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Definitely impractical for retrofits, borderline for new construction (the downhill would have to be relatively steep), but a great idead [+]. |
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[+] except it won't work because all modern cars are equipped with engine-run power steering and brakes. |
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What a good idea. You should tell Boeing and Airbus about that ... |
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// how they're expected to deal with an all-engine power loss // |
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By using batteries, and deploying a device called a "Ram air turbine"; basically, a ducted windmill that pops out from the fuselage and converts airflow to electrical energy. |
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Of course, if the solenoid which deploys the RAT doesn't get quite enough juice to operate it, well ... that's just bad luck. |
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Oh, by the way, don't bang too hard on the rudder pedals if you hit someone else's jetwash - the tail might just fall off ... carbon fibre, you know ... |
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"Nothing is ever foolproof, because fools are so ingenious" |
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"Never rely totally on software in a mission-critical application" |
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Die By Wire ? No, thanks. |
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I've heard somewhere that turning off and on an engine burns as much fuel as sitting idle for 5 minutes. |
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I've heard it, but have never seen the numbers to back it up. |
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I've heard the same thing about turning lights off and on, and I know it to be false for incandescants and newer fluorescents. (There is some evidence that it is true for older ballasted fluorescents) |
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That was the case 20 or 30 years ago. With modern
vehicles, starting the engine burns less than the amount of
fuel used in one minute running at idle. A lot less,
typically. |
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It depends on the vehicle that you drive.
Some older cars to start while cold use a rich fuel
strategy. Older cars than that that don't sense
operating temperatures use this rich fuel strategy all
of the time to start, and older cars than that, well,
they used a choke. Warm-starting doesn't consume
that much in a modern car. |
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Computer failure is more common than engine
failure, and so redundancy is a good idea. |
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I like this idea. In my car one click of the key to the left turns off the engine but leaves the electrical system on. After I read this earlier today I tried it out on my downhill driveway and IMO it would work fine, although steering was *significantly harder. It would also be great for new hybrids and electric cars turn their engines off when not needed and don't take extra fuel to restart. |
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accidents through the wazoo. Really think about these things people. |
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"Extra fries for my friend in the steamroller, please." |
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you could do the car wash thing to pull the car. |
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But to truly save money and time, use NFC
to have my daily order transmitted, billed, and
delivered as I pull up to the window. |
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Maybe, like some automatic car washes, the cars could stay still and the whole restaurant could move over them, on rails ? |
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Perhaps there could be a robotic arm that reaches through
open windows and stuffs food directly into the customers'
mouths as it passes over each car. |
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... through the sunroof. They'd tilt their heads back
and open their mouths like adorable little birdies. |
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Same amount of brain, too. What a coincidence (except that most birds never get quite that fat). |
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However you dress that up, it's never quite going to fit. |
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Actually, a comparison more in line with your
prejudices would be: Americans are like cuckoo
chicks. |
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"engine-run power steering and brakes" |
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Some people in the US ride their bicycle for exercise, but
there's generally a stigma in most of the country that only
poor people ride bicycles for transportation. Wealthier
people, however, can afford the luxury of muscling their
BMW 7-series downhill, getting arm exercise to steer it and
leg exercise to stop it. The hill should be near a lake to
hand out Darwin awards to the particularly arrogant people
who overestimate their abilities. |
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