The return of cyanotypes

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, blather, CAD diagrams, cyanotype blueprints, drawings, history, Hmm..., new products, news, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Dec 072022
 

Some years ago I produced a range of cyanotype blueprints of a number of aerospace subjects. The hardware needed for this was disposed of when I left Utah at the end of 2019, so starting again seemed unlikely. However, someone has expressed interest in a special commission. Rebuilding the hardware needed will be an expensive chore, and sadly getting the large format transparencies printed looks like it will be much more difficult here than it was in Utah. Nevertheless, at this point it looks probable that I will restore that capability sometime in the next few months, assuming one further detail can be ironed out.

You can see my now-defunct catalog here:

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/cyan.htm

 

When I get back to it I will probably focus on the larger format stuff rather than the smaller prints. I have plans on how to improve upon the prior hardware to make things work better and more efficiently. If there are any of the former large format prints you’d like to see returned to production, or you have any prints you’d like to see, let me know. And once this is up and running I plan on trying to take commissions, working with a local print shop to find customers interested in this somewhat unusual and certainly obsolete form of art.

 

If you have a diagram you’d like me to turn into a cyanotype, contact me. Commissions aren’t going to be restricted to aerospace subjects; naval, architectural, movie props, whatever you’ve got, so long as it *can* be blueprinted, once things are in place I should be able to do it.

 

 

 Posted by at 11:54 am

Fine dining in NYC

 AARRRGH, Crazy, critters, Forward!, Gah., ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Dec 072022
 

Ummm… NO.

 

 

 

 

 Posted by at 8:43 am

I’d like to see a breakdown…

 awesomeness, Hmm..., news, science, youtube  No Responses »
Dec 062022
 

… of just what constitutes this garbage. What fraction is paper? How much plastic? And how much is just sticks and weeds, stuff not normally considered “garbage” in the ecosystem?

 

 

In any event, this mechanism seems to be working quite well. I wonder if it could be made actually productive, though, rather than just harm-reducing: instead of shipping the garbage off to be landfilled somewhere, run it directly into an incinerator. Use the heat and the water to spin a turbine; use the turbine to drive a generator. Use the generator to power not only the mechanism, but feed excess power – if any – into the grid.

 Posted by at 7:15 pm

Bell V-280 Valor wins billion dollar contract

 aircraft, awesomeness, news, weapons  No Responses »
Dec 062022
 

BREAKING: Army Chooses Bell Textron’s V-280 Valor Tiltrotor to Replace Black Hawk

… the V-280 Valor tiltrotor beat out Sikorsky-Boeing’s bid — the Defiant X coaxial rotor blade platform — in the years-long competition to design the future long range assault aircraft, or FLRAA, a key part of the Army’s plan to modernize its aviation platforms. 

 

While I’m pleased to see the Valor going ahead, I *also* hope that the Defiant goes ahead in some fashion. There’s no reason why we should only have one VTOL transport. The Defiant would be spectacular in different ways than the Valor.

 

 Posted by at 11:36 am

Rocket Knives

 art, awesomeness, Crazy, Hmm..., rockets, weapons, youtube  No Responses »
Dec 062022
 

This “experiment” seems like all kinds of fun. It also seems like the sort of thing that would attract the attention of the ATF. Or the DoD.

I gotta admit I like the method of production of the nozzle. Adopting that process for a more advanced rocket might be a chore… a refractory metal nozzle made this way would be great, but I have doubts that it’d be possible.

 Posted by at 8:46 am

Asymmetry in galaxy distributions

 Hmm..., news, science  No Responses »
Dec 062022
 

This is weird. And if this is confirmed, it’ll mean… something.

 

Asymmetry Detected in the Distribution of Galaxies

As if playing a cosmic game of Connect the Dots, the researchers drew lines between sets of four galaxies, constructing four-cornered shapes called tetrahedra. When they had built every possible tetrahedron from a catalog of 1 million galaxies, they found that tetrahedra oriented one way outnumber their mirror images.

Huh.

 

Might be related to why the universe has more matter than antimatter. Or maybe it’s just that Azathtoth is right handed. Who knows.

 Posted by at 7:16 am

Ten Myths about US Aid to Ukraine

 Hmm..., politics, russian empire, weapons  No Responses »
Dec 052022
 

The Hudson Institute is a “conservative think tank.” So it’s not a Biden administration mouthpiece. Some interesting points here:

Ten Myths about US Aid to Ukraine

Myth 1: There is not enough oversight of US aid to Ukraine.

Myth 2: We have written more than $66 billion worth of “blank checks” for Ukraine.

Myth 3: Congress hasn’t had “enough time to debate” US aid to Ukraine or “read the bill.”

Myth 4: This money to Ukraine would be better spent on “the wall” or “baby formula.”‘

Myth 5: Europe needs to “spend more” before America does.

Myth 6: The US should only give “military aid.”

Myth 7: US weapons are ending up on the black market or are not getting to the front lines.

Myth 8: Ukraine is too corrupt to receive aid responsibly.

Myth 9: Russia is a distraction. US focus must be on China.

Myth 10: Aid to Ukraine puts “America last.”

 Posted by at 11:44 pm

A strike deep into Russia

 aircraft, Hmm..., news, politics, russian empire, weapons, youtube  No Responses »
Dec 052022
 

Looks like the Ukrainians are taking the war home to Russian military forces, this time hitting Engels Air Force Base and potentially destroying two TU 95 “Bear” bombers. Unknown as yet *how* the Ukrainians pulled this off.

 

I remain unconvinced that hitting Mother Russia is necessarily the wisest course for Ukraine; it could will be used to feed the Russian propaganda machine, to say that Ukraine actually is a threat. On the other hand, taking out Russian military assets like strategic bombers costs Russia *real* money. So long as the Ukrainians strictly stick to military targets, this is potentially a good thing for them. Now the Russians will have to redeploy their air defense systems.

 Posted by at 8:42 am

Beech VTOL: 1971

 aircraft, art, history, Hmm..., projects  No Responses »
Dec 042022
 

A Beech Aircraft Company concept for a civilian VTOL for the 1980s, from circa 1971. This would be a two-seater using tilt-ducts. This appears to be less “engineering” and more “art,” as there are some definite headscratchers about the design. Where are the engines? In designs such as these it/they are typically in the fuselage, driving the ducted fans with shafts. But no provisions for inlets or exhausts are evident. So the engines would probably be in the nacelles themselves but there doesn’t seem to be room for them. The cockpit canopy is expansive and would provide a *fantastic* view, but it seems to be sized only for people who have had their legs amputated. The configuration, unlike your average tiltrotor, seems perfectly capable of horizontal runway takeoffs and landings, but the use of skids rather than wheels would make that problematic. The disk loading would be impressively high, and the resulting blasts of air from the ducts would likely tear anything short of solid concrete to shreds.

 

 Posted by at 8:26 am
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