I think she’s feeling kinda ignored lately/
Mar 072013
Mar 062013
Anti-Second Amendment Legislator’s Criminal Record Exposed
One of the anti-Constitutionalist legislators in Colorado trying to ban standard magazines and conventional firearms turns out to have a criminal record. How good of an idea is it to allow criminals to write the laws, especially where it impacts the ability of the people to defend themselves against criminals?
Mar 062013
Something about Marvins appearance has always seemed familiar. The eyes, in particular… sort of squinty.
It dawns on me that she bears a striking resemblance to a kitten that hung around here for a while back in 2009 (also seen HERE and HERE). I thought at the time that the kitten was a male, but I don’t remember if that was based on a close examination, or just a guess. It showed up one day with a leg either broken or dislocated; it was a very unfriendly kitten, so I dropped it off at the pound in hopes that someone could do something for it. It would be an odd thing if that kitten did get adopted and fixed up, and then got released or tossed out or escaped and then worked its way back here.
In Marvin news, she had her stitches removed today. Uneventful.
The appearance is close, including stripes. Not a 100% match, though.
Mar 062013
Some photos from January showing a small helicopter flying along the Wasatch mountains.
Mar 062013
Fluffy’s Brother marching across the snow a few days ago:
Mar 062013
While V3N3 is still quite a way from finished, here’s a look at some of the X-20 Dyna Soar Model 2050E drawings being worked on for V3N4. It has been well over a year since V3N2 was released; whether there is a similar delay between V3N3 and V3N4 will be driven in part based on how well V3N3 sells.
Mar 052013
AIAA-Houston has just published the Jan-Feb 2013 issue of “Horizons,” a free downloadable PDF magazine. Along with quite a number of other articles, also included is a restored reprint of the “Man’s Survival In Space” article from the Feb. 23, 1953, issue of Collier’s magazine. This is the fourth in the series of eight reprints of the famed Collier’s “Man Will Conquer Space Soon!” articles from the 1950’s. As always, this issue can be downloaded as either high or low resolution.
And as before, the restoration of the scans was done by yours truly.
Also included in this issue is a Mini-APR article on a NASA-Langley concept for a two-man inflatable spaceplane concept from the early 1960’s.
NOTE: Tell anyone you might think would be interested in the Collier’s series.
Mar 052013
Triumph of form over function:
[youtube 0F-VVjqarZE]
It is simply two metal blades held apart by nylon spacers and hooked up to a stun gun. While definitely impressive looking, as a *sword* it would be a disaster. Two blades like that simply would not cut worth a damn.
An improvement – an expensive improvement – would be to sandwich a non-conductive ceramic core between conductive thin metal blades, forming a single-edged solid blade of composite construction with a sharp ceramic edge. The tip of the blade would remain pretty much non-functional for stabbing, since the metal “prongs” would probably have to not have ceramic between them, but it’d be useful for chopping.
Mar 052013
Someone is selling a McDonnell-Douglas painting (the original actual painting, it seems) of an SST concept:
The aircraft uses a “parasol” wing, which was a concept that enjoyed a bit of popularity in the 1970’s. The idea: at supersonic speeds shock waves shed from the nose of the craft would impinge on the underside of the wing, adding lift and reducing fuel requirements. As memory serves, an added bonus would be that the benefit of area ruling would be in place, but without the need to actually “wasp-waist” the fuselage. Being able to produce a bland cylindrical fuselage would greatly reduce cost and stress on the large pressurized structure.
Such “favorable interference” designs would produced for fighters, SSTs and bombers, from USAF design labs to Boeing to McD to Lockheed and probably others. In time, the idea faded away; the gains in supercruise performance were apparently outweighed by cost and weight.
Note that the positioning of the engines, unusual for an SST, would also serve the favorable interference purpose: shock waves from the inlets would impinge on the wings above.
Mar 042013
A late-1970’s Rockwell design for a single-seat fighter of similar configuration to the HiMAT research vehicle. It might have been fast, maneuverable and capable, but almost completely un-stealthy.
