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Jet-Powered Wheelchair
gpmcdermott writes "What does a man with too much time, a jet engine, and his mother-in-law's wheelchair, do?
The BBC is reporting on the results on the Beeb."
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I have seen him interviewed on the BBC, and the reason he didn't wear the lid was so he could hear if the jet was going to go wrong and if so abort. This is what racing drivers used to do in the 50s and 60s when engines were prone to seizing mid-race. He's plainly nuts, but I salute his cojones.
seany
Reading stuff like this brings tears to my eyes. On july 15 I was cut off while riding my 2000 r6. I was wearing a helmet (damn now its all scratched up), but that was all. I didnt get much road rash, so leathers wouldn't have helped much. I spent 2.5 weeks in the hospital (80k in med bills, anyone know of anyway to get help on uninsured med bills?), my pelvis is both shattered and broken, as is my wrist. I have 10 pins, and 2 external fixators. I will be out of work for atleast another 2 or 3 months. Lots of pain and stuff, lots of general badness, and lots of money troubles.
Then i see people riding with out helmets, on tv, on the internet. Soon Virginia will get rid of its helmet law. I am really saddened when i see this kind of thing
http://www.firstcallpaintball.com/
For those also interested in trying to get rid of their mother-in-laws, check out Nye Thermodynamics. This guy has made turbine engines out of automotive turbochargers, put helicopter engines into boats, and just plain done some cool stuff with turbines.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
some pics here:
o n/
t ml
http://www.outsideconnection.com/gallant/hpv/visi
an article:
http://www.agunn.com/work/seaweek/sw010215-zoom.h
And there's a pic of a conventional bike with a jet attached here:
http://bikerodnkustom2.homestead.com/rQr2.html
Early racecar drivers didn't wear seatbelts either as the fuel tanks were so prone to catching fire that it was better to be thrown out of your vehicle than to be strapped into it. With the development of the fuel cell, it is now much safer to be in a harness, of course but back then, 7/10 motorsport deaths were due to fire.
$#!^ happens, but why does it always have to happen to me???
Decent leathers contain shock absorbing armour - the modern stuff is very effective and would almost certainly have helped reduce your injuries.
I wrote off a CBR400 T-boning a car that pulled a U-turn right in front of me. I was probably doing about 25mph at impact (because I was able to break some before hitting), and flew over the back of the car. I was wearing full Dainese racing leathers, helmet gloves & boots.
The gloves took a lot of damage, I slid into the gutter & hit my shin very hard on the curb and the bike ended up on my foot. my only injuries were a bit of bruising on my foot - the shin armor in the leathers spread the curb impact over my whole shin, so I didn't get hurt at all by that - but it would have broken my leg without the armor. The arm, shoulder area and & hip also took a bit of abrasion, and I was also a bit bruised on my hip, but again the padding there helped absorb a lot of the impact, so I reckon the $1000 investment in the leathers was definitely worth the money.
Here's some info on abrasion resistance of different materials:
Reprint from a
Sept 88 "Cycle" magazine article "Abrasion Testing: Torn in the USA".
Drag Test
"For the Drag Test, samples were stitched to a bag that held a 75-pound
sandbag inside a milk crate, then dragged behind a pickup truck..."
New, 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 3' 10"
Senior Balistic Nylon 3' 10"
Leather, Lightweight, Nude Finish, 2.25 oz/sq. ft. 4' 3"
Leather, Fashion Weight, 1.75 oz/sq ft. 4' 4"
Two-year-old 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 4' 5"
Cordura Nylon Type 440 18' 3"
Kevlar 29 Aramid Fiber, Style 713 22' 1"
Leather, Competition Weight, 3 oz/sq. ft. 86' 0"
Taber Test
"For the Taber Test, the specimen was mounted on a rotating platform and
scuffed by two rubber-emery grinding wheels." The numbers represent the
number of revolutions until the fabric totally fails. A vacuum clears
debris.
Two-year-old 100% Cotton Denim Jeans: 168
New 100% Cotton Denim Jeans: 225
Kevlar 29 Aramid Fiber, Style 713: 506
Cordura Nylon, Type 440: 559
Leather, Lightweight, Nude Finish, 2.25 oz./sq. ft.: 564
Leather, Fashion Weight, 1.75 oz./sq. ft. 750
Senior Ballistic Nylon: 817
Leather, Competition Weight, 3 oz./sq. ft.: 2600
More to consider...
"Finally, protection from road abrasion cannot be guaranteed by a
materials abrasion resistance alone. A jacket may have panels of
highly abrasion-resistant materials, yet if low-quality stitching joins
those panels and the seams come apart upon impact or during a slide, then
the abrasion resistance of the panels could count for nothing.
Furthermore, an ill-fitting garment may ride up in a slide, contorting
the body and exposing the skin. And the best jacket in the world, left
unzipped and/or unsnapped, won't give riders the protection they pay
for. When it comes to safety, the issues are more complex than just the
abrasion resistance of materials."