peejman

Look in the briars under high tension power lines. There are some that grow around where I work. They get picked over pretty fast, both by people and critters.

They're just less intrusive intrusions.

I think speed will always be king. The limiting factor these days is the pilot. I'm fascinated by the design of the SR-71, mostly because of the time in which it was done. They didn't have all the fancy tools we have today. That's probably why it so cool looking. The Valkyrie you mentioned is likely the XB-70, also a really cool plane. There's one on display at the USAF museum in Dayton OH. I highly recommend a visiting, it's fascinating.

I see little more than laziness and bullying something that can't fight back. Disgusting.

This. The gun can only be used when the plane is flying a relatively low speed. Hypersonic flight is in excess of 3000 mph. The F-22 uses the same (or nearly the same) 20mm Vulcan cannon as everything else (F-18, F-16, F15, F-14, etc... ). Like I said above, the plane has an engine to maintain its speed, the bullets begin to slow down the moment they exit the muzzle. You're right about the SR-71. It's skin was largely made of titanium (same thing exhaust systems are made of these days) and since they couldn't make a fuel bladder that would take the heat, the skin itself is the fuel tank. The plane gets so hot during high speed flight (~950 deg F in spots) that in order to accommodate thermal expansion, it leaks like a sieve when it's cold. I believe the whole plane grows about 1" in length at speed. Alas, youtube is blocked by big brother so I'll have to watch that later.

PSL mag's aren't cheap or easy to find.

The stagnation temp at hypersonic velocity can exceed 1400 deg C. Copper melts at 1000 deg C. The jacket will begin to vaporize when the bullet exits the muzzle. I be surprised if it makes it 100 ft, much less 100 yds. I guess I'm slow, I don't get the reference to Steven Wright (assuming you mean the comedian).

According to this, yes. http://www.tnfish.or...sories_TWRA.htm

Neat idea. If it's cheap, I might be interested.

Which will happen almost immediately. The plane has propulsion to maintain it's speed. The bullet doesn't. Yes, the bullet would be stationary (briefly) relative to the Earth. However, if you're in the cockpit,you've just shot a hole in the back of your plane while traveling 1800 mph. I suspect you'd have bigger worries.

This, but only briefly. The aerodynamic heating caused by the near hypersonic velocity would destroy the bullet almost immediately. Faster than a speeding bullet.

Depends on the model plane and the jet it hits. Jet engines suck up single birds and keep on going. I work on the commercial equivalent of the engine in the Global Hawk. It typically takes several large birds to do enough damage to cause an immediate shut down. Jet drones also typically fly very high... 50,000 ft or higher. Typical R/C stuff won't get anywhere near that, and even it if could, you wouldn't be able to see it from the ground. Basically, a collision would do some damage, but it likely wouldn't bring the drone down immediately.

Off topic.... Here's a condensed version of the speech I've started giving students I talk to... First, forget the possibility of getting an engineering degree in 4 years. Plan for at least 5. Assuming you're a traditional student, you have nothing but time. You probably don't think so, but trust me. Get a wife, couple kids, mortgage, 50+ hr/wk job, ... options get limited real fast. If money is tight, strongly consider entering a community college transfer program. It will take a little longer to finish, but you'll save a lot of money. It's a great way to get through all those useless classes some nitwit administrator thinks you need to be "well rounded". It'll give you more time to concentrate on the important stuff at the university. Take every class you think might be interesting, regardless of topic. Again, you have nothing but time and they're free. If you're a hunter, take a few wildlife classes. If you like music, take a few music classes. History buff? Take a history class, etc. You never know where they'll take you. At the very least, you can audit the class. No grade to worry about, just a few hours per week. The mind needs distraction from all the engineering stuff that's being crammed in. I regret not taking advantage of several opportunities when I was in school. It's critical that you fully understand the fundamentals you learn in the first couple years. Work very hard to maintain a good GPA. As you gain class hours, the effect of an individual class grade is reduced. Start with a good GPA (3.0 or higher) and you'll likely keep it. Start poorly and it's really tough to dig out of that hole. A 4.0 isn't necessary, some employers even frown on that. They think you're a book nerd with no practical/people skills. That said, don't forget to have fun... party with friends.... blow off some steam, engineering school is tough. College is way more fun than working for a living. In a bigger school, it's easy to become a number and just slide through. The classes are large and there's little individual student/faculty interaction. If you have questions or aren't sure, ask. Both in class and outside of class. Some professors won't give you the time of day, but some will be very helpful. Having professors know your name and face can have benefits. For that matter, get to know the department secretaries too. You'll be surprised how much help they can be. Internship/co-op experience is an absolute must these days. Don't wait until you're a senior for the internship, do it as early as you can. Your primary goal for the internship is to decide if you really like engineering (and make a little cash). You don't want to be 2 semesters from graduating and decide this sucks. If you get a full-time internship, take night classes while you're working. You'll be surprised at how fast you get away from being studious. The job market is tough these days. New graduates are competing with guys like me. You need something that makes you stand out. Get involved in extra-curricular student activates/societies/projects.... hands-on stuff where you're actually building something, stuff that involves groups. You'll gain very valuable organizational and people skills. If you have any thought on continuing on to grad school, do it now. Here's where having the faculty know you helps considerably. Let them know you're interested. Assistantships can be available that make grad school basically free. Talk to other grad students to see what it's like. Choose carefully, some professors like getting their grad students through quickly, some keep them around a long time. Some might say it's better to wait and let your employer put you through school. Wrong. Few employers do that anymore. Of the rare places that do, most require you to pay for everything up front and they'll reimburse you later. There's plenty more, but that's enough for now...

I'm interested. Be happy to carpool with folks from this direction.

Yep, been one (ME) for 13 years and counting. Had 3 different jobs in 3 different industries. Happy to talk about it more if you like. http://www.asme.org/kb/news---articles/articles/technology-and-society/mobile-apps-for-engineers--what%E2%80%99s-in-store- http://www.asme.org/kb/news---articles/articles/technology-and-society/10-ipad-apps-for-engineers

Congrats! Coming up on 11 years here. There's definitely been some good times and not so good times. Such is life. How can they value something they don't understand?

Good luck with school. I probably do more real engineering work with stuff like this than at my day job, but such is life. There are several good engineering related web sites and apps, if you have a fancy phone. The online calculators and such are neat, but without understanding the underlying theory it's really easy to make mistakes and not know it.

What they said. Savage or Remington, heavy barrel/varmit. Plan to spend as much or more on optics as the rifle. If it gets squirrely beyond a certain range, it's probably not the rifle, it's probably the optics. If your intent is only target shooting, a small and fast caliber has some advantages (.223, .243, .22-250, etc.). Much beyond 400 yds you'd probably be happier with something bigger, .308 being the most common.

A good belt is pricey but worth it. I've worn the same Beltman belt daily for 5-6 years and it hasn't degraded much at all. http://thebeltman.net/

According to this... http://www.saami.org/specifications_and_information/publications/download/208.pdf the max pressure for a high velocity .22 short is 21,000 psi. That pressure is then used to calculate the stress in the barrel material, which is then used to pick a material that gives adequate properties. My assumption is that the chamber would be modeled as a thick walled pressure vessel to calculate the stress. That's not entirely accurate, but should give a conservative estimate. If you know the dimensions of the chamber (both inside and out) the stress calculation isn't particularly difficult. The link above also gives standard chamber internal dimensions. The outside dimensions can be varied to change the stresses and tailor to a particular material. Here's a calculator for the stress. I have not verified it's accuracy. http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/stress-thick-walled-tube-d_949.html If you don't want to go through all that... just get a .22 LR barrel and cut it to your desired length.

That MTM box looks pretty cool to me, though I can see the rest getting in the way if you don't use it. How about one of the canvas tool box organizer things? $40... http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Tool-Storage-Tool-Storage-Workstations-Bags-Cases-Bucket-Storage/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbtxm/R-202018002/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051 $60 and its on wheels... http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Tool-Storage-Tool-Storage-Workstations-Bags-Cases-Bucket-Storage/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbtxm/R-202353445/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051

I'm happy with mine. It had the dreaded squeak when I first got it. After some fiddling, gluing some felt to the back of the belt clips finally fixed it. I don't wear it as often as I should, it's too easy to stick the P3AT in my pocket. But it's a well made, comfortable holster. A real gun belt makes a significant difference. As for drawing without the combat cut... there's a technique. When I grip the gun, my thumb goes straight up the back of the slide to the rear sight. As the gun clears the holster the thumb slides down, disengages the safety, and moves to normal "thumbs forward" position.

Welcome!

Welcome!