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Electrified wingsuit from BMW reaches 186MPH on first flight

robbreport.com

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Re: Electrified wingsuit from BMW reaches 186MPH on first flight

#121

Post by cromulent »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #53
Robotbeat wrote: post #12

Lithium-based batteries (and associated tech) are to the 21st century what the internal combustion engine was to the 20th century and what the steam engine was to the 19th century. There’s a ~90% chance you’re using a device powered by a lithium chemistry battery to read this right now (laptop or tablet or phone). The smartphone alone (enabled by lithium based batteries) has transformed the world. Lithium-based batte…

Allow me my cynicism (this is HN after all): the rise of electric R/C planes and "foamies" has been a fascinating change in the model-airplane hobby but at the same time it has shown that you can practically put an electric motor + lithium cell on anything and it will "fly". So much so that I feel like the art/science of aerodynamics in modeling has fallen by the wayside. Your run of the mill quadcopter is an ideal e…

Wingsuits are much closer to gliders than rocks aerodynamically. They can generate lift and fly upwards for a short time. Ram air wingsuits have only been around for less than 25 years but have developed dramatically during that time, even without power. They are amazing gliding craft.

Re: Electrified wingsuit from BMW reaches 186MPH on first flight

#122

Post by tomc1985 »

Robotbeat wrote: post #12

Lithium-based batteries (and associated tech) are to the 21st century what the internal combustion engine was to the 20th century and what the steam engine was to the 19th century. There’s a ~90% chance you’re using a device powered by a lithium chemistry battery to read this right now (laptop or tablet or phone). The smartphone alone (enabled by lithium based batteries) has transformed the world. Lithium-based batte…

Internal combustion engines don't degrade to uselessness after three years

Re: Electrified wingsuit from BMW reaches 186MPH on first flight

#123

Post by tomc1985 »

njharman wrote: post #88
JKCalhoun wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Allow me my cynicism (this is HN after all): the rise of electric R/C planes and "foamies" has been a fascinating change in the model-airplane hobby but at the same time it has shown that you can practically put an electric motor + lithium cell on anything and it will "fly". So much so that I feel like the art/science of aerodynamics in modeling has fallen by the wayside. Your run of the mill quadcopter is an ideal e…

> the art/science of aerodynamics in modeling has fallen by the wayside. You are not wrong. That is a valid lament. But, this is the definition (or at least a very common result) of innovation/progress. Tech/automation advances to the point that non-artists, non-experts can do a thing competently or even expertly. Photography use to require expensive equipment, skill, and knowledge. Modern advances in digital sensors…

> Modern advances in digital sensors/lenses/flashes/post-processing makes everyone able to take professional quality photos.

For newspapers, maybe, but the tiny optics on phones rule out a lot of photographic techniques, to say nothing of sensor quality when trying to pull 20+ MP out of a sensor the size of a tab of acid

My iPhone 11 Pro still takes crap pictures compared to my FX (or even DX) camera body, and that's with all of Apple's idiot-proofing AI bullshit

Re: Electrified wingsuit from BMW reaches 186MPH on first flight

#124

Post by anonytrary »

peterwwillis wrote: post #44

Nice to see they aren't bothering with social distancing. I mean, sure, they might be spreading a deadly virus, but how else are they gonna talk about how bad-ass that wingsuit flight was? Totally worth killing immunocompromised people.

This sounds like a "Karen" comment. Do you really think a few guys flying in turbulent air will spread covid? Have you seen all of the people who gather in parks in San Fransisco? This flying experiment is not even comparable to other vectors of the virus that immunocompromised people are exposed to on a daily basis.

Re: Electrified wingsuit from BMW reaches 186MPH on first flight

#125

Post by potatochup »

topynate wrote: post #6

It says something about wingsuit flying that strapping a 25,000 rpm motor to one's chest and pointing it only slightly away from one's groin isn't even close to the biggest risk factor in this activity.

I guess his arms are fixed into the suit, but it still looks like if you relaxed your arms a little too much you could get your hands into the turbine...

Re: Electrified wingsuit from BMW reaches 186MPH on first flight

#126

Post by pengaru »

tomc1985 wrote: post #122
Robotbeat wrote: post #12

Lithium-based batteries (and associated tech) are to the 21st century what the internal combustion engine was to the 20th century and what the steam engine was to the 19th century. There’s a ~90% chance you’re using a device powered by a lithium chemistry battery to read this right now (laptop or tablet or phone). The smartphone alone (enabled by lithium based batteries) has transformed the world. Lithium-based batte…

Internal combustion engines don't degrade to uselessness after three years

Nor do electric motors.

Rings, cylinders, valve seats, there are plenty of ICE components that wear out or coke up long before anything on a brushless electric motor will.

It makes more sense to compare batteries to tires and brakes; they're wear items. And their cost will keep dropping as their scale of manufacture increases exponentially until the economics start resembling tires too.

Re: Electrified wingsuit from BMW reaches 186MPH on first flight

#127

Post by [deleted] »

pengaru wrote: post #126
tomc1985 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Internal combustion engines don't degrade to uselessness after three years

Nor do electric motors. Rings, cylinders, valve seats, there are plenty of ICE components that wear out or coke up long before anything on a brushless electric motor will. It makes more sense to compare batteries to tires and brakes; they're wear items. And their cost will keep dropping as their scale of manufacture increases exponentially until the economics start resembling tires too.

[deleted]

Re: Electrified wingsuit from BMW reaches 186MPH on first flight

#128

Post by base698 »

bloaf wrote: post #77

Base jumping has a ridiculously high fatality rate (~1 in 60 people who try it die). I wonder if adding engines makes it safer or less safe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASE_jumping#Safety

It's more active jumpers over their jumping career than just people who try it once. It varies wildly jumper to jumper based on the types of jumps done (cliffs are more deadly than bridges) and how often. Most people jump for a period of 3-6 years and quit.

My wife and I were pretty active jumping in the era of wingsuit videos on YouTube. In her first year we had one good friend die and 9 people we'd met or hung out with a short time. It is basically comparable in danger to spaceflight.

Re: Electrified wingsuit from BMW reaches 186MPH on first flight

#129

Post by lopmotr »

tomc1985 wrote: post #123
njharman wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the art/science of aerodynamics in modeling has fallen by the wayside. You are not wrong. That is a valid lament. But, this is the definition (or at least a very common result) of innovation/progress. Tech/automation advances to the point that non-artists, non-experts can do a thing competently or even expertly. Photography use to require expensive equipment, skill, and knowledge. Modern advances in digital sensors…

> Modern advances in digital sensors/lenses/flashes/post-processing makes everyone able to take professional quality photos. For newspapers, maybe, but the tiny optics on phones rule out a lot of photographic techniques, to say nothing of sensor quality when trying to pull 20+ MP out of a sensor the size of a tab of acid My iPhone 11 Pro still takes crap pictures compared to my FX (or even DX) camera body, and that's…

Of course, otherwise those fancy cameras would have no market and disappear. Just like film is pretty much completely gone now, as are glass plate cameras. The truly inferior tech disappears and what's left fits some extreme niche where it surpasses the cheap consumer stuff in some way. There are things you can do with a PC that you can't with a smartphone too.
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