Commenter of the Day: Romantic Misanthrope Edition

Matthew DeBord — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:30:00 EST

"...Mankind has grown so base, / I mean to break with the whole human race." So wrote the 17th century comedic playwright Molière, in his famous work The Misanthrope. Of course, we know for sure that there's a place for reasoned dismay in this world, and we know it because our commenters engage in such reasoned dismay all the time. Follow the jump, and you'll see what we mean.

Wojdyla's post today on the Aérotrain was the ideal spur to commenter al_beaton, who laid it all out for us in eloquent fashion:

What a miserable bloody world we live in today.
When I was growing up there was Concorde and hovercraft and rocket-powered monorail trains, jet packs, and journeys to the moon.

Now, the new Boeing "Dreamliner" looks just like the last one, which looks just like the one before, which looks just like the one before that, which looks just like a bloody Airbus, which is just a damned TriStar with an engine missing. (Rather than a DC-10 with an engine missing, which is a DC-10 with an engine missing)

Even the Space Shuttle is apparently ready for the scrap heap, and we're going back to launching stuff into space on the back of a firework.

Instead I'm supposed to be grateful because I have a telephone small enough to fit in my pocket, impressed by somebody glueing an ear on the back of a mouse, and delighted because you can get a GM strawberry that's been crossed with a fish so it stays fresh an extra two days.

And French trains still run on rails like Stephenson's Rocket.

I hate the world.

We miss the Concorde, too, and iPhones are no consolation.

Aérotrains Will Blow You Away

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:30:00 EST

Ekranoplan, meet Aérotrain. Developed by the French in the sixties and seventies, the Aérotrain system was a solution to a problem many folk at the time taking on, improving speed and efficiency in the rail system. Maglev was impossibly expensive, and rail lines required high maintenance to keep them running smooth, so what is the next option? Hover trains. That's right, these babies flew down the smooth concrete track at up to 430 km/h. Only four prototypes were ever built (#2 is shown above) but each had its own unique way of hurtling through the countryside. (If you intend to make the jump, be warned, there's a video with French voiceover and Queen's The Show Must Go On, but hey, rockets!)

Prototype #1 was a proof of concept capable of carrying 4 people and powered by a 260 hp airplane engine with a 50 hp compressor to keep it afloat. Later on the train would be fitted with a freakin' rocket which propelled the machine to 303 km/h. Prototype #2 is a bit more interesting, featuring a set of Pratt & Whitney JT12 turboprop engines and a sleek aluminum skin, this variation topped the speed charts at 422 km/h.

Aérotrain Prototype #3 is a revulotionary shift at 25.6 meters long, 3.2 meters wide, 3.3 meters high, and capable of carrying 80 passengers. It was powered by twin Turboméca Turmo III E3 turbine engines through a ducted propeller with seven blades. A 14 turbo engine powered the air compressors. The run was successful, but just not fast enough, so the machine was upgraded with a Pratt & Whitney JT8 D11 turbofan. It subsequently broke the land speed record for railed vehicles at 430.4 km/h. Unfortunately that's about when funding ran out and the TGV was green lighted, but hell we'd prefer jet and rocket powered trains any day to the smooth comfort of a bullet train.

Jalopnik: aerotrain

Commenter of the Day: Romantic Misanthrope Edition

Aérotrains Will Blow You Away