251–260 of 369 posts
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The nuclear part isn’t just used to generate electricity for the motors?
The nuclear power plant is heating water to generate steam.
They're not direct driving the screw with steam power from the reactor heat-exchange, surely.
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On a nuclear powered ship, yes, since you still essentially have a steam engine, the engine telegraph (throttle) isn't actually linked directly to the engine. On a modern diesel or gas turbine ship, no there's not. Obviously there are limits to what the engine can do still.
The nuclear part isn’t just used to generate electricity for the motors?
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What I don't get is that obviously on a military vessel the chance of someone getting injured or incapacitated are rather high - so why would you want critical things like speed to be controlled by a separate person from the one steering? If they get knocked out and the controls for speed/direction/depth are in a physically different location, doesn't that result in a complete loss of control?
On the flip side, if there is an event that incapacitates one person it might not affect all 3 so you still have some control during and right after the event instead of waiting for someone to make their way to the control station
That's how Star Trek do it!
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http://s3.amazonaws.com/CHINFO/USS+Fitzgerald+and+USS+John+S... The McCain entered the TSS at 20 knots and varied between 20 and 18 knots until the steering problem began. The OOD ordered the vessel slowed to 5 knots but due to confusion on the bridge the orders weren't carried out properly and the vessel was still making 11.8 knots and turning to port at the moment of impact. The Fitzgerald was also traveling throug…
Sure, don't believe your lying eyes. Point out a single scratch that indicates anything other thana 90 degree impact with a stationary vessel.
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Don't get me started about TVs. When I grew up our family TV turned on in seconds, and pressing channel up/down reacted in tens of milliseconds.
How long ago? My color CRT TV took a good 10 s or so to warm up the tube before you'd see much/anything. But at least it responded instantly, so you could spend that time walking back to the couch instead of waiting for some stupid menu. Instant and trustworthy response is basically gone from most appliances. I think it's a combination of marketing (has to look high tech) and cost (touch buttons are cheaper than mech…
The only player which ever worked properly — even allowing the user to step through a video frame by frame — was part of Apple’s QuickTime framework.
Fun fact: QuickTime will be 26 years old in December.
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Automatics are usually less efficient than manuals - the Hydraulic torque converter has to slip to function. That said, the automatic might beat a manual in other metrics.
Modern automatics are almost always more efficient. The biggest is that the torque converter has a lockup clutch during crusing, and often more gears and a near perfect knowledge of when to shift gear.
Automatics in UK certainly cost more, if one doesn't ride the clutch I imagine the manual will have lower maintenance costs?
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User interfaces have gone backwards decades in quality. Look at your car radio in a 90's car. You didn't need to look at it to figure out how to push the radio button, turn the volume, anything. You could even adjust the bass on the fly with a bass knob instead of navigating to your "eq" menu to do it. Now, you've got to look away from the road, realize what "mode" your in, you can move the menu around to the "audio"…
Don't get me started about TVs. When I grew up our family TV turned on in seconds, and pressing channel up/down reacted in tens of milliseconds.
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I think PM brought wide attention to it, but it's not like it's just some fringe theory of theirs, see e.g. this CBS report [1] from 2012 (after the PM article was published) with Captain Chesley Sullenberger (of the 2009 Hudson crash fame). Many aviation experts have weighed in on this. Yes they don't have all the data, but they have enough to draw this sort of conclusion, including flight path, status of the plane…
Every Airbus crash gives rise to lots of FUD in the media. Initially, everyone was blaming AF447 on the vertical stabilizer breaking off ( http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-air-france-447-... ). I guess they thought they had "enough" data then, and of course plenty of "experts" were on hand to lend credence to this particular speculation. But anyway, the accident report says what it says. I see no reason t…
There was a ferry accident involving a similar transfer of control problem in New York harbor.[1] Ferries have a lot of maneuvering modes and directional thrusters, because they do so many dockings, and so they have a more complex control problem. The pilot put the system into a backup dumb mode while in cruise, then changed stations to where he could best see the dock while still in the wrong mode. Rammed the dock a…
User interfaces have gone backwards decades in quality. Look at your car radio in a 90's car. You didn't need to look at it to figure out how to push the radio button, turn the volume, anything. You could even adjust the bass on the fly with a bass knob instead of navigating to your "eq" menu to do it. Now, you've got to look away from the road, realize what "mode" your in, you can move the menu around to the "audio"…
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Cookmatic-Radarange-Made-by...
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I've asked you to state your interests. You've declined to do so.
What a gloriously absurd thing to say. Look, this is me: http://adrummond.net If you're willing to put your real name up here, then we can start speculating on who's being paid by whom to shill for what. Until then, I'll assume that you're on the Boeing payroll... (I don't in general intend this account to be associated with my real identity, so I may remove the link above in a day or two.)
That said, there might be a more productive discussion, perhaps in future, on linguistics rather than French aviation mishaps.