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Toys Robotics

Build Your Own Model B-52 200

Assmasher writes "Who says the cold war is over? Wren Turbines, a UK based manufacturer of scale modeling jet engines (usually for remote control aircraft), has provided the engines for a 300lbs+ scale replica of Boeing's B-52. This isn't normal Slashdot fare; however, it is nerdy enough, crazy enough, and if you watch the videos, cool enough to warrant serious geek attention. At roughly $3k per turbine, this is a serious piece of engineering. The sound alone is amazing!"
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Build Your Own Model B-52

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  • Freecache links (Score:5, Informative)

    by JS_RIDDLER ( 570254 ) * on Friday May 28, 2004 @09:04PM (#9282500)
    Freecache links... I tested all of these first
    B52_Test1.wmv [freecache.org]
    B52%20008.wmv [freecache.org]
    B52%20006.wmv [freecache.org]
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28, 2004 @09:12PM (#9282544)
    Sounds like something one of Richard Bach's ferrets could fly. See, for example, his books, _Air_Ferrets_Aloft_. A very good read. =)
    --
    SKYKING, SKYKING, DO NOT ANSWER
  • Akmai links (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28, 2004 @09:17PM (#9282559)
    1. Taxiing trials 1.1Mb [akamaitech.net]
    2. Takeoff 2.1Mb [akamaitech.net]
    3. Flying 3.35Mb [akamaitech.net]
  • by k4_pacific ( 736911 ) <`moc.oohay' `ta' `cificap_4k'> on Friday May 28, 2004 @09:25PM (#9282600) Homepage Journal
    Actually, I couldn't find any info on the scale, but, let's say its 1/100 full size, the bombs would have 1/1000000 the volume (1/100 the width, heighth, length) so we must conclude that such a weapon would not be a practical deterrent for reasons which, at this moment, must appear all to obvious.
  • by ignatus ( 669972 ) on Friday May 28, 2004 @09:26PM (#9282607)
    hwo want's the gory details? The airforce fact sheet [af.mil]
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28, 2004 @09:48PM (#9282697)
    www.brook.edu/FP/projects/nucwcost/davyc.htm
    the W54 warhead should fit nicely in the bomb bay, although at 51lbs might be a little heavy.

    The W54 warhead used on the Davy Crockett bazooka weighed just 51 pounds and was the smallest and lightest fission bomb (implosion type) ever deployed by the United States, with a variable explosive yield of 0.01 kilotons (equivalent to 10 tons of TNT, or two to four times as powerful as the ammonium nitrate bomb which destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995), or 0.02 kilotons-1 kiloton. A 58.6 pound variant?the B54?was used in the Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM), a nuclear land mine deployed in Europe, South Korea, Guam, and the United States from 1964-1989.
  • by Burdell ( 228580 ) on Friday May 28, 2004 @09:50PM (#9282703)
    The wingspan looks like about 6 feet to me, which would make it about 1/30 scale. IIRC, the bombs in Dr. Strangelove were supposed to be about 20 megatons. If you could scale the bomb the same way, you would still have a bomb with the force equivalent to about 740 tons of TNT. That's still a lot of deterrent to most things if delivered accurately; for example, the Oklahoma City bombing was equivalent to about 1.5 tons of TNT and the 9/11 World Trade Towers attack (both planes) equivalent to about 900 tons.
  • Re:Intresting... (Score:2, Informative)

    by kfg ( 145172 ) on Friday May 28, 2004 @09:52PM (#9282716)
    . . .why can't a couple more carry a 1000+ pound personal aircraft.

    Because "a couple more" would only provide 24 lbs of additional thrust.

    KFG
  • by hayesjaj ( 267076 ) on Friday May 28, 2004 @10:01PM (#9282750) Homepage
    I think you're referring to alerons and rudder...flaps increase the lifting surface (for some types of flaps) and slow the aircraft down.
  • Mirror (Score:4, Informative)

    by giminy ( 94188 ) on Friday May 28, 2004 @10:11PM (#9282794) Homepage Journal
    I put up a mirror of the videos as well.

    http://www.readingfordummies.com/Permanent/mirrors /b52/ [readingfordummies.com].
  • by IllogicalStudent ( 561279 ) <jsmythe79NO@SPAMhotmail.com> on Friday May 28, 2004 @10:18PM (#9282815)

    Amateurs... B-52s are simple to make; and cheap!

    • 1/3 shot Kahlua
    • 1/3 shot Amaretto
    • 1/3 shot Bailey's irish cream

    Layer the Kahlua, Amaretto, and Irish Cream into a shot glass in that order. After drinking, notice the Vapor Trails.

    I mean, really, aren't they teaching ANYTHING in schools nowadays?

  • by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Friday May 28, 2004 @10:20PM (#9282827)
    Wingspan is 23 feet, which brings it to 1/8th scale.

    And nukes don't scale the same way. There is a minimum amount of fissile material needed.

    With some tweaking, and maybe the next size up in engine, you could probably squeeze a 50-100lb payload in this. Which convientely encompasses the old W54 warhead.
  • Looked into this... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Goonie ( 8651 ) * <robert.merkel@be ... g ['ra.' in gap]> on Friday May 28, 2004 @10:27PM (#9282853) Homepage
    I wondered exactly the same thing on my blog recently, and found the Cri-Cri, as well as the BD-5J [benambra.org], which uses a slightly larger turbojet to make a one-person kitplane that can fly up to 500 km/h!

    The problem with them is that while the power-to-weight ratio (and thus max speed and altitude) is great, the fuel consumption is terrible, and to get reasonable fuel consumption and range you need to fly such high altitudes you need a pressurised cabin, further adding to the cost and complexity.

  • by r00t ( 33219 ) on Friday May 28, 2004 @11:40PM (#9283138) Journal
    It wasn't just a toilet seat. It was the whole
    seat and wall assembly of an aircraft lavatory.
    This was for the B1 bomber, so it was a custom
    design for a cramped space. I think they got a
    good deal, considering what they got.

    The hammer was some sort of calibrated impact
    device. There's a dial on it that you can set.
    Then, when you give something a whack, you can
    be sure to deliver the right amount of force.
    This lets you avoid breaking parts which most
    likely cost far more than the "hammer".
  • by Wyatt Earp ( 1029 ) on Saturday May 29, 2004 @12:04AM (#9283208)
    He wasn't drunk and he didn't nose dive it.

    http://s92270093.onlinehome.us/crmdevel/resource s/ paper/darkblue/darkblue.htm

    "On the 24th of June 1994, Czar 52, a B-52H assigned to the 325th Bomb Squadron, 92d Bomb Wing, Fairchild Air Force Base, WA, launched at approximate 1358 hours Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), to practice maneuvers for an upcoming airshow. The aircrew had the planned and briefed a profile, through the Wing Commander level, that grossly exceeded aircraft and regulatory limitations. Upon preparing to land at the end of the practice airshow profile, the crew was required to execute a "go-around" or missed approach because of another aircraft on the runway. At mid-field, Czar 52 began a tight 360 degree left turn around the control tower at only 250 feet altitude above ground level (AGL). Approximately three quarters of the way through the turn, the aircraft banked past 90 degrees, stalled, clipped a power line with the left wing and crashed. Impact occurred at approximately 1416 hours PDT. There were no survivors out of a crew of four field grade officers.

    Killed in the crash were Lt Col Arthur "Bud" Holland, the Chief of the 92d Bomb Wing Standardization and Evaluation branch. Lt Col Holland, an instructor pilot, was designated as the aircraft commander and was undoubtedly flying the aircraft at the time of the accident. 4 The copilot was Lt Col Mark McGeehan, also an instructor pilot and the 325th Bomb Squadron (BMS) Commander. There is a great deal of evidence that suggests considerable animosity existed between the two pilots who were at the controls of Czar 52..

    This was a result of Lt Col McGeehan's unsuccessful efforts to have Bud Holland "grounded" for what he perceived as numerous and flagrant violations of air discipline while flying with 325th BMS aircrews. Colonel Robert Wolff was the Vice Wing Commander and was added to the flying schedule as a safety observer by Col Brooks, the Wing Commander, on the morning of the mishap. This was to be Col Wolff's "fini flight," an Air Force tradition where an aviator is hosed down following his last flight in an aircraft. Upon landing, Col Wolff was to be met on the flightline by his wife and friends for a champagne toast to a successful flying career. The radar navigator position was filled by Lt Col Ken Huston, the 325th BMS Operations Officer."
  • by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Saturday May 29, 2004 @12:45AM (#9283315)
    I saw it earlier this afternoon, before the server melted down, and they listed the wingspan as 23'.
    Here's [wren-turbines.com] a static pic with people. Wingspan is quite a bit longer than 2x human height (6').
  • Re:Freecache links (Score:3, Informative)

    by TexasDex ( 709519 ) on Saturday May 29, 2004 @03:06AM (#9283808) Homepage
    The simplest reason for this is probably copyright law. I know it's stupid if you wouldn't be able to host a file that's being hosted elsewhere, but that's the way copyright law works. Slashdot can let people post mirrors or torrents of content without any real legal liability (actually under the DMCA they might even have some then) and watch them get modded up. Unless the license that the work is under already says so, however, slashdot can't host or distribute files without the copyright owners permission.

    Stupid? Yes. Unnecessary restriction? Of course. But these are lawyers we're talking about. OSDN probably has lawyers too, you know. And I'm sure they spend enough time keeping us out of copyright trouble.

  • by Paul Jakma ( 2677 ) on Saturday May 29, 2004 @03:25AM (#9283847) Homepage Journal
    most approaches come in on a glideslope of 12-14 degrees

    12 to 14 would be a dive, not a glideslope. Landing approach descent slope is typically around 2 or 3. A steep approach, eg Berlin Tempelhof, would be 5.
  • by RoyalCheese ( 738721 ) on Saturday May 29, 2004 @03:41AM (#9283883) Journal
    Amateurs... B-52s are simple to make; and cheap!

    1/3 shot Kahlua
    1/3 shot Amaretto
    1/3 shot Bailey's irish cream

    Layer the Kahlua, Amaretto, and Irish Cream into a shot glass in that order. After drinking, notice the Vapor Trails.


    Don't forget, you have to set fire to it before you drink it! (That's why its called a B52 - its go to down in flames! Yum and very warming!
  • Almost realistic (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 29, 2004 @04:30AM (#9284003)
    The video could have fooled me if there was black smoke pouring out everywhere. B-52s leave a lot smoke behind them.

    I wonder if they'll rig a chute for short runway landings.
  • by tindur ( 658483 ) on Saturday May 29, 2004 @04:38AM (#9284023)
    I don't think the Bailey's will burn. But if you layer Kahlúa, Bailey's and Grand Marnier in that order the Grand Marnier will burn.

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