daveS said:
"Its true that in the time of the Wrights, AE grad students were
non-existent, but only because the Wrights had to invent modern
aviation first! That's why I quoted Doug on "students" more broadly. It
hardly matters if a good student is grad-level."
*** Doug replies:
There were plenty of universities, engineering and physics programs,
and grad students, at the turn of the 20th century. My point was
simple: that the Wrights invented the airplane without using large
numbers of grad students. daveS has not shown otherwise.
===============
daveS goes on:
"Doug overlooks that the Wright Bros themselves eagerly sought out the
leading flight-science academics of their day for help (esp. Prof.
Langley and Prof. Chanute), and were duly grateful for the help."
*** Doug replies:
I did not overlook anything (sheesh, not that again!). The Wright
Brothers did not use a bunch of grad students to invent the airplane,
and daveS has not shown that they did. My point stands.
===============
daveS goes on:
"Its fitting that today's AWE grad students smile broadly as they
invoke the spirit of the Bros (and newer champions like Wubbo)."
*** Doug replies: The Wright Brothers did not use a bunch of grad students to invent the airplane and daveS has not shown that they did.
===============
daveS goes on:
"When Reinhart, for example, invoked the Wrights on a TED stage, Doug
objected on the insulting false grounds of "Professor Crackpot".
Reinhart In fact displayed extreme knowledge and talent in developing
FlySurfer's first SS wing. Doug, on the other hand, did not even know
what "SS" meant, even long after."
*** Doug replies:
daveS has made this same statement several times, (that I somehow did
not understand what a "single-skin" or "single-surface"
(stainless-steel?) kite is), going on for years now. I have
corrected him more than once, apparently to no avail. He is
remembering a single instance when I briefly forgot his meaning, using
one of his many pet abbreviations, being more attuned to actual wind
energy than daveS' pet abbreviations, in this case coming from
kite-surfing. What I've noticed is daveS shows an over-reliance
on his pet abbreviations, to the point that the few letters saved in
typing is not worth losing the comprehension of a broader
audience. It is not necessary to abbreviate everything. It
doesn't hurt to spell the whole word. Over-reliance on inside
lingo and abbreviations shows poor communication skills. Beyond
that, daveS is mischaracterizing this single instance of momentary
forgetfulness on my part to imply that I am somehow too stupid to
comprehend a double-surface kite versus a single-surface kite, which is
absurd given the fact that I am peripherally involved in the sport of
hang-gliding and even recently repaired (sewn) a hangglider sail in the
area where it transitions from dual-surface to single-surface. My
opinion is that this is a desperate and very weak attempt to publicly
insult me, but I don't think daveS or anyone else actually believes
that I cannot comprehend a double-surface or single-surface fabric wing
or kite. After all, it is pretty self-explanatory when you spell
the whole word. So, what daveS has been saying about me is absurd, but
it doesn't seem to stop him. Google "SS kite" and see what you
come up with. I have, and up come many references to "Slingshot
Sports", a stainless-steel kite-reel, the name of a ship - basically
anything and everything EXCEPT daveS' pet abbreviation, which, for
review, was "single-skin". Or wait - was it
"single-surface"? Who cares? My opinion is daveS should not
expect everyone else to flawlessly remember all of his pet acronyms at
all times, and should not abuse the fact that someone might momentarily
forget what he means in one of his endless abbreviations, in an attempt
to denigrate that person. Meanwhile, we're still waiting for
daveS to show us how the Wright brothers used a team of smiling grad
students to invent the airplane.
===============
daveS continues:
"The primary characteristic of a crank or crackpot, according to
various psychological indexes, is to hold false technical beliefs in
deep social isolation (paranoid anger is also being a common hallmark
of the crank type)."
*** Doug replies:
I'm not sure how this further attempt to insult is applicable to me,
rather than the person saying it, but we can all see the line of
reasoning degenerate into daveS' habitual personal-abuse-fest, which in
this case amounts to him attempting to project a psychological
self-evaluation of daveS onto me - thanks but no thanks daveS, save it
for someone who cares. You still have not shown the Wright
Brothers using a team of grad students to invent the airplane.
===============
daveS continues:
"Doug has never been able to show that any of the growing phalanx of
smiling AWE grad students are isolated crackpots, who in fact
collectively honor the Bros as a role model."
*** Doug replies:
Nice try daveS but you are getting off-topic and still have not shown
that the Wright Brothers invented the airplane by utilizing a team of
grad students.
===============
daveS goes on: "Only Doug habitually objects to aerospace academia's natural reliance on the Bros as the ideal role-model for AWE R&D."
*** Doug replies:
No I object to (ahem) certain people (ahem) who endlessly attempt to
associate themselves with the name of the Wright Brothers in lieu of
generating any power from airborne wind. The Wrights were great,
and everyone knows it. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, how much
Airborne Wind Energy is daveS generating? Repeating the name
"Wright Brothers" year after year as a mantra does not seem to be
getting any results for daveS. In the time daveS has supposedly
been pursuing airborne wind energy, without generating enough
electricity to do really much of anything, the Wrights went from
inventing the airplane, for which they actually had to design and build
their own engine (!), to having their own airplane company with
airplanes delivering passengers, mail, bombs, and bullets around the
world. That is one heck of a legacy to compare one's self with,
when one has not succeeded in generating ANY significant amount of
electricity in that same amount of time. Meanwhile, to get back
on topic,daveS has still not shown that the Wright Brothers utilized a
phalanx of smiling grad students to invent the airplane.
===============
daveS continues: "Let him try and beat them by the numbers (max-watts, max-altitude, etc.) if he thinks he knows better how to succeed."
*** Doug replies:
Seems to me daveS was recently lamenting the continued lack of progress
in AWE. A rare moment of candor perhaps. The "Professor
Crackpot Syndrome" involves coming up with more expensive ways to
generate wind energy, rather than less-expensive ways. Success in
wind energy involves lowering the cost of wind-generated
electricity. This message from Selsam Innovations is in
fact being sent 100% by the power of wind energy, and part of that is
coming from a very reliable, "set-it-and-forget-it" SuperTurbine(R)
still spinning right outside my window right now, after years of
reliable operation. This wind-powered building, including my shop
for pursuing AWE, has a negative electric bill for the past year.
I don't think there is any AWE "team" who can say that.
===============
daveS culminates: "Future AWE academics would then praise Doug to the skies."
*** Doug replies:
Well, I have been lucky enough that some have. Even to this day,
I seem to get more praise than I deserve, some of it in an almost
religious fervor, from all over the world, which I find almost
embarrassing. It was nice at first, but I feel like I am not
living up to it. Too much of a good thing. Like eating too
much ice cream. I am way past the hype factor. It gets old
after a fashion. The way I see it, either someone "does it" or
they don't. And spending a lot of time with answering online
insult-fests is a poor use of our time. 
