my neighbors house) last night. At sunset once or twice a week, there is a span of two or so minutes where the mountains are lit up bright red. This becomes especially pronounced during the summer months when California sets itself on fire and spews particulates into the upper atmosphere.
Jun 052008
This is Tak, laying on a perch I built for a upstairs window. From there the cats can get *really* close views of the starlings that infest the eaves of my house. There is a plastic grating over the window to keep the cats from punching the window screens out.
Jun 042008
I had to go to Salt Lake City today to pick up supplies. As I usually do, I passed by Hill Aerospace Museum. Stopped by and took a bunch of photos… did a walkaround of the Northrop F-89 on display outside:
Inside, I’ve found that their stock of aircraft has increased *again,* this time with a new Lockheed “Jetstar” transport, recently refurbished and repainted, and looking spiffy:
I also photo’ed the several nuclear weapons that Hill has on display. These included the B-61:
The Genie air-to-air nuke:
The early Mk 6 bomb:
And the mockup of the Trinity nuke used in a BBC movie:
I heartily recommend the Hill Aerospace Museum if you’re in the area of Salt Lake City. It’s very well stocked with planes that are very well restored.
Jun 042008
I’ve finally uploaded all the aircraft drawings (except for set 13, the A-7 drawings… at about 100 meg, it’s just too big), so they are now available for purchase as download as well as on CD-ROM. This means savings (especially for non-US purchases) as well as faster shipment.
I’ve updated the main Drawings & Documents page with the prices and Paypal ordering links:
Jun 042008
There’s this article:
http://tristatehomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=7132
Setting passenger airfares the same way air freight charges are calculated — by weight — may not be so far-fetched as the airline industry grapples with surging fuel costs.
<> A lot of people would have problems with this. It certainly wouldn’t make my flying any cheaper. However, the simple fact is that the fuel consumption of an aircraft is based in part on the weight of the aircraft; a jetliner filled with fatties hauling a quarter ton of luggage each is not going to be able to fly as far or as fuel efficiently as the same plane filled with waifs with no luggage. And as fuel prices increase, the price of a ticket will increase. The options are thus to either increase everyones ticket price, or to charge people an appropriate fee based on their impact to the planes fuel use.
<> When suborbital and especially orbital tourism comes on-line, this sort of things will *have* to be instituted. When it comes to space travel, mass is everything. A ship loaded with lardasses might not even make it to orbit, and will instead come crashing down in, say, sub-Saharan Africa. And that would be just plain inconvenient.
Jun 032008
Cleaning up and making presentable a large-format scan of an inboard profile of the North American AJ Savage turboprop naval bomber.
When ready, it will be made available on my Drawings & Documents page:
http://www.up-ship.com/drawndoc/drawndoc.htm
Jun 032008
Rural farmcat “Bitey” hunting in the grass. Despite her name, she’s reasonably well civilized.
