Nautical Oddities

[Sailor g]

Me Too!!! I saw a guy with one going by us in the Marina del Rey channel. So cool. The guy is trying to go across the channel from LA to Catalina Island.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/...h-to-catalina/

You could pay for it with pressure boat washing. Just fly over & voila! Do 40 or 50 in a row in a hale hour.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by minaret

Don't forget this one. They tested a prototype in front of my marina years ago. Terrifying to watch. I read the numbers and they were really scary, couldn't believe they were right. They claimed the ceiling was 1,000 ft, top speed was 90 mph, and stall speed was around 60. That's a pretty small window for staying airborne! And who would be crazy enough to take this thing up more than a few hundred feet!?

A 30mph window is almost the same as US ultralights: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrali...(United_States)

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by minaret

I MUST HAVE ONE!!!


Wonder what happens if you get your leg under the jet stream...

...or something a little more precious...

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Adelie

A 30mph window is almost the same as US ultralights: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrali...(United_States)

Interesting. I know nothing about ultralights and flying in general, despite having lived in an area where ultra's and gyrocopter's were quite popular. That stuff is nuts to me. I'm sure they would say the same about offshore sailing...

30 mph just sounds like a dangerously small window to my ear. What if a big gust of wind comes up? I suppose it just adds to lift more than slowing the aircraft down?

[Nicholson58]

Iran unveils 'Bavar 2' stealth flying boat with machine gun and camera - 28 Sept. 2010 - YouTube

how about one of these beauties? bring home the groceries and take out the pirates.

[carstenb]

I remember from years ago a newspaper article entitled "Swiss Navy Captures Submarine". Seems a french smuggler had made a raft with neutral buoyancy
where the raft floated about 2 feet under water when loaded with the smuggled goods. He then had an electric motor with sealed watertight batteries. He sailed this across Lake Geneva wearing a wetsuit and scuba gear. Only his head was above water. Whenever he would sight the customs boat, he would simply duck his head down and be under water.
The customs had seen him several times but he always disappeared when they tried to get a closer look.

Finally caught the boat when he had to ditch it due to water coming into the batteries.

Tried to google it - but too old

[carstenb]

Here is a link to a video of a Danish guy who built his own submarine

danish amateur submarine first dive, subtitled - YouTube

His next project? He built his own rocket (it went into space). Then he built another bigger rocket (It also went into space)

Now he wants to build a manned rocket........

All these projects have been built with scrap. All instruments are donated by companies who have obsolete inventory. He builds everything himself.

amazing

[Kiwi303]

Originally Posted by Bear Essentials

A former city employee in the Fukushima prefecture town of Koriyama has built a 4-meter (13-ft) long canoe from thousands of used disposable chopsticks recovered from the city hall cafeteria. Bothered that perfectly good wood was going to waste after a single use, Shuhei Ogawara — whose job at city hall involved working with the local forestry industry — spent the last two years of his career collecting used chopsticks from the cafeteria. An experienced canoe builder, Ogawara spent over 3 months gluing 7,382 chopsticks together into strips to form the canoe shell, to which he added a polyester resin coat. The canoe weighs about 30 kilograms (66 lbs), which is a bit heavier than an ordinary cedar canoe, but Ogawara is confident it will float. A launching ceremony is planned for May at nearby Lake Inawashiro.

Self Illuminating these days?

[foreigner]

last seen in panama

[delmarrey]

Man made island using plastic bottles.

Richie Sowa's man made island - YouTube

[TomM]

I have no idea what the cage is used for...

[minaret]

Originally Posted by TomM

I have no idea what the cage is used for...

Obviously it's a radar reflector...

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by minaret

Don't forget this one. They tested a prototype in front of my marina years ago. Terrifying to watch. I read the numbers and they were really scary, couldn't believe they were right. They claimed the ceiling was 1,000 ft, top speed was 90 mph, and stall speed was around 60. That's a pretty small window for staying airborne! And who would be crazy enough to take this thing up more than a few hundred feet!?

This a is a Polares Flying Rib with a Rotax 582 the serice celing is 10,000 ft and top speed with that single surface wing would be somewhere around 45-50 mph with a stall speed of about 30-35 mph,if you add a double surface wing it might reach 70 mph! When it comes to light aircraft the specs are always a little off at publication and based on ideal conditions. One would be better off the higher they flew with the average altitude being 2000-2500 ft agl..I have one for sale if anyone is interested..

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by minaret

Interesting. I know nothing about ultralights and flying in general, despite having lived in an area where ultra's and gyrocopter's were quite popular. That stuff is nuts to me. I'm sure they would say the same about offshore sailing...

30 mph just sounds like a dangerously small window to my ear. What if a big gust of wind comes up? I suppose it just adds to lift more than slowing the aircraft down?

If the gust factor is more than a few miles an hour say going from 10-15 in 4 seconds you dont fly, that would be nuts...

[SkiprJohn]

Launching made easy. It's a bit of a long video but fun to watch nonetheless.

http://www.wimp.com/boatramp/

Powerboaters "Eat your heart out."