It’s all fun and games until someone puts their eye out / I wish I had never seen this video
December 5, 2009I am going to try an maintain some level of sanity after seeing this but I am afraid that I will fail yet again. Yes, those are REAL mini jet turbine engines in action with REAL afterburners. It frightens me to know what I could do by misapplying this technology to my own knowledge of aviation aeronautics and how the resulting weapon could be used in a number of tactical environments.
I wonder how much money this guy would lose if crashed and burned this thing.
It seems totally unimaginable to me that the SR71 could have entered service the year I was born. Initial development would have had to have begun in the mid fifties. I guess it’s a good thing that the United States was able to capture the better share of the German Engineers that Hitler had working for him.
Here’s a tribute to Lockheed, the United States Air Force, the SR-71 Blackbird and the men who flew it…
notamobster :
Date: December 5, 2009
Brad – I’m an airplane guy. They retired these beauties just before I went to boot camp. They had one on the parade field at graduation (static display)… I’d never seen any machine so beautiful in all my 18 years (at that time). There is still no match for this marvel.
Thank you. Did you see my post on nose art for Veteran’s Day? They had some good art over the years.
MadBrad :
Date: December 5, 2009
No kidding on all points. Still today the SR-71 is a marvel for the eyes. It just boggles the mind how advanced that aircraft was for its time.
As for the Nose Art, that’s one of a kind stuff too. It needs to be brought back but I think it’s safe to assume that the Air Force of today is a bit too PC for that. Then again, so is the entire military.
I’m imagining the applications of a mini-jet turbine on a U-2 model. A proper wingspan with a 35 pound thrust engine could support gear for aerial photography and video. Equipped with digital communication hardware I could have a home-built Predator!
notamobster :
Date: December 5, 2009
“The FAA heavily regulates flying of such aircraft to only approved AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) sites, in where certified turbine pilots may fly. Also, the AMA requires model aviation enthusiasts who wish to operate miniature gas turbine powered RC model aircraft, to be certified in the operation of the type of gas turbine engine, and all aspects of safety in operating such a turbine-powered model aircraft, that they need to know in flying their model.”
***************
I believe the FAA also requires you to have a turbine radio-operator license for the FADEC onboard.
notamobster :
Date: December 5, 2009
Home built “Predator”? Nice.
Photo options are becoming increasingly more affordable. While you wouldn’t have the alltv of the real predators, you can buy some extremely sophisticated digital optics w/onboard memory, very cheaply.
see em here:
http://www.spycameras.com/view-all,cameras.html
My chief bought all officers the ink pen camera and voice recorder
MadBrad :
Date: December 5, 2009
I appreciate the link to the camera site. I’ve been giving serious consideration to installing a “Hood Cam” so Revo Readers can check in on what is happening here in the here on the outskirts of the 4th most dangerous neighborhood in America on a 24/7 basis. Aerial Hood Cam would be cool too but it’s the same ole shit here every day and I wouldn’t want to risk a state of the art spy plane gathering photos of THAT.
Yeah, I guess the government has to take the fun out of everything. This would not be something I could concern myself with. If I ever had the money to build something like that I would already have been breaking many Laws to get it.
BaconNeggs :
Date: December 5, 2009
Wow, amazing!
Are those after-burners real or simply halo lights for effect? Hard to tell for sure with the dubbed on soundtrack running.
Either way, very impressive.
I have always been in awe of the SR71 when on a visit to Mildenhall base, one took off and literally went straight up and disappeared from view.
I have been on the flight deck of another one at either Alconbury or Bentwater, an amazing piece of engineering and its a shame these birds no longer fly.
MadBrad :
Date: December 5, 2009
It could be LED’s but I can’t imagine anyone adding the extra weight of the size battery that would be required to operate them. Here’s a video that shows some startup and has no music. I didn’t see any afterburner on this one.
MadBrad :
Date: December 5, 2009
Okay, I’ve been hooked on flight nerd theatre here. One of my recurring dreams is of me being at the controls of some big military aircraft and having no idea what I’m doing but somehow managing to fly it anyway. One of the things I would like to do before I die is fly into space. Inside a U-2 spy plane modified as a two-seater I could actually do it. Again, the amount of money involved would indicate that I have engaged in some sort of criminal activity, which we here at the Real Revo frown upon.
Anyway, here’s recognition of yet another premier aircraft of the United States Air Force.
notamobster :
Date: December 5, 2009
Those are LED’s – these radio birds fly on a single engine (centerline mount) – notice the exhaust cone in the middle on the latest video.
The amount of thrust produced and weight of 2 engines that far out (from center)would dramatically increase the reinforcements required to support those wings and increase the weight(the longer the arm and weight on the end, the higher the ‘moment of force’) .
Hell, I may be completely full of shit!
notamobster :
Date: December 5, 2009
Man…. it turns out I am full of shit! I started researching the engines and specs on these things… the engines don’t way much at all (3-4 lbs)….
so, please disregard my previous overly-analytical bullshit with extreme prejudice.
MadBrad :
Date: December 5, 2009
I am such a sucker for anything like that. I just WANTED to believe that I could own a mini-jet turbine with afterburners, dammit. Now I somehow feel more safe knowing that it was all just a fantasy anyway. I must never have such power.
I wonder how many aircraft you crash before you get good enough to fly one of those things.
MadBrad :
Date: December 5, 2009
So are you saying that those could be REAL afterburners too?
notamobster :
Date: December 5, 2009
http://www.amtjets.com/
just think of what one could do with these, Brad!
click on ‘price list’, ‘complete package’, and ‘specifications’
super awesome sweet turbine engines!
notamobster :
Date: December 5, 2009
It turns out you can get an rc turbine with an afterburner:
http://www.airtoi.com/special/spec2.htm
UNFORTUNATELY – our least favorite bastard uncle (Sam) doesn’t like for us to have fun. The catch 22 is that you can only fly rc turbines at AMA fields, thanks to the FAA. That’s okay until you find out….. the AMA doesn’t allow afterburners at their fields!
How about these sweet planes for aerial recon?
http://www.nitroplanes.com/4chathiieldu.html
MadBrad :
Date: December 5, 2009
Imagine a cluster of four of these wrapped around a long fuselage on a craft with a U-2ish wingspan.
For that matter, imagine doing twin nacels on a B-52 model with these.
BaconNeggs :
Date: December 6, 2009
Hey guys I am reading the comments about those two Jet-Turbines in the wind “are they real or LED implants” and a wierd vision flashed across my mind.
Now that the Airforce are converting Pilots to play with their joy-sticks and basically fly a big long “flying dick” RC -radio controlled UAV’s (not so sexy for the average guy, although I can see how hitting AQ or the Taliban with a big flying dick, could be fun).
I am sure if some genius could remodel these UAV’s to look like classics such as this SR71, now that would be really sexy and fun Military RC.
notamobster :
Date: December 6, 2009
Imagine the possibilities, Brad!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5slM2JWYnBw
MadBrad :
Date: December 6, 2009
B&E, what I was to see is and RC SR71 hook up to an RC KC135 Tanker. That would be cool and with the right electronics perhaps it is achieveable.
As for YOU Mr. NM, many things come to mind. Number one, the helicopter costs only Forty Grand. An RC B-52 that I watched crash yesterday (video, not in person) costs Sixty Five Grand. As far as I’m concerned the helicopter is an easy sell.
I could easily make the helicopter pay for itself. No, it doesn’t have the lift to support bench seats mounted to the skids so my Real Revo Special Operators can assault armored cars that are stuck in traffic. Niether would I raid the houses of known Cocaine dealers to take their money and their stash, thus insuring my enrichment and their violent extinction (by way of their vendor). Nor would I fly the Texas/Mexico border and start tracking folks just for giggles. All of those are worthy criminal conspiracies, don’t get me wrong.
Based on the performance aspects of this aircraft I would mount an RC Searchlight on the nose of maybe a skid strut. In urban areas I could entertain myself in da Hood with the white light mode but that won’t pay the bills.
I would have an infrared lens for that searchlight and passive infrared nightvision goggles for night flights into Baker County (right next door). Every few years the Sheriff of Baker County goes to prison for some kind of involvement in Marijuana cultivation and distribution. The Who’s Who of Baker County have all had a green thumb at one point in their lives. Marijuana has a peculiar reflectance to it when it has a little dew on it and gets lit up with Infrared. I could just mark those spots on my GPS so I could come back to it later with my tactical School Bus converted for agricultural harvesting.
After a few good hauls like that I could have a fleet of helicopters AND RC U2 Predators at work for me.
Now you see why FAA Rules and Regulations are only worth the paper they are written on. They are suitable for wiping my ass with but that’s about it. I’ll be thinking about you when I’m back behind the razor wire. Maybe I should start fabricating an “Entrapment Defense” now before it’s too late.
MadBrad :
Date: December 6, 2009
Based on my Crminal History I could always fall back to the ole reliable defense, but it’s SO easy that it doesn’t require much in the way of creativity and is therefore less of a challenge than say, flying a helicopter at night wearing passive infrared goggles in a powerline-rich environment.
From Wiki…
The insanity defense is based on evaluations by forensic professionals that the defendant was incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong at the time of the offense. Some jurisdictions require the evaluation to address the defendant’s ability to control his or her behavior at the time of the offense. A defendant making the insanity argument might be said to be pleading “not guilty by reason of insanity” (NGRI) which, if successful, may result in the defendant being committed to a psychiatric facility for an indeterminate period.
Diminished responsibility or diminished capacity can be employed as a mitigating factor and in the United States is applicable to more circumstances than the insanity defense. For example, some jurisdictions accept inebriation or other drug intoxication as mitigating factors whilst intoxication is not accepted as an insanity defense on its own. If diminished responsibility or capacity is presented convincingly, the charges may be reduced to a lesser offense or the sentence may be more lenient.