Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/12/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Looks like the world's largest music box drum. -----Original Message----- >From: Jim Nichols <jhnichols at lighttube.net> >Sent: Dec 12, 2013 4:19 PM >To: "LUG at Leica-Users.org" <lug at leica-users.org> >Cc: Olympus Camera Discussion <olympus at thomasclausen.net> >Subject: [Leica] IMG: From Long Ago > >As a young engineer, my first assignment was to calculate the nozzle >plate shapes for a flexible plate nozzle for the AEDC 16-Ft Transonic >Wind Tunnel, then under construction. The shapes had to vary from a >simple contraction to a Mach 1.6 contour, and the process had to be done >by 16 pairs of jacks, without over stressing the steel plates. And, >other than the basic supersonic shapes calculated by folks at Cal-Tech, >it was all done on Friden and Marchant desk calculators. > >To move the jacks from contour to contour, a series of steps were chosen >that stayed within stress limits, as determined from curvature >calculations. These steps were then stored in L-shaped pegs on a >mechanical memory drum, with the shapes transferred to cam-driven >readers and fed to vacuum-tube amplifiers which supplied the driving >signals to the ball-bearing screw jacks. > >Bear in mind that this was all done in the early 1950s. > >This photo, taken from my technical report, shows the mechanical memory >drum and the console which contained the drum drive system, the transfer >plate, and the individual jack amplifiers. The console and system were >designed to our specs and provided by an engineering company whose name >does not come to mind after 60 years. > >http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Mechanical+Memory+Drum.jpg.html > >Memory has come a long way since then. :-) > >-- >Jim Nichols >Tullahoma, TN USA > > > >_______________________________________________ >Leica Users Group. >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information