posted
I have some questions about flight and whether or not I should go into technical details. I know some authors put the 'science' of sf into their works, but others also leave some of this up to imagination.
My idea was to have a cloth that allows for flight, both in the Earths/planets atmosphere and space. So, should I describe how this is possible or just say it like it has always been a way of life for this group of people?
If you have any suggestions on how I can put into words how this cloth can scientifically create flight that would be helpful, but if not, any elaboration or discussion(on other possibilities of flight) would be enlightening.
posted
Well, if you descibe how it works, it's science fiction. If you don't, it's magic. A flying carpet belongs into a fantasy unless you say exactly what makes it fly.
I could help you out but I don't know how exactly do you mean. First and foremost, flying means negating effects of gravity. This could be done by some weird quantum thing or by simply producing a big enough air pressure change between top and bottom side of the fabric. This is how a helicopter works. You could use some sort of electric charge, creating some sort of electric friction towards air (think Matrix hovercrafts) but all these phenomenons have side effects such as strong wind, temperature changes (after effect of a rocket boost propulsion) or build-up of electric charge that could result in some pretty uncomfortable side-effects (think getting zapped when you exit a car).
It might be simpler to say it's a magic carpet. Everybody knows those.
Hope it helps.
Edit: moving through space isn't flying. It's just an after-effect of a momentum boost. To have the same effect propel you through atmosphere as well as space... Hm.
[This message has been edited by MartinV (edited December 02, 2010).]
posted
I'll chime in since I used to be a flight simulation and aviation junky for many years.
What you need is Bernouli's Principle, which is roughly as follows: Flight occurs by creating a high pressure / low pressure differential between a curved surface called an airfoil, or wing. The air molecules travelling above the surface of the wing move faster than those under, creating lift. If you create enough lift to counteract the weight, you have flight.
Hovering is not flight in the strictest sense of the term, because the principles of hovering are different (using directed thrust to overcome weight). Similarly, you can not have flight in space because there is no atmosphere. In that sense, space travel is more like hovering. Since there is little to no weight in space, you actually go somewhere rather than just hover in one spot.
I think what this means for your idea is that the cloth would need to be able to form a rigid airfoil shape, and you'd need some sort of thrust, to create flight.
You wouldn't need to describe the above mechanics of flight in your story, but you would want to have the cloth do something similar to what I mentioned, like form an airfoil shape. If you want to make this science fiction, then you have to adhere to the principles of physics.
If you don't want to describe or stick to these mechanics, then just go the science fantasy route with the story, I think.
The biggest mistake would be to present this as science fiction and then completely ignore the science. An essay I read recently was titled thus: "Science Fiction: Science First, Fiction Second"
[This message has been edited by Osiris (edited December 02, 2010).]
posted
I'm going to look more into the principle along with other mechanics of flight. Do you know of any credible website. I have an old college textbook on physics, but it dates back almost ten years. I doubt the information in it is that outdated, so I'll see what they have to offer.
I'd prefer not go the fantasy route just bc I like to know how and why a certain thing works and what its purpose is. That is why I'd like to make this as accurate as possible. Even if its just for the sake of research.
I graduated college and know I feel a deep urge to have more mental stimulus via education
posted
The principles of flight have been understood for decades if not a century, so if it is in your physics book, it is accurate. I don't know of a specific website, but I'm sure there are plenty of good ones out there.
I voluntarily eat my words on one mistatement thought. What I described is aerodynamic flight. There are other types of flight, but not other types of aerodynamic flight. Some elitist pilots don't consider anything but aerodynamic flight to be 'real' flight. Blame my brother with the pilot's license for that
1. The cloth is made of a room temperature superconductor material and levitates on the Earths magnetic field. It would take large amounts, given the size of the Earths magenetic field, but theoretically it could work.
2. More speculatively, matter with negative mass (as opposed to antimatter) may be possible. This matter has negative energy and repels instead of attracting. Though currently not thought of as actual, it is mathematically consistent and has been used to create theories for wormholes. (Perhaps that is what is expanding the universe... nah.) Maybe you could speculate a way of capturing such mass, particularly if it is produced via an unexpected nuclear reaction in the Earth's core and therefore is trying to escape Earth. Interesting possibilities hmm.
John Ringo has a series out with another writer, can't find any of my books or remember his name. But the books have a lot of science in them, the writers explain almost every gismo and natural event in space. But the heros of the series have run across some surf boards. Yes, like the Silver Surfer's. The can carry one person anywhere, including space but the science is so far advanced that the writers don't try to explain it. The users have no idea how they work so they can't discuss them. Almost everything else is at least guessed at on how it works but not those babies.
posted
The real question is How much does the characters know about how it works.
In our society, many have no clue how a car operates. they stick the key in and it drives. they add gas at the gas station and are able to keep going. they know how to use the controls and guide it safely. they could not tell you about how the internal combustion engine works, let alone the drive train. It is even worse with the electronics. I look into some engine compartments and all I see is wires and hoses, there's no engine in there.
You go by how much the characters know and show how it works. YOU have to have some concept of how it works scientifically, but the characters just have to know what they need to know to carry the story along.
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