Turtley awesome

[Bigjohn]

Appearently, due to its aerodynamic shape, a terrapin would fly if given sufficient forward speed. Pass the bungee straps!

[purpleandy]

aye, bernoulli's principle shows that a flat base with a curved upper shell would give a faster airflow and hence a lower pressure above the terrapin creating upwards lift. incidently its the same reason why you're meant to stack boards on roof bars rather than having them side by side (stacked boards only create one lift force whereas side by side boards create several and make the steering fairly innefective at silly speeds) and its also why you have to stand behind the yellow line at train stations (the fast airflow created by the train whistling past creates a momentary drop in pressure that could suck you onto the track if you were stood too close.)
anyway bungee straps sound a bit agricultural. surely you need a black widow fishing catapult - you'd have much a much more controlled launch:lol:
anyway, hats of to big jon - the inventor of the exorPET missile (i'll get me coat.........)

[Bigjohn]

I am now thinking along the lines of gluing a mounting plate for a model aero engine onto the shell so that an engine and small fuel tank could be attached. However, I think that the terrapin would have to use its legs to counteract the torque reaction from the engine and also to steer. Are terrapins natural aviators or would I be better to go for a tortoise?

[purpleandy]

hmmmmm - tortoises may be a bit big, but at least you'd be able to get flying goggles and a scarf to fit. how about a giant tortoise, a prop and a rover v8???
or go for simplicity itself - a terrapin with a couple of those chinese screecher rockets duct taped to its back............... would bring a new meaning to the phrase "incoming shell"

[Bigjohn]

Very funny! I like the simplicity. However I have a few technical concerns.
Assuming that there will be the usual firework acceleration of 0m/s to 100m/s (360kmh) in about 1 second, how will the terrapin be affected by the G force? Will it (a) feel slightly wafty? Or (b) turn inside out through its own anus?
I feel that effect (a) would be best remedied by pressurizing the shell. Effect (b) would perhaps be best remedied by simply snipping off the prolapsed terrapin with a pair of scissors and replacing it with a more robust pilot. Perhapr a rat or yorkshire terrier would do? Does anyone know the minimum take off speed for a 1kg terrapin

[blind]

This is ing how the hell can you lot talk about doing this to another creature , for the love of pete will you just stop and think for a while about this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! , shouldnt the animal which gets chosen for ths first flight be wearing leather flying hat and goggles at least ,bugs in the eyes at that speed , dosent bare to think about

[Bigjohn]

No need for gogles, anything accelerating from zero to ohfuck hundred kmh in 1 second is gona have its eyes shut anyway, I would!
Do you think that the flying hat would stay on properly? I wouldn't want the terrapin to look silly.

[purpleandy]

don't think flying goggles would help as the g force would detach the retinas so it wouldnt be able to see anyway. it would make a biggles style scarf waggle in a comedy fashion though i dont think it would prolapse through its own ricker, but we could cork it up just in case.
as for the take off speed, newtons 2nd law (f = m a) would give you the answer. so, anyone know how much thrust does a chinese screecher rocket provide????????

[thedeadly]

- anyone know how much thrust does a chinese screecher rocket provide

not a lot - but 25 taped together might be enough =

don't think flying goggles would help as the g force would detach the retinas so it wouldnt be able to see anyway

ahhh - we need to spin the turtle on take off so that the centrefugal force will counter the take off gs - also with some rotation and a flat day he could be fired out over the sea and see how may bounces he gets - just imagine the first ripcurl rocket powered spinning turtle skimming comeptition with points be awarded for distance, air time, bounces and of course style

[Bigjohn]

I like the idea of the spin as the gyroscopic effect would give superb lateral stability. Would require opposed rockets or a large catherine wheel. If the rockets were the exploding type then they would detatch when spent, allowing free flight.
There still remains the problem of achieving sufficient take off speed. Perhaps a rocket sled or gas ram is worth considering.
I am worried that the terrapin may not have a strong enough bone structure to cope with th centrifugal force of the spin and am once again drawn to the idea of using a yorkshire terrier to pilot the shell.

[swordie]

There still remains the problem of achieving sufficient take off speed. Perhaps a rocket sled or gas ram is worth considering.

surely the intrinsic shape would be just right for loading into a clay pigeon launcher.

just a thought.

[NorthSeaMonster]

A trebuchet might work...[/img]

You could light slower or longer fuses on the rockets so that they go off after launch...

[thedeadly]

ok - a rocket sled, a clay pidgoen launcher and a catherine wheel should just do it

mount turtle on launcher, mount launcher on sled and attach catherine whell to turtle -

right ----- launch rocket sledge, 2 or 3 stage rockets if needed, at the end of the track there needs to be 2 devices, 1 to start the clay pidgeon launcher just as the sledge hits the buffers,2 another device to tap (smartly) the shell of the turtle so he retracts his head, arms and legs for the rotation providing pidgeon launcher

with a few test runs a timed fuse can be added to the catherine wheel so it will ignite at the maximun rotaional velocity that the clay pidgeon launchers provides and maintain this force as the turtle flys and then skims across the water, and by cahnce if there is any powder left in the catherine wheel the water will put it out thefore not endangering the turtle - puke bucket to be provided only if the turtle requests one !

[purpleandy]

heehee - the thought of terrapin air hockey has just entered my childish mind....... i've got a touche turtle style cartoon character whizzing round my in my head as i speak

[Bigjohn]

heehee -. i've got a touche turtle style cartoon character whizzing round my in my head as i speak

Hmm yes, I have often thought this about teachers in general!!!

No thoughts about the yorkshire terrier then?

[purpleandy]

being a yorkshire lad (in lancs on missionary work!!!) i'm a bit against using a yorkie! how about one of tthose stupid bloody yappy chihuaha thingys all the posh birds and oldd dears have??? i'm sure doris would look on in horror as here beloved pet went skimming out over the sea....................

[purpleandy]

how about a dambusters style bouncing bomb approach???
can't beleive big johns unprovoked and unneccessary slur on the teaching profession...........

[blind]

http://www.army.mod.uk/royalengineers/equipment/cet.htm We could try this as a stable firing plat form ,replace the anker for said chosen beast , the one added bonus for using the Combat Engineer Tractor is that it can swim ,so no problems on the beach , i

[Bigjohn]

PHWOAR!!! I just got to get me one of those!

[bwganbran]

I work as an aerospace Engineer, and my company has been workin on this subject for some time now, the test subjects have changed over the decades


Look for the clip "squirrel pull" http://www.dataflo.net/~mpurintun/funny_videos.htm

"NEXT TEST SUBJECT PLEASE"
"hmmmmmm, pass me a stoat"

[thedeadly]

seen that before - apart from being a bit cruel its very funny 9/10