youtube .. (Hitting Refresh for videos!)

[phattslagg]

Dancing ravers, set to Benny Hill.

Mesmerising, and pretty damn funny:

[Firefox]

This may be of interest to nerdlingers and boffins :

That was *very* interesting! It's so great to get all this inside, first-hand info that was classified six ways to Sunday when I was a lad.

More from the same chap:

Spoiler: show

Long, but jam-packed full of really good stuff:


Short clip of the above:

[(o)(o)]

Yes I went on a bit of a youtube trawl after watching that one.. absolutely fascinating stuff !!

Here's a couple more full of amazing stuffs! Detailed first hand accounts :



Love this next one.. from the cheesy musak... the way it seems to be intended for senior citizens and the interview is performed by a lovely old dear who asks simple questions but is bombarded with technical observations lol... Like at 16:45...

Question "Can you tell us about the spike on this it's really sharp"
Answer "This is the geometric fix for how you ingest mach 3 air..." .... "The pressure recovery at the back end of the shockwave is a function of one over the mach number of the air coming in...." etcetera for about 5 minutes.



The thing I can't get to grips with is fuel tanks designed to leak before take off, and having to take off with nearly empty tank and refuel....

[F-ZeroOne]

They had tremendous trouble trying to find a sealant that would work at Mach 3. In the end, they worked out that fuselage heating would expand the airframe and seal the tanks anyway, and this being The Cold War, it was easier to have the tanks leak on the ground and just fuel-up before mission start anyway.

Would be interested to know, actually, if anyone ever did fix that problem? I mean, if you're allowed to talk about it...

Theres a famous, though possibly apocryphal story, about a series of aircraft requesting speed checks on a shared radio frequency from air traffic control. Basically, private owners kept one-upping each other until a F-18 gets on the line and clocks in at 600 knots... which seems to seal victory, until a passing SR-71, having been monitoring the channel, chimes in and gets a reading of 2,000 knots... at which point, everyone else goes very quiet...

[Firefox]

The thing I can't get to grips with is fuel tanks designed to leak before take off, and having to take off with nearly empty tank and refuel....

Nah, cockpit-tour blokey says in his talk that that's a myth: It drips a little bit, but they catch it in trays. The plane carries 80,000 lb (36.3 tonnes) of fuel, so it's not a significant loss.


Anyway, early nineties VR cyberspace cyberpunk stuff! Yeah!

[F-ZeroOne]

Its a bloody persistent myth then - its mentioned in a book about Lockheeds legendary "Skunk Works" research and development outfit, and that was written by Ben Rich, who helped design the SR-71!

"You're just a pilot, Amuro!"

"Maybe, but I still kicked your arse!"

[(o)(o)]

Its a bloody persistent myth then - its mentioned in a book about Lockheeds legendary "Skunk Works" research and development outfit, and that was written by Ben Rich, who helped design the SR-71!

In one of those videos, you can see the stuff pouring on the ground... I mean, I dunno.. it looked like a lot.. I can't remember which vid now though I have watched so many.

[F-ZeroOne]

[Mark]

[youtube]vMsICA_l_ZY#t=114[/youtube]

[(o)(o)]

It's Hammertime!

Warning : Graphic Violence.

Spoiler: show

Rip Torn decides to get into character whilst filming Maidstone (1970) and attempts to assassinate Norman Mailer with a hammer.



Frankly I think he should have finished the job. Mailer just seems like a real scumbag. Here he is being absolutely charming on the Dick Cavett show.



He had already headbutted Vidal in the dressing room prior to this clip. Tsk tsk!
Got to hand it to Vidal he didn't let physical assault deter him from getting grins trolling his enemies.

[F-ZeroOne]

[Yak]

[Firefox]

I love the look on the little lad's face!

[pogo]

[pogo]