Sunday, September 7, 2014

3 Full Scale X-Wing Fighter Models | Urban Ghosts


3 Full Scale X-Wing Fighter Models | Urban Ghosts

Photo is from actual article to entice you to use the link and read the same article.  At the end of that article, there are some links including one about a life-size TIE fighter that was built.

OK, nevermind, here is the link for the TIE Fighter (http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2014/07/life-sized-fan-built-tie-fighter/) and this one too (http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2014/07/home-biggest-star-wars-fan-ever-tie-fighter-at-st/).




Sunday, August 10, 2014

90 Miles From Tyranny : Mysterious Viking Sword Made With Technology From ...

90 Miles From Tyranny : Mysterious Viking Sword Made With Technology From ...: The Viking sword Ulfberht was made of metal so pure it baffled archaeologists. It was thought the technology to forge such metal was not inv...

Saturday, June 14, 2014

NASA's Advanced Propulsion Team - IXS Enterprise

A spaceship set inside two dumbbells fore/aft.  This is the shorthand description of Harold White's starship vision.

Artist Mark Rademaker has created some stunning computer generated images of what NASA physicist Harold White has in mind for a real warp drive vessel.

Harold White is the head of NASA's Advanced Propulsion Team and he recently spoke about his conceptual starship design at a conference last year.  But new interest in the project reached new heights with Mark Rademaker's images of what White's starship will look like.

Rademaker said that creating the images took over 1,600 hours to create.


As a tip of the hat to Star Trek fans, Harold White has named his starship fittingly enough "the Enterprise" - although in this case, its the IXS Enterprise.

The SpaceVision 2013 Space Conference took place last November in Phoenix, Arizona.  And it was here that White talked about his design.  The concepts that went into it.  The theory of a special loophole in general relativity that will allow for the idea of generating a "space wrap."

Quoting the CNN edition article:  ...White described space warps as faraway galaxies that can bend light around them. They work on the principle of bending space both in front of and behind a spacecraft. This would essentially allow for the empty space behind the craft to expand, both pushing and pulling it forward at the same time. The concept is similar to that of an escalator or moving walkway.

"There's no speed limit on the expansion and contraction of space," White said at the conference. "You can actually find a way to get around what I like to call the 11th commandment: Thou shall not exceed the speed of light."  end quote.

This an outgrowth of physicist Miguel Alcubierre who in 1994 was first to theorize a mathematical model of a wrap drive that would allow for the bending of space and time.

The wrap drive that White and his team are working on "would literally transcend space," thus shortening the distance between two points and allowing the craft to break the speed of light barrier.  Thus, there will be no speed limits for spaceships.

While existing technology will not allow for the construction of the IXS class of starship - yet, Harold White based his design on EARLY concept drawings by Matthew Jeffries 1965 designs of the Enterprise from the future "Star Trek" tv series.  Quote:  In his design, White says he drew from Matthew Jeffries' 1965 sketches of the Enterprise from "Star Trek," saying parts of that ship were mathematically correct. He worked with Rademaker and graphic designer Mike Okuda to update the math and produce what he believes to be a viable spacecraft. end quote.



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Ref.
1. CNN.com.  "What an Enterprise! NASA physicist, artist unveil warp-speed craft design" by Caitlin Schmidt. June 12, 2014.  (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/12/tech/innovation/warp-speed-spaceship/).
2. Mark Rademaker images that went with the article.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Eric Palmer blog: Yes it is an Aircraft Carrier

Eric Palmer blog: Yes it is an Aircraft Carrier: USS America LHA-6 , CV-6 , one of the Navy's new aircraft carriers. Yes folks, not putting a well deck on a $3.4B flatop, does make...

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Visits both Lubbock and Midland Airports

This blogger works for a nationally known rental car company.  The economy in Midland-Odessa is so booming, they have to hire people from out of town to come down to do some work at the Midland International Airport.

So twice aweek, I and others who live in Lubbock, make the two plus hour drive down to Midland, work all day and have a two plus hour drive back to Lubbock before we can call it a day.

And while at the Midland airport, I love to watch the different airplanes that pay a visit to that airport.  Military aircraft, old warbirds from the CAF, and other interesting things. Its something to see a USAF C-5 Galaxy doing Touch and Goes.

So, it was with some surprise that I witness a Boeing 787 Dreamliner (in Boeing colors) land at the Midland Airport.  I got as many photos as I could manage with my cellphone camera.  Biggest disappointment I had was not being able to get any of the aircraft in flight.

The bigger surprise came when we got back home to Lubbock, Texas- just before a big cold front arrived (with ALOT of Blowing Dust!).  Looking towards the old terminal building which now houses the Silent Wings Museum was the VERY SAME Boeing 787 parked on the ramp nearby.

Last year, the 787 was in the news for battery problems although that is supposed to have been fixed by now.  Plus the 787 is the replacement for the older Boeing 767.  Even more amazing, I found a news story about the 787 in Lubbock, but was not able to find something similar in the Midland news.

The accompanying pictures are the ones that I took with my cellphone camera.  The first two are from Midland International Airport.  The last three are from Lubbock International Airport. The closeup of the 787 in the dust storm - I had to take from inside my little pickup truck.













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Ref.
1. Everything Lubbock.com "Lubbock Airport Hosts New, Big Bird" April 4, 2014.  (http://www.everythinglubbock.com/story/d/story/lubbock-airport-hosts-new-big-bird/22461/AkOxfVMAR0SZEvgvsQaw5Q).

Lubbock Airport Hosts New, Big Bird - EverythingLubbock.com

Lubbock Airport Hosts New, Big Bird - EverythingLubbock.com

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Theo Spark: Aviation Quotes.................

Theo Spark: Aviation Quotes.................: 1. When a flight is proceeding incredibly well, something was forgotten. - Robert Livingston, "Flying The ...

You choose: 283 A-10Cs, 350 F-16As, or 62 B-1Bs.

You choose: 283 A-10Cs, 350 F-16As, or 62 B-1Bs.

I'm quoting the following from James Hasik blog posting:

Thus, let’s presume that we’re back to cutting an aircraft fleet, and the question is the forecast of the most stressing scenario. Here’s my nutshell estimate:

Those 283 A-10Cs would be most useful against the Russians.
Those 62 B-1Bs would be most useful against the Chinese.
Those 350 F-16s would be excess to requirements in both cases.  end quote.

Mr. Hasik makes a good arguement for cutting the F-16Cs from the inventory and moving them into the desert ready reserve (i.e. mothball them!).  The A-10s might have to be called to action for the mess in the Ukraine.  And the B-1Bs as stand-off cruise missile carriers if things heat up with China.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Mystery Aircraft Over Texas

Mystery Aircraft Over Texas

Theo Spark: Flying Wisdom...............

Theo Spark: Flying Wisdom...............: Sage Advice for Flyers Authors Unknown Historic illustration credits and appreciation go to Gil W...

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Eric Palmer blog: Fixing the F-35?

Eric Palmer blog: Fixing the F-35?: Quick way to fix up the F-35 program? Dump the helmet. Have a HUD. Helmet solution? Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) as used by ...



Great ideas!  But since they were not thought up by the proper government officials with the fat paychecks to back up their titles - none are going to be acted upon.  But Eric Palmer has offered a wonderful solution to fixing the F-35 turd fighter.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Theo Spark: Vanishing Jet: Admit It, You Knew Where It Would L...

Theo Spark: Vanishing Jet: Admit It, You Knew Where It Would L...: [As far as I can tell, this hasn’t hit the USA MSM yet. No surprise. It’s going to take time before they can sanitize the story and push t...

This Blogger's Thoughts:  Abduction from UFOs in mid-air ala Flight 19 in the Bermuda Triangle to a hijacking (the more likely option to be sure).

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Chem - Jet Contrails Photographed Together

The following pictures of Chem-trails and Contrails were spotted over Lubbock, Texas, on Jan 28, 2014.

My friend came running back into the auto repair shop that he runs and told me to come outside to look up in the sky.  To which he said something along the lines of, "See, there is your proof about Chem Trails."  Granted, it's not an exact quote, but close enough.

In this sequence of eight pictures that I took with my camera phone, a Huawei 3.2 mp; you can see a thin layer of dark color clouds and then slightly above that layer - a jet passing over it.  The jet was making quote-unquote, cleaner white (regular) Contrails that went out for a distance and then disappeared.  The so-called Chem trails are still around.  The aircraft was travelling from east to west and the time of morning was about 10:00am to 11:00am.







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Ref.
1.  Images taken by Don W. Shanks (Shanksow),January 28, 2014.  If someone wants to link or repost this, then credit must be given to me and my blog.