ORIGINAL: F106A
Hi everyone,
I've been following this thread and it's really strange how some people think.
When the B-52 was first shown, it was the "wow" factor, everyone thought it was great achievement.
Then it crashed and almost everyone, at least here in the US, started criticizing Gordon: it was too heavy, not engineered right,
didn't have any composite's in the structure, too complicated, too big, and on and on.
An amazing turn around, wonder if the reaction would be the same if it was still flying.
Give Gordon credit, he had a dream, he got the resources together, engines, radio's etc, to make the dream come true. He built the BUFF, flew it around 50 times before it went in. And just to refresh everyone's memory, it went in because of pilot error, not because it was structurally and/or system deficient, so he must have done SOMETHING right when he designed and built it!
If it wern't for dreamers like Gordon and people who want to push the envelope, we'd still be flying single channel tone w/vacuum tubes.
BRG,
Jon
That's not true AT ALL.
When news of that model first came out, a LOT of people worried that it was just too much. Myself included.
I don't think the model really teaches us much...it's just a very large balsa model, not innovative, just LARGE.
Just making something BIGGER does not make it "innovative"...it could be just BIGGER.
I take that back...it DID teach us something...that balsa and ply and conventional modelling techniques are probably not adequate for a model of this size and weight.
I think Eddie Weeks' model was innovative. He applied some thought and engineering and ended up with a DC10(two of them) that were light, safe, and incredibly STRONG.
I know the first crash was pilot error. The second, nobody knows. But a third was inevitable, if they let him build a third...which they won't...which says something.
The model is very cool, and you have to admire the builder, but my feelings are he pretty much found out the upper limit on size, weight, and complexity, and I really don't see a need for others to try to outdo him. But somebody will try, I'm sure.
I just think when you get into 300 pounds, it's insane to be thinking just scaled up balsa and ply model airplane construction, I think you need to be thinking of actual engineering skills, math, computer modelling, stress testing, fatigue cycling, that kind of thing. Because 300 pounds and eight turbines and several gallons of fuel...man, that's a whole nother story.