Comments on: IT’S NEW! (Oct, 1958)

By: David Brodbeck

David Brodbeck — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:03:51 +0000

@20: I’d say worse. For starters, the steering wheel provides important feedback — you can get an idea of traction conditions by how much resistance the steering wheel is offering, for example. Also, joystick schemes would probably be too “twitchy” for highway use. Most normal cars require the wheel to be turned 1.5 turns or more to go from straight ahead to all the way left or right; if you’ve ever driven a radio controlled car, you know how difficult it is to maneuver a vehicle precisely when this is replaced by a joystick that only moves a few inches.

By: B22

B22 — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:09:02 +0000

Joystick steering in a car entails drive-by-wire. I can imagine that early versions of this in 1958 might have been somewhat lacking in precision and responsiveness, causing people to prefer the steering wheel. Today, highly responsive drive-by-wire is possible, so it would be a big boon to drivers: steering, gear-changing and acceleration could all be controlled with one hand, leaving the other hand free for texting friends, applying lipstick, picking the nose, scratching the nether regions, eating sandwiches, slapping naughty children, and doing all those other things that drivers so frequently need to do as they weave through traffic. I do wonder: given human behaviour, would joystick steering improve road safety, or make it worse?

By: Firebrand38

Firebrand38 — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:19:36 +0000

Charlene: I just heard from him and yes, he’s on vacation until the 16th.

By: Charlene

Charlene — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:28:11 +0000

Is Charlie on vacation?

By: Jari

Jari — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:03:15 +0000

DOH, Austin, of course…..

By: Jari

Jari — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:36:15 +0000

Cool, Autin “frogeye”, haven’t seen those in ages. As for the ground train, I’ll bet that moste of the problems comes from the connecting/steering linkage. I recall having seen in 70′s a baggage “train” in train station, and the last carriages drove very wobbly, as their linkage was worn… Longer the train, the wobbling effect got worse.

By: JMyint

JMyint — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:33:23 +0000

The US government built land trains with deisel-electric power plants for testing. One was in Alaska another was stored not three miles from where I live. I don’t know what has happened to that one since that Army base closed in 2000.

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:01:36 +0000

My first sports car was a Sprite. Been hooked on British sports cars ever since.

By: Beagledad

Beagledad — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:42:19 +0000

Sean,
Steering wheels are just like any other technology that continues to be used because it is customary rather than because it is superior. Personally, I’d rather not share the road with drivers who might be just getting used to a new method of steering their car….

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:33:49 +0000

I’m with #11…… the drill a fish looks like one big mess everywhere.

By: Rick Auricchio

Rick Auricchio — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:54:18 +0000

I’m still wondering how well that drill-powered fish scaler sprays fish scales around the room…

By: Firebrand38

Firebrand38 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:21:49 +0000

Since this was written in 1958 I think it’s safe to say that this never did get off the ground.

Speed Racer competed against it though! http://www.hulu.com/watch/1932.....212;part-1

Le Tourneau had developed the electric wheel drive at this point in his career http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.G._LeTourneau

By: Eli

Eli — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:37:55 +0000

Land train with an atomic engine? I’m not sure where they’d put it or how it would work, but I don’t think the project ever got off the ground even with conventional propulsion.

By: MECHANICS

MECHANICS — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:27:21 +0000

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By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:14:05 +0000

Anyone else think that the continuing use of steering wheels is just plain silly?

By: Toronto

Toronto — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:14:10 +0000

There should be a monument somewhere of the historic raising of the traffic light on Iwo Jima.

Of course, it’ll be without any means of detecting a bicycle turning left…

By: Torgo

Torgo — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:47:44 +0000

No, Richard C, I believe they are pointing out that this model has the ability to land safely with a dead engine, rather than simply falling out of the sky.

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:35:45 +0000

Mike… I hope your not being sarcastic…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steering
For safety reasons all modern cars feature a collapsible steering column (energy absorbing steering column) which will collapse in the event of a heavy frontal impact to avoid excessive injuries to the driver. Non-collapsible steering columns very often impale drivers in frontal crashes. Audi used a retractable wheel system called procon-ten but has since been discontinued.

Collapsible steering columns were invented by Bela Barenyi.

This safety feature first appeared on cars built by General Motors after an extensive and very public lobbying campaign enacted by Ralph Nader.

Ford started to install collapsible steering columns in 1968.[4]

The “joy stick” steering didn’t catch on but being impaled by your steering column was a real concern. car company’s made collapsible steering column and bigger padded steering wheels to stop impalement.

By: Randy

Randy — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:23:21 +0000

If those German cops don’t stop fighting over the traffic light, one of them is probably going to need a first aid booth…

By: Richard C

Richard C — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:02:09 +0000

Interesting that they don’t say why the Sikorsky is coming down with its engine dead. I assume it was an intentional test as part of certification or something like that, but they leave open the possibility that it was an accident.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:42:28 +0000

dangerous shaft of the steering wheel,

If 1958 did one thing with automobiles it was eliminate the dangerous steering column.