Operating Systems and Airlines

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Boo2themoon · #1 Post by **Boo2themoon** » Sat 08 Dec 2007, 21:19

Linux air anyone? Spanner required

http://www.tensionnot.com/jokes/operati ... d_airlines

setecio · #2 Post by **setecio** » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 22:27

#3 Post by **Pizzasgood** » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 23:22

Actually, had I the time and money, I'd be seriously looking into building my own plane.

cb88 · #4 Post by **cb88** » Tue 11 Dec 2007, 16:44

@pizzasgood check out engadget.com

are up to this?

http://www.engadget.com/2004/08/09/huma ... elicopter/

#5 Post by **Pizzasgood** » Tue 11 Dec 2007, 17:59

COOL! But I can't see it being very efficient. I mean, whichever way you look at it, your body has to lift that weight. I'm not sure what the average recreational cyclist's average power output is, but I doubt it's enough to keep them and a 302 pound helicopter airborne for very long.

I'm no aeronautics major, but it seems to me that spinning a rotor to lift a mass should take the same theoretical amount of energy as carrying that mass up a flight of stairs. Probably more when you account for inefficiencies. I've never bench pressed anything, so I'm not sure, but I don't think I can even lift 300 lbs, let alone carry it several meters up.

But maybe a helicopter actually gears things down enough that it's like pushing it up a shallow ramp. You'd rise slowly, but maybe it wouldn't be too hard. Too slow for what I have in mind though.

Now, hooking something like that up to a light motorcycle.... there's something that would be fun.

EDIT: Well, the more I think about it, the less inefficient it seems. The spinning rotors would have plenty of momentum once spinning. You'd have to have pretty slow climb times to account for human weakness, but hovering might not be too bad as long as you keep everything well lubed and can handle a long stretch of uphill biking.

SirDuncan · #6 Post by **SirDuncan** » Tue 11 Dec 2007, 18:19

I think you're better off borrowing the engine from someone's lawnmower and using it to spin the rotor. In order to have rotors large enough to provide sufficient lift on the amount of force supplied by a human, the moment of inertia would be too high for the human to get things going. That's just a guess, I haven't actually done the calcualtions (I'm not sure that I would even know all the calculations to do, I'm just a CS major, not a physics or aeronautics major). Still, my intuition indicates that some other force is necessary for any sustained flight.

#7 Post by **Pizzasgood** » Tue 11 Dec 2007, 20:17

In order to have rotors large enough to provide sufficient lift on the amount of force supplied by a human, the moment of inertia would be too high for the human to get things going.

Who says a helicopter must be direct drive? A derailleur and some extra gears aren't all that heavy. And maybe get a buddy to push the rotors by hand from outside while you start pedaling. But yeah, getting them going at any reasonable velocity might take a while. You might almost have to have one person get them spinning to just below take-off speed, then swap out for some fresh legs.

Of course, the physics of a helicopter aren't really a part of the Computer Engineering curriculum either.

jonyo · #8 Post by **jonyo** » Tue 11 Dec 2007, 20:54

Pizzasgood wrote:Actually, had I the time and money, I'd be seriously looking into building my own plane.

It is doable.. http://tinyurl.com/2bsknp when the time us right.
http://www.loehle.com/ http://www.loehle.com/Aircraft_Kits.htm

One fella in these forums built & flew this (still has it too..) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_VariEze
(Might be this one?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Long-EZ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ruta ... ly.arp.jpg
http://www.ez.org/ http://www.jkearney.com/%7Eslk/MRY/index.html

jonyo · #9 Post by **jonyo** » Tue 11 Dec 2007, 21:31

Pizzasgood wrote:Now, hooking something like that up to a light motorcycle.... there's something that would be fun.

http://www.mobilewhack.com/reviews/supe ... cycle.html
http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx ... MWEM3K.htm
http://www.google.com/search?name=f&hl= ... motorcycle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jhziVz1 ... re=related

John Doe · #10 Post by **John Doe** » Tue 11 Dec 2007, 22:06

Pizzasgood wrote:But yeah, getting them going at any reasonable velocity might take a while. You might almost have to have one person get them spinning to just below take-off speed, then swap out for some fresh legs.

Hey, I ride my mountain bike 40 miles a day during the summers.

When you guys get it built, let me know and I'll do the peddling. I can easily sprint for 10-15 minutes with HIGH torque output.

jonyo · #11 Post by **jonyo** » Wed 12 Dec 2007, 02:31

John Doe wrote:Hey, I ride my mountain bike 40 miles a day during the summers.
When you guys get it built, let me know and I'll do the peddling. I can easily sprint for 10-15 minutes with HIGH torque output.

Superman could swing it no sweat, probably Spiderman & a few others that don't come to mind..at the moment. I'd bet against the Hulk or Thing..

#12 Post by **Pizzasgood** » Wed 12 Dec 2007, 04:04

I used to take an 8-10 mile ride every couple days after school, and I did do one 30-mile trip just to see if I could. Then I came to college, and the city isn't very conducive to biking. What I need to do is get off my lazy butt and start running. Of course, I'd need to set aside time to do that, which is my other problem...

I'll just have to suck it up and do it. I need to set aside some time to go camping too, among other things. I've learned the hard way that I can only take so much work before I start getting really innefficient (like right now - I shouldn't even be here. Should be working on my practice test. I had bad focus before, but this is ridiculous.)

Oh well... Back to work I guess.

bobwrit · #13 Post by **bobwrit** » Wed 12 Dec 2007, 04:42

Time=summer

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