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Space Shuttle pilots themselves referred to it as “The Flying Brick,” I think that is mostly what they were referencing. It was a term of endearment :)
by spenczar5 3y ago
Space Shuttle pilots themselves referred to it as “The Flying Brick,” I think that is mostly what they were referencing. It was a term of endearment :)
- mpweiher 3y ago"The F4 Phantom...America's proof to the world that with a big enough engine, even a brick can fly" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqUgUgiToNs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqUgUgiToNs
- dmoy 3y agoYea sorry, this was it. I didn't mean it literally has the glide ratio of a brick I mean it looks like a brick and it flies
- techdragon 3y agoDespite knowing about its nickname… I found myself picturing a paraphrasing of the classic physicist’s “spherical cow in a vacuum”… “Steerable brick in an atmosphere”… or the slightly more accurate “orientable brick in an atmospheric reentry regime”…
- dmoy 3y agoIf you want a real "orientable brick in atmospheric reentry regime", check out how they steered the Apollo capsules back down. Kinda bonkers, but worked - they made it asymmetric and then rotated it depending on if they wanted to go down faster, slower, left, or right. Obviously it can't fly, and its glide ratio is actually brick-like unlike my facetious description of the shuttle. But it worked enough. Kinda like a single control plane missile that spins (rolling airframe?), except... without the control plane lol.