Comments on: The Wokingham Whale http://airminded.org/2009/06/15/the-wokingham-whale/ Airpower and British society, 1908-1941 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:57:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: andrew b http://airminded.org/2009/06/15/the-wokingham-whale/comment-page-1/#comment-107130 andrew b Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:55:07 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=2000#comment-107130 sorry..still speechless sorry..still speechless

]]> By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2009/06/15/the-wokingham-whale/comment-page-1/#comment-106671 Brett Holman Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:14:07 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=2000#comment-106671 Jonathan: You could be right, but it doesn't seem prudent to build a full-size airframe without having a good idea of how large a wing you'll need! No wonder he ran out of money. Erik: Yes, I think there's some mentalite at work here! Looking at the link again, it seems that the 'rotoscope' might have been more of a helicopter rotor -- it's said to provide lift (though that may be a misunderstanding of somebody along the way). It occurred to me that perhaps Farbrother was inspired by proto-sf more than early aviation, and was trying to build an aeronef of some sort? With a long 'hull', some spreading wings and a rotor on a long pole, it seems reminiscent of something out of Verne or Robida or something like that. Jonathan:

You could be right, but it doesn’t seem prudent to build a full-size airframe without having a good idea of how large a wing you’ll need! No wonder he ran out of money.

Erik:

Yes, I think there’s some mentalite at work here! Looking at the link again, it seems that the ‘rotoscope’ might have been more of a helicopter rotor — it’s said to provide lift (though that may be a misunderstanding of somebody along the way). It occurred to me that perhaps Farbrother was inspired by proto-sf more than early aviation, and was trying to build an aeronef of some sort? With a long ‘hull’, some spreading wings and a rotor on a long pole, it seems reminiscent of something out of Verne or Robida or something like that.

]]> By: Erik Lund http://airminded.org/2009/06/15/the-wokingham-whale/comment-page-1/#comment-106656 Erik Lund Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:16:46 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=2000#comment-106656 I didn't comment because I was, and remain, flabbergasted. What we need here is a time machine. Not to go back to the era, but to collect the great historians of mentalite so that they can contrive some scientific index of the "What were we thinking"-ness of past eras and see if the Edwardian age really did hit a peak score. I didn’t comment because I was, and remain, flabbergasted. What we need here is a time machine. Not to go back to the era, but to collect the great historians of mentalite so that they can contrive some scientific index of the “What were we thinking”-ness of past eras and see if the Edwardian age really did hit a peak score.

]]> By: Jonathan Dresner http://airminded.org/2009/06/15/the-wokingham-whale/comment-page-1/#comment-106649 Jonathan Dresner Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:56:50 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=2000#comment-106649 The telescoping fuselage strikes me as a fairly typical engineer's innovation: flexibility, adaptability. He may not have determined the necessary wing size yet: it could be that a longer fuselage would allow a larger wing, if necessary. The telescoping fuselage strikes me as a fairly typical engineer’s innovation: flexibility, adaptability. He may not have determined the necessary wing size yet: it could be that a longer fuselage would allow a larger wing, if necessary.

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