Friday, May 24, 2013

The mechanical stroboscope..................

Stroboscopes would at first impression be considered to be operated by a neon or zenon tube and be electrical in nature....but this post is about a mechanical stroboscope I had for years...a Stroborama.....and which finally I found a good home for with an aviation enthusiast  Roy Fox, who has a De Havilland DH89 Dragon Rapide and a Comper Swift aircraft.
Made in France, with a bevelled glass which tends to date it in the mid 1920s I was unsuccessful years back in finding the company that made it...
I had a series of books, printed about 1938 on aeronautical engineering which had an article on the rotoscope and eventually I got around to reading it...there were about 7 volumes in the set... and there was a photo of the rotoscope, another version on the stroborama I had in use....
I sold the books to the owner of the Dragon and Comper along with the stroborama, so they went to a good home and Roy Fox was thrilled to get them.
An interesting aside is I would often have master tachometer testers calibrated to do with my former instrument business and while the firm who did this work for me couldn't cope with a mechanical device such as this, they suggested another laboratory who, on my telephone call declared there was no such thing as a mechanical stroboscope, they were electronic....
A stroboscope, also known as a strobe, is an instrument used to make a cyclically moving object appear to be slow-moving, or stationary. 
So lets look at my stroborama stroboscope.....
It uses a slot, the width of which can be adjusted, through which your eye observes the target object and the slot is rotated by hand motion geared and which has a smooth action....
The rotating target object can be slowed down and its motion completely stopped...as there is a calibrated scale, then the rotational speed of the target in rpm can be ascertained.
In the case of the rotoscope in the illustrations, the tachometer in the cabin of the aircraft can be compared to the actual speed of the propellor observed via the rotoscope/stroborama.






The rotoscope, a description and a photo in use....
I mentioned the usual electronic one....
Illustrated below is the zenon tubed version I still have.... the neon tubed version was sold on....


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A 72-Year-Old CEO's 2013 Chrysler 300 is "Amazing" and "Like No Other"

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Each decade has its own style and flavors, and even though certain fashion trends come back in style from time to time, we think that some things are better left in the past. Of course, that's our opinion and you may freely disagree with it.We're told this 2013 Chrysler 300 sedan that wefound on eBay was "custom factory built for a retiring 72 year old entrepreneur" and CEO, who obviously had some fond automotive memories from the 1970s and 1980s.
You can see that from the chrome surrounds on the window frames, the [sic] side opera lighting, and canvas top with the letter-box opening of the rear window, to the pinstriped wheels and individualized interior with the – wait for it –mouton fur (sheepskin) floors.
For some reason, the owner only used the V6-powered car for a mere 2,200 miles (a little over 3,500 km) before placing it for sale at a "Valued Price" of $44,444 (someone has a thing for fours…).

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EV West’s All-Electric BMW M3 E36 Makes 850 Lb-Ft of Torque at the Wheels


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Some say that a true performance EV cannot be fully realized with today’s technology. They argue that the added weight of batteries makes handling and braking worse, and that the lack of engine noise detracts from the experience of driving.
But now, with cars like the Tesla Model Sreceiving praise for their performance, it’s definitely worth watching the video below – it’s Drive's drive of EV West’s Pikes Peak-ready BMW E36 M3, which has been converted to run on electricity.
The car is built like a stripped-out racing car from the ground up, and it gets one of the most thorough roll cage setups we’ve seen in modified cars of this kind - this is essentially an old BMW, after all. However, it needs this kind of construction, so that the chassis doesn’t twist under the strain of not the output (342hp at the rear wheels) but the 850 lb-ft of torque (1,150 Nm) at the wheels - that essentially means whoever will be driving this will be doing a lot of unplanned burnouts.
At the end of the drive, though, the reviewer Matt Farah says he is not convinced by this sort of car because of the arguments mentioned in the opening paragraph of this piece. Do you think EV performance cars and conversions like this are relevant? We also added one of EV West's own videos to help you make up your mind.
By Andrei Nedelea

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

For $149,500, Hennessey will Turns the Ford F-150 Raptor into the 8-Seat VelociRaptor SUV


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With Hummer gone, it looks like the world badly needed a giant SUV, so the creative minds at Hennessey Performance decided to do something about it. Their proposal is the VelociRaptor SUV, based on the Ford F-150 Raptor pickup truck. The full-sized SUV offers seating for up to 8 people and picks up where the Ford Excursion left off (for good reason, some may say).
“We are now very excited to be able to offer the VelociRaptor SUV to those who like the Raptor but want more seats and space”, said Hennessey Performance CEO Don Goldman.
Although the conversion uses all of the factory Ford Raptor truck components and systems, Hennessey Performance says it hasn’t tested yet the off-road capabilities of the VelociRaptor SUV and recommends customers to use the SUV for on-road as well as light to moderate off-road duties. We imagine this has something to do with the added 600 lbs (272 kg) compared to the Raptor.
Priced at $149,500 (€116,200), the standard VelociRaptor SUV is powered by the same 6.2-liter 411 horsepower Ford V8 engine from the Raptor, while the VelociRaptor 600 Supercharged upgrade brings 600 horsepower to the tarmac. The standard model can sprint from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 7.5 seconds, while the 600-hp model drops the 0-60 mph time to 5.9 seconds. No fuel economy figures were released, but you know what to expect...
Other optional equipment includes Brembo front brakes, larger wheels and tires (!), LED lighting, bespoke interior and electronic upgrades. Security and armoring systems are also available. HPE will build only 30 units per year.
By Dan Mihalascu
Story References: Hennessey via Jalopnik

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