Thursday, October 31, 2013
Happy Halloween
If Halloween grisly is your thing, check out these photos by Nick Brandt. He found the dessicated, preserved bird and bat remains at an alkaline lake in Tanzania where the pH runs from 9.0 to 10.5. Brandt said the waters are extremely high in soda and salt. He took the carcasses and posed them for these images.
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Another unique feature of the area surrounding Lake Natron - the lake featured in these images - is the rather bizarre strativolcano known as Ol Doinyo Lengai. Lengai is unique fro its extremely fluid carbonatite lavas, which possess a highly alkaline chemistry that lowers their temperature so that they appear black or silver-gray in open daylight, and enable them to flow as quickly and freely as water. The lava does glow red at night though, and despite having a lower temperature than other lavas (about 950F) Lengai lavas can still deliver sever burns if come in contact with. another curious feature us the lava begins to change colour to a much lighter hue after a few days exposure to the air...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qputaVyn7TE
N.
Hi Neil. I was thinking of your thing for light aviation when I stumbled across this BBC video this morning. Check it out.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24750978
Very reminiscent of Rutan's Vari-Eze and Long-Eze,as well as the GyroFlug Speed Canard. I've never flown a canard myself. I know when they're built well that they're fast and miserly with gas, which makes them great for long cross country's. Conversely, I've read that they end to be runway hogs - especially on hot days or at fields with high density altitudes. Don't know if I'd want one for myself as I'm not a big fan of tandem seating. I put in a number of hours on Harvard's, T-6's, and some on a Stearman biplane years ago and found I preferred side by side seating (especially if the comm goes wonky as it did on one T-6 flight). Not that I'm a huge fan of Cessna's (I do like the little 152, especially if it's had a tailwheel conversion) or Piper's, though I do like the PA38 Tomahawk II.
There are a couple of multi-seat canards out there (the Velocity and Cozy Mk IV come to mind) that have a convention GA cabin layout...
N.
Yes, I was also thinking of Rutan's Eze. Still, at 50,000 quid it seems like a pretty affordable option, especially if it handles the way they suggest.
It's encouraging to see this transition level between ultralights and conventional A/C of the Cessna level.
The one bit that made me somewhat apprehensive was mention that the Brits have deregulated from aircraft grade standards to automotive standards.
Not sure what you're referring to in your last sentence. If it's the aircraft themselves I don't know what the UK regs are; but if you're referring to pilot licensing standards where you no longer need a private pilot's-level medical I think that's a result of various aviation groups around the world (eg., AOPA, EAA, COPA) putting pressure on lawmakers to loosen the regs so that older pilots wouldn't automatically lose their medicals so readily by force of bureaucracy, and I think it was also done to open up recreational flying to more people who might have thought it out of reach before. I know here in Canada they established the RPP - Recreational Pilot's Permit - some years back with those factors in mind. It does have its conditions and restrictions, though; its strictly daytime VFR - no night time or IFR conditions flying, you can only fly "low" performance aircraft - so basically low speed, fixed gear, simple aircraft of up to four seats (Cessna class) but you can carry only one passenger, and you can only fly within Canada's borders (no jaunts to the States).
How about this for the ultimate in side-by-side flying? The LightPlanes FK-14 Le Mans...
http://www.fk-lightplanes.com/aircraft.php?ln=2&pg=19&af=3&idp=6
Europe truly has led the charge when it comes to new light aircraft and LSA development. Most of what you see in North America originated across the Pond.
I would LOVE to see someone revive the vintage ERCO Ercoupe 415 as a composite LSA. Existing 415C's can qualify s an LSA if they're flown in an essentially bare bones state, but I think if you did a composite revival of the Coupe (with a slightly wider fuselage and cabin), hung a Rotax 912ULs on it, yet retained all of the other original features that made it so unique as an aircraft I think you'd have a winner. I mean, how can you not love a funky looking, tri-gear, twin-tailed little airplane that can't stall, can't spin, and where you can slide down the cabin windows and cruise along as though it were a '57 Chevy convertible?
N.
Well Neil, that's the way to begin a morning - 45 minutes on YouTube checking out the Fk line. The Le Mans is awesome especially since it has a convertible closed canopy option but at $110 grand it's getting up to the higher end for that line. Pretty neat.
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