08-03-2011, 02:34 AM
Most people don't know that the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was taken from a concept to flight within 14 months. Imagine all the engineering, coordination, parts sourcing, human resources management, assembly line construction, and integration that had to come together to put that masterpiece (minus the Pratt & Whitney TF30 engines) into the air.
I figure a few like-minded hobbyists with the information-exchange capacity we have could at least pull off a few minor projects related to some simple fire-stick technologies. Most of the sub-components are available already, when you think about springs, pins, and so forth. CNC machining is a well-honed field of manufacture, as is rapid-prototyping. They just take money that the common individual can't spare, but collectively as a team of mad enthusiasts...well, a team of space-age scientists could get a run for their money.
I figure a few like-minded hobbyists with the information-exchange capacity we have could at least pull off a few minor projects related to some simple fire-stick technologies. Most of the sub-components are available already, when you think about springs, pins, and so forth. CNC machining is a well-honed field of manufacture, as is rapid-prototyping. They just take money that the common individual can't spare, but collectively as a team of mad enthusiasts...well, a team of space-age scientists could get a run for their money.