[him a layin]

so pretty. oddly enough, i find the lines of our beloved 411s quite pleasing, so much so that i'm having trouble convincing myself to sell it.

[AzCal Retred]

A set of street skins and you have a very competent touring bike. It'll run 65 reliably, the +400 pound weight is a total non-issue on the pavement, the centerstand makes daily maintenance a breeze, there are bolt-on luggage solutions widely available, the off-roady longer travel suspension keeps potholes & road debris from ruining your day, and at its 60-70ish mpg it won't break the travelin' cash bank. A Scram for zero down. Backroads, watch out!   

[AzCal Retred]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd1x920v1p2o

Attempt to fly open basket-balloon across Atlantic abandoned

A group of explorers hoping to be the first to fly across the Atlantic in an open basket hydrogen balloon have said they are "extremely disappointed" after the attempt had to be abandoned.
British explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, 67, who lives in Wiltshire, and two friends took off from Presque Isle, Maine, in North America, just after 02:30 UTC [03:30 BST].
But after about seven hours in the air, the crew were forced to land, at 09:40 UTC [10:40 BST] near New Brunswick, Canada, due to weather conditions.
A spokeswoman for the crew, who are safe and well, said: "They will attempt it again but it's too early to say when at the moment."

The spokeswoman said that the conditions had required an altitude higher than planned, and that would have needed "increased ballast consumption".
The crew therefore decided to land the balloon having decided they would not have had enough ballast to make it to Europe.

Prior to the attempt, Sir David said: "At 67, I'm still young enough to take on a daring hydrogen balloon flight across the Atlantic.
"Age is just a number and the spirit of exploration never fades." (and apparently the money...)
Sir David has already crossed the Atlantic twice in an open-basket balloon, but this was the first attempt at crossing the Atlantic ocean using a hydrogen balloon.
He was accompanied by American balloon manufacturer Bert Padelt and Swedish explorer, scientist and entrepreneur Dr Frederik Paulsen.

[GlennF]

I thought the Hindenberg did that on a regular basis ?

[him a layin]

"open basket"

[NVDucati]

"open basket"

Plus it is a balloon not a dirigible with a frame and multiple engines, etc.
The open basket means that the altitude must be lower than can be used in a capsule style (pressurized) cabin. The jet stream (~30,000ft) can be traveling well above 70 mph and in a pretty constant direction. Where as at lower altitudes the winds are much slower and meander.

[Leofric]

' British explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, 67, who lives in Wiltshire ' -
and damn it all , British with a double barrelled name ! 

[AzCal Retred]

Fire is HOT!!      Sun is HOT!!     If it hurts when you do something...well...?      Fire is HOT!!      Sun is HOT!!      If it hurts when you do something...well...? 
Man gets third-degree burns from walking on sand dunes in Death Valley
European visitor rushed to hospital after briefly walking barefoot in California national park amid extreme heat

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/25/man-burns-feet-death-valley-sand-dunes

Blazing-hot surfaces such as asphalt and concrete are also a danger for catastrophic burn injuries in the urban areas of the desert south-west. The bulk of the Las Vegas burn center’s patients come from the surrounding urban area, which regularly sees summertime highs in the triple digits.
Thermal injuries from hot surfaces like sidewalks, patios and playground equipment are also common in Arizona’s Maricopa county, which encompasses Phoenix.
Air temperatures can also be dangerous in Death Valley, where a motorcyclist died from heat-related causes earlier this month.

[Richard230]

How about a video regarding movie robots from the 1930's to the 1950's?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIuZIDC3HI

[GlennF]

Air temperatures can also be dangerous in Death Valley, where a motorcyclist died from heat-related causes earlier this month.
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Part of the problem was it was too hot for rescue helicopters.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/07/08/too-hot-to-fly/74327045007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p

As the temperature in California's Death Valley National Park skyrocketed to a nearly world record-breaking high, a group of motorcyclists traveling through the park found themselves in trouble.

But as the heat reached a record 128 degrees on Saturday, emergency medical helicopters were unable to respond to the scene because they can't safely fly in temperatures above 120 degrees, according to the National Park Service.

[AzCal Retred]

The air effectively gets "thinner" as it gets hotter, much easier to stall an aircraft & have it fall out of the sky. Flight controls get "mushy". Phoenix Sky Harbor commercial flights have issues with this in summer, often causing delays & cancellations

Density altitude is a measure of air density that is used in aviation to predict

how an aircraft will perform at a given altitude. It is calculated by adjusting pressure altitude for nonstandard temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure: \(DensityAltitude=PressureAltitude+[120*(OutsideAirTemperatureStandardTemperature)]\)

https://www.faasafety.gov/files/events/NM/NM07/2023/NM07120280/FAA-P-8740-02-DensityAltitude.pdf

[GlennF]

yeah -  basically the rotor blades are just mini wings rotating around and at high density altitudes the rotors struggle the same way a wing does.

The heat issue is twofold. At high temperatures the Density Altitude (the effective altitude the wing or rotor sees) is much higher than the actual altitude AND the engines are less efficient and have to work harder and overheat.

The end result is some poor guy out on a motorcycle tour with his friends died because they could not get to him in time.

It is worth noting that the 128F (53C) temperature on the day was recorded in the shade.  The world record for temperature in the shade is 134F. The Australian record is 123.3 F (50.7) 

Temperatures in the sun can get much hotter of course, in Australia temperatures in the sun can exceed 160 F with the highest reported full sun temp being 167F (75C).   These are not official records as measuring temps in the sun is too variable to be consistent.

[AzCal Retred]

You have to have eaten a truly "biggo' box of dumbass" to climb into a walled section of the 405 in L.A. at rush hour and prance about. I doubt follow on groups will be as lucky now they have thoroughly pissed off a very large group of the "oldest teenage drivers in the world" not particularly known for empathy. The bullhorn yelling in arabic into the anglo/hispanic parking lot they'd created was a real wtf?! moment. Future Darwin Award contenders!

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c3rdndd1lpyo
Gaza protesters shut down LA highway during rush hour
A group of Gaza protesters shut down a busy Los Angeles freeway on Tuesday morning, causing traffic to back up for miles.
The 405 Freeway southbound lanes re-opened after protesters were escorted off the highway by police, who took several people into custody. No injuries were reported.
The demonstration was "in protest of US support for Israel's assault on Gaza", according to a statement from the organisers.

[Richard230]

It is amazing that 15 protesters could walk onto the 405 freeway and not get run over. That was their lucky day. Maybe they won't be as lucky when the go to court.

[AzCal Retred]

I'm hoping the justice system tabulates the PD and Emergency services costs, add on a bit for impeding the citizenry and divide it up between the eejits. Call it an educational fee.