As part of my week at Space Camp back in 1985, I got to wear one of Buzz Aldrin’s practice suits as part of a demo. I remember it being small even for me as an upcoming 9th grader and very hot without the cooling pack working. Procedures had you donning the helmet last, but you always have to take the gloves off first…

Right now, I think labor rates are driving repair costs more than parts. My father’s local small-town Chevrolet dealer charges $160/hr which seems exorbitant given the cost of living there.  

Just so you know I’m not lying.....

I went to my local DMV office in Smithfield, VA back in 2015 to do a DL renewal with Real ID. Had all the right paperwork (read the requirements ahead of time) so I got my call number and took a seat. After an hour and a half of waiting, I need to use the restroom. Glancing around, I didn’t see any signs for one so I…

So it’s known that you can reduce/eliminate contrails from an airplane by changing altitude/route. The problem is how to manage all these changes within the air traffic control framework and still keep the necessary separation between planes for safety (which can be several miles depending on plane size). I’ve seen…

$4M per x 799 units = ~$3.2 BILLION DOLLARS!!

Just a bit of understatement there. LAFB is home to Air Combat Command which is in charge of all fighter jets for the whole USAF. It also is home base for the 1st Fighter Wing and its compliment of F-22's. Right next door is NASA Langley Research Center with it’s wind tunnels and research labs performing critical…

Hey, I’m not saying I’m a fan of the new M5 (for me, the pinnacle was the E39) but it was eye opening to see we’re basically paying the same money every generation and getting more for it every time the new one comes out.

I agree that modern cars can be needlessly complex and heavy but one cannot deny that the value you get today is way better than what it was. Car and Driver recently had an article related to the new BMW M5 (the poster child for ‘sport’ sedan excess) and a comparison to all the previous generations. Adjusting for…

As a long time SAAB owner* that ran his cars over 150K miles, the first thing I’d want checked with that B235R motor is the coolant. Head gasket failures happened with these for various reasons (bad design of the early ones, GM ‘Deathcool’ coolant). If the seller can supply clear results from test strips that detect…

My 2010 BMW 535i can open/close all windows and the sunroof via the lock/unlock buttons on the fob if you do a little coding. It also has auto up/down on all four windows which I sorely miss on my 2022 Maverick which only has auto down on the driver’s.

Now I have an explanation for what happened this morning when I brought my wife’s Honda in for service. It is quite surreal to see them struggle with pen and paper to process my service appointment. I saw one service writer using CarFax to get/update the history on a vehicle and I can’t imagine what’s going to happen…

The technology Honda is using (arrays of Helmholtz resonators) has been employed in the aerospace industry for nearly 50 years to absorb noise from aircraft engines. They are termed ‘acoustic liners’. The inner walls of engine nacelles and even some of exhaust nozzles are treated with these structures. The…

I’ve had two that vexed me.

Can’t use closed-cell as it won’t work acoustically. Best bet for areas like that is to use nitrogen fill as it won’t contain any humidity.

They use a block of open-cell foam glued to the back side of the tread to act as a sound absorber.

EV tire prices are crazy.

Hmm. Not sure if his claim is just a bit of hyperbole.......

I’ve been skeptical of the whole AAM market for some time since I can’t see how one can make money charging reasonable rates when using such expensive vehicles. That being said, Hyundai certainly knows how to manufacture at scale to a low cost and the head guy here does know a thing or two since he led all aeronautics…

Your statement is a gross generalization of sonic booms as their intensity is dependent on a host of factors related to aircraft size and shape, speed, weight, any maneuvers it’s trying to perform, etc. There has been significant and successful research by NASA and others to understand how these factors affect booms…