Recent content by Flyboy

The failed parts were in a spot where visual inspection of them was impossible without removing the engine. They were tucked inside the bracket that they mounted to. My suspicion is that the FAA is going to order an inspection of that mount on every single DC-10/MD-11 in order to return to...

Yeah, that’s one of those things where you should reach out to an existing organization first and start working with them. It’s a great opportunity to learn not just rocketry, but also how to navigate the paperwork.

I love the enthusiasm, but as others have mentioned, a space shot is not an easy task. Trying to jump straight into that is recipe for disaster. My advice would be to start small. Aim for 1km first. Then go for 2-3. Then 5. Then 10. Ease into it, get a feel for how to build a safe and sound...

Yeah, I don’t think this design will ever fly. I saw someone call SLS the Senate Launch System, and there’s a depressing amount of truth to that accusation. They need to accept that they would get more bang for their buck by starting over and ignoring the sunken cost fallacy. Clean sheet, you...

Well, how far away is the nearest sniper perch, I wonder? 🤣

Bit late to the party, but… Static ports are not perfect. There’s always some disturbance from airflow around the airframe that needs to be accounted for. CFD modeling helps a great deal for that these days, but at least for larger jets, there will usually be a static port run out on a line...

Sorry, couldn’t resist sharing it. 😆 All memes aside, sounds like there’s still quite a few gremlins lurking in Starship. Perhaps it’s a good thing it burned up… god forbid it gets wet. 😏

Well, no harm done, no loss of vehicle… Learning experience.

I’m not fully through the video yet, but so far this has been giving an excellent breakdown of not only what pogo is, but how it might be only affecting v2 ‘Ships, and possible remedies for it:

I’m seeing increased speculation about pogo being the issue with the v2 Starships. Given the size of the vehicle and how much of a problem it was with other large boosters, I think it’s certainly possible. I would normally express some disbelief about SpaceX overlooking something important like...

Bit late to the party, but there’s a couple different types of attitude indicators you might cross paths with. The most basic one, such as is found in Cessna 172s and other general aviation airplanes, uses a single gyro to simply display the local horizon within a limited pitch and bank angle...

What you have designed is a planetary gearbox. They’re delightful for changing speeds, but not so much for changing directions while maintaining the same speed. You will want to use a bevel gear setup, tbh. Have one disc mounted directly to the motor shaft, using a mounting bracket with an...

To be completely honest, if there’s no support equipment or procedure already developed for the task, this should be documented thoroughly and run up the chain in the company, preferably as a safety issue.

Whomst pong’d? Yes, magento-type ignition is still used in aviation due to the simplicity and self-contained nature of it. You can suffer a complete electrical bus failure and still run your engine in a piston-engine aircraft, something that you notably cannot do in your personal vehicle...

Agreed. The artistry is in the framing and composition, not the image capture system.