Comments | ysabetwordsmith: Poem: "Tunnel Vision"

ysabetwordsmith

Poem: "Tunnel Vision"

Mar 08, 2012 01:38

This poem came out of the February 21, 2012 bonus fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from siliconshaman, siege, and my_partner_doug. It belongs to the Steamsmith series, and you can read more about that on the Serial Poetry page. I've already done the British English spellchecking, but please let me know if you spot any other inconsistencies.

Here we have two historic figures, ( Read more... )

reading, gender studies, writing, fishbowl, poetry, cyberfunded creativity, science fiction, poem, ethnic studies

Comments 4

siege March 8 2012, 20:49:45 UTC

I was thinking about this, and I could probably place an umbrella on a skycycle, but there would be a hole in it.

Hmm... ysabetwordsmith March 9 2012, 07:17:34 UTC

Under the prop, with a hole for the central rod? Might work, though I suspect it would leak some.

Re: Hmm... siege March 9 2012, 15:41:34 UTC

Indeed. The alternative would be to use a gasbag overhead and place the main propeller beneath with a reversible drive, so that it could push up or pull down as desired, with the gas keeping the top of the vehicle upright. Shape the bag properly, and an umbrella would not be needed.

Re: Hmm... ysabetwordsmith March 12 2012, 03:43:42 UTC

I should mention that the physics are different in nether-Earth, which is how a skycycle can work at all. Air (aer) generates lift. Earth (ge) generates gravity. Fire (pyra) generates thrust. Water (hudor) generates drag. By manipulating the elements it is possible to move in three dimensions. Propellers are handy for creating just a little extra momentum, or for steering. They don't have to do the whole job.

Sadly, hot air and light gasses don't seem to work nearly as well there as here. It's not a dirigible-friendly world. There are other methods of flight in some places, but it varies. So that's another way nether-Earth looks different from most steampunk.