Humor Random Comments Thread

[Urwumpe]

You don't need to instrument the aircraft, a matrix of microphones can also be used for that. I remember that the German Aerospace Agency used such 2D arrays for measuing sound of landing aircraft and during wind tunnel tests to find the biggest noise sources during landing, making the sources of sound visible in videos.

But I would rather bet on the supercharger there, the two-stage supercharger of a P-51D is much louder at low altitudes than the single-stage supercharger of earlier Merlin engines.

 

[Evil_Onyx]

Was there any inherent differences between the RR Merlin and the RR/Packard Merlin, or was it a 1:1 license job?

Short Answer, No.

Long Answer, most of the modifications where to do with ease of manufacturing and some different ancillary equipment used, Different Superchargers, alternators ect.

If you ever see a RR Merlin next to a Packard Merlin out of aircraft,(I got to see this at IWM Duxford) other than the markings they are hard to distinguish.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

It is pretty much exactly a ramjet, just with an alternate heat source.

And subsonic, so the diffuser and nozzles vary in area in the opposite way as a supersonic ramjet (the subsonic diffuser diverges, the subsonic nozzle converges). The Meredith effect really only offset drag when flying in the subsonic but compressible regime (0.4 < Mach < 1.0).

---------- Post added at 06:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:58 AM ----------

Short Answer, No.

Long Answer, most of the modifications where to do with ease of manufacturing and some different ancillary equipment used, Different Superchargers, alternators ect.

If you ever see a RR Merlin next to a Packard Merlin out of aircraft,(I got to see this at IWM Duxford) other than the markings they are hard to distinguish.

I think the Packard Merlin was also retooled to use customary unit hardware (1/4-20 bolts vs M6x1, that sort of thing). Not so much a manufacturing issue as making sure that it could be serviced by American units in the field.

---------- Post added at 08:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:05 AM ----------

Ahh...finals day. 4 hrs of watching students desperately trying (but failing) to find examples in the book that look like my exam problems.

 

[Urwumpe]

Ahh...finals day. 4 hrs of watching students desperately trying (but failing) to find examples in the book that look like my exam problems.

You are evil. :lol:

4 h for an exam is quite a lot how many tasks did you expect for full score?

My worst case exam is still the pre-diploma exam for spaceflight technology. 2 hours, no helpers allowed except a pocket calculator, 25 exam problems. leaving you with about 4 minutes per problem. Including knowing (coarsely) the characteristic velocities of certain solid propellants.

On the next day, I noticed I stuffed so much information into my brain that I had forgotten some less important things. Like the PIN for my bank account. :facepalm:


I noticed this weekend that the German phrase "Bei jemanden ist Schmalhans Küchenmeister" (lit.: "Poor John is chef in someones house", it means your food budget is really extremely meager, either by poverty or avarice) does not have equivalents in other languages... despite it being a very old phrase (from about 1663).

If you are a student here, you often know what this phrase means too well.

 

[Artlav]

Something tells me it wasn't a good idea to use Windows on the lander...

 

[Thunder Chicken]

You are evil. :lol:

6 years of Evil Engineering School does that to a person.:lol:

4 h for an exam is quite a lot how many tasks did you expect for full score?

No...two separate thermodynamics classes, 2 hrs per exam. 6 problems; a couple are very easy (though some students don't realize this). The A students finish with nearly an hour to spare. The poorer students...don't.

---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

Something tells me it wasn't a good idea to use Windows on the lander...

 

[Linguofreak]

And subsonic, so the diffuser and nozzles vary in area in the opposite way as a supersonic ramjet (the subsonic diffuser diverges, the subsonic nozzle converges). The Meredith effect really only offset drag when flying in the subsonic but compressible regime (0.4 < Mach < 1.0).

Ramjets are not necessarily supersonic engines, though their non-functionality at low speed does tend to counter-indicate their use on strictly subsonic aircraft, except for special cases like Meredith radiators.

 

[Quick_Nick]

No...two separate thermodynamics classes, 2 hrs per exam. 6 problems; a couple are very easy (though some students don't realize this). The A students finish with nearly an hour to spare. The poorer students...don't.

When I took my thermo final, I indeed took the whole two hours and spent most of it frantically looking through the book. Relied on my grades from previous tests to get an A in the class. Still not sure I understand most of thermodynamics, but I know enough to get through propulsions (all I need).

This week will basically be the last of my engineering finals. Next semester is mostly gen ed courses.
Today's exam: Flight Controls!

 

[Thunder Chicken]

When I took my thermo final, I indeed took the whole two hours and spent most of it frantically looking through the book. Relied on my grades from previous tests to get an A in the class. Still not sure I understand most of thermodynamics, but I know enough to get through propulsions (all I need).

If you remember the basic conservation equations, 2nd law, and remember that the rest is in a book somewhere, that's a good place to be. I know we engineers are people who will model a horse as a sphere in order to make the math easier, but try to resist using isentropic ideal gas relations with liquid water, m'kay? That ain't right. :lol:

 

[Quick_Nick]

This is apparently a thing that actually happened yesterday.
Friends and family stood in the highway to block traffic, which mostly weaved around them with horns blaring.

 

[Andy44]

This is apparently a thing that actually happened yesterday.
Friends and family stood in the highway to block traffic, which mostly weaved around them with horns blaring.

Wow, self-centered, much?

 

[Thunder Chicken]

This is apparently a thing that actually happened yesterday. Friends and family stood in the highway to block traffic, which mostly weaved around them with horns blaring.

OK, these twits (and their friends and families) need some ego deflation, and perhaps a beating with a selfie stick.

Really? REALLY? Nothing says loving more than inconveniencing everyone else in the world? Go get a room already. :facepalm:

 

[Andy44]

OK, these twits (and their friends and families) need some ego deflation, and perhaps a beating with a selfie stick.

Really? REALLY? Nothing says loving more than inconveniencing everyone else in the world? Go get a room already. :facepalm:

Well, wouldn't it be nice if all those motorists decided to return the favor and show up at the wedding?

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, wouldn't it be nice if all those motorists decided to return the favor and show up at the wedding?

Could become the longest marriage convoy ever. I am pretty sure, if you invite him, POTUS would also join the convoy then. :lol:

 

[jedidia]

Got the task to figure some stuff out until the 20th of January. Got a bit nervous because I only work 3 days a week, it's vacation soon, the thing is poorly documeted and I have no familiarity with it whatsoever, and there's of course other things I'm working on in parallel.

Sat down this morning to take a first look at it, had it running in 3 hours.
Sometimes you're just lucky enough to try the right things first instead of last! :lol:

 

[tl8]

Got the task to figure some stuff out until the 20th of January. Got a bit nervous because I only work 3 days a week, it's vacation soon, the thing is poorly documeted and I have no familiarity with it whatsoever, and there's of course other things I'm working on in parallel.

Sat down this morning to take a first look at it, had it running in 3 hours.
Sometimes you're just lucky enough to try the right things first instead of last! :lol:

Having had things go both ways, being lucky is good.

 

[C3PO]

This is apparently a thing that actually happened yesterday.
Friends and family stood in the highway to block traffic, which mostly weaved around them with horns blaring.

It gives a whole new meaning to "Until death us part" ... Or maybe the literal meaning.

 

[Urwumpe]

Its getting more and more unfair here... while all still bash on Volkswagen, the same test done by the same NGO has unveiled that many more car models are cheating on the test stand.

Mercedes for example expects exactly the conditioning sequence of the standard test to switch into a low-emission mode. Repeating the test with different conditioning results in much higher emissions. And another test by German TV has unveiled that BMW must also be cheating, because repeating the test sequence on a closed airport while measuring by PEMS results in the car violating the EU limits.

Since Opel and GM are equally found cheating already, its appearing to become a global problem.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Since Opel and GM are equally found cheating already, its appearing to become a global problem.

Boy, it must be nice to be "too big to fail" like GM. They get to break laws AND get taxpayer money when sales aren't so great.

 

[Urwumpe]

Boy, it must be nice to be "too big to fail" like GM. They get to break laws AND get taxpayer money when sales aren't so great.

Well, that is getting basement topic. It just feels pretty bad to have a small economic crisis in your hometown, while all other sinners get away with it.