So a famous cocktail is designed in a hotel, what's ... oh the plane! :)
The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over one weekend
91–100 of 209 posts
Re: The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over one weekend
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Came here to say something similar. My comment being "The word 'designed' is being used very generously here. I would suggest 'conceptualized' as a better word"
Conceptualized is a perfect word. The claim that it was designed in a weekend is like those “overnight success” stories that ignore the decade of work that someone put in to get to that point.
This was genuinely an overnight success, though. They got approval on the strength of this design. And the broad strokes design of the aircraft seemingly stayed intact through the subsequent processes.
This entire comment chain is bewildering, we're attacking strawmen. Did anyone read this article and leave assuming no further work was done after approval? Was this HN comment chain enlightening to anyone? Who are we writing this for?
Re: The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over one weekend
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Came here to say something similar. My comment being "The word 'designed' is being used very generously here. I would suggest 'conceptualized' as a better word"
Conceptualized is a perfect word. The claim that it was designed in a weekend is like those “overnight success” stories that ignore the decade of work that someone put in to get to that point.
[deleted]
Re: The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over one weekend
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
Came here to say something similar. My comment being "The word 'designed' is being used very generously here. I would suggest 'conceptualized' as a better word"
“I want all my music to fit in the palm of my hand.” Steve Jobs created the iPod in just one day
You jest, but the original iPod went from conceptualization to ship in an absurdly fast 10 months [0].
[0] https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/01/13/first-ipod-went-f...
Re: The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over one weekend
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
“I want all my music to fit in the palm of my hand.” Steve Jobs created the iPod in just one day
Meh, the Archos Jukebox was doing that well before Steve Jobs. Steve's genius concept was "I want all my music to fit in the palm of my hand, but with a way better UI than Archos Jukebox" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archos_Jukebox_series
Yes, but the 1.8” drive in the iPod was a true differentiator. It was the difference between “in the palm of my hand” and “it is possible to hold it, but not easy.”
Re: The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over one weekend
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's honestly a fantastic case for incremental improvements over time. There's practically no single part on a modern B-52 that's original to the 1960s since everything has been overhauled and modernized decade by decade. Every attempt to replace it has been (or will be) retired before its EOL.
How long have the B-52 jet engines had monocrystalline fan blades? That must have an enormous impact on efficiency and performance. They became available in the late 60s. https://www.americanscientist.org/article/each-blade-a-singl...
Turbine blades, not fan blades. The single crystal metallurgy is to avoid high-temperature creep (i.e. slow deformation over time under an applied load), which is a life-limiting factor in turbine blades. Especially the first row or two which see the highest temperatures.
Re: The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over one weekend
#97Out of the loop, exactly why does the USAF still fly this? Is it really a better alternative to putting some bomb bay doors on a modern Boeing? Without dismissing the entire field of aircraft design... the mind is definitely attracted to the concept of buzzsawing some doors onto the bottom of civilian airliner.
> Is it really a better alternative to putting some bomb bay doors on a modern Boeing?
The B-52 can carry about 70,000 lbs of bombs. You can't just hang that amount of weight from the floor of a 777, you're going to have to redesign the entire aircraft to support the load. The B-52 also has a range that's absolutely insane. With a combat load it can fly 8,800 miles, beating a 777-200LR by a few hundred miles. If it's just flying from point A to point B with no bombs it can go more than 10,000 miles.
Re: The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over one weekend
#98Out of the loop, exactly why does the USAF still fly this? Is it really a better alternative to putting some bomb bay doors on a modern Boeing? Without dismissing the entire field of aircraft design... the mind is definitely attracted to the concept of buzzsawing some doors onto the bottom of civilian airliner.
> Is it really a better alternative to putting some bomb bay doors on a modern Boeing?
From what I've been told, the B52 has relatively low operating cost and can stay up in the air pretty much indefinitely by being refueled in air by KC-135s.
source: I was an air traffic controller in the US Air Force
Re: The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over one weekend
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's honestly a fantastic case for incremental improvements over time. There's practically no single part on a modern B-52 that's original to the 1960s since everything has been overhauled and modernized decade by decade. Every attempt to replace it has been (or will be) retired before its EOL.
Wonder what a from-scratch B-52 equivalent would look like nowadays. I don't think they could resist the urge to give it a gimmick. Who wants to design a bomb truck?!?
The gimmick is that it's really big, I suppose.
Re: The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over one weekend
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conceptualized is a perfect word. The claim that it was designed in a weekend is like those “overnight success” stories that ignore the decade of work that someone put in to get to that point.
This was genuinely an overnight success, though. They got approval on the strength of this design. And the broad strokes design of the aircraft seemingly stayed intact through the subsequent processes. This entire comment chain is bewildering, we're attacking strawmen. Did anyone read this article and leave assuming no further work was done after approval? Was this HN comment chain enlightening to anyone ? Who are we…
It was a strong conceptual design, yes.
For my aerospace engineering undergrad we also had to create a conceptual design for a new aircraft. And of course, as university projects go, we basically did it in five days. But I won't tell you how many iterations we would've had to go through until we had an optimum configuration ready to be sent to detail design
The headline makes it look like their design was a definite one. Then you actually read the article and it says it took another four years before the first one would fly. Which is actually to me the more impressive part of the story, considering the amount of time it takes aircraft manufacturers to go from concept to production these days (e.g. the A380 was first conceptualised in the 1980s and its first flight was in 2005)