Hot air Balloons!

 Morning and Evening?

Despite the many modern materials and power plants things can still go horribly wrong as recently seen in Brazil, but also a bit of mystery fun in the U.K.!

This form of transport was around for at least one hundred years before flight and it is the Montpellier brothers that were famous for the start of French military aviation? 

This allowed them the ability to move orders, mail, guns and ammunition in three days on a flight that took over a week, depending on the weather by horse?

Following Frances novelty balloon, Germany set about developing their own, that lead on to the Zepplin airships, while the British were late to the field, but they had great success in South-Africa with their balloons and later airships or Durables from the R101!

Next Generation Electric!

 Better transport Requirements?

This new generation of electric vehicles brings with it great promises of better things and yet Tesla is still having driverless collisions and fatalities?

But design and electrical improvements with docking stations are becoming more popular in England and Wales, but for some what we have and is to come is still not enough and one would have to agree that every petrol station should have a docking facility!

Trucks and buses are now very much to be seen across the country and more are on the way with hydrogen gas and electric on a par with each other in mixed fleets, even rail is starting to adapt to the option of gas powered trains alongside battery ones.

Never seeing the light of Day. ONE.

Bores.

Boring machines come in various sizes and uses, we tend to associate them with tunnel construction as in the London Tubes, Channel Tunnel and the new London Cross rail project?

But there are as many used in a variety of roles from water well sinking to the present day need of fracking. Many of the surface drillers are set up for short-term workings, where as the boring machines are constructed under ground and when the jobs are completed they are buried or encased.

Smaller boring machines where developed for the mining industry to take men off the coal face, but today many are no longer used.

Despite computer or robotic automation, humans are still required to clear obstacles and this has lead to some very serious and devastating accidents in China, Russia and South-America.

Airbus. Part-Two.

The Military Side.

With the ongoing development of the Airbus A400M, there is also the adaption of some earlier models now for in flight refuelling roles and other transport requirements. Airbus is moving into the military market to challenge its U.S. counterparts of Lockheed and Boeing, who have been Kings of transport and a variety of other military aviation roles for well over fifty years. 

Recent orders by N.A.T.O. members of the A400m have been disappointing and many have returned the aircraft and both newer versions of the Lockheed Hercules. Despite a recent accident with an A400M in Spain, Airbus has to push on with it development.

Success in the civil market has been phenomenal, but I wonder will they really do that well in the military. Perhaps the take over of the helicopter construction and market will do them much better with many already well established designs such as the EC-135/45, Tiger,  Cougar/Super Puma family.

The Automobile. Part-Three.

What is a Motor car and how will it progress?

Despite energy problems around the globe, I do not think the car/automobile has seen its day just yet. The car is basically a metal carriage with a mechanical powered engine and all that is required to maintain power and wastes, fuel and fumes.

Since the conception of the car in the 19th century, it is still built on the same mechanical engineering principles. Engines may be more powerful, new fuels developed and new deigned body shells with fancy comfortable interiors. But they are all the same in that everything is similar to what was.

The future of the car will depend on the public response to those people who drive like idiots, kill innocent people, break the speed limits and are reckless. Otherwise the car still has so much going for it, operations in remote areas. The ability to be adapted for invalid use, emergency vehicles and delivery usage.