Flying lux carriages...

[Nick012000]

http://npc.comicgenesis.com/d/20060204.html

I was reading through the archives, when I came across this page.

Why couldn't they fit the sail-powered lux carriage with the same sorts of flaps as a modern aircraft?

[TMLutas]

http://npc.comicgenesis.com/d/20060204.html

I was reading through the archives, when I came across this page.

Why couldn't they fit the sail-powered lux carriage with the same sorts of flaps as a modern aircraft?

A lot of people gave up on powered flight because of comical/tragic early attempts. Between DaVinci and today there's an awful gap.

The list of stuff never brought to full fruition includes the greek steam engine (invented in the times of the Plato/Aristotle) and chinese gunpowder.

[RHJunior]

http://npc.comicgenesis.com/d/20060204.html

I was reading through the archives, when I came across this page.

Why couldn't they fit the sail-powered lux carriage with the same sorts of flaps as a modern aircraft?

Because the flaps would be useless.

The reason flaps on a plane work is similar to the reason a rudder works on a sailing vessel--- <I>they're working against the propulsive force.</i> The keel and rudder of a ship are dragged through the water by the push of the wind, using the resistance of the water to steer; the tail and flaps of an airplane are dragged through the air by the propulsive force of the engine, using the resistance of the air to steer against the plane's propulsive force. But in a wind-propelled balloon, the air and the propulsive force are the same thing. The wind and the vehicle are moving at the same speed, along the same vector, making the flaps useless.

Now there are ways which sails could be used to make a windship veer along its course (I'll try and have an illustration up sometime in the future).. but such methods would not enable you to move parallel to the wind or tack into it as a sailing vessel does--- a rather critical limitation. What's more, it provides no braking force whatsoever.....

[TMLutas]

http://npc.comicgenesis.com/d/20060204.html

I was reading through the archives, when I came across this page.

Why couldn't they fit the sail-powered lux carriage with the same sorts of flaps as a modern aircraft?

Because the flaps would be useless.

The reason flaps on a plane work is similar to the reason a rudder works on a sailing vessel--- <I>they're working against the propulsive force.</i> The keel and rudder of a ship are dragged through the water by the push of the wind, using the resistance of the water to steer; the tail and flaps of an airplane are dragged through the air by the propulsive force of the engine, using the resistance of the air to steer against the plane's propulsive force. But in a wind-propelled balloon, the air and the propulsive force are the same thing. The wind and the vehicle are moving at the same speed, along the same vector, making the flaps useless.

Now there are ways which sails could be used to make a windship veer along its course (I'll try and have an illustration up sometime in the future).. but such methods would not enable you to move parallel to the wind or tack into it as a sailing vessel does--- a rather critical limitation. What's more, it provides no braking force whatsoever.....

What if what you used were windmills that created lux brakes? You push via sails, fine. You also have windmills that turn some of that push into shaft rotation into lux creators (a la the luxfont) which store braking power that is applied when needed.

You've never really given any insight into how lux generation drops off as your generators get smaller. You obviously have massive lux machines for the entire system but wouldn't smaller generators suffice for brakes?

Hmmm... maybe lux generators would be an interesting separate thread.

[Kerry Skydancer]

Lux motors is effectively how the big skyships work. You're reinventing the wheel here, TML.

I will concur, though - how does lux generation scale down? We've got the huge water-powered generators in Sanctuary... are small ones less efficient? Or do the Racconan simply not have portable fuel sources sufficient to run them, no coal or oil?

[Shyal_malkes]

personally, if they just put a few wheels on the thing and allowed the levitation to be variable to lighten it some they could allow it to have breaks by lowering the levitation and applying manual breaks to the wheels.

doubt it'd work but it's the best I've got for now.

[LoneWolf23k]

Considering they can create boots which can grant superspeed and superleaping, I'd assume it shouldn't be too hard to use Lux applications of "Attraction" and "Repulsion" to create lux-powered propellers..

[BlasTech]

Considering they can create boots which can grant superspeed and superleaping, I'd assume it shouldn't be too hard to use Lux applications of "Attraction" and "Repulsion" to create lux-powered propellers..

I think they have something similar to lux propelled hangliders, but the weight-energy tradeoff is too high for it to be effective for anything larger or for anything longer than a short gliding trip.

[Jonititan]

considering the fact that the cart can float
all they need for insane propulsion is a lux powered heat source
you could construct something vaguely similar to a ram jet
a new and exciting way to explore the world?
ram jets aern't an efficent but they are very simple to make
a simple pushstart to get it all going and you're off
it'd be an idea for boats ideally as water would provide a better efficency
but i was just sudenly struck by a vision of a levitating jet scooter
imagine a waterscooter but levitating and squirting air rather than water
would be very funny