Re:Paper Airplane Designs
by JorgeGT on Thursday October 18, 2018 @08:21PM
(#18253458)
Fun story: when the Soviets tried to reverse-engineer captured B-29s bombers (into Tupolev Tu-4s) they had a lot of trouble because their production of sheet aluminium, rivets, etc. was done in metric sizes, whereas the B-29 used imperial-sized components, and thus extensive re-engineering was required to compensate the slight differences in thickness (and thus in weight and balance) of all components.
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I wonder if this justifies the US adherence to the imperial standard - meaning it acts as a basic barrier to entry for other countries who use the "world" standard.
Compatibility usually gains you more than you lose. If you can't make US planes with parts from the rest of the world then that does mean other countries can't make US planes, but that also means that the US manufacturers can't import parts from elsewhere.
Re:Paper Airplane Designs
by dotancohen on Saturday October 20, 2018 @04:40PM
(#18265330)
The F-35 has components made all over the world, but was designed in the US. Is that plane metric?
I would assume/hope so? Lockheed of all companies should be on top of that after the mars probe incident.
Re:Paper Airplane Designs
by pandemic_region on Friday October 19, 2018 @02:28AM
(#18254592)
sort of like the use of analog comms on the Galactica right?
Not quite the same thing, but since you mention Galactica and her non-networked systems, I believe watching this show should be required of anyone even tangentially considering work in an IoT project.
Re:Paper Airplane Designs
by Bellyache5 on Friday October 19, 2018 @06:21AM
(#18255580)
Try making a paper airplane with Galactica’s octagonal sheets of paper!
Re:Paper Airplane Designs
by Gravityloss on Thursday October 18, 2018 @11:24PM
(#18254045)
And Airbus only uses imperial bolt sizes.