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Saturday, 24 November 2012

home made air conditioner


Credit goes out to Pete H. in sunny England for this great build. This version of the homemade air conditioner removes the need to drain water outside by using an aquarium pump, and sits on a rotating base. Check out more homemade air conditioners here.
01_p_overall
Here’s the overall view of the unit. You can see the insulated polystyrene box containing icewater and the aquarium pump, along with the fan and attached copper tubing.
02_p_fan_front
Pete did a much neater job of attaching the copper tubing to the front of the fan than I did. Using copper tubing on both the front and back of the fan is a great idea, the more copper tubing, the more heat exchange possible.
03_p_fan_top
Here is a view of the unit from above, allowing us to see the copper coils on both the front and back.
04_p_fan_w_cooler
Here we can see the entire system on its rotating base, allowing directional cooling (most) anywhere in the room.
05_p_icc
This picture shows Pete’s innovation, the Internal Cooler Coil (ICC) ready to be installed. The water first runs through this coil, through the ice water, and then out to the fan. Pete and I are wondering if this actually increases performance at all, but it sure looks cool.

Racing Airplanes

 
The Formula One racing class is without question the most successful class in the 86-year history of airplane racing. It has seen more races, more pilots and more airplanes than all other racing classes combined in a half-century lifetime, and has experienced but one important change in its rules in all that time. Moreover, it is the only formal air racing class to be exported from the U. S. to Europe, and the only class to be recognized by the International Aeronautics Federation (FAI), the world governing body for competitive aviation.

As a specified class it had its inception in the concerns of many wiser heads in the air racing community in the latter years of the "golden age" of American air racing prior to World War II. The excessive costs that were diminishing competition and an unacceptable accident rate were threatening to strangle the sport.
But the dreams of a practical, safe racing class of small planes powered by inexpensive and reliable engines wouldn't go away ... but alas, they remained nothing more thin dreams until the autumn of 1939 when, on September 24th, the New York Times reported that the National Aeronautics Association Technical Committee had an interest in midget racers. It was not until the immediate post-war years however, that any serious planning for the development of the class was accomplished.
 
In October 1946 the Professional Race Pilots Association completed work on specifications for the 190 cubic inch engine displacement class, and that organization formally accepted the specifications on December 3rd. Fifteen days later the NAA Contest Board approved the PRPA specifications and the new class was born.
On January 12, 1947 the new class was given a significant boost when the Goodyear Aircraft, Corporation announced sponsorship of three annual trophy races in the new class with $25,000 purses, with the first to be held at Cleveland the following September.
By midsummer a number of the new breed of aircraft were under construction and the first one flew on July 4th. Twenty-one of these new midget racers were formally entered in that first Goodyear trophy race, fifteen actually appeared at Cleveland and twelve completed qualifying tests and time trials. That first race meet was a notable success with eight exciting and accident free races over a three day period.... setting the tone for the years to follow.
The specifications which established among their rigid compliance requirements a maximum engine size of 190 cubic inch displacement worked well for a number of years. The Continental four cylinder air cooled engine of 188 cubic inches displacement was the one dominant engine of the day with a reputation for reliability in the American small plane market. It was rated at 85 horsepower, was economical and was readily available ... and thus became the standard powerplant of this racing class.
However with the passage of years, the Continental C-85 engine went out of production and with their ever-limiting availability by the mid-'60's, it became necessary to amend the specifications for the class and permit use of the newer and slightly larger piston displacement engines of 200 cubic inches. This was done on January 1, 1968, and the 190 Cubic Inch Class officially became the Formula One Class. It is interesting to note that this has been the only significant change to the specifications for the class in its 50 year history.
Performance increases which had been steady but un-dramatic now accelerated significantly, though not solely as a result of the slightly larger engines and the new and improved aircraft designs and materials for their construction. New race courses were generally larger and uniformly of six pylon configuration which made turns at the pylons less stressful on both pilot and plane...and less hazardous.
A six-pylon race course was nothing new. One of such configuration had been first used at Istres, France successfully in 1923. At that first Goodyear meet in Cleveland in 1947, the NAA Contest Board originally approved a three pylon course with unusually sharp 60' turns at all three pylons. But at the insistence of PRPA president, veteran racer Art Chester, who adamantly sought safer course layouts, it was redesigned, but only to a four pylon layout. Ironically, a six pylon course was not to be used until May 1949 at Newhall, California as a result of the tragic deaths of Chester and another pilot on a four pylon course at San Diego two weeks earlier.
Formula One racing became something of an all-American spectator sport. Races were held in both large and small venues from coast to coast and interest among aviation enthusiasts was high. But it remained uniquely an American sport until the first of the European races under Formula One rules was flown by the British at Jurby, Isle of Man in 1970, and to date the Europeans (primarily the British and the French) have flown 126 race meets in 5 countries; and in 1976 the French held the first truly international event of significance, the 1976 International Grand Prix at Le Castellet, France with planes and pilots from three nations participating. Subsequently, British crews and planes competed in U. S. races in 1983 and 1987.
Although raceplane performance improved remarkably over the sport's first 21 years, it was not totally unexpected given the more favourable factors that emerged with the passage of time. The average speed of the ten fastest qualifiers rose 30% between the first race meet and the last meet with the 190 cubic inch engines twenty years later. In the next twenty years, that figure had risen to 57% with the amended specifications, improved aircraft designs which took advantage of improved technology, and larger and better configured race courses. And even more dramatic increases in performance have been recorded in the past few years. At the latest meet in 1996, the top qualifying speed was over 100 miles per hour faster than that of the top qualifier at that inaugural race in 1947 ... and with an engine with but 5% greater displacement.
In the fifty year lifespan of this racing class, over 200 aircraft have raced in 782 U. S. races in 177 race meets (through the 1996 racing season) from coast to coast and in Mexico and Canada, and the number of existing and under-construction planes is at an all-time high. The current group of Formula One racing pilots is more experienced than ever before with most of them flying regularly in other segments of the aviation world.. . as airline pilots, corporate pilots, charter pilots,. FAA check pilots, military pilots, agriculture pilots and instructors. Four aging veterans in their mid-'70's, one of whom is commencing his 50th year of racing in this class. . a remarkable achievement not likely to be equalled.

New and technologically advanced planes are now racing and new ones are appearing with each new racing season to challenge the leaders in this one-of-a-kind sport; a sport that gives promise of a bright future as it wings optimistically into its sixth decade.

Agricultural simulator

Bored of shooters? Killed enough dragons? Perhaps you’re looking for something fresh. Something more rural, with classy overtones of nostalgia. Perhaps you’re keen to get away from war and blood and and death and that. What you need, my friend, is a tractor and a field to plough, and an incessant banjo twanging away in the background. The banjo is especially important. Enter Agricultural Simulator: Historical Farming, a glossy look at “the golden age of mechanized farming.” It claims to be “the ultimate agricultural driving, workflow and business simulation.” If you don’t like the idea of words like “workflow” appearing in your out-of-work entertainment, hold off judgement until you’ve seen the first screenshots showing a those classic tractors lingering in empty garages, unused and alone. And before you ask, YES. There is a playable demo. It wouldn’t be a proper farming simulator without animal husbandry, of course. The official Agricultural Simulator site has word of some of the extra tasks you can take on as king farmer. It’s in German, so you can thank Google translate for the skewed expressions. “Build on another leg, and you are operating a livestock: cows, horses, sheep, chickens, geese, including game, you can keep on your farm and maintain.” says the site. “If all goes well, you will be able to obtain offspring in some species,” it adds. Move over, Call of Duty, there’s a new horse in town. There’s even a co-op mode that’ll let you and a friend tend to your yard together. Agricultural Simulator: Historical Farming is out on May 18.






The sequel of the successful Agricultural Simulator 2011 enters the next round.
An idyllic grange surrounded by invitingly untouched mountain panoramas and unworked fields are awaiting all agriculture fans in the Agricultural Simulator 2012. At their very own farm hobby-farmers undertake the daily tasks of an agriculturist: The producing of food, sustainable resources and the delivery of energy materials. Fields have to be worked and farm animals fostered. To work smaller fields and alpine pastures only machines with less performance are available at the beginning, but the vehicle fleet will constantly be supplemented by more powerful agricultural implements.
Future agriculturists have to invest tactical and clever - the consumption of money by the running costs and seeds must not be underestimated. To realize profit it takes financial and tactical skill.
Numerous models of Fendt, Challenger, Massey Ferguson and Valtra, which vehicles are reproduced in facsimile, are on hand. All machines and tractors can be driven and navigated by the player.
Features:
  • Vast gaming world with mountains and valleys
  • Exciting career mode with trading feature
  • Market place for animals, seeds and machines
  • Countless economical circuits: growing of crops, breeding, bio gas
  • Agricultural technology of Fendt, Massey Ferguson, Challenger and Valtra
  • Realistic physics
  • Highly sophisticated co-workers AI
  • Day and night cycle as well as varying weather conditions
  • Multiplayer via network or internet