12-09-2012, 09:51 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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TL3 hangglider
So, I just watched Ator the Invincible 2. For those of you who don't know, Ator is sort of a cross between Conan and MacGyver. And he builds a glorious hangglider in about 5 minutes from pelts he apparently tanned and stretched himself.
But is it possible? How early can you build hanggliders?
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12-09-2012, 11:21 AM | #2 | |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Re: TL3 hangglider
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12-09-2012, 11:39 AM | #3 | |
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: East of the moon, west of the stars, close to buses and shopping
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Re: TL3 hangglider
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I'd regard gliders as, at best, TL5. That is, it's not possible to build a glider for which the maker is working from a sufficient theoretical basis to be reasonably sure the thing won't plummet to the ground until then. An earlier prospective inventor might get lucky and, more by chance than by design, build something that slowed descent enough to create the illusion of flight, but historical inventors had a very poor track record.
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12-09-2012, 12:13 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: U.K.
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Re: TL3 hangglider
A little digging on the Web might turn up clips of the attempt, a few years back, to build Leonardo d Vinci's idea of a hang glider, using essentially TL4 materials and skills. With a fair bit of fudging and modern knowledge, the result was a vehicle that could be flown for short distances by a skilled modern hang glider pilot. The reason it didn't kill or injure her was that she didn't fly very high and she had a ground crew stabilising it with ropes.
Okay, with a bit more work, it might be possible to get a really viable TL3/4 design. But early aviation experiments killed an appalling number of experimenters even at TL5. How many pilots are you prepared to lose to get this thing to fly?
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12-09-2012, 12:30 PM | #5 | |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Re: TL3 hangglider
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12-09-2012, 01:51 PM | #6 | |
Aluminated
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: East of the moon, west of the stars, close to buses and shopping
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Re: TL3 hangglider
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By that argument, large aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines aren't TL8.
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I've been making pointlessly shiny things, and I've got some gaming-related stuff as well as 3d printing designs. Buy my Warehouse 23 stuff, dammit! |
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12-09-2012, 02:01 PM | #7 | |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Re: TL3 hangglider
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Okay, maybe I should've said manned to-the-moon flight. But even generic manned spaceflight seems less accessible than nuke-subs. |
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12-09-2012, 02:05 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: TL3 hangglider
A strong kite flying tradition, a silk weaving industry, and supply of bamboo should be enough. Besides, the failures will only splatter player characters.
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12-09-2012, 02:17 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
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Re: TL3 hangglider
There have been many modern attempts that have tried to do exactly this. Find one that succeeded.
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12-09-2012, 03:00 PM | #10 | |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: TL3 hangglider
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rd_Miller.jpeg So very difficult, it's Google's second link for hang glider. |
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