Done in your name

 AARRRGH, blather, critters, dumbassery, Gah., I'm from the government, politics  10 Responses »
May 052010
 

http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/05/video-of-swat-raid-on-missouri

 Thrill to a home invasion by SWAT troops, where they find enough pot for a *misdemeanor** charge. Enjoy the sound of a single gunshot followed by the screams of pain of a *dog,* which lasts for 15 seconds until three more shots ring out to silence it.

And glory in the knowledge that this was done in full view of the seven year old.

 Sigh.

A guy can comfortably hold two seemingly contradictory views that:

1) Smoking pot is a silly, unwise thing to do

2) Making pot illegal goes far beyond silly and unwise.

What people do with and to themselves is their own damned business. If you storm someone’s home and shoot their pets, you’d better have one *hell* of a story to back it up. And finding a baggie of a *weed* somewhere on the property just ain’t sufficient, Officer.

The inevitable result of making illegal things that hurt nobody and people have enjoyed for millenia… is this sort of thing. A bunch of whiny leftists are rioting and screaming about Arizona’s law that has cops ask criminal suspects if they are here legally, when they should be after *this.* But since the best way to curb the abuse of police power is to curb the size and scope of government… I guess they’re just not interested.

 Posted by at 6:32 pm

Project Orion: The Book

 APR, awesomeness, blather, books, new products, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft  21 Responses »
May 042010
 

Even way back a decade ago. my scribblings in Aerospace Projects Review on Project Orion (see HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE) were always intended to form the nucleus of a real-and-for-true book on Project Orion. My inability to self-publish a cost-effective version of what I wanted did a good job of persuading me that I had cheaper things to do with my time. Well, it may yet come to pass… I’m now in the “hey, that’s a good idea” phase of discussions with a publisher to publish my Orion book.

The current plan is that it will include all the APR stuff, as well as subtantially more than didn’t make it in there (including the recent Douglas stuff and post-Orion concepts). I’d like it to have a lot more color artwork, but I’ve no skill in that department… so anyone interested, let me know.

 Posted by at 11:21 pm

X-15 with Supercharged Ejector Ramjet: Marquardt, June, 1969

 aircraft, awesomeness, drawings, projects, rockets  27 Responses »
May 032010
 

An unpublished brochure reveals the design of a proposed massive modification to the X-15. The Marquardt Company had by the time of this brochure been studying the ejector ramjet for several years. This propulsion system used a large number of small rocket engines to “pump” a ramjet; this allowed the ramjet to be used at very low airspeed, all the way up to Mach 4+ at extreme altitude. A “supercharged” ejector ramjet added a turbine fan upstream of the ejector rockets. The turbine was powered by a secondary gas generator, and would increase thrust at lower speeds and altitudes. Having the turbine in the airflow would limit the engine to about Mach 4 or a little more; more complicated SERJ designs were produced which would allow the turbine to rotate out of the airflow, permitting even greater speeds.
Marquardt at this time envisioned the use of SERJ engines in everything from point defense interceptors to tactical fighters to strike/recon and strategic penetrators. Marquardt expected that post-1975, Mach 4 would be a necessity. In order to flight-test the engine, it was proposed to modify an X-15 to incorporate a SERJ engine. This engine would replace the XLR-99, and would require some substantial changes:
A large ventral inlet
A re-shaped ventral fin
Revised main skid landing gear
Altered propellant tanks
The SERJ engine would burn JP fuel and hydrogen peroxide oxidizer, eliminating the need for cryogenic equipment. The modified X-15 would be carried to altitude beneath the wing of the existing B-52 carrier plane. No in-flight oxidizer topping would be needed. Due to the deep throttling capability of the SERJ engine, it could be started while still attached to the carrier aircraft pylon.

serjx15a.jpg

Inboard views of the SERJ-equipped X-15
Marquardt via W. Escher

————-

x-15serj.jpg

Artists impression of the SERJ equipped X-15 (Leo Skubic, Marquardt)
Marquardt via W. Escher

————–

serjx15c.jpg

North American had produced designs of a stretched and delta winged X-15 (the middle design). Marquardt expected that this aircraft could also be equipped with a SERJ engine, producing greater performance. Further improvements still could be had by stretching the delta X-15, and adding a second crewman. Performance enhancement was not in speed or altitude, but in duration. An aircraft beyond this would be a truly operational military vehicle.
Marquardt via W. Escher

——————

serjx15d.jpg

SERJ-equipped X-15 display model
Marquardt via W. Escher

————

serjx15e.jpg

Top: The SERJ-176-E-1A engine was remarkably compact.
Bottom: Marquardt and Aerojet built and successfully static tested subscale SERJ engines.
Marquardt via W. Escher

————–

serjx15f.jpg

SERJ-equipped X-15 display model
From Boeing Historical Archives

————

serjx15g.jpg

SERJ-equipped X-15 display model
From Boeing Historical Archives

———–

Reference: ” X-15 SERJ Precursor to Mach 4-plus,” unpublished preliminary brochure, The Marquardt Company, June 1969

 Posted by at 1:02 pm

MicroKopter HexaKopter

 aircraft, awesomeness, blather  9 Responses »
May 032010
 

Now this is just damned impressive. A little electric helicopter that can not only carry a GPS control unit (and can hover in place autonomously, and correct for wind and whatnot) and a camera… it can also perform well while carrying a liter bottle of Coke. A GPS-capable autonomous vehicle with a camera and a substantial payload sounds like somethign of considerable value. If the camera had transmission capability and IR, then that one-plus-kg payload could be anything from a laser designator for calling in air strikes to an explosives package to emergency supplies. Forest rangers could buy them by the hundreds and set them out on GPS-controlled courses to look for lost hikers, fires, drug labs/farms, etc.

http://vimeo.com/6194911

 Posted by at 9:35 am

North American Aviation Space Station

 projects, spacecraft  2 Responses »
May 022010
 

From 1968 or before, a concept for a zero-g space station to be launched by the Saturn V. Clearly a Skylab-predecessor; built from an S-IVb upper stage like the Skylab, this design was somewhat more complex than Skylab in that it was partitioned out more completely and featured an internal centrifuge (which would have played hell with stability for the astronomical telescopes).

stationa.jpg

stationb.jpg

 Posted by at 12:41 pm

Mark’s A Dick

 cats, Gah., photography  11 Responses »
May 012010
 

Mark is one of the local familiy of farmcats who hangs around my house hoping to mooch off of me. He’s a beautiful animal, with definite Siamese coloration; and with me he’s a tolerant, friendly critter who likes to be picked up and petted. With his maybe/sorta sister Fingers, he’s kinda mean. With other cats, he’s downright violent. He will either live a very long time, or a relatively short time… he’s covered in scars and wounds because he seems to like nothing better than to start fights with other cats. He has chased off several other cats, something I’m not overly thrilled with. He would, I think, make someone a good housecat… but only if he’s the *only* cat. Anybody nearby wants him, you can have him…

Anyway, this is him pestering Fingers. Fingers doesn’t take any crap from him, however. While the other cats run from him, Fingers puts up a fight.

dsc_8289.jpg

dsc_8290.jpg

dsc_8299.jpg

 Posted by at 11:39 pm
 Older Entries  Newer Entries