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There's a kid's toy about that consists of a glider with wings that can be folded back flush with the body. The wings are spring-loaded. The resulting arrow-like configuration is launched vertically from your standard-issue bungee cord slingshot.
Air pressure during ascent keeps the wings folded
back. When apogee is reached, the spring causes the wings to pop open. At the same time, the nose tilts downwards, and normal gliding flight commences.
Basically I want to be strapped in to a high-powered, human scaled version.
Hang Glider Jack
http://www.srbatteries.com/aerotoys.htm
For the toy similar to [BunsenHoneydew]'s inspiration, scroll down to the center of the page, then watch the video. [jurist, Dec 05 2006, last modified Dec 06 2006]
Spring Shot and Sling Shot
http://history.amus...om/extremeeject.htm
But not in that ordrer... [rascalraidex, Dec 05 2006]
[link]
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So what's the invention? Just enlarging an existing toy? |
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How do you propose to ward off death due to extreme G-force upon launching? |
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[Texticle] \\ How do you propose to ward off death due to extreme G-force upon launching? \\ Bungee cords, of course! Is this a WIBNI? |
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How do the bungee cords achieve this? Are they not the source of the extreme G-forces? |
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Or were you saying "Bungee cords, or course!" in a manner similar to how one might declare "Synergy, of course" in a senior management meeting? |
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Oh I'm sure you could devise a launch system that wouldn't scramble your innards, and even if it is an enlrargement of an existing toy, I don't mind one bit. |
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There is a amusement park ride called the spring shot(?) that launches an attached cage 350 feet in the air. I'm pretty sure that would work on a small scale.. not like.. rocketing into the cosmos or anything.. but it would be a fun little flight for sure. |
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There's a fairly simple formula for figuring launch pressures and vertical throw, I think. One G of vertical acceleration for any distance will throw you precisely that same height above the end of your launcher, 2 Gs will throw you twice as high, et c. (You are already feeling one G just sitting still, and the drag of the air will keep you from reaching your theoretical height, but the height of the tower counts toward the total altitude.) So, an 9-G launch will throw you less than 9 times as high as your tower, maybe. |
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Given a one-hundred-foot tower and a 6-G launch, the glider would be less than 600 feet up. Which could be interesting, considering that you are going to have to unfold the wings, then dive to gain some airspeed. |
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I remember reading somewhere that most pilots black out at about 9 G's. This does not sound safe. |
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//from the top of the building// |
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Or indeed, from the bottom of a mineshaft. You could have a 500 meter launch, at say 6Gs - that's 3km up you go. |
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Or a weight and some cable and pulleys. |
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Sounds like an Osma Bin Laden version of the Tommyhawk missile. |
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yeah.. but if you used a rocket and a ramp it wouldn't be the same idea... |
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This sounds a little like the catapult used to launch gliders. |
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//baconbrain, you could also launch a person from the top of a building to add height.// |
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Yes, you could launch from the top of a building, but it wouldn't be a help. Just jumping off the top of a building, without any vertical component, would let you fly, yes. |
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But getting to the top of the building in a slow elevator doesn't add any vertical speed to the launch, so putting a vertical-acceleration launcher only on the top of a building is inefficient. |
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What we want is a high-speed elevator that fires you up into the air above the roof of the building, or feeds you into the launch track atop the building with a good bit of vertical speed already in hand. |
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The key issue with a vertical launcher is making the launch track as long as possible. Which is not the same thing as making the tower as tall as possible. BunsenHoneydew suggested putting the launcher down a mineshaft, which would work well. If a tall building is already available, the launch track should be built to run the entire height of the building, whether inside an elevator shaft or on an outside track. An additional tower to continue the track further above the roof would be good, but a hole bored down into the ground below the building would also help, although not as much. |
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I imagine one might use a magnetic linear accelerator to get this going. Any thoughts on that idea? Good or bad? |
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really.. if you use anything other than elastic strap of some sort it wouldn't be a slingshot. |
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