Old Tech thread

[CupofJoe]

Saw one of these up close a few years ago. It flew to a small airfield [and I do mean Field]. It looked amazing and even parked up it looked faster than the Cessnas and Beechcraft around it,

 

[Parson]

That De Havilland Dragon Rapide reminded me of probably the most successful early passenger plane. I'm not sure there's a better looking early plane than the old Ford Trimotor.

 

[Pyan]

And right at the other end of the prettiness scale to the Dragon Rapide, I give you the 1932 GeeBee Model R:

 

[Cathbad]

View attachment 55130

He lost half his plane!!

 

[Dave]

Is that a civilian version of the Short Sunderland?

I believe so, yes. It was common to make civilian versions of military designs.

In the 1920's and 1930's only the very rich could afford to travel by plane, but it could not have been very comfortable and was certainly very drafty. A far cry from the alternative; the luxury of on ocean going liner. And much less safe too. Still, they must have been exciting times, visiting places that few in the West had ever been too before.

 

[CupofJoe]

I believe so, yes. It was common to make civilian versions of military designs.

In the 1920's and 1930's only the very rich could afford to travel by plane, but it could not have been very comfortable and was certainly very drafty. A far cry from the alternative; the luxury of on ocean going liner. And much less safe too. Still, they must have been exciting times, visiting places that few in the West had ever been too before.

Or combine both the draftiness of flight and the speed of an ocean liner [okay not quite] and go by Airship!

 

[Foxbat]

That De Havilland Dragon Rapide reminded me of probably the most successful early passenger plane. I'm not sure there's a better looking early plane than the old Ford Trimotor.

View attachment 55129

The Junkers 52 perhaps? Apparently the Ford Trimotor was built using Hugo Junkers design principles. The main difference appears to be in wing position.
Here's a photo of a model JU52 I built.

 

[Foxbat]

I believe so, yes. It was common to make civilian versions of military designs.

In the 1920's and 1930's only the very rich could afford to travel by plane, but it could not have been very comfortable and was certainly very drafty. A far cry from the alternative; the luxury of on ocean going liner. And much less safe too. Still, they must have been exciting times, visiting places that few in the West had ever been too before.

To be honest, I'm not keen on flying and only do it when absolutely necessary but I think I would have made an exception to travel in something like a Short Sunderland. It must be quite an adventure taking off from the water

 

[The Ace]

It's the other way around - the aircraft on the poster is a Short Empire. The RAF needed a long-range flying-boat and Shorts developed the Sunderland from it.

 

[Foxbat]

It's the other way around - the aircraft on the poster is a Short Empire. The RAF needed a long-range flying-boat and Shorts developed the Sunderland from it.

You learn something new everyday

 

[CupofJoe]

I was just reading about the Short aircraft, there were a half dozen[?] differently named aircraft that were each a development, adaption or varient of one of the others.

 

[Foxbat]

A couple of the instruments I used to use when I first started in the nuclear industry

They've long been replaced by more modern instruments.

 

[Foxbat]

I still have a working Pathe 9.5mm projector.

Mine has the back cover removed because I've modified it to run on newer bulbs (couldn't find an original replacement). The metal drive belt had to be replaced but, again, I couldn't source a replacement so used a large, modified O ring. It's still 90% old tech though

Edit: Oh yes. Forgot to mention. I completely rewired it because that old insulation was in a dangerous way.

 

[Cathbad]

9.5! Never seen one!

 

[Foxbat]

They were popular between the wars. The film has a sprocket hole in the centre between the frames (rather than at the sides). The 9.5mm format was chosen because three strips of 9.5 could be made by splitting 35mm lengthways giving three times the footage. Having the hole central meant that the frame size was almost as big as 16mm (which has sprocket holes on both edges, taking up some of the available space).

Just to build on that, it's a similar reason we had 8mm because splitting 16mm lengthways gives twice as much footage of 8mm (and explains why 8mm has sprocket holes on just one side).

 

[Vince W]

I remember in school how excited we all got whenever a projector was in our classroom when we got in. It didn't matter what was shown or for what purpose but it always felt like a holiday.

Then there was the film strip projector.

As often as not there was a recorded lecture played as someone advanced the film strip at the tone. Not as good as the projector, but it served its purpose.

 

[Foxbat]

I remember the overhead projector from school. It had a particular smell that came from the transparencies. I think it was acetate.

We had a geography teacher who used one to display a load of information, which we had to copy down in our notebooks. He also used to march up and down the lanes of desks, reciting what was on display. I once asked him why he did all of this. His answer was that if we see it, write it down and also hear it, then some of us might actually learn it.

He was also the same teacher who told me I was the only boy he knew that had started at the bottom of the ladder but was still managing to work his way down. Where the art of sarcasm was concerned, he was my hero.

He must have done something right because I passed all my geography exams

 

[Pyan]

This is the radio my grandfather had, and that I inherited, and is still in the attic somewhere...

Close-up of the tuning dial:

As I recall, the amber badge in the middle glowed when the set was on. 5 valves, internal aerial, long, medium and short wave, sheer nostalgia. And it was huge (460 x 340 x 220 mm / 18.1 x 13.4 x 8.7 inches)...

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/belcher_westminster_a_5350a535.html?language_id=2

 

[Vince W]

I remember the overhead projector from school. It had a particular smell that came from the transparencies. I think it was acetate.

Mimeographs are the smell I remember most. The teach would pass out the freshly copied sheets and the first thing everyone did was inhale the smell. I guess we were trying to get some sort of buzz.

 

[Cathbad]

I hated using that mimeograph macine!

But I loved the smell!!