Back in Vietnam, my dad owned an engine rebuild shop. Although the shop was the size of a garage, it was packed like a jungle of equipment; it had everything from lathe to grease dispenser. The shop was more than just a business, it was also my mind’s playground. My imagination would go wild while I was in the shop exploring engines and fiddling with its bottomless pool of equipment. In addition to tinkering with its tools, I also used the shop to repair many of my gadgets.
I remember when my R/C car unexpectedly broke as it drifted off the doorstep. I inspected for surface damage, but couldn’t find anything; so I disassembled it using a set of toolkit. The car’s complex system of circuits and clockwork begged for my curiosity as I explore its chipset and fiddle with its endless collection of gears. I was exhilarated when I discovered one of the gear was out of alignment. After scrutinizing the clockwork, many solutions popped into my head. I boiled down the options and decided to simplify the clockwork and abandon that gear all together. It was easier …show more content…
We both signed up for the first event, balsa wood glider. After many discussions and brainstorming sessions, we agreed on a high swept wing with standard tail for our design and build it over several weekends. “The moment of truth,” I said as my partner launched the plane for a test flight. Disappointingly, it crash landed nose first into the concrete immediately after launch. We listed some factors that could’ve caused the issue and started to discuss about it. “Hey, why don’t we bend the two tips at an angle to generate lift?” I suggested. My partner thought about it for a moment and cleverly incorporated the fix into the plane. During the second test flight, the glider actually stayed airborne for 8 seconds. “I guess we can cross lift off the list,” I said with a smile as we ran upstairs to resume our
I remember when my R/C car unexpectedly broke as it drifted off the doorstep. I inspected for surface damage, but couldn’t find anything; so I disassembled it using a set of toolkit. The car’s complex system of circuits and clockwork begged for my curiosity as I explore its chipset and fiddle with its endless collection of gears. I was exhilarated when I discovered one of the gear was out of alignment. After scrutinizing the clockwork, many solutions popped into my head. I boiled down the options and decided to simplify the clockwork and abandon that gear all together. It was easier …show more content…
We both signed up for the first event, balsa wood glider. After many discussions and brainstorming sessions, we agreed on a high swept wing with standard tail for our design and build it over several weekends. “The moment of truth,” I said as my partner launched the plane for a test flight. Disappointingly, it crash landed nose first into the concrete immediately after launch. We listed some factors that could’ve caused the issue and started to discuss about it. “Hey, why don’t we bend the two tips at an angle to generate lift?” I suggested. My partner thought about it for a moment and cleverly incorporated the fix into the plane. During the second test flight, the glider actually stayed airborne for 8 seconds. “I guess we can cross lift off the list,” I said with a smile as we ran upstairs to resume our