---------------------------------------------------------- AeroElectric-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Thu 04/28/22: 5 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 02:04 PM - Step back in time (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 2. 02:43 PM - Re: Step back in time (Charlie England) 3. 03:24 PM - Re: Step back in time (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 4. 03:27 PM - Re: Step back in time (Eric Page) 5. 10:13 PM - Re: Re: Step back in time (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 02:04:58 PM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: AeroElectric-List: Step back in time One of my most revered mentors was Kenneth Razak who was Dean of Engineering at Wichita University when I started school there in '61. I worked with Ken for over 40 years on numerous endeavors. One of which was Videmation, Inc. We conducted accident investigation, analysis and illustration work with an emphasis on railroad grade crossing events. We produced about 104 case illustrations but were only seen by a jury 4 times. The other 100 were only seen by opposing counsel. In all cases, our work product won favorable outcomes for our client. About 1991 we approached Operation Lifesaver and offered to incorporate snippets of our work-product into a railway grade crossing safety video. Unfortunately, none of the original case files survived but I did stumble across the Operation Lifesaver tape. I haven't watched this piece in over 25 years . . . the video quality is startlingly poor . . . but it was hot stuff in 1990. It was a fun project. All the live shots were done in Wichita neighborhoods around our office. All the 'actors' are members of my staff. In any case, I'll share it with you guys along with an assertion that the story being told is just as relevant today as back then. Share with anyone who might show an interest . . . especially young drivers. http://aeroelectric.com/Misc/Videmation/Look,%20Listen%20and%20Live.mp4 Many of the scenes are taken from our work product describing really bad days behind the wheel for some drivers and their passengers. Bob . . . Un impeachable logic: George Carlin asked, "If black boxes survive crashes, why don't they make the whole airplane out of that stuff?" ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 02:43:08 PM PST US From: Charlie England Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Step back in time On Thu, Apr 28, 2022 at 4:09 PM Robert L. Nuckolls, III < nuckolls.bob@aeroelectric.com> wrote: > One of my most revered mentors was Kenneth Razak > who was Dean of Engineering at Wichita University > when I started school there in '61. I worked with > Ken for over 40 years on numerous endeavors. One > of which was Videmation, Inc. We conducted accident > investigation, analysis and illustration work with > an emphasis on railroad grade crossing events. > > We produced about 104 case illustrations but were > only seen by a jury 4 times. The other 100 were > only seen by opposing counsel. In all cases, our > work product won favorable outcomes for our > client. > > About 1991 we approached Operation Lifesaver and > offered to incorporate snippets of our work-product > into a railway grade crossing safety video. > > Unfortunately, none of the original case files > survived but I did stumble across the Operation > Lifesaver tape. I haven't watched this piece > in over 25 years . . . the video quality is > startlingly poor . . . but it was hot stuff in > 1990. > > It was a fun project. All the live shots were done > in Wichita neighborhoods around our office. All > the 'actors' are members of my staff. > > In any case, I'll share it with you guys along with > an assertion that the story being told is just as > relevant today as back then. Share with anyone > who might show an interest . . . especially > young drivers. > > http://aeroelectric.com/Misc/Videmation/Look,%20Listen%20and%20Live.mp4 > > Many of the scenes are taken from our work product > describing really bad days behind the wheel for > some drivers and their passengers. > > Bob . . . > Aviation connection within 2 minutes; flight planning behind the wheel.... Thanks for the work! I'm watching it now. Charlie ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 03:24:55 PM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Step back in time >Aviation connection within 2 minutes; flight planning behind the wheel.... >Thanks for the work! I'm watching it now. Yeah . . . my instructor called it "situational awareness" and "staying AHEAD of the airplane". Just as there is no such thing as a 'safe' airplane, there is no such thing as a 'safe' grade crossing, automobile, farm implement, snow board, etc. etc. It's all about responsible and competent utilization. FYI aside: Back in '90, the rule of thumb for upgrading a grade crossing was about $150,000. Railroads were only required to put up cross bucks. Local municipalities had to put up the dollars for an upgrade. Obviously, available funds would only address the worst-of-the-worst. I recall stories of grade crossings getting gates and lights only after the death toll reached certain thresholds. The city/county would put up the dollars to add gates/lights. After that the railroad would maintain the equipment. Sadly, the addition of gates and lights would only reduce the fatality rate for that particular crossing by about half . . . people drove around dropped gates with some regularity. This shines a light on the fact that most unhappy days in the cockpit have foundations in things we were schooled in . . . but have forgotten or ignored. I am reminded of an admonition offered to me the first time I got onto a motorcycle where the owner advised, "operate like every other vehicle on the road is trying to wipe you out." That's what trains are . . . thousands of tons of mass with a gazillion foot-pounds of kinetic energy ready to squash anything. Airplanes are similarly ambivalent. Bob . . . Un impeachable logic: George Carlin asked, "If black boxes survive crashes, why don't they make the whole airplane out of that stuff?" ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 03:27:45 PM PST US Subject: AeroElectric-List: Re: Step back in time From: "Eric Page" Bob, I'd swear I saw that film -- or one very much like it -- when I went through driver training, but I learned to drive a few years earlier. Your stop-motion animation work was great, and fun to watch! Funny how I would have moaned and groaned about being forced to watch it back then, but it's entertaining now... BTW, was that you with a sectional chart at the wheel? Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=506641#506641 ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 10:13:43 PM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Re: Step back in time At 05:27 PM 4/28/2022, you wrote: > >Bob, I'd swear I saw that film -- or one very much like it -- when I >went through driver training, but I learned to drive a few years >earlier. Your stop-motion animation work was great, and fun to >watch! Funny how I would have moaned and groaned about being forced >to watch it back then, but it's entertaining now... Most of the 'Videmations' were computer driven, HO scale models shot with onto a 1", single frame vcr. We duplicated the scenes with scale materials from local hobby shop. I built stepper motor drives that moved models one full scale inch per motor step based on Ken Razaks analysis of motions. Hence the name 'Videmation' as opposed to 'animation'. An animator can dream up and illustrate anything. I couldn't move the model one inch at full scale without DATA provided by Ken's analysis. Hence, our videos were presentations of facts in evidence. The train hitting the lumber truck was shot at ten frames/sec with hand positioned details. We started with a consist of cars and a bunch of photos. Duplicated final resting as close as possible and then photographed 'backwards' as the technician hand positioned the cars. That hunk of video took a couple weeks to get it right. That case was against a lumber company adjacent to the tracks that was delivering that load of lumber. The physics of that incident were rather unusual. The train caught the truck/trailer right at the CG suddenly accelerating the whole rig instantly to about 50 miles an hour. The tractor rotated and was dragged backwards on the 5th wheel pin. The tractor was literally yanked out from under the driver and ejecting him out the windshield. That was the first time we had encountered locomotives doing summersaults and near summersaults. A crew member in the trailing locomotive was slammed about in the cab severely. The lead locomotive crew were nearly killed when the cab was instantly filled with dirt as if squirted full by giant grease gun! >BTW, was that you with a sectional chart at the wheel? yup . . . was looking for a Burger King but not having much luck. The guy 'drinking' is also a pilot . . . had a hard time getting him to 'live the part'. He kept looking both ways through the intersections. Bob . . . Un impeachable logic: George Carlin asked, "If black boxes survive crashes, why don't they make the whole airplane out of that stuff?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message aeroelectric-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/AeroElectric-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/aeroelectric-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/aeroelectric-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.