Alexander the ok

RD-701: An Engine Too Beautiful For This World

Sorry I disappeared for a month again: this video is the reason. It was WAY more interesting and time-consuming than I thought it would be. I'll catch up with all the messages and the Discord in the next couple of weeks (I'm about to visit Toulouse to film some stuff for the next video).

Anyway, as always this is the 'pre QC' version. I'll probably make some tweaks to the animations and t...

PZL M-15: the follow-up absolutely nobody asked for

This one is going public on youtube tomorrow but you guys get the draft first.

It's a miracle I got this done so quickly, but it was worth it. We had to look after a friends daughter last weekend as she went into labour. And I had to do a pointless trip to London last week too. Sometimes making videos is like stress relief for me.

Known errors which I'll correct this evening:

Making the M-15 ok-ish. And my weird taste in aircraft

'Let's do a silly video'.

The obvious thing to do to improve the M-15 would be to turn it into a pusher aircraft. I'm not so sure.

And just in case anyone was wondering why I'm so weird about aircraft aesthetics, here is a compilation of aircraft I like. I'm sure we'll be revisiting some of them in the future.

Hi to everyone new!

Quite a few new members have joined in the past week, so I wanted to make a quick 'hello' post. You'll probably get used to me being a little disorganised but the easiest place to get hold of me is either by email or the discord server. Invite link here:
https://discord.gg/DWWx7RdP

and my email is 2025-02-15 15:56:06 +0000 UTC View Post

100k special - title TBD

I'm leaving out the title and it has a 'fake' thumbnail so no one can cheat on my 'guess the aircraft' community post.

Either way, thanks to Shirokami for suggesting this, and then hugely helping out with it. I need to make a few changes before releasing it on youtube because...the Soviet Anthem recording i used is copyright protected....yeah...

Discord server link

Welcome to all the recent new members!

For any that haven't found it yet, the link to the 'patrons only' discord server is:

https://discord.gg/hs9KMtjH

I am generally more reachable there than I am via Patreon's messaging. If I don't reply (I currently work full time on top of youtube so unfortunately I do mis...

An Engineering Fairytale: Cascade Failure at the Super Kamiokande

I needed a 'break' after the B-29 video so this is one of my rarer shorter videos. I'll be releasing it on youtube tomorrow or Friday.

But the version here has a different intro. The folks at the Kamioka Observatory were kind enough to let me use their footage. But they asked I remove the 'comedy intro'...which is fair enough. So just you guys get to see it. That is also the reason I am o...

Surprise SR-71 video!

I had fun making this. I've wanted an excuse to talk about the SR-71 since i started making videos. But I've never found a topic that would give an hour long youtube video. The SR-71 is heavily covered on youtube already.

But since the Viggen had a 'special relationship' with the Blackbird I thought it'd make a great Patreon video.

I'll get 'back in sync' with a B-29 follow up video...

Merry Christmas Folks. More videos on the way soon!

Hi everyone. Well I’m pretty much better now. I managed to record the audio for the Viggen ‘bonus content’ video. But now it’s Christmas so finding the time to edit it together is a bit of a challenge. I’ll definitely release it here between Christmas and new year though.

Following that, remember the Super Kamiokande neutrino detector I briefly mentioned in the Oceang...

Well, I’m comically ill now

Hi everyone. As i mentioned earlier I was planning on releasing the Viggen follow up video here this weekend. However I’ve been stuck in bed all weekend - I’m not aure what I’ve caught but I don’t think I’ve been this unwell before. So that video will be released when I’m feeling better. In the meantime, here is a photo of a J58 engine from an SR-71…we’ll be discussing that in t...

A question for you guys regarding credits screens...

Ok so PhiNick has raised a really good question. When I put you guys in the credits screen, I normally (sort of) randomise the order. The reason I do that is partially because data confidentiallity has been absolutely drilled into me via my career. If I ordered by account age or contribution, I could in theory be giving away information that some of you guys don't want to share.

But I sup...

The B-29 Turret System. An Effective, Expensive Mechanical Masterpiece

'Pre-release' version. The final video (due for release tomorrow) will contain an incredible animated intro starting around the 30 second mark. As we are still waiting for that to render, I thought I'd release the video here.

I think I'm going to start a new 'thing'. If anyone can spot a factual error, let me know and I'll refund your membership for the month (only the first to spot it ge...

A quick update on what is going to be a busy week

Hi everyone. Apologies for the several weeks of near silence here. As those on the Discord server may have guessed, I've been somewhat consumed with the B-29 video.

It is just about complete. My 3D printer is finishing off the final prop for the video as I type this and Artem is finalising what I can only describe as a masterpiece for the intro.

I will be releasing the B-29 video in...

Discord Server: Finally

Huge thanks to Shirokami for setting up a discord server for those who want to join. I can't promise I'll be there super often but I'll probably be knocking around the majority of evenings. It'll be much easier to reach me there than via Patreon (which I have only just discovered failed to notify me of a bunch of messages so I'll start replying now!).

Anyway, invite link is here:
2024-11-12 19:58:23 +0000 UTC View Post

SAAB Viggen and the CK37 computer

I forgot to upload the video to Patreon first!!

Apologies. Anyone who wants can still watch it a few hours before it premieres. As is often the case with me, I'll spend the next few days catching up with messages etc.

Oh and thanks to the folks here who helped out with this one.

Oceangate Jumpscare! I can't decide whether to release this on youtube...

Alright so unfortunately I've had to delay the Viggen video until next week. But since the Coastguard hearings, I get a lot of comments on youtube asking for a second video on Oceangate.

I said I was never going to do that.....but something kind of flipped in my head this week. So, for some unknown reason I wrote and recorded a script in the past couple of days. I'm on the verge of adding...

Polaris extra video: oscilloscopes, software defined radio and an atomic clock

Me going back and having a try at fixing some of the demos I attempted in the Polaris video. I'll definitley do more oscilloscope graphics sometime in the future.

I'm filming the last few bits and pieces of the Viggen video this evening....that also includes a hardware demo. So I'm clearly pushing my luck hoping that will all go ok!

Buran bonus content!

Super informal, unscripted, but a bit of fun to make sure you guys can all see the footage Artem filmed at Speyer.
As I state at the end of this video, I'm going to put the Boeing 747 video on hold and do a video on the SAAB Viggen and it's flight computer next. I just couldn't make the 747 video interesting - I'll come back to it in a few months (this is why creators tend not to release sch...

Polaris + Transit: An Unexpectedly difficult video to make

Hi everyone. This one ended up being a bit of a nightmare to put together, but as usual was great fun. In the past month:

• I've been ill twice and kept losing my voice. That made recording audio difficult.

• Had an SSD fail which caused me to lose a bunch of draft edits (I am normally obsessive about backing things up so I didn't lose everything but it was still a huge...

  2024-09-04 10:43:44 +0000 UTC View Post

Buran - more info on logistics, thermal tiles....and everything else

Note the hilarious spelling error on the box at the start.

This is a collection of various facts and insights that didn't really fit into the main video. Includes extremely aggravating footage of my 5 year old son 'helping' build our Buran model.

Discord server: yes or no?

Hi everyone. As you may have noticed, I really struggle to keep on top of messages sometimes. This isn't really fair to you guys who literally pay money to be able to message me.

 So, I'm thinking of starting a private discord server for Patreon members. Obviously this would be at no extra cost. It might make me able to reply and generally chat more often and quicker. Should I...

Buran: The Most Impressive Thing the Soviets Ever Built

It's finally done! This one was an absolute marathon to make. But it's quite possibly the most interesting topic I've ever studied.

For all the new members who joined since the Shuttle video, I tend to upload here about 2 days before I upload to Youtube. It takes me about 2 days to do all my final quality checks on videos so this is a 'pre-release' version. There may be a few mistakes but...

Buran - a quick update

Hi everyone. I had hoped to release the Buran video today but unfortunately Artem has been unwell which has delayed some of the 3D visualisations. Of course, I've told him to take his time, so they'll be ready when they are ready. With any luck, we'll have the video finished and available here this weekend. Apologies for the delay.

I will be adding everyone's usernames to the end credits....

Should we have kept flying Saturn? And more fun facts about the Shuttle Engines

Honestly, there is a pretty strong argument that the Shuttle should never have even been considered and NASA should have kept just refining and flying Saturn. Ignoring the fact it was a political impossibility in 1970, I discuss my thoughts on this.

Also, I've put together some of the more interesting facts I learned about the Shuttle engines that I never had time to include in the main v...

The Space Shuttle: A $200 Billion Lesson in Risk Management

Honestly, this is really a video about the Challenger disaster. It's something I've been wanting to talk about for years. But I also go into detail on some other 'channel favourites', such as the RS-25 and the Shuttle's avionics system. This is all to build a picture of how risky technology got ahead of NASA's ability to adequately manage it.

This is a bit of a 'big topic' for this chann...

Future video schedule - look away if you want it to be a surprise!

Hi everyone. I think it's about time I take some input on my future videos. The next 2 are decided: I'm currently working on 'The Space Shuttle: a $200 Billion lesson in risk management'. That will be followed by a video about the Soviet shuttle, Buran.

Following that, I keep changing my mind what to do next. I'll probably do all three of these at some point. But which should I do ...

Minuteman bonus video: launch procedures and 'alternative' uses

Hi everyone. Whilst researching for the D-17 video I briefly became fascinated with the actual procedures necessary to launch a nuclear missile. These are well covered already on Youtube but there were (and still are) some quirks specific to the Minuteman that I thought were worth discussing.

Though I don't mention it here, this also explains why the Minuteman 3 system famously still used...

Minuteman D-17b: The Desktop Computer was Born in an ICBM

It's finally done. This was my most difficult video yet, but has been a fascinating journey.

This version should be identical to the one I will release on youtube in a couple of days - so you won't miss anything by watching it early here!

Minuteman D-17b video update

Hi folks. The next video is almost complete - we're just waiting on the renders for the 3D animations to finish. Renders for my videos usually take more than a day of compute time, so with any luck I'll be able to post a completed 'pre-general release' video here this Sunday...possibly Monday depending on how busy I am this weekend with the family.

It's going to be my longest video...

Bringing the Tripropellant Engine to life

The first of my 'bonus content' videos - and this one's for free. Going forward, members will be able to view a making of/extras video for every new video I post to the main youtube channel.

In this one, I give a summary of how Artem and I created the animations and artwork for the Tripropellant engine (including some background footage of me trying to fill in the blanks). We had very lit...