Notices by Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Sunday, 20-Jul-2025 21:51:47 JST 
Cliff Secord
About that...
https://cryptobriefing.com/ftt-price-surge-false-pardon/ -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Sunday, 20-Jul-2025 21:51:45 JST
Cliff Secord
If anything, it was intended to manipulate markets so someone can make a quick dollar. So, so jewish.
Quite tiresome. -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Sunday, 20-Jul-2025 14:03:22 JST
Cliff Secord
This is actually an excellent point. Open-sourcing breeds innovation, because the ecosystem self-filters, meaning that shit applications, shit ideas, are naturally eliminated from contention, making way for the genuine, better ideas & apps to come to the forefront.
On the software front, Linux, Python, MatPlotLib, OpenFOAM, Calculix, FreeCAD, QBlade & XFLR-5 et al have proven themselves to be phenomenal engineering platforms, far superior to their obscenely overpriced commercial counterparts.
There are great open-source hardware platforms out there such as Arduino, ArduPilot. A group called Perrin Engineering open sourced the design initiatives for a Formula 1 car as well as an FIA LMP1 prototype, the work of which strongly informed the Vanwall LMH project.
One of the wildest things NASA released to the ecosystem is a crazy material called aerogel. A literal gas in solid form, it was originally formulated as an insulator for deep space probes, and now, independent innovators have figured out how to turn it into a flexible composite core material. We're doing some trials of the stuff in infused carbon composite layups and have gotten some good results. If the guy making it figures out how to make large sheets, cheaply (a major challenge), our aircraft project stands to lose close to 190 pounds of mass while retaining structural performance!
Also, this shit is way better an insulating material than fiberglass!
https://www.aerogel.org/ -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Sunday, 20-Jul-2025 14:03:21 JST
Cliff Secord
The sample alumina x-aerogel cores we have trialled have worked very well with the resins we use. Good resin flow and zero absorption. Nearly the same properties as Divinycell H80, but completely fire retardant....and nearly 1:1000th of the density.
According to our project partner, the process is not super complex to formulate it, as it is safely done at room temperature, but the challenge is in what they call 'supercritical drying'....aka freeze-drying.
The production of foam core materials involves some really toxic shit. Aerogel? Nowhere near as much.
If we can figure out how to design a supercritical dryer that can allow for multiple high-quality 4x8 sheets of varying thickness to be made at once, consistently, there is a legitimate opportunity to corner multiple markets.
https://www.aerogel.org/?cat=54 -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Sunday, 20-Jul-2025 14:03:19 JST
Cliff Secord
That may or may not be the ticket, as you will need to be using liquified CO2 to make this stuff, and in the supercritical drying process you're looking at a vapor pressure within the dryer on the order of around 750 psi at a room temperature of 15C (59 F), 850 psi at 25C (77F).
This condition would then need to be maintained for 2-3 days depending on the matrix so the liquid CO2 can infuse into the gel mixture.
The supercritical drying part requires an even higher chamber pressure of around 1,400 psi. With a safety factor of 1.5, that comes out to 2,100 psi, so you're effectively engineering for 2,250 psi.
www.aerogel.org/?p=1344
2,250 psi over a large surface area means a lot of force within the vessel. In the event of a catastrophic failure, even 1,400 psi is both explosive & lethal.
Not to worry, this can be solved with White engineering, and some money. -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Sunday, 20-Jul-2025 14:03:18 JST
Cliff Secord
One of my colleagues asked a similar question, but the pressures and temperatures must be what they are for this saturation infusion and supercritical drying process to work. Otherwise the matrix will not progress past the appearance and consistency of what thots wipe off their faces a couple nights a week.
All this said, there are some sharp cats out there trying to make aerogels possible that are larger in size, stronger, more flexible & durable and can be made at more realistic & safer working pressures and lower production times. The advantages of the material are clear and the commercial potential is immense, to say nothing about its environmental friendliness & sustainability. It will revolutionize the insulation and composite material sectors and the industries they serve when they figure it out. -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Jul-2025 06:15:19 JST
Cliff Secord
>If you just buy a 1974 Cessna, you're legally required to treat that stupid Cessna like Jay Leno treats his numbers-matching 1930 Duesenberg. Every part you replace has to be 100% original to that aircraft, which means you're paying $200 for a $5 toggle switch and that switch is lower quality because it's made to a 1974 design. There are exceptions to this rule, but they're limited to either trivial components like a screw, or components which have been specifically certified for that airframe. Also, all repairs also have to be done by a certified mechanic which adds even more to the price.
You also have the fact that since Cessna & Piper never planned on several of their airframes made in the 60s and 70s to still be flying daily as rentals or trainers, they're not fully supported anymore. As such, there are companies like mine that make like-for-like airframe replacement parts. Because of the cost of liability insurance, the costs for those parts are prohibitively high.
This is only part the reason why an old rickety high-time Cessna 172 you see at a local FBO costs over $250/wet per run hour. When I got my private pilot cert 25 years ago, that same bird was maybe $60/hr on the high end. The other factor behind that exorbitant cost is the fact that they have few customers... because who wants to fly a rickety bird for $250 an hour? As a result of that, prices only go up. We engineers call that a 'divergent feedback loop'.
Fortunately the FAA is now allowing Experimental-Amateur Built aircraft to be used for hire as training & rental aircraft. Many of these E-ABs, such as RVs, Slings, Kitfoxes & Zeniths et al, make phenominal trainers & rentals, and are better than Cessnas & Pipers to begin with. Way cheaper too, as most are supported, use readily-available componentry, and those bulletproof Rotax's that sip fuel.
Our current design is a 4-place high speed long distance cruiser, the next bird will be designed as a trainer. -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Monday, 07-Jul-2025 11:07:55 JST
Cliff Secord
The 85 Audi Quattro is an amazing car, hands down.
I had an BMW E92 M3 that I bought in Germany. Great car, eventually traded her in for something a tad sportier... -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Monday, 07-Jul-2025 11:07:51 JST
Cliff Secord
I can agree with this too. I would pull up the hood on the E92 I had and wonder how any kind of maintenance could ever get done. Literally, the whole engine compartment was packed solid.
My other beef with the car was its high speed handling in sweeper corners. It felt neutral at best...as if it was at the knife edge of traction, which in a mild off camber sweeper corner will make you think twice about keeping your foot in the throttle. I never liked that at all.
I got my current performance car back in mid 2022 and have only done a cam change and air plenum upgrade. Very fun to drive! -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Monday, 07-Jul-2025 11:07:49 JST
Cliff Secord
I am a big pushrod V8 fan; I grew up around the Chevy 350. I eventually learned to like the 2 liter I-4, but being an aircraft guy, turbines aside, my favorite piston plants are easily the Rotax 9 series, namely the 912, 914 and 915. Mechanically as simple as the legacy Lycomings & Continentals out there...but greatly improved. Still a single pushrod OHV O-4 configuration, but way more reliable, lighter, easier to start, and very efficient. Cheaper to own & easier to maintain as well. -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Monday, 07-Jul-2025 11:07:47 JST
Cliff Secord
DeltaHawk had much promise 15 years ago with their prototype engines, but went off the grid around 2010, only to suddenly reappear a year ago with a singular certified powerplant. 160hp for well over $110k. They've all but priced themselves out of the GA market.
Kawasaki is poised to do the same thing with their 2.0L turbo I-6. 375hp. Expected to hit the market next year. We planned to use it in our aircraft currently under development, but decided to go a different direction when we got word that the engine's entry price point is expected to be around $280k. Even Cirrus, who Kawasaki was heavily courting as the OEM launch customer, called BS and backed out.
110k for 160hp and 280k for 375hp is completely out of touch with the market. Total lunacy. -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Monday, 07-Jul-2025 11:07:44 JST
Cliff Secord
Certified engines, props, avionics etc are not made to order per se, but are packaged based on the individual type aircraft they are approved for, known in my world as a 'supplemental type certificate'. That said, what goes out the door is still mostly uniform, with 'firewall forward' kits sold seperately.
In any case, while they are kind of produced en masse, its nowhere close to the volume of the automotive sector. Not by a longshot.
For example, amongst their entire product line, Lycoming manufactures less than 1,500 engines per year total, plus spares...at just one plant in Pennsylvania. Between all their plants around the world, Hyundai easily matches that in Theta II production (the basis of the AeroMomentun AM-20T noncertified aircraft engine, pictured) in any given 48 hour period, in addition to their numerous other products. So volume easily drives the price down. Its like comparing Ferraris to Corvettes.
But from a powertrain engineering standpoint, using a converted automotive plant in an aircraft application carries numerous risks, as the engine would be in an extremely different dynamic environment. This often requires several modifications, such as an ECU with third party software, a prop speed reduction gearbox, additional oil jetting, etc, none of which are OEM supported. If these modifications are not engineered and or carried out properly, all bets are off. This said, several auto powerplant conversions have been highly successful, such as the Chevrolet Corvair, LS1, LS3 & LTG, Hyundai Theta II, even the BMW R1200GS, among several.
While the FAA has little issue with you opting to run a converted auto plant (on the aforementioned noncertified airframe, with an initial 25-hour local area operating restriction) the bigger obstacle is that unless that modified engine has a [very] positive history on previous aircraft, most insurers often decline to insure the aircraft. I've seen it on numerous occasions. Our insurance provider absolutely will not allow us to test client aircraft powered by any Honda or Yamaha conversion, as well as any Audi TDi conversion not fitted with a specific reduction gearbox from a specific vendor. -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Monday, 07-Jul-2025 11:07:43 JST
Cliff Secord
Sure can. Same for JP-4, JP-8, Jet A & A1. -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Monday, 07-Jul-2025 11:07:42 JST
Cliff Secord
Not sure, but I have seen people put Jet A in their diesel vehicle and have no problems.
Jet grade fuels are simply higher refined diesel with different additives. -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Sunday, 06-Jul-2025 09:14:40 JST
Cliff Secord
The only recent Ferrari that looks & drives half-decently is the F8 Tributo.
But here is the thing about Ferrari's (and most other super high-end sports cars for that matter)... they're investment properties; not meant to be driven. The owner holds on to the vehicle, lets it appreciate, then sells it off at some point for a profit, only to start the process all over again.
A friend bought this gem from a state auction; it was from a drug seizure. The biggest pain for him is maintaining it. The Countach is a horribly designed car! -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 03-Jul-2025 08:57:57 JST
Cliff Secord
What a fag... -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Tuesday, 01-Jul-2025 21:04:37 JST
Cliff Secord
This story makes no sense.
The fact that they have yet to release a name or a photo of the alleged shooter (unless one of you here has a fix on that) only proves it was a nigger.
Edit: Apparently the shooter is a mystery meat 'nazi'
https://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendment/2025/06/30/grandfather-of-idaho-shooting-suspect-he-wanted-to-be-a-fireman/ -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Tuesday, 01-Jul-2025 21:04:36 JST
Cliff Secord
Hang on.... just saw this.
Convenient, right?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/06/30/idaho-firefighters-shot-sniper-gunman/84413135007/ -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Saturday, 21-Jun-2025 22:29:53 JST
Cliff Secord
So a while ago, I told of a difficult client who wanted us to do some engineering work for a kitplane he wanted to manufacture & sell.
He asked us to investigate an airfoil geometry that he got "from an awesome aero guy who is the master at this stuff".
Oh we investigated it. It was pure shit; I've seen better geometries from skilled homebuilders who aren't even engineers. I've seen better curves at a Golden Corral. We even ran a CFD simulation of the foil on the wing planform of his aircraft to prove a point. The numbers and the flows indicated a full stall at an angle of attack well below predicted stall. We showed it to the client, and, despite the data showing that this was clearly a dangerous & unsuitable geometry, told us we were wrong, and demanded we use it on his aircraft. He gave every excuse for this geometry, including the retarded take of 'it's supposed to have reverse flow; that's the secret of this airfoil's genius!'.
What you see below are flow visualizations of a full stall of his 'aero god' buddy's 'brilliant' airfoil...what he insisted was 'confirmation bias & jealousy' on our part.
So, we loaded everything we did for him onto an external hard drive, boxed it up with a printed letter of severance, and FedEx'd it to him.
If he wants to pump 'a million dollars' (his words) into making this thing, it will kill somebody.
We're out. -
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Cliff Secord (cliffsecord@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 12-Jun-2025 11:22:13 JST
Cliff Secord
Absolutely.
I do not blame Iran one bit for not trusting the US government.
To be fair, I'll never trust a zionist either.
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