21–28 of 28 posts
Is it just me, or does the crashes data look really noisy? Yes, since 2001 the maxima are clearly lower, but in the period 1974-2001 I don't see a lot of difference with the period 1950-1974.
And measuring deaths is weird as well e.g. could have the same number of crashes, just with fewer deaths, if there were improvements to other aspects of safety.
Is it just me, or does the crashes data look really noisy? Yes, since 2001 the maxima are clearly lower, but in the period 1974-2001 I don't see a lot of difference with the period 1950-1974.
>Bateman was always fascinated with airplane crashes. As an 8-year-old school boy in 1940 in Saskatoon, Canada, he and a friend sneaked out of class after two military planes collided and crashed nearby. As punishment, his teacher made him write a report on what happened. A much more appropriate punishment than detention.
As is the custom, I have to get excited when our small town gets mentioned in either the news or HN. I'm also now going to be doing some research about this accident; we don't have a military airfield in town, but my understanding is that there once was. We additionally had a pile of small airstrips all over the province commissioned during the war which have now been abandoned. It still surprises me that we had thes…
He passed away early this year, so I unfortunately can't ask him.
>Bateman was always fascinated with airplane crashes. As an 8-year-old school boy in 1940 in Saskatoon, Canada, he and a friend sneaked out of class after two military planes collided and crashed nearby. As punishment, his teacher made him write a report on what happened. A much more appropriate punishment than detention.
As is the custom, I have to get excited when our small town gets mentioned in either the news or HN. I'm also now going to be doing some research about this accident; we don't have a military airfield in town, but my understanding is that there once was. We additionally had a pile of small airstrips all over the province commissioned during the war which have now been abandoned. It still surprises me that we had thes…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_Commonwealth_A...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This reminds me of my sometimes curiosity into why helicopters don't have a central parachute, presumably located in the center of the main rotor. Not a parachute for occupants, mind you - for the entire helicopter. Why isn't that workable ?
Probably because Autorotation[0] works better than parachutes. Let it fall, and let the wind keep the rotors spinning, checking the fall speed just a bit to keep the rotor speed under control. Save up enough energy in the rotors to slow to a soft landing just before you hit the ground. You also keep a pretty good amount of directional control, can turn and go forward and backward a moderate amount as needed. A parach…
It's amazing how much blood is required to grease the gears of the world's bureoucracy...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably because Autorotation[0] works better than parachutes. Let it fall, and let the wind keep the rotors spinning, checking the fall speed just a bit to keep the rotor speed under control. Save up enough energy in the rotors to slow to a soft landing just before you hit the ground. You also keep a pretty good amount of directional control, can turn and go forward and backward a moderate amount as needed. A parach…
I've never understood why both planes and helicopters don't have a small rocket that could be used to slow them down and bring them in for a soft landing just before impact. So a plane loses its tail and is falling for 40,000 ft....at 1,000 feet or whatever the rocket fires forward to stop forward progress of the plane, and then at a few hundred feet it fires vertically toward the ground to provide the lift needed fo…
For large passenger airliners, how would that work? Are we supposed to strap LIQUID rockets to them? Precisely balanced around the center of mass? What if one of them fails? What if one of them is ignited when it should not? Who designs those things? How to guarantee structural integrity? Are the attachment points going to be reinforced? What would the FAA say? I could go on and on.
Mind you, there have been planes designed with rocket-assisted take-off in mind. You won't find any designed for landings outside Kerbal Space Program.
They'd need to be liquid fueled because they'd need to be throttled to fulfill all these functions. I am not even asking where the oxygen (or whatever oxidizer) would be stored...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never understood why both planes and helicopters don't have a small rocket that could be used to slow them down and bring them in for a soft landing just before impact. So a plane loses its tail and is falling for 40,000 ft....at 1,000 feet or whatever the rocket fires forward to stop forward progress of the plane, and then at a few hundred feet it fires vertically toward the ground to provide the lift needed fo…
The tongue-in-cheek answer is that they are not designed by SpaceX. For large passenger airliners, how would that work? Are we supposed to strap LIQUID rockets to them? Precisely balanced around the center of mass? What if one of them fails? What if one of them is ignited when it should not? Who designs those things? How to guarantee structural integrity? Are the attachment points going to be reinforced? What would t…