Ian McColgin
09-10-2003, 11:51 AM
Just to swap tales of gooey messes.
Prior to Dad's very successful glassing of the old Knockabout, he had the need to glass a weather baloon.
Dad was a PanAm pilot who moonlit test flying for Grumman and was getting his PhD. Really a bit of sort of industrial psychology/physiology. The goal was to chart movement thresholds in periferal vision - basicly figure how much an instrument needed to wiggle to attract a pilot's attention. Good work. Revolutionized cockpit design, with the DC 8 being the first production plane to use the info.
Anyway, the apartatus was simply a big hemi-sphere. The instruments could be located most anywhere. The subjects (Dad's fellow pilots) would look at an X in the inside center of the hemishpere, nose on a string to locate their eyes on either side of center, and mark when they noted movement of the instrument.
So, first plan was to make two hemispheres - after all, the baloon was round. We got the thing inflated in the basement and layered on very light cloth well slushed with resin. Actually got the whole thing covered with no sag.
As we were done, Dad saw a slight bubble which he patted flat. Somehow that pierced the baloon and the thing deflated with a resiny whoosh.
About 300# of fast setting glop all over the basement.
Dad made a wonderful sport of getting it out before Mom came home from riding.
Second version, just a hemisphere, cured fine. Got more layers so we could use it, and served well. We named it HemiSpud after the then new Sputnik.
And now the tie-in why this is in the boat building thread:
After the research was done, we carefully cut it in half to get it out of the basement, reglassed it together, filled the instrument holding holes (about 600 or so!), and tried launching a 6' diameter fiberglass carraugh.
With a large innertube lashed over the rim, it eventually became a sort of bizarre beach toy. Most fun if inverted over the water so we could make wierd noises.
Dad was a far better pilot and experimental psycholgist than boat designer.
Prior to Dad's very successful glassing of the old Knockabout, he had the need to glass a weather baloon.
Dad was a PanAm pilot who moonlit test flying for Grumman and was getting his PhD. Really a bit of sort of industrial psychology/physiology. The goal was to chart movement thresholds in periferal vision - basicly figure how much an instrument needed to wiggle to attract a pilot's attention. Good work. Revolutionized cockpit design, with the DC 8 being the first production plane to use the info.
Anyway, the apartatus was simply a big hemi-sphere. The instruments could be located most anywhere. The subjects (Dad's fellow pilots) would look at an X in the inside center of the hemishpere, nose on a string to locate their eyes on either side of center, and mark when they noted movement of the instrument.
So, first plan was to make two hemispheres - after all, the baloon was round. We got the thing inflated in the basement and layered on very light cloth well slushed with resin. Actually got the whole thing covered with no sag.
As we were done, Dad saw a slight bubble which he patted flat. Somehow that pierced the baloon and the thing deflated with a resiny whoosh.
About 300# of fast setting glop all over the basement.
Dad made a wonderful sport of getting it out before Mom came home from riding.
Second version, just a hemisphere, cured fine. Got more layers so we could use it, and served well. We named it HemiSpud after the then new Sputnik.
And now the tie-in why this is in the boat building thread:
After the research was done, we carefully cut it in half to get it out of the basement, reglassed it together, filled the instrument holding holes (about 600 or so!), and tried launching a 6' diameter fiberglass carraugh.
With a large innertube lashed over the rim, it eventually became a sort of bizarre beach toy. Most fun if inverted over the water so we could make wierd noises.
Dad was a far better pilot and experimental psycholgist than boat designer.