"Met a guy in a bar"
1985 Lufthansa Hamburg, whilst on the toilet with a very large Airbus engine manual (given to me begrudgingly by 1 of the engineers on orders from on high ... long story) I noticed that fuel was used for each individual compression of air intake (can't remember how many but it was a lot, maybe 100 +). Anyways, 1 in 3/4 was unnecessary, simply use compression to create compression, then go back to fuel. Similar principal to the cowles on engines reducing air intake to reduce wasted wear & tear on the engines. Had a long chat with some more engineers, and 3 years later they announced the "new improved airbus engine with 30% fuel reduction that could land on a sixpence. It almost bankrupted Boeing (you'll know the story of how that war panned out)
"Alley gate rolling bars" (after Heysel & Hillsborough put it to the FA & LFC, another long story)
The Gridle plate that drops down onto your oven (used to run a catering equipment business with my brother, cookers, canopies, etc.)
Lots of design changes to products that made them cheaper to make.
I am known in certain circles to have the ability to solve unsolvable problems. Walked away from the innovation game quite some years back. The subject matter was getting scary (energy, nuclear waste disposal, free energy) Much prefer cycling now, its safer
Just spent all day re-hashing Graeme Obree's "Teardrop Effect" theory on cycling (someone posted a link to his latest exploits). A very interesting theory to explore, and by my reckoning he is spot on with his observation, he just doesn't know it yet. Debating wether to tell him or leave him be ? Maybe he likes the challenge more than the result ?
Have designed a bike based on the Teardrop Theory (let the rules of physics take me to the answer) with surprising results. " A Teardrop falls heavy end first, but that's caused by velocity and its ability to change shape etc. Ultimately the heavier portion is to the front, the lighter trail to the rear. Taking his mention of teardrops and expanding it, the conclusion is that " We currently use the bike to drag our weight through the environment, instead of using the bike to propel our body weight & drag the bike. This is a teardrop, not in shape, but by the laws of physics, heavy end first. When he first got involved in cycling he moved his body weight over the forks, but only 'ish.
Try this as an experiment and you'll see he's right. "get 1 of your bikes out, straddle it so you are at 90 degrees to the BB (which will put you about 1/3rd down the toptube towards the bars), NOT as per usual set back to the saddle. Now put your chest on the forks. It's immensely comfortable, but sense the delivery of power to the drive train (asthough out the saddle). The Teardrop is now formed, heaviest end is now pulling the back weight which is the few kg's of bike arse. It'll never take off for run of the mill casual riding, but I believe it will be proven to be very effective for those who race against the clock, especially track boys. I think Obree struggles to get whats in his head out so others can make sense of it, but thats not unusual for people like him. I'm quite stunned by the results
1 day soon the saddle will be placed directly over the BB, the chest will sit on the centre of gravity over the forks, and the real innovation will come in the new handlebars to steer. The hard part is keeping the wheelbase normal. All done now though
Physics / Innovation is a strange and wonderful music if you know how to play it on your guitar
Maybe 1 day I'll make it
Anyways, I digress my friend
As always, it's a pleasure talking to you, yours Laz.
PS: well done on the products
It's nice to correct errors in life / modify - make more useful existing products. The technology I could use from the aircraft industry. (love honeycomb technology)
