196 replies to this topic

[Sakari]

keninsc, on 07 November 2012 - 07:56 AM, said:

And speaking of old Doc Meldrum...........

Where the heck is he? Hmmmm? One post then, poof, he's gone like a Bigfoot on camera. Assuming he was ever here in the beginning.

He was, he confirmed it through email, I posted that. *Snip*

Edited by Karlis, 07 November 2012 - 02:26 PM.
Do not get into personal conflicts. Let's see what eventuates from further inputs.

[QuiteContrary]

Dr. Meldrum, (cont)

One article mentioned that being a research project tied to a university, grants the Falcon Project some special privileges, however:

--Is this type of aerial reconnaissance legal when you could have people's homes in the path of your information gathering?

--Can you legally pilot a ship, especially of this size, while out of visual sight of the ship itself?

[DieChecker]

DARPA might fund it, if the frame could be set up to support hard points to mount weapons. Make the envelope of kevlar, for bullet resistance.

I still think this could be a good tool for many groups and professions who study large animals in their natural environment. Especially if used at night. The engines should be able to be changed out for quieter ones if necessary, but might result in loss of speed.

I wonder if the ship will have audio pickup capability?

Edited by DieChecker, 07 November 2012 - 09:18 PM.

[keninsc]

DieChecker, on 07 November 2012 - 09:17 PM, said:

DARPA might fund it, if the frame could be set up to support hard points to mount weapons. Make the envelope of kevlar, for bullet resistance.

I still think this could be a good tool for many groups and professions who study large animals in their natural environment. Especially if used at night. The engines should be able to be changed out for quieter ones if necessary, but might result in loss of speed.

I wonder if the ship will have audio pickup capability?

I don't think the idea is a bad one and if they are able to incorporate electric motors then they might well be able to maintain a more stealthy presence. I know battery technology has come a long way, but batteries are heavy suckers to lift.

On a side note, the US Air Force actually built a propeller driven plane that was powered by an atomic reactor, it worked and was really flown. The problem was the shielding required and the inherent weight of such a system at that time meant that there was little room to carry bombs, not to mention the nasty nuclear mess you'd have if one crashed. So the idea was cancelled soon after the flight.

Now, if I were to be asked to contribute an idea for them I'd recommend they take a good hard look at using a small reactor to trickle charge the battery in order to reduce the size of the batteries required and extend the flight time. And yeah, you still have that nasty atomic reactor to worry about if the darn thing crashed and you'd have to use radiation protocols and all that sort of thing. However, NASA the ESA has been using that technology on many of the probes to Mars and other space probes, so it's not new and there is much information available for them to consider.

[DieChecker]

If this is a University project to build the craft, then probably there will be quite a lot of safety factor built in, so that the engines will be 50 to 100% stronger then they need to be. And the craft will have 50 to 100% extra lift. I know when I was studying mechanical engineering and we built a man powered vehicle for a Senior Project, that we always put a 2X safety factor on everything, so we used thick titanium tubing when regular steel, or aluminum might have worked just as well, but would not have had that safety factor to it.

Quite probably this craft could carry less framework and smaller engines and more batteries and have a much longer range and mission length.

[keninsc]

DieChecker, on 08 November 2012 - 12:37 AM, said:

If this is a University project to build the craft, then probably there will be quite a lot of safety factor built in, so that the engines will be 50 to 100% stronger then they need to be. And the craft will have 50 to 100% extra lift. I know when I was studying mechanical engineering and we built a man powered vehicle for a Senior Project, that we always put a 2X safety factor on everything, so we used thick titanium tubing when regular steel, or aluminum might have worked just as well, but would not have had that safety factor to it.

Quite probably this craft could carry less framework and smaller engines and more batteries and have a much longer range and mission length.

Yeah, I'm an ME also. We never built anything quite like this, but aircraft engineering has always been a bit of a fascination for me. Basically, as I see it, it's pretty much a gas filled dirigible with vectoring fans for navigation and propulsion. Cameras can be be pretty darn small now, they don't need to carry film any more so what they have left as the biggest weight would be the battery system. Since the lift will be generated by the gas bag then they won't need very large fans to maneuver it around, of course there is weather to consider, time of year, turbulence, that sort of thing. It'd be nice to see what they come up with before they build it and take some internet brain storming. It's easy to change when it's just lines on paper, but once those lines turn into steel change is a bit@h.

[Jeff Meldrum]

Feel free to answer any or none at all.
And again, thank you for giving us this opportunity to learn more about the Falcon Project.

First of all, the airship sounds amazing! Definitely a once in a researcher's lifetime opportunity. Congratulations!

--Is funding going well and do you see project completion as scheduled (spring 2013)? We are pursuing multiple lines of potential sources, media and private. We'll have a better sense in a few weeks.

--The ship sounds revolutionary in design. Have any prototypes (or similar craft) been tested for stability, agility, and wind vulnerability? Yes.

--What is Idaho State University’s involvement with the project? The proposal and my role as PI has been aproved by the administration. The ISU Foundation is serving as the channel for donations.

--Will the aircraft be focusing on other (non-bigfoot) research at the same time? Say, to generate needed revenue to keep the project "in the air"? We plan to gather additional data, e.g. wildlife surveys, forest health, etc. and are in conversation with appropriate agencies. This would be a reciprocal information sharing collaboration.

--Will this be an international search project? (Canada) Yes.

--It is such a large ship. Why so large? It seems, to my novice mind, a ship of this size would be heard and seen and even felt by a creature that has survived by being almost supernaturally elusive, wary, and sensitive to its surroundings. (Lights on the ship, sounds more easily heard at night) Size correlates with payload ans stability.  We're not tlking about lipstick or button cameras here. Plus there is the power source for the motors. Its altitude will make it unobtrusive.

--With a range of 5 miles  how do you plan on transporting the command trailer and large airship to “rugged remote forested terrain” locations? As described in the article. Obviously there will be soe limitation on the remoteness of deployment. I think there will be plenty of potential accessible terrain .

--Mr. Barnes said he will be utilizing the airship in 12 states. Can you elaborate on which states? Are they all in one area of the Unites States? I haven't yet proritized potential sites.  William may have a preliminary list in mind.

--Would you further explain the purpose behind the kill switch? Thus, it will be live-streaming? To whom? The intent is to have the imagery accessible.  If the project gets the "million dollar shot" there will naturally be control over the images in order to recover the donors investment and assure financing for continued tracking and observation, etc.

[Jeff Meldrum]

-Is this type of aerial reconnaissance legal when you could have people's homes in the path of your information gathering? We are working closely with the FAA.

--Can you legally pilot a ship, especially of this size, while out of visual sight of the ship itself? Again, will be in compliance with FAA regulations and Canadian certtifications.

[Jeff Meldrum]

One question that I have for the good Dr. is this "how will you decide where to search?"   Obviously you can't go everywhere or see everywhere, but you have to start looking somewhere - how is that location decided upon?  thanks.  And Thanks for being a part of the forum.  Regardless of my views on the topic, it is an honor to interact with someone of the scientific persuasion who has dedicated their time and energy to the pursuit of Sasquatch in ways other than to futz around on the internet like most of us here do.

We will be combining approaches utilized in Oil and gas exploration combined with GIS methods to identify patterns of movement correlated with coverage data. The areas won't be surpises, but we hope to have a methodological basis for selecting our specific points of deployment.

[keninsc]

Ok, so let me ask.

Do you or your group advocate the taking of a Bigfoot for DNA and or autopsy in order to verify they truly exist?

[Sakari]

Quote

If the project gets the "million dollar shot" there will naturally be control over the images in order to recover the donors investment and assure financing for continued tracking and observation, etc.

Jeff,

A question I have all ways had when it comes to anything " paranormal ", and especially on this topic. And, something I have stated many times here.

If anything substantial ever came out of a investigation ( I.E. Destination truth, Monsterquest, etc. ) I would think a University would get involved in a hurry. And, any agency involved in wildlife. I know Idaho State is involved, but handling donations only.? Sounds like you have not gotten a green light to spend budget money to actively start a significant study / investigation.

I guess I have two questions :


If people are donating, why would any good footage be held back for monetary reasons to help " fund " future projects? Seems something like this would be the golden ticket to getting actual funding, and the scientific community more involved. ( and other agencies ). I do not understand holding back footage from the public myself. I noticed on the site that it would be held for a documentary?

I am in high hopes, with you being involved, that this kind of thing would not happen. There may be reasons for this, so I thought I would ask. I would just hate to see another " Sylvanic " , " Dr. Ketchum " issue happen.

As I have said to you , this is what seems to happen every time.... " evidence found, releasing soon "..." documentary to follow ".

I am glad that someone like yourself is involved, I have faith you will be someone that will make this project legitimate in how it performs, and releases information.


How much would someone need to donate to " see " footage, and status of project / investigation?....Or, will it be made public?


If good evidence " million dollar shot " is found, can we expect to see or hear about it on major news?

Quote

The work will pay dividends if 54-year-old Meldrum or someone else proves the existence of a bipedal hominid that isn't a human or known primate, something Meldrum thinks will happen in his lifetime.

http://www.oregonliv...r_publishe.html





Also, if you are ever in Oregon, can I donate time to help?

Edited by Sakari, 08 November 2012 - 05:28 PM.

[QuiteContrary]

Thank you and much luck!

[Jeff Meldrum]

If anything substantial ever came out of a investigation ( I.E. Destination truth, Monsterquest, etc. ) I would think a University would get involved in a hurry. And, any agency involved in wildlife. I know Idaho State is involved, but handling donations only.? Sounds like you have not gotten a green light to spend budget money to actively start a significant study / investigation.

Universities do not conduct research, faculty do.  The infrastructure of a university administration facilitates the conduct of research. There are limited university funds for required matches or seed grants, but faculty are expected to identify extramural sources of funding.

[Jeff Meldrum]

If people are donating, why would any good footage be held back for monetary reasons to help " fund " future projects? Seems something like this would be the golden ticket to getting actual funding, and the scientific community more involved. ( and other agencies). I do not understand holding back footage from the public myself. I noticed on the site that it would be held for a documentary?

I am in high hopes, with you being involved, that this kind of thing would not happen. There may be reasons for this, so I thought I would ask. I would just hate to see another " Sylvanic " , " Dr. Ketchum " issue happen.

As I have said to you , this is what seems to happen every time.... " evidence found, releasing soon "..." documentary to follow ".

I am glad that someone like yourself is involved, I have faith you will be someone that will make this project legitimate in how it performs, and releases information.

How much would someone need to donate to " see " footage, and status of project / investigation?....Or, will it be made public?

If good evidence " million dollar shot " is found, can we expect to see or hear about it on major news?


The appropriate approach will be to have substantial evidence refereed and published in a scientific venue before releasing it to the public wholesale. Obviously, if we receive substantial funding from a media source like a cable channel, we will have to work out contractual agreements to accomodate their interests. In the meantime they would provide step by step coverage of the development and progress of the project.

[Slave2Fate]

Thanks again Dr. Meldrum for taking the time to answer some questions here. It is much appreciated by myself and certainly others as well.