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X-Wing Rocket Launches, Disintegrates
An anonymous reader writes "Remember the 21-foot X-Wing with four rocket engines? It launched yesterday from Plaster City and here's the video showing what many thought inevitable: total destruction in mid-air. From the post: "I can only say two things. The first is: absolutely amazing. And the second: poor Porkins." "
That kid really enjoying the destruction is pretty funny.
For those who'd like to do something similar but on a much smaller scale, Estes has done a number of smaller model rockets based on the Star Wars movies. A couple decent models are R2-D2 and my favorite, Vader's TIE fighter. But I would guess the most appropriate to this discussion would be the X Wing
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
/ You look like you're trying to pilot an \
\ X-Wing. May I help you? /
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\ / __ \
\ O| |O|
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cpu0: Microsoft Clippium ("GenuineClippy" ChromedMetal-Class). Paperbinding, lockpicking, fish-hook-hack support.
....Surprised, I am not.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
But shreds are not uncommon in high power rocketry.
I'm sure they'll learn from the failure and build another one until they get it right.
That's pretty much the whole point of the hobby. If you don't have the occasional spectacular failure, you're probably not innovating enough.
Come on baby....aw hell.
12:50 - press return.
I've often been amazed how bad the aerodynamics of Science Fiction are. The X wing is a pretty good example, with those huge laser weapons on the ends of the wings that guarantee flutter problems in the wings. I also find it hilarious that the leading edges of the wings are flat. Then there's the silliness of having 4 engines instead of two. The whole problem is instead of being practical, science fiction spacecraft are just there to look cool. If the rebels can't figure out a few obvious improvements like these then they deserve to be crushed like a bug by the Emperor.
..."The Farce is strong with this one."
"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." - Shepard Book Quoting Malcolm Reynolds
the kids wearing blue in the forground is clearly rooting for it to crash, you see his left arm raise victorious before the crowd goes ohhhhhh, and he continues to cheer as pieces fall.
and, if you listen carefully at the very end of the video, the announcer proclaims, "shit" over the loudspeaker
hilarious.
That was lame. Even if it hadn't disintegrated early, it was on an arc that would have hit the ground in about five seconds.
Now if they'd built it as a large R/C model aircraft, it would have been cool. That's been done in a 24 inch wingspan model, so it's possible to fly that shape.
The overall design of the x-wing serves one purpose: to look cool in a movie. Don't overanalyze. Accept it for what it is.
I think it depends to a great degree on how far you're pushing the envelope.
The early rocket experiments didn't have general guildlines to go from - and so they discovered problem after problem by experiment.
They also didn't have parts with known specifications - they were building their own engines which were often sources of problems.
An amateurer rocket designer today can buy off the shelf parts - and know exactly what their tolerances are. If their engines are certified to produce x N of force +/- y% then you can simply design for that. If they have a 99.99% reliability rate you don't need to worry about them just blowing up.
To me this whole thing sounded more like an exercise in amusement than trying to actually get a rocket off the ground. Nothing wrong with that - but it is hardly big news when the thing disintegrates in mid-air...
Wedge wasn't doing any good down there anyway.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
"the aerodynamic forces are relatively easy to estimate"
On a vehicle like the X-wing...which no one's ever done aerodynamic tests on...which has reverse facing wings...and pylons sticking out from them...and is shaped like a rocket with huge wings attached.
If you can estimate those forces easily and come up with it's coefficient of drag then I would like to subscribe to your newsletter...
There are two kinds of fool One says 'This is old therefore good' Another says 'This is new therefore better'- Dean Ing
How long will it be until someone edits in some TIEs and shoots down the X-wing rather than it just disintegrating?
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
Preferably one that can lock down stabilizer units when asked to.
Send inquiries to L. Skywalker, Endor National Hospital.
Hell, they even landed a city (Atlantis) from a non-orbit.
Whatever. I suppose with enough shields and inertia dampeners you can do almost anything.
No Kidding.
The stuff they did with Boston after mounting it on that guitar-shaped spaceframe are really impressive.
Reentry capability after interstellar flight was a necessity, while hovering on pressor beams simplified the search for a suitable landing area. The asteroid clearing capabilities made manouvering in planetary ring systems possible and the debris shielding was impressive. Needed a little boost to get out of the atmosphere, though.
The early prototypes weren't as sleek but worked pretty well, too.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
I was there to see it take off too. I also took video, might be a little clearer in this vid: http://view.break.com/378238 Greg