Re: GEV Physics and GEVs for engineers

Richard Bell wrote:

> >I alluded to this earlier, though superglue seems a mite on the weak
side.
> >A good deal of the weight of the carried item transfers to the skirt,
> >right? Where it joins to the damage vehicle?
>
>First, the skirt is not bearing the weight of the vehicle, the air
cushion is.

The air cushion just has to be able to survive the air pressure in the
air 
cushion.

>The temporary skirting is really only needed to patch up the skirt of
the
>damaged vehicle.

It also has to cover the umbilical's connection to the damaged vehicle's
skirt.

>Finally, that drop of superglue (between polished surfaces)

Polished surfaces? On a GEV which has been knocked out in combat and 
crashed? Yeah, *right*... how many hours did you say your recovery crew 
spent polishing those surfaces after they arrived at the crash scene?

> >Anyway, I thought folks were balking at the idea of how you control
the
> >towed item. Not insurmountable, though.
>
>Given that it did not have brakes before it broke down,

No, but it *did* have its own control surfaces and maneuvering
thrusters. 
To tow a GEV over rough terrain without having it bang into every nearby

obstacle, you need either a rigid (and very strong) umbilical or at
least 
some cooperation from the towed vehicle.

Later,

Oerjan
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
-Hen3ry