Barachan_Isles
Barachan_Isles t1_jb2t8yt wrote
Reply to TIL that the Convair Model 118, a tentative flying car from 1947, was shelved because its prototype crashed when a test pilot mixed up the flight engine's fuel gauge with the road engine's and didn't see the former run out. While he survived, this killed interest in the project. by ShabtaiBenOron
One of my hobbies is studying General Aviation accidents. It's a weird hobby for someone who has no interest in flying, but I'm fascinated by what brings down airplanes.
Anyhow, what I'm getting at is that the general public will never be ready for flying on a daily basis. The general public has a hard enough time navigating when all they have to modulate is speed and direction along a single axis.
Now add another axis of direction to most idiots on the road? There would be hundreds of these things falling out of the sky and into people's houses and shopping centers every day.
Barachan_Isles t1_ja1b28s wrote
Reply to TIL about the only double barrel cannon in the world. When it was its first tested during the American Civil War, the chain snapped immediately and one ball tore into a nearby cabin, knocking down its chimney; the other spun off erratically and struck a nearby cow, killing it instantly. by ExpertPreference8481
This cannon actually belonged to my family.
I'm a descendant of John Gilleland who built it and I even grew up on Gilleland drive in Athens, GA until I was 10 years old.
The "house" was a run down shack built in the 1920's that was adjacent to the family graveyard which has since been bulldozed... The house, not the graveyard. If you go the graveyard today (difficult to find because the new houses block the view), the large family headstone actually says "Sims" on it, because the family patriarch was a privateer for the English crown who settled in GA.
When I attended UGA and was out bar hopping with buddies I would sometimes walk up to the cannon and tell them it was mine.
Barachan_Isles t1_j7xywp8 wrote
Reply to TIL an abstract painting called "New York City I" has been accidentally displayed upside down since 1980 by Specialist_Check
If people who know art can't figure out which way to hang your painting, then you've failed at creating art.
Barachan_Isles t1_iur209w wrote
Reply to TIL that one third of sea level rise is from thermal expansion (not melting ice) by on_surfaces
Just wait until our sun dies and becomes a red giant, that's gonna cause some fun thermal issues too.
Barachan_Isles t1_iqyyg88 wrote
Reply to TIL a German scientist named Alfred Wegener was ridiculed in 1912 for advancing the idea that the continents were adrift. Ridiculed as having “wandering pole plague.” or “Germanic pseudo-science” and accused Wegener of toying with the evidence to spin himself into “a state of auto-intoxication." by Hot----------Dog
This is why I always trust the science. Because the science is always right about everything.
Barachan_Isles t1_jb634tr wrote
Reply to comment by rapiertwit in TIL that the Convair Model 118, a tentative flying car from 1947, was shelved because its prototype crashed when a test pilot mixed up the flight engine's fuel gauge with the road engine's and didn't see the former run out. While he survived, this killed interest in the project. by ShabtaiBenOron
I work for the DIA, they know exactly where to find me. :D
However, my dream job would be NTSB accident investigator. My lack of aeronautical experience precludes me from that unfortunately.