May 04, 2004
There's something disturbing about people like this
Not only do they concoct the most gruesome confections like the anatomically correct thorax cake, but they review my kind of movies, and give ratings from one to five severed thumbs.
Welcome to my blogroll. Thanks to Matt for the pointer, and also for one of the funniest posts I've read in a long time.Posted by: Ted at 06:26 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Ribbons, Military, Mine
Rob posted the medals he was awarded while in the Navy, and Wind Rider put up his collection as well. Here are my modest awards, plus a couple of other bits that I'm proud of.
(in the extended entry)Posted by: Ted at 12:41 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
May 03, 2004
Silver Lining
Yeah, it sucks to crash a rocket. On the other hand, it gives me an excuse to build another. 
Posted by: Ted at 10:40 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Paperback Wisdom
Snippets from the covers of dimestore novels.
"An intense story of uncontrollable passion!" -- Sinful Life "A beautiful girl - An amorous male - A great weekend" -- One Night With Nancy "Her pagan desires violated even the loose moral code of the marshlands!" -- Swamp Bred "A street-girl gives her real heart to a guy in the gutters of hell" -- All Dames Are Dynamite "A startling view of life in 1984. Forbidden Love... Fear... Betrayal" -- 1984 "It promised a thrill! She fell prey to the foulest of rackets!" -- Marijuana GirlPosted by: Ted at 05:53 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Cross your fingers
send good thoughts
eminate positive vibes
say a little prayer
wish upon a star
whatever, it's all appreciated...
Posted by: Ted at 10:43 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
It explains a few I've known
(in the extended entry)
Posted by: Ted at 05:13 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
May 02, 2004
Aftermath pictures of the Air Munuviana
Post-flight analysis, complete with photos showing in excruciating detail all the damage suffered in the crash.
Instead of my normal embedded pictures, these photos are clickable links to make it easier for those on dial-up. It's all in the extended entry. Enjoy. Remember, you learn more from the failures than you do from the successes.Posted by: Ted at 08:38 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
BattlePark Rocket Launch Pictures
A few photos taken at yesterday's launch (in the extended entry, and click-to-view for the bandwidth impaired).
Posted by: Ted at 07:00 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
May 01, 2004
Launch Report – 5/1/04
Today was the start of BattlePark 2004 in Culpeper, Virginia, and according to the weather reports, the better day for flying. Mookie and I went and had a great day, despite some not-so-successful flights.
The day started with high clouds but the sun burned through now and then. A cold front is moving into the area and intermittent rain has started, but the day was mostly dry. The winds were out of the south and stayed between 5-10 mph. Culpeper is in the heart of Virginia’s horse country, and the area consists of gently rolling hills dotted with farms. Our route there takes us through the Chancellorsville Battlefield from the Civil War. On the way, Mookie spotted a deer back in the trees. We got there early and prepped a couple of rockets. When the range opened we set up our FY2K with an F23 motor. We wound up making the first flight after the first rocket scheduled to launch burnt it’s igniter without lighting the motor. The FY2K is a smallish rocket, and leapt off the pad with a roar and trailing thick black smoke. The chute ejected right at the top and she landed softly within 100 yards of the pad. Next up for us was the Super Ninja. The Super Ninja has made many flights for us, and today we were going to fly her on an E18, the biggest motor she’s ever used, and it simmed out to over 2000 feet altitude. I have no idea how high she actually went, and nobody else did either, because everyone lost sight of it while she was still screaming upward. While I was looking up, trying to see some glint in the sunlight, a friend told me that the rocket was probably already on the ground. Couldn’t prove it by me. Mookie and I went searching in the direction she probably would’ve drifted, but after a good long walk we had no luck finding her. The worst part about it was losing a reloadable motor casing, which costs $40.00 to replace. We spent some time visiting with friends and watching other rockets launch. After a while I prepped the Air Munuviana for a flight on a hybrid I-80. With the help of Doug Pratt we got her ready on the pad while I sent Mookie and Brian Pratt downwind several hundred yards to watch for where she landed. The liftoff was perfect, and the I-80 really moved her along. I lost sight of the Air Mu in the sun, but others watching said the chute never came out and she came in ballistic. I heard the impact when she hit the ground, in the opposite direction where Mookie and Brian were stationed. As a friend and I started the walk to find it, someone said they had a line on it which was nice because it gave me a couple of reference points to use to tell me about where it came down. We walked about a quarter mile to the first treeline, crossing an electric fence along the way, and there I continued on alone since I had to wade a stream to get to the meadow beyond. The meadow was pretty boggy in spots, and I covered it pretty good all the way back to another treeline. The second treeline was the start of a mature pine wood, planted at some point because many of the trees were in straight rows. It was also demarked with a barbed wire fence. About this time, Mookie and Brian showed up. We found a spot to get through the barb wire, and made a circle through the wood beyond. It was a pretty good hike, but we had to be careful to pick our way around patches of poison ivy. No luck finding the rocket. We’d been looking for more than an hour, so we headed back. The guy who saw the Air Munuviana come down couldn’t tell how far away it was, so just to be thorough I decided to check the near meadow after we waded the stream again. Brian and Mookie headed towards the truck while I walked the stream. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the purple of the anodized aluminum motor casing. Calling back to the kids to let them know I’d found our rocket, I took a closer look. Usually in these lawn darts, the motor is the only thing that survives. Not this time, because I could see a dent in the casing. It was standing straight up in the mud on the bank of the stream. Pieces of the airframe were scattered around, lying in the water. I laughed when I saw a blinking light underwater, as either the altimeter or sonic beacon was still functioning and the LED was flashing. When the kids got there, we climbed down into the creek and started locating the debris. The motor casing was dented, making it unusable. The altimeter was wet, and a closer look showed it to be trashed from the impact. The parachute was intact. We figured the nosecone had floated downstream and was lost. I wanted to get a look at the other bank to see what might be over there. Climbing that side, I came across the nosecone. It had been flattened – the long way – by an impact in the tree above. Sure enough, Mookie spotted a branch about 30 feet up with a big bare spot where the Air Mu spacked at speed. We also found the motor mount, with the bottom 8” of the motor tube. How hard do you think it had to have hit that tree to snap an aluminum tube cleanly? We also found a whole fin and most of another, as well as a few small shreds of delaminated plywood. Now this flight cost almost $200 in destroyed equipment, but something about rocketry that is seldom talked about is that even crashes like this are kinda cool. It also felt good to find the pieces, much better than just losing it and not knowing what happened. This way, I can possibly determine what caused the failure. The ‘up’ part was perfect. I need to work on the ‘down’ part. Once we got back to the truck, we all called it a day and packed up. Doug had invited us to join him and Brian for ribs at a killer BBQ place near there, and it sounded good after the long hike. Just as we were getting ready to pull out, a guy tapped on our window and said he’d found our rocket. I hopped out and sure enough, he had the Super Ninja (and my motor case – yay!). One fin was broken, but she was otherwise intact. He’d been looking for one of his rockets, and came across ours almost a mile and a quarter downwind. The remains of the Air Munuviana are spread out on a table behind me, drying out a little. I’ll post some pictures tomorrow. The sonic beacon is still flashing, which amuses me, but all the drying out in the world won’t revive the piezo buzzer so it’s toast.The ribs were awesome. I’m gonna be sore tomorrow from all that scrambling cross country. It was a great day.
Posted by: Ted at 11:00 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Gone fishin' rocket launchin'
Might post more this evening. Enjoy your day, we'll be enjoying ours!
(picture in the extended entry)Posted by: Ted at 06:30 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
April 30, 2004
Ace of Aces
Anyone remember this wargame?
The Ace of Aces game system was a stroke of brilliance when it was first released by Gameshop Inc. in 1980. Designer Alfred Leonardi, a history teacher, crafted a totally new game mechanism which used illustrated "programmed" books to recreate aerial combat. For the first time, gamers could fight a dogfight using simultaneous movement without cumbersome log sheets, enormous rulebooks, and many hours of playing time. In fact, a game of Ace of Aces played by experienced players can move so quickly that it is virtually a "real time" simulation. The original Ace of Aces "Handy Rotary Series" came with a pair of brown game books each slightly smaller than a paperback novel. Each book contained 223 illustrations depicting various views from the cockpit of the player's aircraft. The view on each page was oriented to show the location of the opponent's aircraft. For example, the "Allies" book showed a view of the opposing Fokker as seen from a Sopwith Camel cockpit. Conversely, the "Germans" book showed a view of the Camel as seen from the cockpit of a Fokker Dr. I triplane.Click here to see a sample page from the German book. One neat feature of the system is that you can fly multi-plane dogfights, as long as you have enough books (or bookmarks) for each player. I've got the original "Powerhouse" edition (#5 on the link above) which pits a Fokker D-VII against a Spad XIII. It's an amazing game, easy enough for kids to play, yet still rich enough for aircraft buffs to get serious about. Other editions featured different planes and even a balloon-busting version where you could shoot down the tethered balloons used by both sides to hold observers and artillery spotters. Later, WWII editions titled Wingleader were released. These used a similar, but not identical, gaming system and let you fly either a P-51 Mustang or Focke-Wulf FW-190 in combat. Jet Eagles takes the concept into the modern era, pitting an F15 Eagle against a Mig29 Fulcrum. Since modern jet combat is often fought with long range missiles and you may never see your opponent, the system goes through some more tweaking to make it work. I also remember a variation of the system done by another company where the opposing sides were individuals instead of aircraft. One player might be an armored warrior with a spear, while the other might be a skeleton with sword and shield. I never actually played any of these, but they looked cool at the time.
Posted by: Ted at 08:49 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Armadillo's in Space
Posted by: Ted at 11:36 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
All right guys, fun is fun
About two weeks ago I mentioned my apparent talent for killing comment threads. Since then, it's gotten even worse than before.
If y'all are doing it on purpose, then knock it off. It ain't funny no more.Posted by: Ted at 06:40 AM | Comments (16) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Of course it's rocket science
Here is NASA's press release about their Student Launch Initiative program, which includes three of the teams from last year's Team America Rocketry Challenge.
The Student Launch Initiative is an education program designed to allow high school and college students to experience practical aerospace and engineering activities. Working in teams, students demonstrate proof-of-concept for their designs, develop Web sites dedicated to their work, learn how to budget — including how to present financial proposals to NASA engineers and community leaders — and gain problem-solving skills. "It's important for NASA to fuel students' interest in careers in science and engineering," said Jim Pruitt, manager of the Education Programs Department at the Marshall Center . "This initiative gives students hands-on experience building and launching rockets — to inspire the next generation of space explorers, and help our nation prepare our young people for the challenges ahead." At the launch, student teams will attempt to reach an altitude of one mile with their rockets, and college teams will attempt to send their rockets two-miles high. All rockets will carry a scientific payload. The teams will be evaluated on their rocket design, including propulsion, materials, payload and safety features. NASA volunteers also will look at the target altitude, formal reviews and Web site designs.
Here's a link to the Marshall Space Flight Center Education Programs page for the Student Launch Initiative. It contains several good links for related information.
Posted by: Ted at 06:25 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Worth every penny
They finished up the work on our house Wednesday. I had predicted two full days worth to complete everything, and they spent all day Saturday, Tuesday afternoon and then Wednesday morning to finish up.
It looks gooooood. We had 9 brand new windows installed, and the frames and sills were completely covered with vinyl - no more painting. Ever. A new sliding-glass door to the backyard, all the soffits were redone with the same vinyl wrap, as were the fascia, roof rakes and some trimwork. We had a minor disagreement about exactly what we contracted for, but after talking to the salesman who originally took the order, they not only did everything that I thought we should be getting, but also did a couple of extra things at no charge. Now that's customer service. Besides looking great, it'll be much more energy efficient and maybe best of all, I can probably now paint the entire outside of my house in about 3 hours.Posted by: Ted at 05:19 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
April 29, 2004
Liquid Body Armor
Whoa.
Army scientists are working on a liquid body armor for clothing that stays flexible during normal use but can harden to stop a projectile when hit suddenly.But like most innovation, the military application is only the beginning.
Wetzel and Wagner are optimistic the liquid body armor will be useful to local police and prison guards and perhaps it could one day protect people in automobile and airplane crashes.
Posted by: Ted at 04:54 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Rocketing Around the Blogosphere
Lots of life happening right now, details coming when I know more myself. In the meantime, here's a quick tour of some of the interesting (to me) things I've seen lately in the neighborhood.
USS Clueless did a typically thorough analysis of the future of war in space. Taking the idea and running with it, Buckethead of The Ministry of Minor Perfidy posted a fascinating multi-part series on the concept as well (this link is for part three, which has links to the rest, including the Clueless posts - they're all worth reading). The comments are good reading too. And if you don't read the original Clueless post mentioned above, then you won't understand why this from Ghost of a Flea about ancient Trireme warships ties in either. Just because it's bloodthirsty warmongering stuff doesn't mean it can't be neato-keen. De Doc has a great post about UAV's equipped with precision-guided weapons and pattern recognition systems. Got Wawa? They're just becoming common in our area, and they're pretty good. If you aren't familiar with them, they're a variation on the 7-11 convenience store model, and they're making a dent in 7-11's business. Kinda like WalMart whupping on KMart, who whupped on Sears, who whupped on Woolworths, and so on and so on. Anyways, Roberto of DynamoBuzz talks about Wawa and shares some interesting tidbits. Shaggy and Scoobie Doo were stoners. Fred and Daphne were getting it on. Big surprises, eh? Although I have to admit I like the idea that Velma was a lesbian, and she wears glasses too. All that, plus more in-the-closet cartoon characters, courtesy of Dustbury. While you're over there, check out Dustbury's thoughts on the demise of Oldsmobile. Growing up, the best family car we ever had was a '72 Olds Cutlass that would blow the doors off most 'hot rods' the teens of the day were driving. I for one am going to miss Oldsmobile. Over at BlackFive there is an article posted called Taking Chance Home.The following is Marine Lieutenant Colonel Strobl's account of escorting the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps. It's a long and beautifully written and it deserves to be read in it's entirety. It's about Valor, Honor and Respect.
I read this and had tears running down my cheeks. Words fail. Lightening up a bit. SilverBlue invites your questions. Ask away, because he says "bring it on!" and he ain't waffling about answering either. Paul looks back at simpler times. Laugh-out-loud funny. Another wonderfully funny post: how Moxie spent Earth Day. I especially loved the comments:
sample: You have made my day. I think I'll start up the Hummer and let it idle for earth day.
Thanks to Professor Hall over at Spacecraft for the pointer. Rob of Left & Right shows off his ribbons and medals, and explains what each one means. I'll have to see about digging mine out, although I don't have the impressive combat ribbons he has. You do read QandO, right? Jon and McQ are partisan as hell - against stupidity and dishonesty. Dems and Repubs alike get fact-checked and called out when needed. Over at Travelling Shoes, we hear about something that makes me lower my voice to impersonate Boris Karloff doing the narrative of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (paraphrased: and he had an idea, a terrible wonderful awful idea). He's still blogspotted, so if the link doesn't work, scroll down to "Oily George". Classic. And here's a random link I found while looking for Grinch references. Besides that, I also discovered that the singing (You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch) in the animated version was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft, who received no on-screen credit for it. You might know Mr. Ravenscroft better for his other work, as the voice of Tony the Tiger. Nic writes one of the scariest pieces I've read in a long time. Snakeheads and Bruce Boxleitner. *shudder* And finally, to distract you from that nightmare, Victor links to this ebay auction. Thanks guy, I needed that laugh! Go Sharks!
Posted by: Ted at 06:57 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
World War II Memorial Opens Today
The National World War II Memorial will assume its central place among Washington's defining landmarks today, opening to the public after nearly two decades of debate and anticipation. The chain-link fences surrounding the $172 million project are to come down early this morning, and visitors will be allowed to enter the 7.4-acre site at 9:30 a.m. -- a month before the memorial is to be officially dedicated Memorial Day weekend.You can read the rest here, and there are several hi-res renderings of the monument here. The memorial home page can be found here.
Posted by: Ted at 06:22 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Steely-eye'd Missile Men
Well, steely-something anyway...
(in the extended entry - more or less safe for work)Posted by: Ted at 05:22 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Random Thought about hockey on TV
How many times during the playoffs do we have to miss a breakaway because some fan stands up right in front of the camera and blocks the view of the net?
Here's a suggestion: put one of those plywood characters - "you must be this tall..." - at the entrance to that seating section. Hell, make it a life-size cutout of Ottawa's Zdeno Charra (6'9") and don't let anyone taller than his stick sit in front of the cameras.Posted by: Ted at 01:01 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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