Ideally, an aircraft would be made of something reasonably strong, light, and weather resistant. Cardboard, is none of those things. But that did not stop [PeterSripol] from building an ultralight wing out of cardboard. Firstly, he wanted to figure out the strongest orientation of the cardboard flutes for the wing spars. He decided on a […]
There was a time, long ago, when passenger vehicles used to be much simpler than they are today. There were many downsides of this era, safety chief among them, but there were some perks as well. They were in general cheaper to own and maintain, and plenty could be worked on with simple tools. There’s […]
From 1945 to 1955, a British aeronautical company called Napier & Son produced not just one but two versions of an intricate hybrid piston engine, which they named the Napier Nomad. The post-World War II era saw the development of several fascinating (and highly complex) piston-powered aeronautical engines alongside the emerging gas turbine engine designs. […]
Every now and then in histories of the 20th’s century’s earlier years, you will see pictures of cars and commercial vehicles equipped with bulky drums, contraptions to make their fuel from waste wood. These are portable gas generators known as gasifiers, and to show how they work there’s [Greenhill Forge] with a build video. A […]
Anyone who has ever snapped a chain or a crank knows how much torque a bicycle’s power train has to absorb on a daily basis; it’s really more than one might naively expect. For that reason, [Well Done Tips]’s idea of 3D printing a gear chain from PLA did not seem like the most promising […]
It’s often said that one should not reinvent the wheel, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot change how the use of said wheel should be interpreted. After initially taking the rather zany concept of a monowheel for a literal ride, [Sam Barker] decided to shift gears, did a ‘what if’ and slapped a second […]
While not everyone agrees on the installation of wind turbines in their proverbial back yards, one thing not up for debate is that there is a drive to build them bigger, and bigger. Big turbines means big blades, and big blades need to be transported… somehow. If air freight is going to stay relevant to […]
Tent camping lets you explore places on foot you could never reach another way, but sometimes you want to camp with a bit more luxury. [Levi Kelly] decided to see how small you could make an RV. [via Autopian] While we won’t argue one way or another on his claim to world’s smallest, as that […]
The wheels on roller suitcases are one of their primary failure points. After the destruction of the wheel mount on her DIY suitcase, [Laura Kampf] wondered if it would be better to dispense with wheels altogether. To give her suitcase a lift, [Kampf] decided to turn it into a hovercraft so it couldn’t be stopped […]
For RC aircraft there are generally legal restrictions that require the craft to stay within line of sight of the operator, but an RC boat or car can in theory go as far as the signal will allow — provided there is ample telemetry to let the operator navigate. [Thingify] took this idea to the […]