…hp. It would be a real challenge to the Wankel Engine. the engine has been designed with the well-proven SCHNURLE-system. We designed a “zero-lash-device”, that automatically takes up any clearance and thereby eliminates all tolerance-problems. We made the opposed piston 2 stroke (probably the most efficient diesel) mechanically acceptable! The result was an 8 cylinder with bore and stroke of 82 and 2 x 102 mm. respectively, corresponding to a tot…
…ling, in his marvellous BFI Film Classics book on Things To Come, says: —————————————- Although 1936 was the year of London Transport’s Constructivist air-brushed poster ‘By Bus to the Pictures Tonight’, not too many people seem to have gone by bus to see Things to Come. It was a critical success, but only did moderately well at the box-office. Alexander Korda tried to put a brave face on things: when asked if the film wo…
…- but they were. A biplane, properly rigged is basically a classic beam structure and for the structural weight, remarkably load bearing – like a bridge.) Chas C-Q When pull-push is discussed, I immediately think of the Cessna Skymaster, which was manufactured with a conventional piston engine in the front and a rotary (Wankel type) engine in the rear of the fuselage, between twin tail booms. (A few have been converted to other configurations – i…
…it worked. I think that this might also work as a universal rationale for humanitarian interventions in civil wars. And a lot of other things. Chris Williams Yr nuke-fan man from Cranfield does have a university with (a) its own runway and (b) a Lightning parked at one end of it, so he can be forgiven the odd flight of fancy. Neil Datson Having a Lightning (English Electric / BAC, I take it?) parked on a runway is nothing. A couple of miles up th…
…show the actual destruction of physical things; the painting shows the destruction of humanity. What strikes me most about Guernica is to sit and think about the sorrow and anger in Picasso as he was creating it, the emotion behind every brush stroke. Even though it’s representational, it’s more human. I have to admit, though, every time I see/hear of the painting, I think of a line from the short-lived animated series The Critic: “Take that, Guer…
…espite his flaws, I rate John James: he’s aware of these socio-technical structures which are the fruit of policy decisions, and themselves establish limits to future policy choices. “First, buy your airfield” is a good place to start. This is important to me precisely because right now I’m attempting to work out a first-cut history of UK police control systems, which requires the same kind of level of understanding of the various techniques invol…
…section of Berlin as a grim warning of what might happen if a house were struck by a bomb. But Berlin has never been bombed and no thoroughness in mock destruction can reproduce the panic of the people in a real air raid On the illustrations, the implication is that since Britain’s potential enemies are taking civil defence seriously, Britain should too. In fact, British civil defence had only just begun a few months before this article would have…
…31 (the trophy itself is also on display and it’s ludicrously big). It was designed by R. J. Mitchell, who later designed the Spitfire. I suspect the S.6B’s influence on the Spitfire can be overstated, particularly when Mitchell’s failed Supermarine Type 224 design of 1934 — which was also called the Spitfire, but had gull wings, fixed undercarriage and an open cockpit — is ignored, as it often is (I didn’t see it mentioned in the Museum’s own exh…
…ofs from Ashgate, for last-minute error checking. And it has a draft cover design! Which I must say I am rather pleased with. This is the basis for the design (coincidentally, from Getty Images). I’ve discussed it here before, which is why I thought of it. It’s a National Government poster from the 1935 general election, and in many ways it’s the perfect image for my book. It shows civilians threatened by aerial warfare, with a literal shadow of t…
…Mackintosh and his work. This is the House For An Art Lover, inspired by a design by Mackintosh and his wife, Margaret MacDonald, more than half a century after their deaths. The interior design and furniture in the House For An Art Lover has also been chosen to reflect the Mackintosh style, which we kept encountering all around Glasgow, in galleries, museums, and even cafes. This is not one of those cafes, but it did have a rather nice, if rather…
