| << | March 2010 | >> | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
- Keechdesign News (24)
- Design Classics (8)
- Opinion (21)
- Creative Report (32)
- In The Know (13)
- Inspiration (16)
- Design Top Five (8)
Skeleton!
Posted by: Kooch on 21st Feb 2010 in Inspiration
Skeleton bob is the sport that we're all talking about at the moment, thanks to the great Amy Williams who rocketed to Winter Olympic glory to provide us with our first gold medal since the curling team worked their magic in Salt lake City back in 2002.
Curling, like skeleton, was another of those sports you'd sort of heard of but had no idea of the depth of skill, intrigue and cool equipment. Personally I like Bill Bailey's musings on curling: why not curl furniture? Sofas, coffee tables etc. - with points awarded for nice arrangements...
But the skeleton 'sled' is a sophisticated piece of design, as you'd expect. Here's what British Skeleton have to say about it...
Most people think of a skeleton (what we call a sled) as a tea tray on a couple of runners - the modern ‘Flat Top' is in fact a very sophisticated piece of engineering, costing some £2000-£3000. This cost is without runners and a variety of these are needed for different conditions.
The skeleton sled is a steel frame with a composite pod, a steel saddle that holds the rider and two stainless steel runners. Racers slide with no brakes or steering devices, experiencing forces up to five times the force of gravity. They steer by shifting the weight of their body, shoulders and feet, sometimes dragging a toe behind to act as a rudder.
Riders wear an aerodynamic ‘skin' suit, lightweight helmet, elbow pads and spiked sprint shoes.
The total equipment cost is circa £5000.
"It is a sport that combines athleticism, aerodynamics, materials technology, physics and control dynamics all into one," said Great Britain's top men's slider, Kristan Bromley. "The skeleton is an extremely technical piece of equipment that is fine-tuned for each individual track and weather conditions.... The sport in essence is about conservation of energy from top to bottom of the track."
Here's Amy at the top of her sport...
There are no comments. Be the first to post one.
Posted by: Kooch on 21st Feb 2010 in Inspiration
Skeleton bob is the sport that we're all talking about at the moment, thanks to the great Amy Williams who rocketed to Winter Olympic glory to provide us with our first gold medal since the curling team worked their magic in Salt lake City back in 2002.
Curling, like skeleton, was another of those sports you'd sort of heard of but had no idea of the depth of skill, intrigue and cool equipment. Personally I like Bill Bailey's musings on curling: why not curl furniture? Sofas, coffee tables etc. - with points awarded for nice arrangements...
But the skeleton 'sled' is a sophisticated piece of design, as you'd expect. Here's what British Skeleton have to say about it...
Most people think of a skeleton (what we call a sled) as a tea tray on a couple of runners - the modern ‘Flat Top' is in fact a very sophisticated piece of engineering, costing some £2000-£3000. This cost is without runners and a variety of these are needed for different conditions.
The skeleton sled is a steel frame with a composite pod, a steel saddle that holds the rider and two stainless steel runners. Racers slide with no brakes or steering devices, experiencing forces up to five times the force of gravity. They steer by shifting the weight of their body, shoulders and feet, sometimes dragging a toe behind to act as a rudder.
Riders wear an aerodynamic ‘skin' suit, lightweight helmet, elbow pads and spiked sprint shoes.
The total equipment cost is circa £5000.
"It is a sport that combines athleticism, aerodynamics, materials technology, physics and control dynamics all into one," said Great Britain's top men's slider, Kristan Bromley. "The skeleton is an extremely technical piece of equipment that is fine-tuned for each individual track and weather conditions.... The sport in essence is about conservation of energy from top to bottom of the track."
Here's Amy at the top of her sport...
Comments
There are no comments. Be the first to post one.
