I was a helicopter mechanic for many years in the military, and we were always well aware of the contraptiony nature of the aircraft we worked on. There were many, many times when a mechanic would...
I was a helicopter mechanic for many years in the military, and we were always well aware of the contraptiony nature of the aircraft we worked on.
There were many, many times when a mechanic would be stuck on a problem and just stand back, look at the thing, and say something like "it doesn't even make sense that these fucking things can fly."
A layman's interpretation of the complexity of a helicopter barely scratches the surface of the things that can go wrong with them, which is why much of the weight of modern military helicopters is devoted to triple, and in some cases quadruple redundant systems. It was rare that one would ever come back from a mission without something on one of those systems broken.
The difference between an airplane and a helicopter is often described as gracefully soaring in the sky in harmony with the air versus mercilessly beating the air into submission against its will to desperately stay airborne.
If they were Lord of the rings characters, airplanes would be Legolas, gracefully moving through the air in beautiful harmony. Helicopters are gimli, clumsily acting against the air with brute strength, constantly fighting for their life.
Are you talking about forest logging or christmas tree harvesting. Shit is wild, like rally car driving. What about the high voltage power line repair guys? Or the powerline canyon trimming guys?
Are you talking about forest logging or christmas tree harvesting. Shit is wild, like rally car driving.
What about the high voltage power line repair guys?
The flying chainsaw is absolutely horrifying lol. I wondered how those huge paths got carved through the trees where I used to live. The video honestly looks like something one of my hillbilly...
The flying chainsaw is absolutely horrifying lol. I wondered how those huge paths got carved through the trees where I used to live. The video honestly looks like something one of my hillbilly uncles would come up with and I'd never believe him.
I haven't finished the whole text, but once I started to grok what the author was describing I immediately thought of bloated, messy software/webapps/etc as a sort of code-traption. I think...
I haven't finished the whole text, but once I started to grok what the author was describing I immediately thought of bloated, messy software/webapps/etc as a sort of code-traption.
I think they're less elegant as an example than helicopters because it always seems like there is a non-contraptiony way to achieve whatever in software. But as anyone in software knows, even the most elegant designs always stumble in the face of sufficiently complex requirements. Comparing these well-intentioned but ultimately messy contraptions of software to a respectable physical creation like a helicopter does make me feel better.
If we're not talking about mechanics, then perhaps e-ink (i.e. electrophoretic screens) is contraptiony. The perfect visibility in direct sunlight without using any power is qualitatively unique,...
If we're not talking about mechanics, then perhaps e-ink (i.e. electrophoretic screens) is contraptiony. The perfect visibility in direct sunlight without using any power is qualitatively unique, and technically every single pixel is a moving part, with a physical arrangement you have to remember and periodically reset to avoid breaking it.
And of course, it's ~1Hz and usually monochrome, with color being solved by adding more moving dyes (I'm ignoring CFA here because CFA is trash and everyone knows it). E-ink is kind of objectively terrible compared to LCD/OLED, except for 1) the aesthetic of the screens is pretty cool and nice, and 2) the all-sunlight-no-power thing.
I was a helicopter mechanic for many years in the military, and we were always well aware of the contraptiony nature of the aircraft we worked on.
There were many, many times when a mechanic would be stuck on a problem and just stand back, look at the thing, and say something like "it doesn't even make sense that these fucking things can fly."
A layman's interpretation of the complexity of a helicopter barely scratches the surface of the things that can go wrong with them, which is why much of the weight of modern military helicopters is devoted to triple, and in some cases quadruple redundant systems. It was rare that one would ever come back from a mission without something on one of those systems broken.
The difference between an airplane and a helicopter is often described as gracefully soaring in the sky in harmony with the air versus mercilessly beating the air into submission against its will to desperately stay airborne.
If they were Lord of the rings characters, airplanes would be Legolas, gracefully moving through the air in beautiful harmony. Helicopters are gimli, clumsily acting against the air with brute strength, constantly fighting for their life.
They're still extremely cool though.
It's well known helicopters can't actually fly. They are just such monstrosities that the Earth rejects them from the ground.
Have you seen videos of those helicopter logging guys? Shit is wild lol
Are you talking about forest logging or christmas tree harvesting. Shit is wild, like rally car driving.
What about the high voltage power line repair guys?
Or the powerline canyon trimming guys?
The flying chainsaw is absolutely horrifying lol. I wondered how those huge paths got carved through the trees where I used to live. The video honestly looks like something one of my hillbilly uncles would come up with and I'd never believe him.
I haven't finished the whole text, but once I started to grok what the author was describing I immediately thought of bloated, messy software/webapps/etc as a sort of code-traption.
I think they're less elegant as an example than helicopters because it always seems like there is a non-contraptiony way to achieve whatever in software. But as anyone in software knows, even the most elegant designs always stumble in the face of sufficiently complex requirements. Comparing these well-intentioned but ultimately messy contraptions of software to a respectable physical creation like a helicopter does make me feel better.
If we're not talking about mechanics, then perhaps e-ink (i.e. electrophoretic screens) is contraptiony. The perfect visibility in direct sunlight without using any power is qualitatively unique, and technically every single pixel is a moving part, with a physical arrangement you have to remember and periodically reset to avoid breaking it.
And of course, it's ~1Hz and usually monochrome, with color being solved by adding more moving dyes (I'm ignoring CFA here because CFA is trash and everyone knows it). E-ink is kind of objectively terrible compared to LCD/OLED, except for 1) the aesthetic of the screens is pretty cool and nice, and 2) the all-sunlight-no-power thing.