So long to Saavik:
Kirstie Alley dead at 71
Cancer. Bah.
Dec 062022
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Dec 042022
How boomers ruined society: he’s not wrong.
Dec 032022
The West German Weser Flugzeugbau revealed the design of the P 23 tiltrotor in 1963. This was to be a do-everything vehicle… civil passenger transport, cargo transport, troop transport, ground attack, flying crane. It was an attractive design with one turboshaft engine at each wingtip; the rotors tilted, but the engines were fixed. The engines also provided power to two smaller fans mounted in the tail for pitch and yaw control. Sixty years later, it still looks like it would fit well in the skies of today, and look futuristic doing so.
Dec 022022
Rap music is, by and large, talent-free, devoid of artistic or cultural value. So how the hell Kanye West got to be a billionaire, I’ve no Earthly idea. But being a billionaire with years of fandom behind him, every time he does or says *anything* the news media makes a big deal of it. And so lately he has been losing his mind, going off on weird anti-Semetic rants. This has culminated with being interviewed by noted crazy person Alex Jones and, from the looks of it, *Jones* comes off looking like the sane one. Just Some Guy has about the best response to the thing: mockery.
I don’t know why people are acting like this is something new. They seem to forget his “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” conspiracizing nearly 20 years ago.