When I read this the only thing that comes to mind is Monty Python: The Holy
Grail:
- Guard: Halt! Who goes there?
- King Arthur: It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle
of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all
England!
- Guard: Pull the other one!
- King Arthur: I am, and this is my trusty servant Patsy. We have ridden
the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join me in my
court at Camelot. I must speak with your lord and master.
- Guard: What? Ridden on a horse?
- King Arthur: Yes!
- Guard: You're using coconuts!
- King Arthur: What?
- Guard: You've got two empty halves of coconut and you're bangin' 'em
together!
- King Arthur: So? We have ridden since the snows of winter covered this
land, through the kingdom of Mercia, through...
- Guard: Where'd you get the coconuts?
- King Arthur: We found them.
- Guard: Found them? In Mercia?! The coconut's tropical!
- King Arthur: What do you mean?
- Guard: Well, this is a temperate zone.
- King Arthur: The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin
or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to
our land?
- Guard: Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?
- King Arthur: Not at all. They could be carried.
- Guard: What? A swallow carrying a coconut?
- King Arthur: It could grip it by the husk!
- Guard: It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a simple question
of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut.
- King Arthur: Well, it doesn't matter. Will you go and tell your master
that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here?
- Guard: Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs
to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?
- King Arthur: Please!
- Guard: Am I right?
- King Arthur: I'm not interested!
- [A second guard approaches the parapet]
- Guard 2: It could be carried by an African swallow!
- Guard 1: Oh yeah. An African swallow, maybe -- but not a European
swallow, that's my point.
- Guard 2: Oh yeah, I agree with that.
- King Arthur: [exasperated] Will you ask your master if he wants to join
my court at Camelot?!
- Guard 1: But, of course, African swallows are non-migratory.
- Guard 2: Oh, yeah.
- [Arthur begins to depart]
- Guard 1: ...So they couldn't bring a coconut back anyway.
-
-
-
- Thanks,
-
- John Gregg
On Saturday, March 4, 2023 at 01:33:48 PM EST, Christopher Eliot
<[email protected]> wrote:
The Hanscom Airport North Airfield expansion proposed by NAV LLC and RRV LLC
has brought a lot of attention to the local airport and the climate change
impact of aviation and especially the impact of private and corporate jet
travel. It is a common perception that nothing can replace traditional fossil
sourced jet fuel for decades. I have little experience in aviation engineering
but I have become aware of many companies working toward this goal and claiming
that products will be released within the next five years. These technological
promises are notoriously unreliable, but deserve to be studied and evaluated on
their merits.
The articles below are just a selection of those I have collected. I believe
these technology proposals should be seriously studied and factored into
decisions about expanding the regional and national aviation system. I
seriously question assumptions and claims that fossil fuel free aviation is
decades into the future. We live in one of the most scientifically and
technologically sophisticated areas of the world and I hope that Massachusetts
can become a leader in bringing climate friendly technology to reality. I see
this as an opportunity for Massachusetts industry and a chance to bring more
good jobs to this area. This is an opportunity to do the right thing for the
environment, and the future, and greatly enhance the local economy.
Massachusetts has the intellectual and industrial base, and environmental
foresight, required to become a leader in environmentally friendly aviation.
I believe we should see this as a challenge and an opportunity.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/electric-aviation-could-be-closer-than-you-think/
https://electrek.co/2023/03/02/universal-hydrogen-passenger-hydrogen-electric-plane-maiden-flight/
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230302005768/en/Universal-Hydrogen-Successfully-Completes-First-Flight-of-Hydrogen-Regional-Airliner
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/rolls-royce-worlds-fastest-electric-aircraft-intl-scli-gbr/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/tech/alice-eviation-test-flight/index.html
https://newatlas.com/aircraft/otto-zeroavia-celera-hydrogen/
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/zeroavia-zero-emission-hydrogen-planes-spc-intl/index.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56716708
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/airships-for-city-hops-could-cut-flyings-co2-emissions-by-90?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
https://www.regentcraft.com/
https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/
https://www.eviation.com/
https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-11-airbus-reveals-hydrogen-powered-zero-emission-engine
https://www.weflywright.com/
-Christopher Eliot
--
The LincolnTalk mailing list.
To post, send mail to [email protected].
Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
Change your subscription settings at
https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
--
The LincolnTalk mailing list.
To post, send mail to [email protected].
Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
Change your subscription settings at
https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
