View From The Porch: They said I was mad... MAD!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

They said I was mad... MAD!

From the Department of Don't You Tell Me What I Can't Do:

Concrete plane takes flight, makes history

Alrighty, then...

(via email.)

16 comments:

Home on the Range said...: Having flown several airplanes that had the glide ratio of a Browning gun safe, I can relate.

Pretty impressive actually.; 8:37 AM, May 11, 2013
Anonymous said...: The American Society of Civil Engineers has been sponsoring the student concrete canoe competition for decades, so seeing a concrete airplane is just the next logical step. Although I don't think that Boeing or Airbus are especially interested in the results...

Now when they make a lead zeppelin that flies, I'll be impressed.; 8:49 AM, May 11, 2013
AuricTech said...: I'd be more impressed by reports of a successful flight and landing by an abstract plane.; 9:22 AM, May 11, 2013
bluesun said...: I visited SDSoM when I was looking at colleges. They have a pretty awesome Mechanical Engineering program--including a 3D printer that DOES print with metal.; 9:59 AM, May 11, 2013
Anonymous said...: They made a lead zeppelin that flies on Mythbusters a season or two ago.; 10:26 AM, May 11, 2013
The Great and Powerful Oz said...: I'm curious as to how Brigid actually knows the glide ratio of a Browning gun safe. It sounds like a fascinating story.; 11:48 AM, May 11, 2013
Bubblehead Les. said...: So how long will it take to Ban Concrete Planes due to "POSSIBLE ITAR regs Violations?"; 12:00 PM, May 11, 2013
Noah D said...: One of my favorite poems:

I made an airplane out of stone.
I always did like staying home.; 1:26 PM, May 11, 2013
mikee said...: "They don't so much fly as plunge."

Monty Python skit on flying sheep.

Sometimes I wonder if there is any situation, any at all, to which a Monty Python reference cannot be made in a somewhat appropriate manner.; 2:54 PM, May 11, 2013
Billll said...: The F-4 was proof that with enough engine you can fly a cinder block.

They laughed when I proposed my concrete dirigible. Fools! I'll destroy them all!!! Bwahahaha!; 6:29 PM, May 11, 2013
Aesop said...: Aw, dang.

Now I know how the guys in the original "Flight of the Phoenix" felt when they found out Hardy Kruger only designed toy models.

I was hoping for a concrete something-the-size-of-a-Kitfox, or something.

>sigh<

Maybe next year, Orville.; 7:49 PM, May 11, 2013
Anonymous said...: The plane idea, denounced as demented,
stiffened my resolve to fly it cemented.

Antibubba; 2:13 AM, May 12, 2013
Gewehr98 said...: IIRC, the WWII Luftwaffe had a flying bomb that scooted towards its target via concrete wings.

It's not the construction materials, it's the technique, right?

"There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. Its knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, that provides the difficulties."; 2:48 AM, May 12, 2013
Joseph said...: Next step: A plane made out of sheetrock.; 3:59 AM, May 12, 2013
J.R.Shirley said...: As Anonymous said... http://jrshirley.blogspot.com/2011/06/concrete-canoes.html?m=1; 9:20 AM, May 12, 2013
Kristophr said...: Anon: Back in the dark days of the pre google internet, I do remember seeing a pic of a small hot-air balloon some ad execs made out of lead foil and a can of sterno as a stunt.

It did fly for a few minutes before the wind blew it into a fence.; 12:02 PM, May 12, 2013