Author Topic: Nuclear fusion soon to be viable?  (Read 163 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Omni

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8563
Re: Nuclear fusion soon to be viable?
« Reply #15 on: March 11, 2018, 11:46:04 pm »
Sikorskyi came up with the main rotor, tail rotor configuration that most helicopters use. You need the tail rotor to counteract the torque from the engine or the rotor will spin in one direction and the fuselage in the other. The alternative is to use two main rotors which  turn in in opposite directions.

He also understood that the main rotor is a gyroscope which will react 90 degrees in advance of a force applied to it and designed a control system that could change the pitch of the blades in order to control the rotor. Up, down, forward, back, right, left. When I took helicopters in aircraft maintenance at BCIT, the first thing that went through  my mind was that this guy was a friggin genious to figure this out. Thy really are fascinating machines.

You oughta see what happens when that tail rotor thingy leaves the rest of the aircraft in flight.

Offline wilber

  • Administrator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9120
Re: Nuclear fusion soon to be viable?
« Reply #16 on: March 12, 2018, 09:34:25 am »
The dream of flight goes back long before Da Vinci. Because it was one many fields he dabbled in says  a lot about him but it doesn’t automatically follow that he inspired someone else to build a flying machine. He was a great man regardless of whether he did or not.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline Queefer Sutherland

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10187
Re: Nuclear fusion soon to be viable?
« Reply #17 on: March 13, 2018, 05:26:56 pm »
Quote
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/12/the-guardian-view-on-nuclear-fusion-a-moment-of-truth

"Iter will also test how “clean” a technology fusion really is. About 80% of a fusion reaction’s energy is released as subatomic particles known as neutrons, which will smash into the exposed reactor components and leave tonnes of radioactive waste. Just how much will be crucial in assessing whether fusion is a dirty process or not."

Until I see a working one that doesn't suck I'm not pinning my hopes on this.
"Nipples is one of the great minds of our time!" - Bubbermiley