After building Airfix’s old 1/72 scale Apollo recovery Sea King, I swore a mighty oath that I was never going to make another 1/72 helicopter. But I recently got hold of a set of Starfighter Decals’ 1/48 scale markings for the “Old 66” Apollo recovery Sea King, which inspired me to go around again on … Continue reading Hasegawa 1/48 SH-3H Sea King (Apollo Recovery SH-3D Conversion): Part 1
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Robert Sheckley: The AAA Ace Stories
[Gregor] pushed the list aside, found a pack of tattered cards, and laid out a hopeless solitaire of his own devising. Minutes later, Arnold stepped jauntily in. Gregor looked at his partner with suspicion. When the little chemist walked with that peculiar bouncing step, his round face beaming happily, it usually mean trouble for AAA … Continue reading Robert Sheckley: The AAA Ace Stories
The Coordinate Axes Of Apollo-Saturn: Part 1
As a matter arising from my long, slow build of a Saturn V model, I became absorbed in the confusing multiplicity of coordinate systems and axes applied to the Apollo launch vehicle and spacecraft. So I thought I’d provide a guide to what I’ve learned, before I forget it all again. (Note, I won’t be … Continue reading The Coordinate Axes Of Apollo-Saturn: Part 1
Bennachie
Scare Hill (NJ 683193, 280m) Millstone Hill (NJ 676202, 409m) Mither Tap (NJ 682223, 518m) Oxen Craig (NJ 662226, 529m) Watch Craig (NJ 653224, c490m) 17.4 kilometres 820 metres of ascent Bennachie is the last eastward gasp of the Cairngorms—a low ridge of moorland dotted with granite tors, beyond which the ground descends into the … Continue reading Bennachie
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Apostrophe: Part 1
əˈpɒstrəfiː apostrophe: 1) A rhetorical device in which the speaker breaks off from discourse in order to address a person or thing, absent or present; 2) The sign ’, used to indicate omitted letters, or the possessive case [I]t appears from the evidence that there was never a golden age in which the rules for … Continue reading Apostrophe: Part 1
Edgar Pangborn: The “Darkening World” Cycle
And still I persist in wondering whether folly must always be our nemesis. Edgar Pangborn, “My Brother Leopold” (1973) Edgar Pangborn had a great name—not enough people mention that, I feel. He’s the latest author to feature in my intermittent project of rereading classic-but-not-now-famous science-fiction stories from my formative years—the sort of stories that some … Continue reading Edgar Pangborn: The “Darkening World” Cycle
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Relativistic Ringworlds
No matter how many times he considered it, Jophiel shivered with awe. It was obviously an artefact, a made thing two light years in diameter. A ring around a supermassive black hole. Stephen Baxter, Xeelee: Redemption (2018) I’ve written about rotating space habitats in the past, and I’ve written about relativistic starships, so I guess … Continue reading Relativistic Ringworlds
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Pegasus Hobbies 1/350 Von Braun Lunar Lander
This is Pegasus Hobbies’ version of Wernher von Braun’s original conception of how we’d land on the moon—in a stonking great 4000-ton spacecraft with 30 engines and a crew capacity of 25. (Actually, three stonking great ships were planned—one carrying cargo and the others carrying crew.) The landing would be preceded by a lunar fly-by … Continue reading Pegasus Hobbies 1/350 Von Braun Lunar Lander
Ordnance Survey OpenData In QGIS 3: Part 4
At the end of my previous post on this topic, I left you with this map of the area around the mountain of Blaven (Gaelic Bla Bheinn) on the Isle of Skye: That concluded a three-part tutorial on using Ordnance Survey OpenData products in QGIS mapping software. (To go to the start of the series, … Continue reading Ordnance Survey OpenData In QGIS 3: Part 4
Rebekah Higgitt (Ed.): Maskelyne
[D]espite Maskelyne being portrayed in popular literature as a self-seeking academic astronomer with a less-than-personable style, the stories of his interaction with the Nautical Almanac [human] computers reveals that he went to some lengths to provide stop-gap employment to mathematically inclined people, as well as providing long-term stable employment for those with families to support. … Continue reading Rebekah Higgitt (Ed.): Maskelyne