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Dec 19, 2011

How to Build a Car PC

Three part video about how to build a car PC.




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Nov 26, 2011

What flaps can do?

Some videos about what flaps can do and how much the zero lift angle of attack moves when using them.






BTW: These full span flaps look very much like those patented 1952 by Youngmann. See more in the following link:

http://dodlithr.blogspot.com/2009/01/rt-youngman-full-span-flaps.html

And here is a diagram about what flaps can usually do for the lift coefficient. Using for example type (7) configuration the wing is generating 2.4 time more lift than the wing alone and 1.4 times more than the plain flap (2) alone. The reduction of the wing size (and drag) is proportional to that although the less clean wing adds some drag but we have to remember that most designs can not benefit so much about the cleanness of the wing. /1/

From Loftin, NASA Sp 468, 1985
Typical values of airfoil maximum lift coefficient for various types of high-lift devices: (1) airfoil only, (2) plain flap, (3) split flap, (4) leading-edge slat, (5) single-slotted flap, (6) double-slotted flap, (7) double-slotted flap in combination with a leading-edge slat, (8) addition of boundary-layer suction at the top of the airfoil.




REFERENCES

/1/ http://www.dept.aoe.vt.edu/~jschetz/fluidnature/

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Nov 20, 2011

Form, Lift, Drag and Propulsion

Some videos from the University of Iowa: /1/

"In the fifth video of the series, emphasis is laid upon the role of boundary-layer separation in modifying the flow pattern and producing longitudinal and lateral components of force on a moving body. Various conditions of separation and methods of separation control are first illustrated. Attention is then given to the distribution of pressure around typical body profiles and its relation to the resulting drag. The concept of circulation introduced in the second film is developed to explain the forces on rotating bodies and the forced vibration of cylin dri cal bodies. Structural failure of unstable sections is demonstrated."


"Introduction to the timeless educational series by brilliant German aeronautical engineer Dr. Alexander Lippisch, explaining the phenomena and physics of of flight in an understandable and engaging manner. Produced in 1955 by the University of Iowa."


REFERENCES


/1/ http://www.youtube.com/user/universityofiowa#g/u

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Nov 18, 2011

What plane?

This picture was in a magazine taken before 1927. The question was what is the plane with that strange over the wing motor installation?


Since it is a monoplane before 1927 and the guy (pilot) smoking on the right looks very much like Anthony Fokker it must be some prototype of the Fokker F VII. Here are some additional pictures and videos of the F VII model.



On the left Anthony Fokker sitting in a cockpit frame



























Last flight of a Fokker F.VIIa


Fokker F.VII was also the first airplane to fly over the north pole.

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_E._Byrd#1926_North_Pole_flight.2C_and_controversy

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Nov 17, 2011

Ray Hopper and Dave Grant, Spruce Goose Designers Interview

Ray Hopper and Dave Grant were designers and engineers of the Howard Hughes flying boat Spruce Goose. Here is an interview of them in 6 parts.

[Sorry to say but as of 2014 the videos have been deleted in YouTube .. as so many other videos there .. but that original film might be somewhere archived if you search TV film archives in the USA. Below is a small snippet of it which I could find.]



Some pictures about the Howard Hughes HK-1 (H-4) Hercules ("Spruce Goose").






REFERENCES

/1/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules

/2/ http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19791105&id=lNYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dOsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3058,1725498

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Nov 16, 2011

A Wooden Wing Failure in 1931 (TWA Flight 599)

Fokker F.10A Trimotor

Early wooden wings had some mishaps which promoted the use of the (at that time) new full aluminium wing. Here is the story of the Fokker F.10 (TWA Flight 599) as told in the Popular Mechanics, Dec., 1971. Not only did the wooden wings have problems, also two Lockheed Electras crashed in 1959 and 1960 due to flutter in the now fully aluminium wing.


These planes were built in America by the Fokker Aircraft Corporation and not in Europe as one might believe when Fokker name is mentioned. /2/


"The weather was inauspicious. So much so that Anthony Fokker would later angrily argue that the flight should never have gone ahead." /4/

March 31, 1931 - Bazzar, Kansas , Fooker 10A Trimotor , Trans Continental and Western Air flight number 599.

"Heathman, who was 13 years old at the time he discovered the plane crash with his father on March 31, 1931, was the last living witness to the plane crash." /3/

Video about Fokker F.10

"Fokker Trimotors were manufactured out of wood laminate; in this instance, moisture had leaked into the interior of one wing over a period of time and had weakened the glue bonding the structural members (called struts or spars) that prevented the wing from fluttering in flight. One spar finally failed; the wing developed uncontrolled flutter and separated from the aircraft." /1/

Anthony Fokker (center) in the F.10A (Image: Dutch Aviation)

So to say that sensitive wooden structures should be protected against moisture also inside and tested agains flutter (and go around bad weather).


REFERENCES

/1/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_599

/2/ Popular Mechanics, Dec. 1971

/3/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Heathman

/4/ http://www.irishlegends.com/pages/reflections/reflections49.html

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Nov 7, 2011

Composite Construction Techniques

Some YouTube videos about composite airplane manufacturing:










Some one time methods:



Some mold making ideas:


And some videos about using those molds:


Here are the vacuum bagging steps again. In the video they vacuum bagged it twice; once before the honeycomp was laid and second time with all layers.



  • 0 - Mold (see separate videos for mold making)
  • 1 - 4 layers carbon
  • 1.1 - 0 layer
  • 1.2 - 45 layer
  • 1.3 - 45 layer
  • 1.4 - 0 layer
  • 2 - peel-ply
  • 3 - breather/bleeder
  • 4 - bagging film + vacuum
  • 5 - honeycomp
  • 6 - 3 layers carbon
  • 6.1 - 0 layer
  • 6.2 - 45 layer
  • 6.3 - 0 layer
  • 7 - peel-ply
  • 8 - breather/bleeder
  • 9 - bagging film + vacuum
("Molds should have at least 3 times more layers than parts to be pulled out of them.")

The following video from the same source is also very informative (in 8 parts).


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Oct 30, 2011

Horten H IX (or Ho 229 or Gotha Go 229) Construction Details and Story

The Horten Ho 229 V.3 is Currently been Restored and Preserved

Horten Ho 229 (IX) V.3, June 2011

"Early in June 2011, staff of the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility slowly and carefully moved the center section of the Horten H IX V.3 all-wing jet fighter from storage into the restoration and preservation shop." /4/

General

"The H IX was a single seat fighter bomber of 16 m span with twin jet engines, being a further development of the H V and H VII designs. The following figure is a general arrangement drawing made from a wooden model found at Gottingen 1945 (Gotha, Friedrichroda), where the first two of the type were built." /6/

Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow

"The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft, designed and built by Avro Aircraft Limited (Canada) in Malton, Ontario, Canada, as the culmination of a design study that began in 1953. Considered to be both an advanced technical and aerodynamic achievement for the Canadian aviation industry, the CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding 50,000 ft (15,000 m), and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) primary interceptor in the 1960s and beyond." /1/

Here is a YouTube video about the AVRO Arrow concept.



RESOURCES

/1/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow

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Oct 29, 2011

Small "Solar" Turbines

An interesting Solar turbine T62 (usually an APU) and its use in a small helicopter. /1/

Solar T62-16B 75 hp Turbine

T62-32 only 142 Ibs / 65 kg (dry)

T62-32 in a helicopter

T62-32 in a helicopter (160shp/61,091 rpm/sea level)

REFERENCES

/1/ http://www.propeng.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=&products_id=182

/2/ http://www.technologie-entwicklung.de/Gasturbines/Solar_T-62/solar_t-62.html

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Oct 20, 2011

Launch Date Today; Galileo IOV 2 First Satellites

Galileo IOV (In Orbit Validation) 2 first satellites should be launched today or tomorrow in Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana using Russian Soyuz ST-B launcher with Fregat-MT upper stage. /1/

Galileo IOV Satellite


These 2 satellites are the first two satellites of the actual Galileo system consisting of 30 satellites. Until now different tests have been going on with preliminary type Galileo satellites.

Satellites waiting on a Soyuz launch vehicle to be launched



Soyuz - Galileo IOV launch delayed

At the moment: 20 October 2011, following an anomaly detected during fueling of the Soyuz launcher’s third stage, the final countdown has been interrupted. Soyuz and its two Galileo IOV satellites, along with the launch facility, have been placed in a safe mode. A new launch date will be announced later today. /2/



And here it goes



Here is more about the Galileo and factors affecting its accuracy.



RESOURCES

/1/ http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Galileo_IOV/SEM7DEITPQG_0.html

/2/ http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Galileo_IOV/

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Oct 15, 2011

Saturn Fly-through

"The following video is not some CGI or 3D models but the real space how it is, only Cassini photographs used." /1/



"The above captivating natural color view was created from images collected shortly after Cassini began its extended Equinox Mission in July 2008. It can be contrasted with earlier images from the spacecraft's four-year prime mission that show the shadow of Saturn's rings first draped high over the planet's northern hemisphere, then shifting southward as northern summer changed to spring (see PIA06606 and PIA09793). During this time, the colors of the northern hemisphere have evolved from azure blue to a multitude of muted-colored bands." /2/

Cassini's position 15.10.2011 (CGI image). Launch date was 15.10.1997 (exactly 14 years before this position)

More about the source:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11141


RESOURCES

/1/ http://www.outsideinthemovie.com/

/2/ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11141

/3/ http://ciclops.org/?js=1

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