We’ve become so used to the internet for everything, it’s difficult for us to get things done without it. I’m pledging today to restrain myself from using the internet or other internet-related services for 24 hours. Instead, I’ll find ways to spend the day doing things I usually don’t do.
Month: November 2014
I’d rather be flying
… everytime I look up at the sky. Sunsets are gorgeous! I may not be a pro photographer, still my Nexus camera does a great job! All hail Nexus 5!!
Designing my high altitude balloon
Hi everybody! I’ve just begun working on a high altitude atmospheric photography balloon. The project ideas and design are my own. Being new to high altitude UAV design, I was looking at some content online and some advice from amateur balloonists, all while treating my ears to Charli XCX. I don’t know why I chose to listen to that song, ‘Break the Rules’, not to leave out ‘Boom Clap’ but that kinda got stuck in my head. I saw her perform in the EMA’s and loved it. I intend to use a 50 – 70 inch wide latex balloon (Helium-grade) with an aerodynamically deployable chute that shall deploy when the craft is under free fall. An IMU (accelerometer+gyros+magnetometer+barometer) will be part of the electronics design. A GPS receiver shall also be used in conjunction with the IMU for better altitude reference and positioning. The flight computer?
The need for Open Source
Open source. The first thing that comes to your mind is universal free access to something. That something could be anything from a piece of code or a schematic for a circuit board. This is what Wikipedia has to say on this:
In production and development, open source as a development model promotes a universal access via a free license to a product’s design or blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint, including subsequent improvements to it by anyone.
We could clearly state that an open sourced product is likely to feature a much innovative design that its closed source counterparts. With that said, our next challenge will be to persuade product developers to open source their product, but that isn’t going to be an easy task. Most businesses being economically-oriented won’t open source their products, fearing that their ‘unique’ design might be subject to being copied. To be honest, the reason I got really interested in development boards like the Raspberry Pi was its open sourced-ness. I could find its schematics online, and the components used in the build. This led me to read further on the various aspects of components used and question “Why” they were used or “Why not”, ultimately I was able to figure out how everything came together and customize the board to suit my specific needs. What does this tell us? Is open source beneficial to innovators and inventors. Could an open sourced industry mean better prospects for people to develop innovative products.
The beauty of Aviation (FSX)
Would you believe this is just a PC-based flight simulator. Stunning visuals and realistic flight modelling. Add REX, PMDG, and other ingredients to FSX for a mind-blowing experience. Here are some snaps from my ShadowPlay capture of a Cold and Dark Init plus a visual approach into Innsbruck, Austria.
ICAO spelling alphabet
Hello there! And we are kicking off into another weekend. 🙂 Here is the ICAO-accredited spelling alphabet, for all you aviation geeks out there! So let’s learn ABC’s everybody.
Perfecting your landings
I haven’t posted in a while now. I will be sharing a few tips on performing precision approaches (both visual and instrument) to the best of my knowledge. I’m writing this in the ‘as-far-as-i-know’ perspective and I’ll share some common errors most simmers commit. I think you could apply the same to real-world flying taking to consideration the factors that could affect flight (like wind speed, etc.). You must possess a firm understanding of flight physics like your descent gradient and engine power for descents along with your understanding of making a stabilized descent from cruising altitude like knowing when to begin your descent, ideal speeds etc. Firstly, lets say you’ve flown down all the way to final. Now you’ll be preoccupied lining up with the runway centerline. One thing to keep in mind, DO NOT OVERREACT on the controls.
Aviate Navigate Communicate
It’s Sunday! I’ve been finding it difficult to source all necessary flight planning references before flights and I thought I’d share an example route from Rotterdam (EHRD) to London Heathrow (EGLL), a short 185 nm (nautical miles, not nano meters LoL) flight ideal for practicing hand flying the plane. I’ll also provide fuel, payload, and approach charts for the flight. This site renders a complete flight plan and fuel information from RouteFinder and FuelPlanner. I would suggest using RouteFinder for your flight simulation planning as it calculates the route based on the AIRAC cycle you’re using. FMC’s with older databases might have difficulty when dealing with newer ones. The current AIRAC cycle is 1411, if you have an older version, get the latest one from Navigraph.
My custom-built Rig
I realized that I’d never made a post on my custom rig. I built it with one thing in mind, for gaming. I wanted a high performance build while making sure I didn’t run into too much expenses. I currently use it to play Flight Simulator with all those heavy add-ons. I’ll write more on the specs below. I made several revisions before deciding on the best combination of components for my custom build, some things I was particular about were audio, graphics performance, upgrade compatibility, and features unique to some manufacturers (like good thermal solutions).
Here are the specs:
Well Done! Rosetta
The ESA Rosetta mission has stretched for over 10 years and it was today, it all came to a successful end with a soft landing. I was watching the webcast live here. Don’t forget to check back here, I’ll keep tweeting on the proceedings of this event.
Cheers!
* I do not own the image.
all things S C I E N C E 