diesel punks not dead

[dieselpunkisdad]

Step by step pics for the Elgin Clockwork animation.

The movement is modelled after an Elgin pocket watch. I have vector drawn the gears in Inkscape, they are fairly easy to do with the Polygon Tool, basic shapes and path unions and subtractions. The parts are then exported as black outlines on transparent background as bitmaps, loaded into Krita Animation Beta for coloring and animation. The final GIF conversion is done in Gimp.

The clock movement - though simple - turned out to be surprisingly difficult to animate. The entire aesthetic of a clockwork is that it ticks and turns precisely. Little drawing and timing errors become very-very evident. Also all the carvings, calligraphy scripts, decorations, shadows make it a pithole of details that just swallows time like a black hole. I uploaded the animation, started to write the text, then noticed a broken / missing detail, canceled the post, went back, re-did the rendering, uploaded it again, started writing, noticed something again, and dropped the post. 

Even though I simplified a lot of details. These Elgin Pocketwatches are just wonders of precision manufacturing and details. Check out one, if you have the chance.

[british-eevee]

B-52 Stratofortress in flight 

[dieselpunkisdad]

I just recently learned that a B-52 can actually land sideways. Well, not entirely, but up to a 20 degrees angle. 

All it’s landing gears can be pivoted: 

The gears are locked to the ILS and keep tracking the runway even if the plane itself is at an angle to the runway. The reason is that during a crosswind approach the plane has to fly into the wind or is blown off the approach path. 

So if you are forced to land in a strong crosswind, you keep the nose pointing into the wind, crabbing along, then in the very last moment you apply hard rudder, align with the runway and roll out.

This is a tricky maneuver at best. It’s not something you want to do regularly. Not on an 8 engine beast weighting 120 metric tons and loaded with nukes, flown by a crew who have been in the air for 16 hours straight. Also the wingspan is 58,4 meters and the wings are only about 1 meter above the ground at their lowest point. Your margin for error is not so much limited as rather non-existent. 

Long story short: the B-52 will simply pivot it’s landing gear so it can crabroll to a halt after touchdown.  

[quitit]

So, basically it’s drifting?

[dieselpunkisdad]

Yes. The Fast and the Furious - nuclear drift.

[dieselpunkisdad]

In progress: I started sketching the CAC Boomerang requested by @kalashnikovs-and-lace . So far it’s outlines and flat colors only. Next step are decors and insignia, highlights and shadows, a little texture on the exhaust pipe. 

Actually, I may redraw the exhaust entirely. It is a very characteristic part of the CAC Boomerang and there were multiple variations on how the exhaust was let out and cooled. I drew a basic one because at this size the differences don’t really show. For the record: 

- There was a shorter sideways angled pipe with heat protection plating following the exit:

- And later one that looks like it has little cooling fins: 

As it turns out there is an entire reddit discussion dedicated to these. This is how they look up close:

Apparently these are called porcupines and were introduced with CA-13 Boomerang Mk.II in 1942.

Redditor Tenroh_  points out an original scanned archive document of the Royal Australian Airforce, DTS [Directorate Technical Services] - Boomerang aircraft - cowlings and [engine-airframe] fittings:

on page 14 the night flying report says:

“During and after take-off, reflections of the exhaust flame in the perspex windshield are bad. The whole of the starboard mainplane is illuminated by the flame.”

So they installed this exhaust flame dampering porcupine because the exhaust flames were so bright at night that the reflections blocked the pilots view of the instruments. The fact that with flame suppression you also did not stand out on the night sky like a falling star whenever you kicked the engine to full power probably helped as well.

[dieselpunkisdad]

So this is how they turned out with the porcupines, cleanup, decor, highlights and shadows and animation:

A pair of CA 13 Boomerangs of the 83rd Australian Home Defense Squadron overflying a cloud bank whilst patrolling the coast.

[dieselpunkisdad]

F4U Corsair turning lazy circles on your dash. Requested by @jak303 .

[animal-mother-official]

Blast door art from Delta One Launch Complex in Wall, South Dakota. Painted by at the time airman, Tony Gatlin in 1989. 

[dieselpunkisdad]

Blohm and Voss BV 141 in flight

[russian-air-force]

AN72

[dieselpunkisdad]

this looks like someone tried to assemble a lego kit but when he got to the wings held the instructions upside down

[sea-room]

Hush, she’s beautiful.

[dieselpunkisdad]

As it turns out the AN 72 is quite a remarkable aircraft. There are two major reasons for the oddly high engine placement: 

1. The AN-72 has been designed for rugged conditions. It can land on improvised landing strips: dirt, grass or - fitted with skis - on snow. The high placed engines are less likely to suck in debris so it’s less likely to be struck in the middle of nowhere.

2. The over-wing engines blow the exhaust fumes over the wings creating additional lift. This is called the Coanda effect. The jet stream will essentially stick to the wing curvature and create additional lift:

This Coanda effect gives the AN-72 short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. Its takeoff roll is 620 meters and its landing run is 420 meters.

Fun fact: this Coanda effect is the reason for the forward mounted engines on the C-17: 

Observe, that the engines on the C-17 are not so much mounted under the wing, as in-front of the wing. This allows part of the engine exhaust to be blown through the crack over the deployed flaps creating extra lift through the same Coanda effect:

This results in more lift and lower stall speed for the C-17.

[dieselpunkisdad]

The experimental Boeing YC-14 featuring a similar over-wing engine layout harnessing the Coanda effect:

(via @bmashina )

Other AN-72 images for sheer beauty:

(via @russian-air-force )

and for a perspective on size:

(via @myfighterplanes )

[enrique262]

The evolution of the three-engined aircraft: A Ford Trimotor sits alongside a Boeing 727 trijet, 38 years apart. 

[dieselpunkisdad]

Hard-Earned Wisdom: Float Flying a Legendary Bush Plane - DHC-2 Beaver - Flight VLOG

[megarachne-deactivated20211209]

[dieselpunkisdad]

B-24 Ball Turret GoPro

Operating ball turret in the Collings B-24J at Bomber Camp

[sea-room]

Ray Hanna makes an extreme low-level pass in a Spitfire

[plausibledeniability]

Berlin-specific camouflage scheme

Interesting fact: in 1982 the UK forces in West Berlin came up with their own camouflage scheme designed for West Berlin. 

Not for “urban areas”: specifically for West Berlin. 

Initial reactions from his soldiers went from amusement to grudging acceptance. It was a similar situation with his fellow officers. However, all realised the advantage to be gained and how effective it was at the right distances. Certain camouflage patterns are ineffective when close up but improve as the distances increase. In our case, 50 to 60 yards was the minimum, as you got further away the target almost disappeared at 100 yards.

Following acceptance and encouragement by his Brigade Commander, the opportunity arose to show it to the Corps Commander. He came to Berlin to see for himself. Allegedly, he said “I can’t see your f*****g tank, must be a good idea” The paint scheme was adopted by the squadron and subsequently by all British forces in Berlin. Each vehicle was to be painted to the same pattern; the same size blocks of colour and pattern would make it harder to determine the strength of the British Forces because they all looked the same.

“Berlin Brigade Urban Paint Scheme”

Given that they were camouflaging a 55-ton tank, the results were surprisingly effective.

[epitoma-rei-militaris-deactivat]

Ayyyyyyyyy!!! Dual-tex reborn!!!

[dieselpunkisdad]

Tom Hanks playing Captain Chesley Sullenberger, the captain of the A320 who accomplished the miracle landing on the Hudson river after losing thrust in both engines short after takeoff from LaGuardia. Directed by Clint Eastwood. A must see.

This is the actual radio traffic with an animation. Listen to the man with the balls of steel:

A longer documentary:

[british-eevee]

Ye-152A at rest at an airfield (Date and location unknown)

[dieselpunkisdad]

I have seen these early MiGs with the central, protruding inlet cones since I was a child and never really wondered why those cones are there as compared to the blunt nosed MiG 15

or the F-86 Sabre

Yesterday I came across this exact question on Quora  and it shed some light on why those nose cones are so prominent. The answer of course is that the MiG 15 and the F-86 were subsonic while the MiG 21, 23 and the above pictured Ye-152 are supersonic. 

The plane goes supersonic, but all conventional jet engines - except for scramjet - require subsonic air to operate. There is some serious slowing down of air required because supersonic air does not treat turbines nicely.

The inlet cone diverts the sonic shockwave away from the inlet. The tip of the inlet cone - also called the spike - creates a conical sonic shockwave. The jet pushes this shockwave in front of itself while flying supersonic. The spike is shaped to keep this supersonic boom away from the engine intake.

As the aircraft accelerates this shockwave gets squeezed narrower to the point where it threatens to bite the lip of the inlet. High mach airplanes like the SR-71 pull the spike backwards to keep the shockwave diverted from the inlet even at high mach speeds. 

Depending on speed the air entering the inlet is already subsonic or low supersonic. Behind the cone is a diffuser that allows the air to expand slowing it further down and bleeder valves to get rid of excess air if needed. 

Modern supersonic aircraft achieve the same effect with a series of adjustable (or fixed geometry) shock ramps. These basically divert air to generate turbulence that creates shock waves to make sure the supersonic to subsonic translation happens before the air hits the engine fans. 

Further reading: how supersonic inlets work.

[dieselpunkisdad]

[proteus7-deactivated20180615]

This is an image of the Voith Schneider Propeller, or VSP, manufactured by the German company Voith Turbo.  Though not exclusive to tug boats, these drive units are used more in tugs than any other type of vessel, including the tug I work on.  Powered by a diesel engine, the blades of this unit rotate around and change pitch at different points of the rotation, creating thrust.  This type of propulsion can generate thrust in any direction 360 degrees, and allows modern “tractor” type tugs to be extremely maneuverable.  More info here.